Anheuser-Busch...

Hoboken.

 

Getting back to the Op...I don't hate AB, no reason to . Most of the beer that they make doesn't appeal to me and that's ok.
I have options. There are some AB brews that I enjoy, such as Landshark. It is never a matter of right and wrong to me, not when it comes to beer.
I like what I like and that's what I like...and so does everyone else.

 

While I respect your opinion wholeheartedly, I have to also respectfully disagree. There are plenty of reasons to hate AB aside from a low-quality product. Dirty politics, shady practices and a determination to make only their beer accessible to name a few. They're basically the reason why I can't get Bell's, Russian River, Deschutes etc. in NY. Of course other factors are involved, as always, but the ancient Three-Tier system is crippling.

 

Hello. I know you were being facetious Hanzo, but I think the point is not that Miller-Coors-Bud have no taste, it is that they have a very bland, nasty taste. Which needs to be masked by drinking the beer ice cold in a frosty mug. And it's the main reason most people don't like to drink 'warm beer'.

I agree wholeheartedly with DevilsCups about the big boys. If all they did was make their beer and let other people do their thing, that would be one thing. The fact that they go out of their way to make sure no one else can play in the sandbox, then that's another thing altogether. Here in Texas they are major lobbyists to make sure that legislation does not pass that in any way, shape or form affects even one cent of their sales. So yes, we can dislike them for their nasty beers and even nastier disposition towards craft beer.

If you want to get me started on a whole separate discussion, I'd venture to say Boston Brewing is creeping dangerously into this territory, both on sales and practices. Enough said.

 

Just because you like flavorful beers doesn't mean the rest of America wants them, and they "just don't know it" yet. Not everybody wants good beer, or in other words not everybody thinks flavorful is good. Taking the colonializing attitude that people just don't know what's good for them won't help anybody.

As others have pointed out, the only "universal" argument you can make against buying Budweiser is against their dirty business practices, not that the beer is inherently bad beyond the cultural norms of taste set up by the craft community.

 

Hello. Etan, while I agree that taste can't be universal (all people liking the same thing), my experience has been that just about 100% of the people that I have personally exposed to beers other than Miller-Bud-Coors have not gone back to those beers. And I don't mean they become craft beer geeks or even know the distinction, but they learn they like the other beer, whichever that may be.

It could be a light Belgian Wit or Saison, or a flavorful Kolsch or Pilsner, or maybe a sour and even sometimes (coffee) porter or stouts. So many times I have turned people to something like Avery White Rascal or Joe Pilsner, Saint Arnold Lawnmower, Maui Bikini Blond, Maui Coconut Porter, Duvel Blonde, Das Wunderkind, etc. Just anything they can regularly get their hands on locally. They just don't go back. That's been my experience anyway. So, even if we agree that the entire beer drinking public is not searching for 'flavorful' craft beer as we know it, I think more than half the people when exposed to the differences do NOT go back to the big boys. My experience has been nearly 100%.

Most of the time you just have to find that right flavor for that person and they'll be hooked. Whether is citrus, roasty, coffee, chocolatey, bitter, funky, wheaty/yeasty, floral, etc. This is one of the arguments for beer vs wine by the way, the fact that with beer you get quite a bigger universe of tastes, textures, colors, aromas, etc. I pride myself that I can pretty much find at least one beer for everyone (non-beer, non craft beer geek) that will be better than what they've ever had.

 

Your experience sounds exceptional. I think for most people they just risk coming off like a snob who is looking down on them (and, I think, for most people they are looking down on them). But even if you do it well, that doesn't mean we should presuppose that everyone would like craft if they just tried it. Most probably won't; it's not what they're looking for. Oh well.

 

Nostradamus predicted that BMC sucks.

 

Jim Koch has stated that internal Boston Beer Co. research suggests that more than half of all beer drinkers "occasionally" drink craft beer.

The fact that craft beer has only 5% market share sure implies that the vast majority of those who've "been exposed" to craft continue to drink the macro brands.

 

Hello. I think my experience has been exceptional because I do go out of my way to try to find that one beer that person will really like. Sometimes you have to go through 5 or 6 different beers, sometimes more, sometimes less, but eventually you will find that one that they will prefer over any of the BMC's they've had. And I think that accounts for that Sam Adams research. If a Bud drinker walks into a bar and tries out an Arrogant Bastard or a Yeti, more than likely they won't go back. If a helpful person exposes that Bud drinker to several different beers, I can bet you we will find at least one that he'll like much more than what he's had, can find locally and will probably not go back to Bud. That's been my experience.

By the way, Sam Adams falls into that craft beer 5% figure, and I think that may be the worst representative of what craft beer can be. I have never used a Sam Adams beer to 'exchange' it for their BMC, and I suppose I never will. There's a reason for that. They're just not that good. That probably also accounts as to why it is by far the biggest 'craft' beer brewer. When you have commercials during NFL games and you can buy Sam Adams in every 7-11 or grocery store in the country, how much 'craft' can that beer be? Yet that could account for a great amount of those people who 'occasionally' drink craft beer. If all they've been exposed to as craft beer is Sam Adams, I don't consider that craft beer. Again, Boston Brewing I think is a separate discussion, but I consider them one step down from Miller-Bud-Coors. Both on taste/quality and business practices.

 

Well that's just, like, your opinion, man. My opinion is that your opinion needs to stop being so opinionated.

 

I think this is both correct and incorrect. I went through many a bottle of Sam Adams before I had my craft "breakthrough" (which, per my avatar, was Unibroue). So it does take lots of trial and error for many people to "get" craft beer.

However, where I think you're wrong is now that I've "crossed over," I still enjoy Boston Lager, and I don't even mind a Budweiser from time to time in the right setting (although I doubt I could drink more than 1 or 2). That's the great thing about beer - there's a time and place even for BMC. I think the ethical discussion re: BMC is best left for another thread.

 

Boston Lager is craft beer. I think this thread has been scuttled...

 

The real question is does drinking 12 buds make you have to take more piss breaks than 4 solid IPAs, RIS, BWs or Sours?

 

I say drink what you like. If you truly like AB beers, drink them. But I must warn you. If you take the venture into craft beer, you might not want to return to what you're used to. You might turn into a beer geek.

However I know some people who mostly drink BMC beers and occasionally drink craft beer. They acknowledge that craft in general is better and appreciate that there are a multitude of great options out there but overall still prefer BMC for some reason.

 

And enjoying beer is amazing in itself! Having that feeling that never dies down that there is a world out there of great beer for every palate is very exciting!

 

AB and other macro swill are lousy because they are cheap, made with cheap adjuncts instead of the real deal, IOW, they are about quantity, not quality. Real beer is about quality/flavor, and real men prefer real beer.

 

Once I went craft, I never went back.

 

Neither did I.

 

Thanks for the reply. It's good to get back to the idea of the thread. If I get into the right/wrong end of a business argument, I'm sure to lose. I deal with the same type of availability problems that you mention, they are part of my everyday business life. There are things that I cannot get to sell that I want. Because of the nature of my business, that's the way it is. I do not blame my competitors, I commend their successful business models. Besides, there's enough action for everyone, I always say. I don't roll over but I do take things in stride.
Also, I am a firm believer that anyone who legally engages in commerce in the USA is a contributor to our great economic engine. I must give AB credit for that. Do they try to squash the macro brewer? Yes. That's business.
Is it right? I abstain. I know a few people employed by AB - they have families to feed.
By the way, are you a NJ Devil's fan - from NY??!!? I meet Devils' fans from all over, whod've thought?
And hang in there, you'll get your RR, Bell's, etc. You'll figure out a way in due time just as I did.
Now, time to get very serious....BEER time!