Prior to Covid, Michelob Amber Bock was available on draught at Richie's Bar in Edison NJ for $2.50 for an American pint. The placer closed recently and has been knocked to the ground.
Not pasty enough? It's funny though, didn't Franklin once advocate for German as the national language of the U.S.? Maybe I'm thinking of another founding father.
The things you retain over 60 years on the planet. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/april-fools-german-as-americas-official-language
Essentially. From that same 1750's essay of his: "And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth."
Swedes swarthy*? I have the feeling there was more than a little ignorant prejudice behind that essay. *Of course, there's the whole idea that swarthy somehow equates to bad.
Swedes and other Northern/Eastern European immigrants were "unskilled", so they had to work in the sun and got tans/sunburns. Not that different than the white trash of the south. They set up dividing lines between the workers, you might be less than the bosses who own land, but at least you're not this guy that is darker than you. My poor white trash self uses polack, guinea, weegee, and squarehead as an act of solidarity and love. I accept what I am viewed as and have come from, and y'all should as well. There really is no difference between a Latin/Asian/African origin worker than the arbitrary lines that the bosses set up to make us resent each other. But they really fucked over the African originating folks hard.
It has been a year or so since I last had a Budweiser so I figured this thread was as good an excuse to drink it as any. I've noticed in the last year or so that the labeling has changed from Budweiser, which is how the beer has always been sold here as long as I can remember (and, based on labels I've seen, before my time as a beer drinker) over to to simply "Bud". Whether it is the result of a recent court loss or simply streamlining packaging (and costs) for various European markets, I don't know (the latter seems more likely), but I made note of it and thought it was interesting. As far as the beer is concerned it has a mild, fresh and fruity aroma. The taste is malty, slightly sweet tasting, with some mild aromatics that must be coming from the hops. In years past I have noted that the beer tasted sweet, and after the second bottle I have to say that it tastes a bit sweet, but also that the body is quite full for the abv and the style of beer. It is also mildly aromatic. Over the years I have become convinced, and still am, that we do not get the same Budweiser that you get in the US, since the label here lists the calorie count as 45 calories per 100 ml, or 149 calories per 330 ml, or 159 calories per 355ml/12oz. In my opinion the Budweiser we get here is simply a normal, mainstream lager beer with a lower bitterness.
Mr. Oh, You and I have both been around here for a while, even if we haven’t interacted much. When I first joined, I was pretty vocal about Italian craft beer, and that wasn’t random. My family immigrated here in 1919, and that lineage matters to me. Some people would say that as a 45-year-old American in 2026, I shouldn’t concern myself with something that far back. That’s their call. But for some of us, history isn’t just nostalgia — it’s continuity. When you come from a culture where memory stretches through the Romans, the Etruscans, Sardinia, regional dialects, and centuries of lived tradition, time feels long. Even though modern Italy as a unified country is younger than the United States, the language and cultural threads go back thousands of years. That shapes how you see identity. I prefer to think of myself as an American with Italian heritage. I don’t fully align with certain Italian-American cultural habits, especially around language, but I’m also not Italian-born or formally schooled there. So I sit somewhere in between. You can learn from elders who came in the 60s and 70s, but it’s not the same as being formed inside that system. So when derogatory terms get used — even framed as solidarity — it lands differently depending on where someone sits in that timeline. Words carry weight. For some they’re reclaimed; for others they still echo. Not trying to escalate anything. Just adding context from someone whose family story sits inside the immigrant arc being discussed.
US Budweiser is 145 calories per US 12 oz., so 10% less than your Swedish Bud. Both have 5% alcohol. Your Bud might deliver a slightly stronger body. But pity the Brits. Budweiser Britain is 4.5% and about 135 calorie per US 12 oz. I've seen suggestions that German Bud has a higher calorie count than Sweden's.
Not sure about that--April Fool's? But Franklin did propose Germantown (just north of Philadelphia, today part of it ) as the nation's capital. This was nixed by Washington and others who had real estate interests on the Potomac.
Yes there was a dispute over "Budweiser" which in Europe is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (or whatever they call it in Europe as a whole) which dictates that only a beer brewed in Budweis, in the Czech Republic, can be called Budweiser. So the compromise was that in the US "Budweiser" is the St. Louis stuff and "Czechvar" is the stuff brewed in Budweis. Conversely, in Europe Budweiser is only brewed in Budweis and the other stuff is just "Bud." This resolved a dispute that had been going on, as I recall, since the late 19th century.
The actual trademark dispute originated in 1907. It might be of interest to some that the in the US, the first Budweiser beer was brewed (and branded) in 1876. In contrast the Bohemian (now Czech) brewery of Budějovický Budvar (Budweiser Budvar) was not opened until 1895. It would seem that when it comes to trademark disputes that coming first is not the sole determinant? Cheers!
As others have indicated, that's actually a bit higher than domestic bud (the calorie count). I would be curious to know what's in your bud version that causes that. Also... having read some of your previous posts concerning beer available in your area, what do you think of the 5% abv? Is that a bit on the high side when compared to locally brewed lagers, or fairly typical?
Don't forget DuBois Budweiser. Here's a '67 can https://auctions.taverntrove.com/on...ab-top-can-t59-38-dubois-pennsylvania-2698554 Pittsburgh Brewing bought Du Bois in '67. AB successfully sued and killed the brand in '70. So AB (Inbev) gets some of its own medicine?.
Brewers aren't probably going to tell you the details. Malt character, Malt/adjunct ratio, efficiency of extraction, fermentation temperatures, and yeast character could contribute.
For some reason "pilsener" (or "pilsner") can be used as a generic description of a beer, and there are many hundreds of them that describe themselves as such, brewed anywhere in the world. Budweiser on the other hand is a jealously guarded trademark name in the US and a protected designation of origin (PDO) in Europe (has to be brewed in Budweis). But both are just stylistic designations linked to a town.
