The Great American Beer is now Belgian.

[Enigma]

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Belgian brewer InBev has announced it will buy its U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion to create the world's largest brewer.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/14/anheuser.inbev.ap/index.html

[Skybird]

"Great American Beer "...? :hmm:




:-j

Honestly, if thinlking about beer, America and australia are the two places I would consider the least to be recommendable adresses. I tried several of them in past years, and they were thin, and tasted artificial, reminding of laboratories.

the strongest beer I ever had was some belgian stuff, a "monastery beer". Thicker than blood, so to speak, I was half-drunken from just half a glass.

All in all I like the German beers best indeed. :up:

[Enigma]

"Great American Beer "...? :hmm:

My beer of choice is Belgian. (Stella).

However, Bud, in all it's variations, has always been marketed as being as American as Apple Pie and the 7th inning stretch.

[Takeda Shingen]

As an American, I would be concerned about this if the 'Great American Beer' mentioned above was actually any good. I agree with Sky's assessment: Budweiser is nothing more than foul tasting water.

[Stealth Hunter]

Gradually selling ourselves out to the foreigners.

[Frame57]

I am an American. I admit that there is NO great American beer. There are some good micro-brewery ones. Nope! For me it is either Dortmunder or Warsteiner. In my religion it is said if i die in a Jihad, I will get 70 Kegs of this beer!!!:D

[Tchocky]

For American beers, I like Sam Adams.
If you're going to drink a beer that starts with Bud, make it Budvar :)

[mookiemookie]

For American beers, I like Sam Adams.


:yep: People that say there are no good mass produced American beers have not had Sam Adams.

[Mush Martin]

"Great American Beer "...? :hmm:
My beer of choice is Belgian. (Stella).

Me2:yep:

[Stealth Hunter]

Heineken... or Old Milwaukee.

[UnderseaLcpl]

If Budweiser is accquired by InBev I will be very interested in the results.
Will the backlash from Bud becoming "foreign" destroy it or will the indubitably superior quality (or at least alcohol content) of European beer prevail?
Will they even change anything?
I am inclined to believe that Bud is making a mistake on the part of their employees. Luckily, the board members will be safe from any negative consequences of the accquisition.

[Rockstar]

Back in the day in the Dominican Republic when I used to tip back a few, it was a Presidente. You could walk into any store and always find shelves stocked with icy cold ones.

btw, watch Budweiser. Sales will drop to the bottom InBev will get rid of it. Some guy in the U.S. will pick it up for cheap and make a truck load of money as the one who brought the great american beer back home. Kinda like Coke and New Coke. Someone will makes ots of money but I don't think it will be InBev

[geetrue]

I think all of the big executives and the board of AB budwiser are over 60 years of age and said, "what the heck ... $52 billion is plenty enough money for me".

This will backfire ... advertising to sell a German beer in America that use to be American is not going to go over well.

[UnderseaLcpl]

I think all of the big executives and the board of AB budwiser are over 60 years of age and said, "what the heck ... $52 billion is plenty enough money for me".

This will backfire ... advertising to sell a German beer in America that use to be American is not going to go over well.

Especially when it is actually Belgian.

[geetrue]

Especially when it is actually Belgian.

I forgot Belgium won the war with us :oops:

[Skybird]

For me it is either [censored] or Warsteiner.
Ja! Ja! Ja! Ja! Jaaaaah...!

There are other good german beers as well, but I agree: Warsteiner is my favourite, too.

[les green01]

guess i'll have to change beers now,maybe i'll just make my own

[AntEater]

I suppose pre-prohibition Annhäuser-Busch beer might've been quite good
:D

Problem is, it is not that Americans do not know how to brew, but rather that they have been used to that kind of horse piss for far too long. I always wonder how easily the few remaining GIs in Frankfurt get drunk, even if they're quite well build and look as if they could take a few.
That said, Frankfurt is a cider (and to a lesser extent, wine) area and the local beer is so bad it could just as well be american, only it is stronger.
This belgian company is not a brewery, but rather a brand holding company specializing in beers. They usually leave their brands unchanged. They do own some quite famous german brands like Beck's or Franziskaner.
Problem is, InBev keeps large national brands while killing off small, regional competition.
So I suppose the Quality of Bud won't change for the better or worse.

[darius359au]

"Great American Beer "...? :hmm:




:-j

Honestly, if thinlking about beer, America and australia are the two places I would consider the least to be recommendable adresses. I tried several of them in past years, and they were thin, and tasted artificial, reminding of laboratories.

:up:

You'd be talking about the stuff that gets exported from Australia , Even we don't drink that crap:x

[Sailor Steve]

I like all this talk about one beer being better than another. Since beer is an aquired taste (which I have never aquired) I have to opine that there is no "good" beer - just one you are accustomed to.

[mookiemookie]

I like all this talk about one beer being better than another. Since beer is an aquired taste (which I have never aquired) I have to opine that there is no "good" beer - just one you are accustomed to.

Good point, but probably beer is so complex. Even more complex than wine. So many more nuances and flavorings go into a well crafted beer...wine is just grapes, while a beer can have flavorings such as lemon peel, spices like cinnamon, grains of paradise, coriander, and fruits such as cherries or even things like coffee beans...

Beer was invented before wine, and it remains one of the most complex and refined drinks in the world. :know:

[Sailor Steve]

I was just razzing you guys. It's not your fault alcohol makes me sick.:dead:

[Enigma]

I feel that alot of American beers these days are designed for mass consumption at a cheap price, period. Hence: Coors light. Goes down like water, not expensive to buy, and one of the most popular beers in the country. Beer isn't generally viewed as something one would would pick out to suit a meal. It's designed and marketed to be consumed in large amounts on game day.

[em2nought]

btw, watch Budweiser. Sales will drop to the bottom InBev will get rid of it. Some guy in the U.S. will pick it up for cheap and make a truck load of money as the one who brought the great american beer back home. Kinda like Coke and New Coke. Someone will makes ots of money but I don't think it will be InBev

Would probably have worked if they had kept the Neon around.... :lol:

Personally, I'll just switch to Miller.

[bookworm_020]

Honestly, if thinlking about beer, America and australia are the two places I would consider the least to be recommendable adresses. I tried several of them in past years, and they were thin, and tasted artificial, reminding of laboratories.

If you are talking about Fosters, XXXX and VB, your right in your judgement on them, but there are some realy good beers here, not just micro brewers, but some of the big boys have put some effot in and have been rewarded with increased sales.

Just to show that we do have some taste down under...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosters_Beer

[Skybird]

Good point, but probably beer is so complex. Even more complex than wine. So many more nuances and flavorings go into a well crafted beer...wine is just grapes, :know:

Good joke! I just would ot repeat it too load. ;)

The taste of a wine is composed by over 1000 ingredients. That of beer (understanding it in todays way of brewing) consists of far less. That is because hop assimiliates chemcial agents from its surroundign (soil, air, water) in not that numbers like grapes do. Beer also is en extremely hyperglycaemic drink, affecting your health far more intense for the negative than wine does if consumed in quantities equal in alcohol level.

Earliest beers were "brewed" by putting bread into water and let it rest.

Another one, anyone? :smug:

[geetrue]

I like all this talk about one beer being better than another. Since beer is an aquired taste (which I have never aquired) I have to opine that there is no "good" beer - just one you are accustomed to.

I would have never guessed this of someone as old as you Steve.

I too have never aquired a taste for beer ... I was raised in honky tonk's from 6 to 16 in Waco and Houston, Texas.

I was drug around by my mother and step father. It was legal in Texas to be a child in a bar as long as your parents were with you.

I would suck up on Dr Pepper and play shuffle board by nyself, shoot the bear and look at the Ham's beer sign and wonder why people would eat a pickeled pig's foot.

I thank the great state of California for having a law against drinking unless you were at least 21 ... I was 17, 18, 19. 20 in the Navy in those days.

Glad to meet another non-beer drinker. :yep:

[August]

Add me to the list of non-beer drinkers. It might stem from having an alcoholic father and spending a fair share of my youth perched on a bar stool while Pop got his daily fix but i have never developed a taste for it or alcohol in any form.

Even today at 48 my drinking is confined to the very rare whiskey and soda, maybe once every 2-3 months.

[Frame57]

For me it is either [censored] or Warsteiner.
Ja! Ja! Ja! Ja! Jaaaaah...!

There are other good german beers as well, but I agree: Warsteiner is my favourite, too.I had it on tap while we were in Wilhelmshaven back in 81, and I get in the bottle here and have to have it special ordered sometimes, but it still is what beer is all about:up:

[Frame57]

I will have to find the quote, but I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said something to the effect that "Beer was proof that God loves us..." Anyway, I doubt he drank Miller or any of that other swill that is passed off as beer. I have noted that a lot of the hispanics here in America seem to go crazy for Budweiser (I call it Buttwiper). So it seem that they too, have not had good beer.:|\\

[August]

Hey c'mon now fellas. When served ice cold Bud is a good drink when you're out all day under the hot sun sweating your nads off, especially the 3.2 stuff mandated by such hot and sunny states as Florida.

It keeps you almost as hydrated as water will without the associated shame. :up:

[Frame57]

Hey c'mon now fellas. When served ice cold Bud is a good drink when you're out all day under the hot sun sweating your nads off, especially the 3.2 stuff mandated by such hot and sunny states as Florida.

It keeps you almost as hydrated as water will without the associated shame. :up:True August, when it is hot and it is all you have well okeedokee. But when you have a choice. It is like women! You can settle for less or you can go for top shelf.:yep:

[August]

Hey c'mon now fellas. When served ice cold Bud is a good drink when you're out all day under the hot sun sweating your nads off, especially the 3.2 stuff mandated by such hot and sunny states as Florida.

It keeps you almost as hydrated as water will without the associated shame. :up:True August, when it is hot and it is all you have well okeedokee. But when you have a choice. It is like women! You can settle for less or you can go for top shelf.:yep:

I guess it depends on what you consider top shelf. The dark and heavy stuff the Euros tend to favor seems to me to be worse for a body in that situation than watery Budweiser.

[SUBMAN1]

My opinion - Americans make both the best and worst beers on the planet. Budweiser - you can guess where that sits in my book.

Kind of sounds like the Dutch now! They own some of the best and worst breweries on the planet now! :D They can have Budweiser - yuck!

If Bud were the last beer on the planet, I'd give up drinking.

Bud screwed up Redhook too - Since Redhook joined up with Bud, they have never been the same. They taste somewhat mass produced.

I could go on all day - but I'll quit. I've given my two cents.

-S

[Platapus]

So are there people here who will stop drinking the 40+ products manufactured by ABC just because they sold the company to InBev?

I am not a drinker so it does not affect me, but I think it is pretty silly to stop drinking a product you like solely based on which board of directors owns the corporation.

If you like the ABC products, continue to like them. It should be about the product not the nationality of the board of directors.

[Frame57]

Hey c'mon now fellas. When served ice cold Bud is a good drink when you're out all day under the hot sun sweating your nads off, especially the 3.2 stuff mandated by such hot and sunny states as Florida.

It keeps you almost as hydrated as water will without the associated shame. :up:True August, when it is hot and it is all you have well okeedokee. But when you have a choice. It is like women! You can settle for less or you can go for top shelf.:yep:

I guess it depends on what you consider top shelf. The dark and heavy stuff the Euros tend to favor seems to me to be worse for a body in that situation than watery Budweiser.Naw! The Brits maybe. They like the ales and stouts, but while in Deutchland I found that Pilsner beer was the most popular. I guess all you light weights will never "Drink your dolphins". Yes, maybe with kool aid:D

[danurve]

Gradually selling ourselves out to the foreigners.

True on so many levels.

A-B was good for making funny commercials, like the frogs. Ironicaly their talents lay in marketing not brewing. Michelobe may be an exception.

The more suprising thing is Bud's prices lately. Charging about as much or more as you would pay for decent Canadian Beer, like Labatts.

[SUBMAN1]

Add me to the list of non-beer drinkers. It might stem from having an alcoholic father and spending a fair share of my youth perched on a bar stool while Pop got his daily fix but i have never developed a taste for it or alcohol in any form.

Even today at 48 my drinking is confined to the very rare whiskey and soda, maybe once every 2-3 months.That's too bad for your father. Beer in my opinion is not bad, nor is wine. If you analyze what it is that people get majorly addicted to and that screws up their life, it is the hard stuff. I'd be carefull with that whiskey. If someone offers me anything hard, I refuse. Won't touch it. Besides, I've had my share of hangovers and sickness from long island ice teas after turning 21 and I would rather not relive that distant past! :D

-S

[SUBMAN1]

Good joke! I just would ot repeat it too load. ;)

The taste of a wine is composed by over 1000 ingredients. That of beer (understanding it in todays way of brewing) consists of far less. That is because hop assimiliates chemcial agents from its surroundign (soil, air, water) in not that numbers like grapes do. Beer also is en extremely hyperglycaemic drink, affecting your health far more intense for the negative than wine does if consumed in quantities equal in alcohol level.

Earliest beers were "brewed" by putting bread into water and let it rest.

Another one, anyone? :smug:Hardly. There are more ways to brew beer than make wine. The only real differences is in the taste and type of grapes. Your first clue will be in the wine types vs beer types. Both have their minor differences, but the differences in wine are subtle where in beer they are massively great! And FYI - hops is not the only ingredient in beer, and unlike wine, you can control the amount of hops in your brew on infinite levels - this results in an IBA level - something you won't find in wine. Even the type of fermentation can be controlled - by either top or bottom fermentation. Beer is way more complex.

I like my fine wines, specifically reds, but as for selection it hardly compares to the choices of beer in the world - and I look for both!

I do have some bottles of Cab running back from 2000 to 1995 and earlier. I should open those soon. I assume they will be either really good or really bad. No in between on that one.

I've been also eyeing a Claret I have that is one of the best Clarets I know of. Maybe it's wine tonight.

-S

[Tango589]

I guess it depends on what you consider top shelf. The dark and heavy stuff the Euros tend to favor seems to me to be worse for a body in that situation than watery Budweiser.

Naw! The Brits maybe. They like the ales and stouts, but while in Deutchland I found that Pilsner beer was the most popular. I guess all you light weights will never "Drink your dolphins". Yes, maybe with kool aid:D

That's not strictly true. Whilst we do drink porters and stouts, they tend to be drunk more during the winter months when you want something with a bit more oomph in it. During the summer there are plenty of light 'straw' coloured lower alcohol (3-4%) beers to choose from, although you shouldn't judge a beer on it's colour because you can have a 3.5% mild that is black as coal or you can have one of my favourite beers that is the colour of lager but is a healthy 5% and makes for an interesting summer's lunchtime drink! Real ale comes in all colours, strengths and flavours ( Iv'e tried coriander, ginger and chilli beers from different micro-breweries) so you can always find something to suit your palate. Haing said that, we do also have our fair share of mass-produced donkey widdle masquerading as beer but I steer well clear of those.

[Monica Lewinsky]

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/Never_take_a_mans_last_beer.mpg

[SUBMAN1]

I guess it depends on what you consider top shelf. The dark and heavy stuff the Euros tend to favor seems to me to be worse for a body in that situation than watery Budweiser.
Naw! The Brits maybe. They like the ales and stouts, but while in Deutchland I found that Pilsner beer was the most popular. I guess all you light weights will never "Drink your dolphins". Yes, maybe with kool aid:D
That's not strictly true. Whilst we do drink porters and stouts, they tend to be drunk more during the winter months when you want something with a bit more oomph in it. During the summer there are plenty of light 'straw' coloured lower alcohol (3-4%) beers to choose from, although you shouldn't judge a beer on it's colour because you can have a 3.5% mild that is black as coal or you can have one of my favourite beers that is the colour of lager but is a healthy 5% and makes for an interesting summer's lunchtime drink! Real ale comes in all colours, strengths and flavours ( Iv'e tried coriander, ginger and chilli beers from different micro-breweries) so you can always find something to suit your palate. Haing said that, we do also have our fair share of mass-produced donkey widdle masquerading as beer but I steer well clear of those.Steer clear of anything that is top fermented. For some reason, top fermentation seems to carry a hangover with it. Probably soemthing to do with what is retained (bad chems maybe?) by the top fermentation not allowing it to leave.

Pillsner, Lager, you name it - avoid it! :D Just my two cents. Besides, there is only one lager on the planet that is drinkable - Spaten Optimator. I don't even like that!

-S

[Monica Lewinsky]

Steer clear of anything that is top fermented.

Yep,the proof is here:

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/beerfart.mpe

[FIREWALL]

Who has the largest beer sales in the world ?

Anybody got any figures on it ?

[UnderseaLcpl]

Who has the largest beer sales in the world ?

Anybody got any figures on it ?


I don't know but I think I have the largest beer purchase in the world.

To all who think American beer sucks or is too watered down; remember our nation was founded by prudes.

[August]

I'd be carefull with that whiskey. If someone offers me anything hard, I refuse. Won't touch it. Besides, I've had my share of hangovers and sickness from long island ice teas after turning 21 and I would rather not relive that distant past! :D

-S

Thanks for the concern Subman but I'm almost 50 years old. I think i can handle the dangers inherent to having a drink once every couple of months... ;)

[August]

Naw! The Brits maybe. They like the ales and stouts, but while in Deutchland I found that Pilsner beer was the most popular. I guess all you light weights will never "Drink your dolphins". Yes, maybe with kool aid:D

Drink my dolphins? No but i have drunk my wings... :p

[Frame57]

Naw! The Brits maybe. They like the ales and stouts, but while in Deutchland I found that Pilsner beer was the most popular. I guess all you light weights will never "Drink your dolphins". Yes, maybe with kool aid:D

Drink my dolphins? No but i have drunk my wings... :p"C-130 rollin down the strip, Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip...." :up:

[Monica Lewinsky]

"C-130 rollin down the strip, Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip...." :up:

C-141 maybe as an alternative, maybe egh?

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/C-131Tribute.avi

Damn good flick.

[baggygreen]

What skybird said was right that exported aussie beer is dreadful - but so it should be, we want to keep the real good stuff for ourselves!!!:)

[Tchocky]

Who has the largest beer sales in the world ?

Anybody got any figures on it ?

I don't know but I think I have the largest beer purchase in the world.

To all who think American beer sucks or is too watered down; remember our nation was founded by prudes.
The Pilgrims landed because they had run out of beer.

[FIREWALL]

Who has the largest beer sales in the world ?

Anybody got any figures on it ?


I don't know but I think I have the largest beer purchase in the world.

To all who think American beer sucks or is too watered down; remember our nation was founded by prudes.



:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[SUBMAN1]

Thanks for the concern Subman but I'm almost 50 years old. I think i can handle the dangers inherent to having a drink once every couple of months... ;)I hear ya, but I'm just saying.... You should be drinking beer!!! Support the war effort! :D Hello? Lucy? Anyone home?

-S

PS. And don't be doing any barley wine - yuck!

PPS. Only August is old enough to get my Lucy joke!

[Airmail]

The real Busweiser is Budvar, a Czech Beer. The Americans bought it, then made it taste horrible. The orginal company just kept on brewing it and changed the name :lol:

[Frame57]

They make a good Pilsner too, I think it is Urquell or something.

[Platapus]

"C-130 rollin down the strip, Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip...." :up:[/QUOTE]


Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door...