AB InBev Overstates Alcohol in Budweiser, Lawsuit Claims

[onehandle]

Source: Bloomberg

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), the world’s biggest brewer, was sued by consumers in three U.S. states for allegedly overstating the alcohol content in its Budweiser beer.

AB InBev’s St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. routinely adds extra water to its finished products to produce malt beverages with significantly less alcohol content than displayed on its labels, violating state statutes on consumer protection, according to in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia. Similar lawsuits were filed in federal courts in New Jersey and San Francisco.

“AB’s customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume it can sell,” Thomas and Gerald Greenberg said in the Philadelphia complaint.

AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois, controls 39 percent of the U.S. beer market. The company is seeking government approval to buy the rest of Grupo Modelo SAB, Mexico’s largest beermaker, for $20.1 billion. The Modelo brands account for 7 percent of the U.S. market. AB InBev shipped 98.5 million barrels in the U.S. in 2011, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-26/ab-inbev-overstates-alcohol-in-budweiser-lawsuit-claims.html

---

Hopefully foreign owned InBev will get its comeuppance for making shitty beer.

Craft Beers Forever!

[KamaAina]

1. How is Budweiser like having sex in a canoe?

It's fucking close to water!

(craft)

[mikeysnot]

3. yes, yes

[onehandle]

6. It's amazing how fast you can find beer info online. Just start typing the name...

...and they magically pop up. Whenever I look for something new at one of my favorite pubs, my iPhone is always at the ready.

'The King Of Beers'

Rated 53 on their scale
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/65

Rated 0 on their scale
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/budweiser/473

[frylock]

2. what did they expect drinking that swill?!

I know that when the tender at my local hang pours me a delicious Green Flash West Coast IPA or Ballast Point Sculpin IPA that i'm getting every bit of the 7.0% ABV that's advertised.

[nineteen50]

5. As I know with my

Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. I will try your Sculpin and Green Flash IPA.

[frylock]

7. man do i love that torpedo..

if you like hops, and I just bet that you do, you'll enjoy the two examples I listed. hoppy drinking!

[nineteen50]

16. If you want something unique try

SIERRA NEVADA BIGFOOT BARLEY-WINE STYLE ALE. Ones enough.

[frylock]

19. oh yeah. i've partaken of the Bigfoot..

and you're right. one is enough. I've had bigger beers. Avery Maharaja is one I had just the other night that clocks in at 10%, and I can handle two of those no prob. But there's something about the barley wine that just kicks my ass!

[mac56]

32. Bell's Hopslam.

Get it while you can. It is a HOP BOMB.

[frylock]

36. taken under advisement..

because I do love that kick-in-the-teeth hop flavor!

[OnyxCollie]

39. Sold out in no time where I am.

Love has passed me by.

[mopinko]

56. torpedo is the best

sad that inbev got their hands on goose island.

[KamaAina]

12. Sierra Nevada is kid stuff

Lagunitas, Stone, Firestone and Anderson Valley all do better IPAs. And that's just within California!

The first two also have other ales (Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Extra and Stone Arrogant Bastard) that are well worth your while.

[bluesbassman]

14. Definitely with you on the Lagunitas!

Good stuff!

[frylock]

20. i'm a HUGE fan of Lagunitas and their fare..

Lagunitas IPA is one of my regulars. Stone is good for sure, but down here in San Diego I'd rather have something from Ballast Point or Port Brewing. you can't swing a dead cat down here without hitting a micro or macro brewer! Societe in Kearney Mesa is a fairly new brewer that I'm really digging right now.

[KamaAina]

22. I've always wondered why that is

given that San Diego does not exactly have an oversupply of the main ingredient, water. Seems like it would make more sense to brew here in NorCal and ship south.

But then there'd be no Arrogant Bastard.

[onehandle]

8. Crafts, in my experience, are never under their %.

I've had a few that kicked my ass, that I was sure were a point or two higher.

[frylock]

10. indeed!

[Igel]

58. If so, probably illegally . n/t

[formercia]

9. You could otherwise have a Colt 45

at 6% ABV.

[frylock]

11. more bang for the buck to be sure..

we used to get quarts of King Cobra at the local bodega for 99 cents. don't miss those days at all!

[formercia]

13. Not as bad as Tropical Beer

with Formaldehyde as a preservative.

Those old times at GITMO

[frylock]

29. mmmmmmmm.... you can really taste the malt and formaldehyde!

[hatrack]

18. Mwaah, Green Flash, mwaah, gurgle gulp

[OnyxCollie]

27. Beers that will kick your ass.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga, 9.99% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Great Lakes Alchemy Hour Double IPA, 9.4% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, 12% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Founders Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Brasserie Dubuisson Scaldis Noel, 12% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Dogfish Head Immort Ale, 11% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Two Brothers Revelry, 9.5% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Troegs Mad Elf Ale, 11% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, 9% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

North Coast Old Stock Ale, 11.9% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Unibroue La Fin Du Monde, 9% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, 10% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Great Lakes Blackout Stout, 9% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA, 9.5% ABV.
[IMG][/IMG]

I'm of the philosophy of "One and Done."

[frylock]

28. great list!

I'm more of an American Pale Ale guy. they tend to be in the 5-6 range, and I can enjoy 3 or 4 without getting my dick in the dirt!

[OnyxCollie]

30. I like all sorts of beer.

Last edited Wed Feb 27, 2013, 02:28 AM - Edit history (1)

All my life I've collected things, from music to political info and now to beer.

I've been graced (cursed?) to live next to a beverage store that boasts the second largest selection of beer in Ohio, and I frequently stop in to see what's new.

I tend to buy things quicker than I can drink, so my fridge is slightly overstocked. (There's over 30 different beers, along with a package of hot dogs and some hummus.)
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[frylock]

38. and your address, kplzthx!

I have some buns......

[OnyxCollie]

40. I'm cosmopolitan.

I use tortillas.

Bring dill relish.

[Son of Gob]

45. Nothing wrong with getting your dick in the dirt, we all do it.

[rhett o rick]

43. Dont forget the Pacific North West

Silverdale, WA

Fat Scotch Ale (was Fat Bastard but lost law suit for name) 9.2% alcohol 30 IBU's

Whoop Pass Double IPA 8.5% alcohol and 85 IBU

to name two.

http://www.silvercitybrewery.com/restaurant/beer.htm

[BreweryYardRat]

64. If I may add to the list...

Left Hand's Wake Up Dead (Russian Imperial Stout, 10.2% ABV) is -- hands down -- one of the best beers I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy.



Smuttynose's Gravitation (Belgian Quad -- ABV varies yearly, anything from 6.6% -- 12%) is fucking delicious -- if you like raisins.



Smuttynose's Baltic Porter (8-9% ABV) is equally luscious, with coffee and chocolate flavors, and while the taste of raisins is present, it's much less overpowering.



Weyerbacher also makes fantastic beer -- especially their Blithering Idiot Barleywine (11%) and Old Heathen Stout (8%).

[OnyxCollie]

65. I contemplated buying Wake Up Dead today at the bottle shop.

It was reasonably priced and something I hadn't had before, but I ended up with a six of North Coast Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale and a single of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout. (I wasn't too sure about the stout, so I thought I would take a chance with a single.)

I haven't seen those particular Smuttynose beers before, but I will keep them in mind when I'm shopping. (I like the taste of raisins in beer, and I'm a big fan of Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre.)

The only Weyerbacher beers I've had are Heresy, Imperial Pumpkin, and Last Chance IPA. (Last Chance isn't all that great, but sales go to help animals that are about to be put down, so it's tolerable.)

[OnyxCollie]

57. Sculpin is sublime.

Big Eye IPA ain't too shabby either.
[IMG][/IMG]

Have you tried Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter? There's one in my fridge that's been on the "To Drink" list for a while now...

[formercia]

4. Add a little more Water

and you have Lite Beer.

[BainsBane]

24. light OJ is another con

Half the OJ with water for the prices of regular OJ.

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. "The Man That Waters the Workers Beer"

MAN THAT WATERS THE WORKERS' BEER
(Paddy Ryan)

I am the man, the very fat man,
That waters the workers' beer
I am the man, the very fat man,
That waters the workers' beer
And what do I care if it makes them ill,
If it makes them terribly queer
I've a car, a yacht, and an aeroplane,
And I waters the workers' beer

Now when I waters the workers' beer,
I puts in strychnine
Some methylated spirits,
And a can of kerosine
Ah, but such a brew so terribly strong,
It would make them terribly queer
So I reaches my hand for the watering-can
And I waters the workers' beer

Now a drop of good beer is good for a man
When he's tired, thirsty and hot
And I sometimes have a drop myself,
From a very special pot
For a strong and healthy working class
Is the thing that I most fear
So I reaches my hand for the watering-can
And I waters the workers' beer

Now ladies fair, beyond compare,
Be you maiden or wife
Spare a thought for such a man
Who leads such a lonely life
For the water rates are frightfully high,
And the meths is terribly dear
And there ain't the profit there used to be
In watering the workers' beer

@drink
Copyright Workers Music Association

[another_liberal]

34. Excellent!

That's some truly excellent verse, my friend!

Thank you much for sharing it with us.

[DallasNE]

17. Next Time You Go To Walmart

Read the fine print on the meat labels. A few years ago I stopped buying meat there because that $10 a pound steak contained 10% injected water, meaning the actual cost of the meat was $11 a pound.

[denverbill]

25. Sadly, it's not just at Walmart. King Soopers and Target do it as well.

King Soopers does it to almost all of their pork. Target does it to a lot of their meats but also carries organic stuff that isn't juiced.

[Fuddnik]

21. Cigar City in Tampa. Rated one of the top 5 breweries in the world recently.

Jai Alai IPA will knock your socks off! 8.5%

And it don't taste like any fucking Budweiser.

[BainsBane]

23. I could tell that just by tasting it

piss water.

[maddogesq]

26. Forget Buttwiper!

Drink Michigan instead.

http://www.drinkmichigan.org/beer/microbreweries/

[Dreamer Tatum]

31. Ah, another elitist beer thread. nt

[Earth_First]

35. Not elitist; just alive. n/t

[AAO]

50. Elitist? Drinking local brew? You've got it backwards. We aren't supporting the corporate oligarchy

[Nevernose]

66. I used to despise "beer snobs"

And thought they were a bunch of hipster assholes who just thumbed their noses at anything mainstream. And don't get me wrong -- some of them are. Some days after a really hard day I'll pop open a can of Steel Reserve (I'm drinking one now, in fact) and I still think a cold Michelob on a hot Mojave desert afternoon is the equal of most microbrews.

However, I changed my opinion after streaming "Beer Wars" on Netflix. The corporate sheninagans legally pulled -- price fixing, lawsuits, graft, etc. -- were enough to get me to reconsider the microbrew industry. Most of them seem to be weirdos who have a big dream and a passion for quality beer, and often I'll give them my money just because of that. Coors/InBev/MegaBeerCo really don't need my money, and variety is the spice of life.

(Still don't like Bud very much, though, but I never did, not even in high school)

[another_liberal]

33. Everything they make . . .

Everything they make is basically rain water with a little food coloring anyway. Totally wretched swill, to say the least.

(But wasn't that a cute commercial!)

[Wolf Frankula]

37. Objection! Objection! Objection!

Budweiser is NOT beer! It's a malt flavored beverage seasoned with hop extract. It is not beer!
This is beer!

Wolf

[link:|

[AAO]

52. Now that is worth traveling to Pilsen

That's on my bucket list!

[Igel]

59. I beg to differ.

Budweiser is, indeed, beer--and quite good beer. Provided that you're drinking it--whether svetle or tmave, light or dark--in the town of Budweis.

Budweis is usually called "Ceske Budejovice" these days since the days of German hegemony ended and is conveniently located in the Czech Republic.

Urquell (Prazdroj) is the crap of Czech beers, made at a large plant in the southern part of Prague. Scores, if not hundreds, of Czech beers are better. Then again, what's crap and what's not is entirely relative.

[Wolf Frankula]

67. Here the beer from Ceske Budejovice is called Czechvar.

It is very good, and is much better than the Inbev imitation. The Pilsner Urquell I drink is the unfiltered variety on draft in my neighborhood beerhouse, not the green bottled stuff. The problem with green glass is the light makes it skunky.

Wolf

[nineteen50]

41. Try it

Ovila Abbey Quad With Plums 10.2%
And help rebuild the 1190 -1220ad Stone Chapter House imported from Spain now being restored at the New Clairvaux Abbey.

[AAO]

42. I can't imagine anyone drinking Budweiser past 1985 or so.

Or any other American "macro beer". Our population is uneducated in more ways than one.

[rhett o rick]

49. Advertising. nm

[AAO]

51. You can say that again. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

44. LOCAL craft beers forever!

[onehandle]

53. Pennsylvania Rocks For Local Craft Beers! nt

[AAO]

46. If you are ever in southern Wisconsin, including Madison..

http://aleasylum.com/ballistic/

[rhett o rick]

48. What I find strange is that guys I've seen that drive huge pickup trucks, with oversize tires and

wheels, with a gun rack, etc. and they drink ice cold Bud Light, Light which taste to me like lousy water.

I guess I am not a "real" man.

I second "kraft beers forever".

[Vinnie From Indy]

54. How Beer Saved The World

Here in Indy, Bell's Two Hearted, Alpha King are quite nice!

[benld74]

55. Auggie Busch is spinning in his grave

[Nye Bevan]

60. WHOA. Budweiser is crappy? Who knew? (nt)

[Mosby]

61. I recently discovered Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

It's great for people who don't like "strong" beer but its still an IPA.

My fave high alcohol beer is Hops Rising (double IPA) by Squatter. Their IPA is excellent.

Trappist rochfort 10 (sp) is pretty good.

[Wolf Frankula]

62. Beer and Cats Made Civilization

Beer made accumulating large amounts of grain desirable. Cats made it possible.

And isn't that Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor) on the Old Rasputin bottle? (A yummy RIS. Almost as good as Victory Storm King.)

Wolf

[link:|

[onehandle]

63. Victory is a great brewery. There's great beer here in Pennsylvania. nt

[Kolesar]

68. There's beer in their bottled water...eom

[laureloak]

69. Suit filed by former employees seeking millions $$$$

Not worth a hoot. Again, the real story is who is behind the sabotage of 3G Capital holdings.