Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser, popularly referred to as
Bud or sometimes
Bud Heavy to distinguish it from
Bud Light, is the primary brand of
beer made by
Anheuser-Busch. Budweiser is a
pale lager made with a proportion of
rice as a substitute
adjunct for
barley malt, for which it has received some criticism, though the company takes the position that the rice gives the beer a lighter taste. Bud is produced in various breweries located around the United States and the rest of the world. It is a
filtered beer available in
draught and packaged forms.
Anheuser-Busch has a market share in the
United States of about 50% for all beers sold. The company's 2005 annual report cites figures which demonstrate Budweiser brands are proving to be quite successful in three markets outside of the U.S.:
*in the
People's Republic of China, where Anheuser-Busch has had a brewery in
Wuhan since
1995, 3.4 million barrels of Budweiser were brewed in 2005.
*in
Canada, where
Labatt Brewing Company brews and packages Budweiser and Bud Light for the Canadian market; Budweiser has been the country's number one brand for two years.[
1]
*in the
United Kingdom, where Anheuser-Busch leases the Stag Brewery in
Mortlake, Budweiser is the number one on-premise, premium packaged lager in bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants.
Budweiser is also widely available in
Mexico due to Anheuser-Busch's half-ownership of
Grupo Modelo, through which Budweiser and Bud Light (introduced in
1982) are distributed. In
Ireland, Budweiser is the one of the leading lager brands; it is brewed, marketed, and sold by
Guinness. Budweiser is also available in
Italy and
Argentina because of partnerships Anheuser-Busch has with major brewers there.
Budweiser is one of the major breweries that emphasizes humorous advertising campaigns, such as the "
Real Men of Genius" radio commercials for Bud Light, recently moved to television. The spots feature an over-the-top, 1980s-style rock ballad sung by David Bickler, the former lead singer of "Survivor," describing ordinary activities as if they were heroic. The campaign originally was called "Real American Heroes," but the name was changed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Some Bud advertising campaigns have entered the popular culture in the United States. They include a long line of TV advertisements in the 1990s featuring three
frogs named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", and a campaign built around the phrase "
Whassup?". The company is known for its
sports
sponsorships,
video game sponsorship (
Tapper), and (often) humorous
advertisements. Advertising campaigns have also included a nude
Ganymede grasping a beer bottle and borne aloft by a
bald eagle, lizards impersonating the "Bud-weis-er" frogs, and
Clydesdale horses. Budweiser is also the long time sponsor of NASCAR Driver
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
The Budweiser
bottle is a rather familiar
icon to most
Americans. The bottle has remained relatively unchanged since its introduction in
1876.
The top label is red and currently reads "Budweiser King of Beers". The top of the main label is red with a white banner with a
pledge on it, which has changed three times. Below the banner is a
coat of arms of sorts, which once had the Conrad and Co. logo on it, and now features an Anheuser-Busch stylization. Below that is a large white box. In this box the words "Budweiser Lager (King of) Beer(s) Brewed by our original (all natural) (Budweiser) process from the Choicest Hops, Rice, and Best Barley (Malt)" (words in parentheses have been added or removed over time).
The words "Anheuser Busch" and "St. Louis Mo" appear in this box as well.
| Logo | Beer title | Top label | | 1870s | 1 | C. Conrad and Co. | Budweiser Lager Beer | Original Budweiser |
| Early 1900s | 2 | C. Conrad and Co. | Budweiser Lager Beer | Budweiser Reg U.S. Pat Off |
| 1920s | 3 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser | Anheuser-Busch Budweiser St. Louis |
| 1940s | 2 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser Lager Beer | Budweiser Beer |
| 1950s | 4 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser Lager Beer | Budweiser Lager Beer |
| 1970s | 4 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser Lager Beer | Budweiser |
| 1980s | 4 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser Lager Beer | Budweiser |
| Today | 4 | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser King of Beers | Budweiser King of Beers |
|
The original Budweiser pledge reads "We guarantee that this beer is brewed especially for our own trade according to the Budweiser process of choicest hops, best barley and rice. This beer is brewed in St. Louis and warranted to keep in any climate. Take notice that all crowns are branded with our trade-mark." The last sentence was altered slightly in the early 1900s to read: "Take notice that all crowns
bear our trade-mark."
It was altered again, albeit briefly to read as follows: "We guarantee that this beverage is healthful, refreshing, nutritious, free from bacteria, fully matured and aged, will keep in any climate, and fermented (?) in St. Louis. Take note that all crowns bear our "A" and "Eagle" trade mark". This pledge was reverted to the second pledge after only a few years.
The current pledge was placed on the bottle some time around the end of the Second World War. It reads: "This is the famous Budweiser beer. We know of no brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood Aging produces a taste, a smoothness and drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price."
See also Budweiser Budvar.With globalization of brands, the existence of the Czech beer of the same name has caused problems in some markets. A long-standing agreement with the Czech brewer divided the rights to the name "Budweiser", so that the Anheuser-Busch product is marketed as "Bud" (in France and elsewhere) and "Anheuser-Busch B" (Germany), where the Czech beer has the rights to the name. Anheuser-Busch has made offers to buy out the Czech brewing company in order to secure global rights to the name "Budweiser" for both beers, but the Czech government has refused all such offers, considering keeping the Budweiser name Czech to be a matter of national pride.
The rights to use the name in the U.S. were purchased by founders of the company. They chose "Budweiser" because it was German-sounding and would appeal to other German immigrants, and it was easy for Americans to pronounce.
Unlike most early beers, which used only barley, hops, yeast and water, Budweiser is brewed using rice and Beechwood chips in addition to the four major ingredients. The Beechwood chips, according to Budweiser, creates a smoother taste, while rice has since been known to the beer world to produce a "clean finish". Rice is an ingredient utilized by many brewers because it is a less expensive ingredient than malted barley, rye, or other grains. Some, however, have described the beer as being "bland" [
2] while others argue that Budweiser Budvar has a superior taste [
3] [
4].
Anheuser-Busch brews several brands of beer:
*The Budweiser Family
**Budweiser
**Budweiser Select
**Bud Light (introduced in 1982)
**Bud Dry
**Bud Ice
**Bud Ice Light
*The
Michelob Family
**Michelob
**Michelob Light
**Michelob Ultra
**Michelob Ultra Amber
**Michelob Honey Lager
**Michelob AmberBock
**Michelob Golden Draft
**Michelob Golden Draft Light
*
Busch Family
**Busch
**Busch Light
**Busch Ice
*The
Natural Family
**Natural Light
**Natural Ice
**Natural Plus
*Specialty Beers
**B^E
**Bare Knuckle Stout
**Anheuser World Lager
**
ZiegenBock**ZiegenLight
*Non-alcoholic
**O'Doul's
**O'Doul's Amber
**Busch NA
Due to an ongoing lawsuit with Budweiser Budvar, using the name Budweiser by Anheuser-Busch in
Germany is prohibited. This has led to some problems for Anheuser-Busch, as they are the official beer sponsor of the
FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, a country known for its rich beer heritage. Therefore Anheuser-Busch's flagship beer - Budweiser - will have to be sold under the name Anheuser Bud. In an effort to garner some positive press and due to complaints
Bud sounding too much like
Bit, Anheuser-Busch allows German brewery
Bitburger to serve their beer at the World Cup matches. The problem Anheuser-Busch has with selling their flagship beer to Germans is that traditional brewers serve beer with only the four main ingredients (water, hops, wheat and barley). However, Budweiser is made with rice and thus Germans resist beer not produced according to the regulations of the
"Reinheitsgebot". Currently, beers not produced according to the regulations of the
"Reinheitsgebot" are widely available in Germany. Nevertheless, most Germans prefer European-style beers as they taste distinctively different from American beer.
*
Budweiser official website*
Anheuser Busch corporate website, including its
*
annual report
