BMC rice source

Documentation of this claim please. Thanks.

 

Apparently the bad is only in the minds of people who want to criticize ABInBev. The consensus of the homebrewing group a year or so ago when this switch from whole grain to allowing broken grains was discussed here is that it didn't make any difference in brewing with rice or in the end product to use a supply of rice that included broken grains. Apparently the whole thing with regard to the whole grains was simply a marketing thing used by Bud for several years.

 

Or pellets.

 

Broken rice is aka Brewers rice.

 

I am guessing it's domestic, I am not sure if rice farmers are exactly making money hand over fist, but I am sure you'd ideally want to sell it to a big customer like them

 

And this would make sense seeing that InBev has taken over and done everything to cut costs.

 

I am basing that comment on the aforementioned Businessweek (pg 3) article:

That was long a common claim from AB.

 

For eating purposes broken rice doesn't cook evenly.

 

Oh, I have no idea what kind of rice AB uses, I just found it odd that there would be some kind of negative connatation to using broken rice, as apparently that is traditionally the type used in brewing. It would seem using using un-broken grains would be an unecessary expense, but AB probably claims to because it sounds better.

Also, I wonder if the type of rice depends on where the AB brewery is located.

 

Wrong. Raw materials are not an expensive enough item to skimp and risk a multi-billion dollar brewing operation on. The cost of rice [and raw materials in general] is a drop in the bucket compared to marketing, distribution, energy, taxes, R&D, etc. Their massive brewing systems are calibrated for specific materials and changing them could cause many unintended consequences, not to mention if the final product were to change and people rejected it (for example, New Coke). You may not like their end product, but that doesn't mean the materials going into it are poor quality or they have any intention of ever reducing the quality.

 

Most of the info says the rice is domestic.

Many US craft brewers also.use barley malt from.Canada, so I would not be surprised if Bud did too.

 

You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I can't say you're wrong since I don't have first hand knowledge of exactly how much raw materials, marketing, distribution, energy, taxes, R&D costs contribute to the price of brewing beer at a specific brewery. Apparently you do and if so, please feel free to share it so perhaps I'll learn something factual.

One of the main reasons New Coke failed is because Coca-Cola made a big deal of it. New cans, new advertising. People compared it with the old Coke. What I consider a minor switch in an adjunct additive should not have a major effect on the product. And I don't believe they if they were to make such a switch, it would be made without significant trials to see what, if any, effect there was on the product. Heaven forbid any change is made to Budweiser; the macro swillers would have a shitfit. And a cost is a cost, whether it is a drop in the bucket or not. InBev has a track record of cutting costs and that's what I based my opinion on. It has nothing to do whether I like the product or wouldn't use the product to wash my feet, in fact, I have high respect for a beer company that can product mass quanities of an identical product at many different facilities.

 

Yep. You're talking about railroad cars full of commodity goods ordered who knows when? The true scale of these big breweries is hard to imagine- especially day after day...... And these guys are all hawking the pennies. People lose their jobs over these broken rices! Also, never toss broken rice at a wedding- very bad luck! Cheers.

 

Large Scale Breweries:
Factor in PricePercentage Weight
Packaging28.00%
Tax25.00%
Sales and Marketing17.00%
Production15.00%
Malt8.00%
Minor Ingredients4.00%
Adjuncts2.00%
Hops1.00%
Total:100.00%



Adjucts 2%... Heck, I'll bet the super bowl ads alone are more than what they spend on rice. Keep in mind they have the ability to contract rock-bottom prices for their raw materials years in advance, even less incentive to change to something cheaper. More costly items like "Production" are very dependent on consistent quality raw materials to keep that massive brewing machine running efficiently. A company like InBev has so many better places to pinch a penny than risking an entire brand on a raw material.

 

So according to this, raw materials account for just as much as production and roughly as much as sales/marketing. That seems like a very valid component to try and pinch a penny on.

 

Just what is "sushi grade rice" and where does this information come from? This sounds like marketing BS to me. I used to go to an Asian market in my area and marvel at the "sashimi grade tuna"...I later found out that theres no such thing as "sashimi grade tuna", its 100% marketing BS.

 

Basically as I understand it "Sushi grade" is the shorter grain Japanese style that must be composed of whole grains. And yes that requirement was apparently put in place by one of the AB owners several years ago so they could claim to use only the best ingredients (for marketing purposes). As soon as you buy the same rice from the same strain from the same fields but with lots of broken grains it is no longer "Sushi grade" and is also less expensive.

The information comes from multiple sources including a Sushi Chef and online sources dealing with grades of rice and other grains.

Edit: Also my original statement which you quoted is about something in the past. See the corrections that followed. They now use the lower grade of rice.

 

Unless I'm missing something I can't find any mention of the words "sushi grade" in the USDAs rice grading scheme. Seems like a term devised specifically for marketing purposes.

http://www.calrice.org/Cuisine/Food+Processors/USDA+Grades.htm