dear belgium: this bud's for you

[Marlowe]

miller beer is now owned by a south african congolmorate. coors is now partly canadian-owned. and now, a belgian company is in discussions to buy budweiser.

this is apparently causing a "controversy" in some quarters because some amuricahns don't like no damned fur'ners buying up our "iconic" brand names.

all i can say is: thank you, belgium. you make the best beer on the planet, and maybe you can help make crappy budweiser a bit more palatable.

[SheepNutz]

Who's the Belgian company? Is it AmBev? They make Stella, and it's a pretty shitty "Belgian" beer.

[Marlowe]

you don't like stella artois??? you crazy, boy!

yes, it's inBev that's in negotiations to purchase bud. in addition to the oh-so-delicious stella, they also make beck's (eh, okay), skol (yummy), labatt (mediocre), hoegaarten (delicious!!!!), leffe (also delish), brahma (pretty good quaff), and staropromen (great, great czech beer). so, their track record in making mass-produced beers is pretty damned good.

[mike]

Who's the Belgian company? Is it AmBev? They make Stella, and it's a pretty shitty "Belgian" beer.

Amen. Another triumph of marketing over quality...

[frizgolf]

Who's the Belgian company? Is it AmBev? They make Stella, and it's a pretty shitty "Belgian" beer.

What? A music message board where someone calls another's tastes shitty?

That never happens!

[Chespo]

maybe you can help make crappy budweiser a bit more palatable.I wouldn't expect them to change the formula. I'm not enough of a 'beer snob' to have even heard of most of the beers you just rattled off, but I'm enough of one to assume that the average American Bud (or Miller, or Coors) consumer isn't looking for a more challenging or interesting taste. They like their pisswater just fine.

[the_birds]

I like German beer best. In a musical comparison, its straightforward rock 'n roll.

Belgian beer = gimmicky, but like a good pop song, can be totally enjoyable lots of times.

[wileE]

all i can say is: thank you, belgium. you make the best beer on the planet, and maybe you can help make crappy budweiser a bit more palatable.
Ain't going to happen. They just want a piece of the American Pie.

And Stella is blah.

[euro60]

And Stella is blah.
I can tell you that back in the home country, Stella is indeed not very well looked upon, and certainly doesn't have the reputation of a "luxury" beer that it has in the US as a result of relentless (if not clever) marketing.

As to InBev possibly acquiring Anheuser-Busch, I'm all for it. This is the free market economy at work, baby!

[skidminix]

As for Europeans changing the taste of Bud - to a notable extent, Europeans that I've known seem to always (inexplicably) gravitate toward Budweiser anyway. So, I doubt they'd want to change it.

[the_birds]

As for Europeans changing the taste of Bud - to a notable extent, Europeans that I've known seem to always (inexplicably) gravitate toward Budweiser anyway. So, I doubt they'd want to change it.

I've seen the exact same dynamic. And I think you're dead on, its like someone could buy CocaCola, but they'd be totally insane to change the recipe.

[drougan]

Hmmm...Yeah, stella has never really done it for me, but Hoegaarden is quite tasty.

Oooooh, maybe this means they'll have some better offerings for beer at Busch Gardens! :cool:

[Tweak Tweak]

As for Europeans changing the taste of Bud - to a notable extent, Europeans that I've known seem to always (inexplicably) gravitate toward Budweiser anyway. So, I doubt they'd want to change it.

Budweiser, and all thin, American lager, is successful because it is palatable to women. Note the gender of EVERY poster extolling the virtues of heavy, hoppy/malty, bitter brews.

Bud itself was a heavy, dark lager until WWII sent its preferred market segment off to fight the Hun. Forced to market to an audience of women, they lightened the color, diluted the alcohol content, and arrived at the basic recipe they still use today (though they've since added rice malt as an extender, in violation of the traditional Purity Law). Upon their return, a sizeable portion of the GIs found that piss beer was good enough "and the wife likes it, too!"

[purple_octopus]

Budweiser, and all thin, American lager, is successful because it is palatable to women. Note the gender of EVERY poster extolling the virtues of heavy, hoppy/malty, bitter brews.
Someone has never been to beer hero.

[epeolatry]

Someone has never been to beer hero.

I've never been to beer hero, but i'm pretty sure i could hold my own w/ the dark beer-drinking boys & P_O. :D

[ICONOCLAST420]

What? A music message board where someone calls another's tastes shitty?

That never happens!
And about beers no less.

[Sushi]

Budweiser, and all thin, American lager, is successful because it is palatable to women. Note the gender of EVERY poster extolling the virtues of heavy, hoppy/malty, bitter brews.

Now we know he's a troll. :p

all i can say is: thank you, belgium. you make the best beer on the planet, and maybe you can help make crappy budweiser a bit more palatable.
Hear hear. Now maybe a Belgian company will be Hersey's so we can get better chocolate and bonbons.

Is the Stella they sell in the States the same they sell in Europe? I rediscovered Stella Artois when I was in Croatia a few years ago. It was pretty popular in Zagreb and cheap and tasty. I hadn't seen it here very often, but I saw it in the grocery store the other day and grabbed some, remembering how much I had liked it. It just wasn't the same. Quite disappointing.

[Lonestar]

Budweiser, and all thin, American lager, is successful because it is palatable to women.


not sure which butch bar you hang out at but seeing woman drink Budweiser is about as common as seeing biker drinking a sheerly temple. but you may have a point about the "Real men of genius" commercials, clearly marketed to the ladies.

[berzerker]

Doesn't matter too much to me - Miller, Bud and Coors all pretty much suck.
Michelob Amber Bock, on the other hand, is quite satisfying.

I can't stand the current Coors Light commercials - "Refreshment isn't the main thing - it's the only thing."

Bullshit. Taste should be the only thing. I can drink a cold glass of water and be refreshed.

[mizary]

http://www.cask-ale.co.uk/us/avoid-list.html

a little outdated... anyone got a new version?

But it lists all the beers made by the top 5 companies...

inbev/ambev, Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller, Heineken, Molson Coors...

and it's not saying that all the beers made by all these companies are bad... but just this person prefers to as he says "spend my money on the superior craftsmanship of local microbreweries and brewpubs"

and I for one agree for the most part... but I will still occasionally buy beers on his list. and I don't stay local... but I do drink alot of greak lakes and bells. They are regional. that's sorta like local. :)

It's suprising how many old school german breweries are now owned by the "bad guys" like Spaten. :(

--mizary

[epeolatry]

i have yet to find a beer that i love as much as Great Lakes' Edmund Fitzgerald porter. And of course, i went and moved somewhere i can't get it.

Of course, we have some great beers here in the Twin Cities-- i'm a fan of Surly brewery's stuff... Furious & Bender are the most widely available in restaurants. I like Furious better than Bender.

[Tweak Tweak]

i have yet to find a beer that i love as much as Great Lakes' Edmund Fitzgerald porter. And of course, i went and moved somewhere i can't get it.

Of course, we have some great beers here in the Twin Cities-- i'm a fan of Surly brewery's stuff... Furious & Bender are the most widely available in restaurants. I like Furious better than Bender.

Porter is a shitty session beer, though. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA for me.

[Stoock]

So if this deal does go down, the largest American-owned brewery will be Sam Adams....
...and even at 6'2", mine is still the smallest. Brewery. Let's be quite clear on that.

[wileE]

So if this deal does go down, the largest American-owned brewery will be Sam Adams....
...and even at 6'2", mine is still the smallest. Brewery. Let's be quite clear on that.
I don't know. I'm 5'9" and brew.

[the_birds]

I hadn't seen it here very often, but I saw it in the grocery store the other day and grabbed some, remembering how much I had liked it. It just wasn't the same. Quite disappointing.

I don't think its any different. It truly matters where and how you drink a beer. Consider how long it takes to get Stella here, how long it sits in the store and that you probably had it on draft in Croatia. All huge differences.

All my life I had heard the one about how Heineken is "awesome" in Amsterdam and that American Heineken is weak and old. When I got to Amsterdam I quickly discovered 2 things, that Heineken is every bit as terrible in Amsterdam, but it was fresher and that Grolsch is better on any continent.

Oh, and that Orangeboom was pretty damn good. :D

[mizary]

I know inbev/ambev changed the recipies of some "classic" beers to save $$$... I don't know which ones. I've always assumed most of them.

very sad...

--mizary

[Lonestar]

There are about to be riots in the streets of St. Louie

:(

[Slar]

We should have a WOXY board beer voting thread. Didn't spacey do something similar with the hottest female indie singer a few years back? I'd do it myself but lack the time. Have a thread where everyone can list their top 10 beers. Take the 16 highest rated and have them vote it out. It would be awesome.

I agree that Stella is blah. Hoegaarden is good, but is also good for generating hangovers.