Budweiser (ˈbʌdwaɪzər) is a 5.0%
abvABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
American-style lagerAmerican lager or North American lager is pale lager which is made and consumed in North America. Pale lager originated in Europe in the mid-19th century, and moved to America with German immigrants...
introduced in 1876 by
Adolphus BuschColonel Adolphus Busch was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. His great-great-grandson, August Busch IV is now on the board of Anheuser-Busch InBev.-Biography:...
and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to
hopsHops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
and
barleyBarley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
maltMalt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
.
Budweiser is produced in various
breweriesA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
located around the world. It is a
filtered beerBright beer is beer in which yeast is no longer in suspension. There are several methods used for clearing yeast from beer, from waiting for the yeast to drop of its own accord to filtering it.-Dropping bright:...
available in
draughtDraught beer is beer served from a cask or a pressurised keg.-History of draught:Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served directly from the barrel and carried to the customer. The Old English word for carry was dragen which developed into a series of related words,...
and packaged forms.
History
Adolphus Busch left Germany for America in 1857. He settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where he eventually established his own brewing supply house. In St. Louis, Busch also met and married a woman named Lilly Anheuser. Lilly’s father, Eberhard Anheuser, owned a small brewery that had been yielding lager beer for some time. In 1864, Busch partnered with his father in-law to form what would eventually become the Anheuser-Busch Company.
Busch traveled extensively throughout Europe in order to observe and study the latest brewing techniques. In the 1870s, Anheuser-Busch became the first American brewery to implement pasteurization, which greatly improved the shelf-life and transportability of its beers. In the mid-1800s, most Americans preferred robust, dark ales. Busch had encountered lighter lager beers during his travels and began brewing a light Bohemian lager. Anheuser-Busch introduced this lager in 1876 under the brand name Budweiser.
Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch enjoyed two decades of growth before the onset of prohibition in 1920. Anheuser-Busch had to suspend brewing of Budweiser during prohibition and launched a range of non-alcoholic products.
When prohibition came to an end in 1933, Anheuser-Busch began brewing Budweiser again. During prohibition the palate of the beer consumer had changed due to the popularization of sweeter homemade and bootlegged brews. The company dared consumers to drink Budweiser for five days, and if on the sixth day, if they still preferred the taste of other beers they could go back.
Growth was limited by economic conditions caused by the great depression but thanks in part to the introduction of the metal can in 1936 Budweiser’s sales began to climb again.
During World War II, the company diverted several resources to support the war effort and relinquished its West Coast markets to conserve rail car space. After the war Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch entered into an era of rapid growth.
August A. Busch Jr. became president of Anheuser-Busch in 1946 and began the creation of a national network of breweries. The first new brewery was opened in
Newark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
in 1951, and was the first of nine to open over the course of the next 25 years.
Budweiser is available in over 80 markets.
Name origin and dispute
In 1876,
Adolphus BuschColonel Adolphus Busch was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. His great-great-grandson, August Busch IV is now on the board of Anheuser-Busch InBev.-Biography:...
and his friend Carl Conrad, a liquor importer, developed a "Bohemian-style" lager, inspired after a trip to the region. Brewers in
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
(today's Czech Republic) generally named a beer after their town with the suffix "er." Beers produced in the town of Pilsen (today's Plzeň), for example, were called Pilsners. Busch and Conrad had visited another town, only 104 km (64.6 mi) south of Pilsen also, known for its breweries: Budweis (or Böhmisch Budweis, today's
České BudějoviceČeské Budějovice is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region and centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice and of the University of South Bohemia and the Academy of Sciences...
). Beer has been brewed in Budweis since it was founded as
Budiwoyz by king
Ottokar II of BohemiaOttokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
in 1245. The name
Budweiser is a locative, meaning "of Budweis." In most European countries American
Budweiser is not labelled as
Budweiser but as
Bud, and the name
Budweiser refers to the original Czech beer, Budweiser Budvar, except for
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where both beers are sold as
Budweiser.
Anheuser-Busch has a market share in the United States of 50.9% for all beers sold. This is primarily composed of
Budweiser brands. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch sold the majority of their stock to Belgian-Brazilian beer giant
InBevInBev is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company existed independently for several years - since the merger between Interbrew and AmBev and until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. InBev has operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries...
, to create the largest brewing company in the world.
Marketing
Anheuser-Busch uses what is in many jurisdictions a legally-protected mark-of-origin indicating Czech provenance and humorous
advertising campaignAn advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
s to promote
Budweiser, such as the "
Real Men of GeniusReal Men of Genius is a series of advertisements, primarily 60-second American radio spots, for Bud Light beer. The campaign was originally created by Bob Winter, a copywriter at DDB Chicago....
" radio and television commercials for
Bud Light.
The
Budweiser from Budějovice has been called "The Beer of Kings" since the 16th century. Adolphus Busch changed this slogan to "The King of the Beers". The Czech Budweiser is sold in some countries as
Budejovicky Budvar but is known as
Budweiser in many other countries throughout the world.
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 frogsThe Budweiser Frogs are three life-like puppet frogs named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", who began appearing in American television commercials for Budweiser beer during Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. They are part of one of the most well-known international alcohol advertising campaigns. They were created...
named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", the Budweiser Ants, and a campaign built around the phrase "
Whassup?Whassup? was a commercial campaign for Anheuser-Busch Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002. The first spot aired during Monday Night Football, December 20, 1999. The ad campaign was run worldwide and became a pop culture catchphrase...
". Anheuser-Busch is known for its sport sponsorship, video game sponsorship (
TapperTapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips.-Overview:...
), and humorous advertisements. Advertising campaigns have also included lizards impersonating the "Bud-weis-er" frogs, and a team of Clydesdale horses commonly known as the
Budweiser ClydesdalesThe Budweiser Clydesdales are a group of Clydesdale horses used for promotions and commercials by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. There are six "hitches" or teams of horses, five that travel around the United States and one that remains in their official home at the company headquarters at the...
. Commercials starred the infamous Brody Chillston, of ChillMilk.com fame.
The
Budweiser brand is promoted in motorsports, from
Bernie LittleBernie Little was the most successful owner in Unlimited Hydroplane racing history. His Miss Budweiser team won 134 of the 354 hydroplane races they entered. They won the high points championship 22 years in 40 years of competition, and the Gold Cup 14 times...
's
Miss BudweiserThe Miss Budweiser were 22 Hydroplanes sponsored by Budweiser beer. They were owned by Bernie Little and , his youngest son, Joe...
hydroplane boat to sponsoring the Budweiser King Top Fuel Dragster driven by Brandon Bernstein. Anheuser-Busch has sponsored the
CARTChamp Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
championship, and top NASCAR teams such as
Junior JohnsonRobert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
,
Hendrick MotorsportsHendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas...
and
DEIDale Earnhardt, Inc. was a NASCAR-related organization located in Mooresville, North Carolina, United States working to continue the legacy of Dale Earnhardt. It was originally formed in 1980 by seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt who died in a crash on the closing lap of the 2001...
.
Budweiser is the official beer of NHRA and was the official beer of
NASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
until 2007. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch became
Kasey KahneKasey Kenneth Kahne is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #5 Farmers Insurance Group Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series....
's primary sponsor, and has also sponsored many races, including the
Budweiser ShootoutBudweiser Shootout at Daytona, generally referred to as the Bud Shootout, is an annual invitation-only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series exhibition event held at Daytona International Speedway in February, the weekend before the Daytona 500. It is the first competitive event of the season and serves as a...
, and previously The Bud at the Glen,
Budweiser 500Budweiser 500 may refer to two different NASCAR auto races:* For the race at Dover International Speedway in 1983, see AAA 400* For the race at Dover International Speedway from 1984 to 1994, see Autism Speaks 400...
, and
Budweiser 400The Budweiser 400 was an annual summer NASCAR Winston Cup race held from 1970 to 1988 at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, USA. A 400-mile race was also run at the track in November 1963. The race distance was 400 miles until 1976 when it was shortened to 249 miles...
. In 2011, Budweiser became the sponsor for
Kevin HarvickKevin Michael Harvick is an American stock car auto racing race car driver and car owner currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving the No. 29 Budweiser/Jimmy John's/Rheem/Okuma/Realtree Outdoors/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet Impala...
.
Anheuser-Busch has placed
Budweiser as an official partner and sponsor of
Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
and
Los Angeles GalaxyThe Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...
and was the headline sponsor of the
British Basketball LeagueThe British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
in the 1990s, taking over from rival company Carlsberg. Anheuser-Busch has also placed
Budweiser as an official sponsor of the Premier League.
In the early 20th century, the company commissioned a play-on-words song called
Under the Anheuser BushUnder the Anheuser Bush was an early-1900s popular song commissioned by the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Its name is an obvious pun on the company name. In fact, the German word "Busch" is equivalent to the English word "bush"....
, which was recorded by several early phonograph companies. Popular music continues to be used in advertisements for
Budweiser. Some commercials feature the song "
Galvanize"Galvanize" is a song by British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers and the first single released from their 2005 album Push the Button. It was released a week before the album's release and peaked at No. 3 in the UK charts . It won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in February 2006...
", by
The Chemical BrothersThe Chemical Brothers are a British electronic music duo comprising Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Originating in Manchester in 1991, along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and fellow acts, they were pioneers at bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture.- Background...
.
In August 2009 Anheuser-Busch partnered with popular Chinese video-sharing site, Tudou.com for a user-generated online video contest. The contest encourages users to suggest ideas that include ants for a Bud TV spot set to run in February 2010 during the
Chinese New YearChinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
.
In 2010, Budweiser launched an international entertainment property called Bud United. Bud United’s first efforts were centered around the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The brand launched an online reality TV series called Bud House that followed the lives of 32 international football fans (one representing each nation in the World Cup) living together in a house in South Africa. Bud United’s next project is another reality series called The Big Time. Each episode of The Big Time will focus on a different vertical (Baseball, Soccer, Cooking etc.…) and will feature contestants competing for a chance to live their dreams. The show is being cast through the Bud United Facebook page and will air in Q1 2012.
Containers
Over the years,
Budweiser has been distributed in many sizes and containers. Until the early 1950s
Budweiser was primarily distributed in three packages: kegs, 12-ounce bottles and quart bottles. Cans were first introduced in 1936, which helped sales to climb. In 1955 August Busch Jr. made a strategic move to expand
Budweisers national brand and distributor presence. Along with this expansion came advances in bottling automation, new bottling materials and more efficient distribution methods. These advances brought to market many new containers and package designs. Budweiser
is distributed in four large container volumes: half-barrel (15.5 US gallons), quarter-barrel, 1/6 barrel and beer balls (5.2 gallons); and in smaller 7, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 22, 24, 32 and 40 US ounce containers. Smaller containers may be made of glass, aluminum or plastic. On August 3, 2011, Budweiser announced its twelfth can design since 1936, one which emphasizes the bowtie.
Packages are sometimes tailored to local customs and traditions. In MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, ten ounce cans are the preferred package. Budweiser drinkers in the western stretches of
Ottawa County, Michigan-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 238,314 people, 81,662 households, and 61,328 families residing in the county. The population density was 421 people per square mile . There were 86,856 housing units at an average density of 154 per square mile...
prefer the eight ounce can. This Ottawa County preference for the eight ounce can may stem from a long-standing
blue lawA blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and, formerly, in Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping...
held in many Western Michigan cities that prohibit sale of beer and wine on Sundays. In response to this blue law, brewers and distributors presented the eight ounce can as a smaller alternative.
Anheuser-Busch has introduced many can designs with co-branding and sports marketing promotional packaging. Today, most of these promotional programs are represented only on the 16 ounce aluminum bottle container. However, many
major league baseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and NFL teams in the United States also promote 24 ounce cans marked with team logos.
Bottle
The Budweiser bottle has remained relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1876. The top label is red and currently reads "Budweiser". The top of the main label is red with a white banner with a
pledgeAn oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
on it, which has changed three times. Below the banner is a
coat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of sorts, which features an Anheuser-Busch stylization. Below that is a large white box.
| Era |
Pledge |
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 Lager Beer |
Budweiser |
Beer
Budweiser is brewed using
barleyBarley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
malt, rice, water,
hopsHops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
and
yeastYeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
. It is lagered with
beechBeech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
wood chips in the ageing vessel which, according to Anheuser-Busch, creates a smoother taste. While beechwood chips are used in the maturation tank, there is little to no flavor contribution from the wood, mainly because they are boiled in
sodium bicarbonateSodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula Na HCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . The natural mineral form is...
[baking soda] for seven hours for the very purpose of removing any flavor from the wood. The maturation tanks that Anheuser-Busch uses are horizontal and, as such,
flocculationFlocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process wherein colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc or flakes by the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to flocculation, colloids are merely suspended in a liquid and not actually...
of the yeast occurs much more quickly. Anheuser-Busch refers to this process as a secondary fermentation, with the idea being that the chips give the yeast more surface area to rest on. This is also combined with a krausening procedure that re-introduces wort into the chip tank therefore activating the fermentation process again. By placing chips at the bottom of the tank, the yeast remains in suspension longer, giving it more time to reabsorb and process green beer flavors, such as acetaldehyde and diacetyl, that Anheuser-Busch believes are off-flavors which detract from overall drinkability.
Budweiser remains one of the world's lowest rated beers on notable rating sites such as BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com. Some drinkers prefer the lightness of beers like
Budweiser and consume it as a refreshment or for its inebriating effects, Several beer writers consider it to be bland. The beer is light-bodied with faint sweet notes and negligible bitterness, leading to reviews characterizing it as a "...beer of underwhelming blandness". Even Adophus Busch didn't like it. Based upon sales, it is the second most popular American brewed
pale lagerPale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
among North American beer consumers.
Budweiser and
Bud Light are sometimes advertised as vegan beers, in that their ingredients and conditioning do not use animal by-products. Some might object to the inclusion of genetically engineered rice and animal products used in the brewing process. In July 2006, Anheuser-Busch brewed a version of
Budweiser with organic rice, for sale in Mexico. They have yet to extend this practice to any other countries.
Anheuser-Busch was one of the few breweries during
ProhibitionProhibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
that had the resources and wherewithal to convert to "cereal beer" production—malt beverage made with non-fermentables such as rice and unmalted barley and rye, and able to stay under the 0.5% limit established by the
Volstead ActThe National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States...
. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the major breweries continued to use unmalted cereal grains to provide the full body and mouthfeel of a "real" beer while keeping the alcohol content low.
Budweiser brands
In addition to the regular
Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch brews several different beers under the
Budweiser brand, including
Bud Light and
Bud Ice.
In July 2010
Anheuser-BuschAnheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
launched Budweiser 66 in the United Kingdom. Budweiser Brew No.66 has 4% alcohol by volume, and is brewed and distributed in the UK by
InbevInBev is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company existed independently for several years - since the merger between Interbrew and AmBev and until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. InBev has operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries...
UK Limited.
See also
- Budweiser trademark dispute between Anheuser Busch and breweries from Budweis in the Czech republic.
- Ulterior Emotions
Ulterior Emotions was an album released by Budweiser as part of their "Bud Light Institute" advertising campaign. It was originally merely the fake subject of a commercial, but after receiving phone calls from customers actually interested in buying the album it was made available for purchase on...
- An album released by Anheuser Busch.
- Beer Wars
Beer Wars is a 2009 documentary film about the American beer industry. In particular, it covers the differences between large corporate breweries, namely Anheuser-Busch, the Miller Brewing Company, and the Coors Brewing Company opposed to smaller breweries like Dogfish Head Brewery, Stone Brewery...
- Beer Wars is a 2009 documentary film about the American beer industry.
External links