Does anyone care if Anheuser-Busch is bought by inBev?

[Tony]

National pride aside, many beer afficionados think Bud will be better tasting. To be sure, Belgians know beer. Others, on this side of the pond, think Bud will become "Euro-trash." This scenario is hard to imagine since Bud has never courted up-market in its 150 year history. What say ye?

[Alz]

With real great beers all around, who drinks Bud anyway? Will NASCAR fans notice the difference with their corn dogs? Now if those dern ferriners start messing with my Sam Adams...if they take over Gritty's in Portland...if they mess with Trinity's IPA...THEN it's all out WAR!

[Cheesy Tom]

Bud is to beer as Velveeta is to cheese.
There….I said it!
The residual forces that cling to the “Bud” mentality are sadly stuck in their ways.

I admit, I am also stuck in my ways in a certain respect.

In food for example, I do not like Fillet Mignon. I much prefer a bone-in Ribeye with fat for flavor, instead of dousing the sauce on a fillet.

I love a very hoppy beer. I also love a heavy, nay BEEFY red wine. (Spain, Argentina, Italy)

I am ALWAYS open to new beers, foods, herbs, cooking techniques, hell…..anything, if it tastes great, but I will get to the point ;( sorry.)

Budweiser is an awful item for me to endure. In my mind, the only reason they are still around, is because they have been around……………forever.

I must concur with Alz (even though he has bad breath.)
I know all of our palates are different, but thank god for Gritty McDuffs, Buzzards Bay, Trinity Brewhouse, Blue Point, Beerworks, and all the other “accomplished” creators of the fine nectar we call beer, and how they are constantly trying to keep fine tuning such a product that is evidently thousands of years old……and yes, older than BUD!

Note to my father-in-law…
Sorry Alan…had to say it.

[Rich Lang]

AB is far more than Bud. It is a major beverage industry player. It is definitely a loss, as far as I am concerned. While Bud may be the Velveeta of beer, AB is one of the great American beverage industry powerhouses, and seeing it sold to a European copany is sort of like seeing the one of the big auto companies sold off, or seeing the great television brands sold off and dissolved. Perhaps it is inevitable as an economy advances, but there it generates a certain business-cultural nostalgia. In fact, much of the US food industry has been bought up by European powerhouses. Nestle (Swiss) controls the massive majority of water sold in the US (other than Dasani and Zephyrhills) among many, many other things, Danon (French) is an unstoppable force worldwide, Ahold (Dutch) owns the lions share of our supermarkets... Kerry is Irish (huge ingredients player). Aldi and Trader Joes are German. The list goes on and on. In any case, so yes, it does his a chord for me. I won't lose sleep over it, but as long as you are asking...

[Leigh Ranucci]

The aim of the takeover is hardly to improve the taste of that which is iconic. Besides it's been publicly promised by the masters of all brewers InBev that the formula will not be altered. And why would they bother? Just like here, its the can which matters, not whats inside it. Budweiser beer is among the most internationally recognizable icons of American culture, especially the culture of the American West, with which Europeans have been obsessed with for decades. The Cowboy is a cash cow. The Marlboro Man has got, first and foremost, their smoking habit covered, Levi's has got their asses covered, now Bud's got their buzz on. Its a no brainer.

What's interesting about the buyout is the timing. What is the image now? How will this stalwart brand of Americana be received? Who will be drinking it? If Europe embraces the little red white and blue can will Budweiser beer be responsible for the desperately needed resurrection of respect for who we are and what we stand for? Will Europeans be able to effectively distinguish between Bush and Busch? I wonder how many euros a bottle of bud will set you back now......

I have very little nostalgia for the product itself, but I loathe that a major American employer has been assimilated into a huge European luxury brand company with certainly no more scruples, but if the Belgians are going Bud, and we are going micro-brew, that's at least a small light at the end of our tunnel.

[Eric]

There's no reason the think that the brewing recipe will change because of a buyout, this rarely happens. AB is buying Bud because it sells, to change the recipe, even if they improved it, would be a PR disaster for them, and I'm sure they know that.

[Brian Hodge]

I was quite surprised by the ubiquity of Budweiser served abroad. Considered an import and marketed as a higher-end, "everyone is beautiful in America" status symbol beverage, it bore little resemblence to the NASCAR stereotypes we hold.

The product will no doubt stay the same - just a different mega-corporation will profit. I'm reminded what Ray Zalinski said in Tommy Boy, "Callahan is a premium name...all we want is the damn box."

The label is truly iconic of American culture, including the omnipresent "FOR SALE" sign on our collective front lawn.

[derek wagner]

first and foremost i'd like to say that i'd rather drink a pint of providence river water than bud or budlight for that matter. thats a personal preference, not trying to offend the millions of bud-lovers out there. that being said i have mixed emotions about the buy-out. although from a quality standpoint, or lack-there of with bud, the thought of a belgian company taking over bud production is seems like a great idea, i think that is a whimsical idea that all of us taste-driven beer drinkers that have been stuck at a relative or friend's cook-out with nothing else in the cooler are daydreaming about. in reality i tend to agree with the standpoint that product wise business and the "classic" bud recipe will continue. this company is not stupid. they are buying bud for their brand recognition, their distribution power, the rights to control their part of the market share, and their overall financial worth (present and future growth). anyone who has been to europe in the last ten to fifteen years knows that they are absolutely and unexplainably crazy about bud. no matter what they think about our current political situation and place in the world, they are still infatuated with our pop culture and all that goes with it. this company is capitalizing on all of that. i do also agree with rich that it is sad to see another american company go overseas, even if it is just in an executive sense. only time will tell how it will effect our beverage economy and production in the states. as for now... i'll have another pint of guiness please

[RunawayJim]

InBev is not a brewer. They are a conglomerate that owns several breweries. The Budweiser recipe will not change (in fact, it would be the most popular beer owned by InBev).

The biggest issue behind the purchase is the jobs. A-B is a huge company with lots of people and does a lot for the community, especially in St. Louis. If InBev comes in and lays off a lot of those people, it would be a huge hit to the economy of St. Louis. As much as I can't stand Budweiser and the other A-B beers, they do have a place in the beer world. What is yet to be seen, however, is how many Budweiser fans will switch brands because Bud is no longer owned by an American company.

FWIW, the purchase was approved by both A-B and InBev, but must go through regulatory approval in several countries.

Also, of note, A-B is releasing a couple interesting beers in September. They have an American Ale and a Dunkelweizen. I've heard they're nothing special for their particular styles, but they're decent beers and worth trying (and would make a good fall back if a bar or party doesn't have anything else).