I was feeling rebellious to craft beer community so I picked up this 25 ounce can of the golden suds otherwise known as Budweiser! You might ask why 25 ounces? I imagine because this is the king of beers! Only mere mortal peasant beers come in a ordinary conformist 24-ounce can. It's awesomeness just can't be contained in just 24 ounces.
In order to try and maintain my craft beer street cred, and to rebel against my first act of rebelliousness, I'm using my snifter glass which is the official glass of the fussy beer drinking snob. I got this glass at the most recent beer fest I went to which surprisingly I saw no Budweiser booth. I must have missed it. Maybe being the king of beers they didn't feel the need to bow down to the commoner types at the beer-fest.I thought they'd fit in between Samuel Adams and Sierra Nevada just nicely.I can hear the Clydesdale's fussing in the background as I pour.
Of course we all know if the Darth Vader had an official beer of the evil empire it would be this would be the one. It is the infamous symbol of big macro corporate beer. It even hurts beer snobs to say the word "Budweiser".
What exactly is evil about this beer? Is it because of it representing corporate beer? Is it the beer itself? Maybe the bully type of marketing and sales techniques they allegedly use? Maybe it's a combination of all of the above.
The beer itself is brewed to be pleasant and unoffensive as possible. It's golden color is crystal clear. Despite it detractors it a sweet and unoffensive beer. I've tasted far worse macro lagers including the hipster favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon which I found quite awful. It does have a fuller flavor than it's lighter sibling Bud Light.
It makes me wonder at times what exactly makes a good or bad beer? Is it how well it conforms to tradition or craft. Is it how many people enjoy it? It's very debatable to say the least.
It's brewed to be a beer for the masses. Just like a politician running for office anything offensive is taken out as to not offend anyone. It's to be consumed in massive quantities. That's why pale lagers became popular. People loved it to drink it in great quantity. If you look at the history of the style it took a lot of work to get the beer this light and smooth in the beginning.
I do believe in celebrating all beer and don't believe in deriding those that drink a certain brand or worry about who owns the company, unless they are owned by Taliban,ISIS, Nazi's, child pedophiles, anti-vaxxers or something like that. It's about what comes out in the glass in the end. The care, quality and craft in the brew will come out of the tap in the long run. To get all your panties in a bunch because of a buyout is immature and jumping the gun. If the quality lags then I can see it. I can't see jumping ship on a hard working brewery and it's workers because beer snobs turn their noses on a product that has more than likely gone unchanged besides ownership and financing.
I have a hunch that it's unlikely that AB-InBev will change much in those craft brewers it decides to buy. They know that the core of the craft beer fan base are watching and waiting for any change in product so I kind of doubt they would change, at least not while anyone was looking. They know they failed gain credibility with psuedo-craft beer like Shock-Top so they have shore up their brand with craft beer that all the start up work and credibility have already been established.
Be proud of what you drink and don't worry about what corporate beer suits or beer snobs think. Enjoy your beer wherever it comes from!
The Craft Beer Revolution: How a Band of Microbrewers Is Transforming the World's Favorite Drink by Steve Hindy
