Bud IPA?

Since when? If you are referring to things such as "razz-a-rita" they aren't exactly geared towards bud drinkers

 

I don't know why anyone still drinks Bud Light anymore. That my last beer of choice when I go the store. With so many good beers available. How does Bud or Miller Lite ever get chosen?

 

I wouldn't call it desperation at all. Ballantine was making "craft" beer long before the term was coined and for many years (as one of the nations biggest brewers) made some unique products quite outside the norm. I think that Pabst's commitment to restoring some respect and quality to the Ballantine brands it owns is laudable clearly demonstrates a dedication to "craft", even at the small scale at which they are doing it (obviously to "test the waters" in this new world of beer).

I'll grant that the current version of BIPA is definitely a cloudy shadow of the original (though some care obviously went into the attempt at reverse engineering it), and they are clearly trading on a legacy...but given that Ballantine IPA was introduced back in the late 1800's, why shouldn't the current owners of the brand tout the fact (especially since their reboot under different ownership still manages to stand up remarkably well next to the gazillion IPA's flooding the market today)?

If you really think about it, it's no more dishonest or desperate than "craft" brewers implied promise that their products are always of higher quality simply by virtue of their artisanal nature (a very pretty thought but sadly, not always true).

 

They did, and the Michelob Pale Ale was okay, IMHO.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/327/

 

They're making too much money from Goose Island IPA

 

Not quite sure what you mean here - perhaps using "AB" to mean "macro" breweries in general? - but the revived Ballantine IPA is a Pabst product, contract-brewed at Cold Spring's Third Street Brewhouse.

Pabst these days is barely "macro" (they've fallen below the B.A.'s "6m bbl. or under" definition for "small") but it once was and the greatest percentage of its portfolio is made up of the old, traditional AAL's and malt liquor brands it has collected over the past few decades. At this point, Pabst is merely what this website used to call a "beer marketing company" and, as such, might be more flexible than a true "macro" behemoth like AB or MC as far as new products go- whether it's a "craft" beer, like Ballantine India Pale Ale, or a fad FMB like Not Your Father's Root Beer.

 

I bolded the relevant part of your question.

 

brewme said: ↑
With IPA being such a dominant style in the craft-beer industry, I am curious why Bud / Miller / Coors don't come out with an IPA under the flagship, instead of top-secret, phony-baloney names. Not that I would drink them...just curious....

Ah, but if you read other replies in the thread you will see that many are willing to give it a try if you produce it. I do know that AB/InBev produces GI IPA and Honkers - both of which I like and buy - not every week but from time to time.

 

I was under the impression that the Pabst company was some type of subsidiary under the AB-InBev umbrella, but I must be wrong.

 

Willing to give it a try is different than willing to give it a fair assessment.

 

First the good news: BMC is not an actual, singular entity -- yet. Carlos Brito will seal that deal any day now, though.

Now the bad news: A-B/InBud once did brew a macro-swill Crafty India Pale Ale -- with rye malt, no less-- called: Rye P.A.:

Not that you would drink it? Of course, which is why they will never brew it.

After the memorable flop that was Budweiser American Ale, they will never, ever, EVER again use Budweiser in the name of a mass-market ale.

*Not ever!

 

There's an old Dutch saying for this, which in translation would be: "Even if a monkey wears a golden ring, it would still remain an ugly thing". Same goes for shitty beer companies trying to produce some premium beers.

 

I'm pretty sure people that buy Bud products on a regular basis couldn't handle drinking an IPA anyway. I remember it was one of the last types of beers I could really get into. It is a very overwhelming beer for someone that's not used to them.

 

I had heard it had something to do with the hops used in it back in the day, and why AB was importing it due to some form of law suit. Any recollections?

 

Neither "type of hops" nor "lawsuit" ring a bell for me. Pretty sure AB got the rights to import the Carlsberg brands into the US in the mid-1980s - it was a common practice for a lot of large US brewers at the time to be able to offer a Euro "import" to their distributors. AB had previously imported Wurzburger (brought in in bulk, and then bottled in Newark), Miller had the Lowenbrau debacle which started with the importation rights, Pabst had an import and Olympia imported some German beer with a "Z" in the name ( who can remember?), Heileman had a regional deal for Beck's and eventually stopped brewing Red Cap Ale domestically and started bringing in the Canadian version, Rheingold imported Tuborg (before Carling brewed it domestically starting in the '70s), etc. Coors had a few import deals, including a short-lived for some obscure Belgian beer called "Stella Artois"....

 

Back in the early 90's a Zweich something or other used to be on the shelves. As always a plethora of information---you know the craft.

Cheers

 

Oly's German import circa 1980s was Grenzquell (from the same company that brewed the "other" St. Pauli and Bavaria brands).

The Polish brand Zywiec (owned by Carlsberg) is still imported into the US - they make a very nice - and cheap -9.5% Porter and a nice economical pilsner (if you can find it relatively fresh).

 

There was something like that but a different name---have had the zywiec brews and they are solid.
Curious if Mammoth Ice was part of the bud empire. Recall it was pretty decent for the day.

 

A-B INBEV are brewing at the max during the peak months. They load the wholesalers up during the months of March and April just so they will not run out by July. I love IPA's but I do not think the market share is big enough for them to worry about. What is the market share for IPAs?

 

Probably under 3% - IPA's = 25% of craft beer / craft = 11% of total US market.