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Au Revoir to the King of Beers
It's official, Anheuser-Busch announced this morning it will be sold to In-Bev for about $50 billion. I am not certain what most Americans think about saying goodbye to an American business icon. This is the company, formerly headquartered in St. Louis, MO, which sells half of all the beer sold in America today. We now live in a global economy where the very idea of home grown business and enterprise means nothing. In-Bev is a Belgian consortium with operations headquartered in Brazil. Their offer to shareholders speaks a lot more forcefully than keeping a bunch of people employed with benefits and living wages. In-Bev will certainly do what comes naturally, and consolidate operations with cost savings measures to reward their shareholders with perceived value. To many current "King of Beers" employees this translates to resume` work and network building exercises to locate new employment. How many high-paying fast-food jobs are in our little world today? What I find both hilarious or tragic (depending on the second) is the hostility and hatred focused on socialism in this country while unrestrained and unregulated global capitalism of the past 25 years has reduced the American standard of living to the Great Depression era equivalent. I have never seen so many vacant homes in cities throughout California. I have never seen so few job opportunities where a middle class existence is achievable. I never thought I would see the day in this country where the majority of companies offer no vacation time for the first full year of employment. I never thought I would see a quarter of the American population either uninsured or under insured for medical coverage. I never thought I would see a third of our high school student body drop out and fail to graduate. But here we are, all sold out. 35 comments from 13 users
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posted by
FloridaStateGrad
on Jul 14, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Maybe they'll replace Budweiser with a better product. posted by
nooneisabovethelaw
on Jul 14, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Just imagine, the McCains will be working for a Belgian boss...interesting, no? posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:02 AM
posted by
adampayne
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Those are all great comments. Thanks for the truth and humor!!!! posted by
antiextremism
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Considering the Belgian propensity for talkin' loud then running up the white flag, does this mean the Clydesdales will be replaced by.............Chickens?
posted by
Goofy1
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:36 AM
I have always told friends that if I quit drinking, it would cause a financial panic in St. Louis! Now will I have to worry about the financial state of Belgium, or down in Rio? Will the horses have to learn how to prance to a Salsa beat? I need to go get a beer and think this through!! Seriously, I hope the folks working for Budweiser are able to hold on to their jobs. posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:49 AM
FSG, I was thinking the same thing. It could only help. As long as they don't start laying off people, it might end up being better for the workers.
Belgian beer is some of the best in the world, but IMO not as good as a lot of beers made here in California. posted by
adampayne
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:55 AM
The Lengthwise we poured at our Liberally Drinking meet-up a week or so back was quite delicious. Buy local and stay vocal. Maybe some more folks can come out for our second round of carbonated dialog and support our local brew-people. posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 14, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Mmmmm, I love their Centennial Ale. It's hoppy and delicious. posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 14, 2008 at 12:11 PM
posted by
adampayne
on Jul 14, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Murph, you're cracking me up!!!! Thanks!!!!! Pete, that is a tasy brew, but I had to make the Lengthwise establishment a cool weather stop due to the lack of air conditioning in their building. It's been awhile. posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 14, 2008 at 01:02 PM
I usually sit at the bar when I go. It's metal and doesn't get hot. I think there are fans or something near there too. It tends to be a little humid in there because of the brewing, but not as bad as the horrid 60% humidity we had yesterday. That sucked. posted by
Goofy1
on Jul 14, 2008 at 01:25 PM
The house of Bud!!! I conservatively estimate I at least helped to build the right field bleachers...could have helped with the arch too, but did not recycle back then. posted by
OldBlue56
on Jul 14, 2008 at 01:48 PM
I wonder if InBev will change the recipe for Budweiser so it doesn't give beer drinkers diarrhea? posted by
FloridaStateGrad
on Jul 14, 2008 at 07:18 PM
There's a Belgian Beer by the name of Maredsous.. best stuff on earth, with the Canadian Brewery Unibrau (makers of Maudite and La Fin Du Monde) a close second, followed by Yeungling (Pennsylvania beer, oldest continuous brewery in America). posted by
Shwaine
on Jul 14, 2008 at 11:02 PM
I don't drink so my primary thoughts on hearing this were about the classic Bud advertising... will the Clydesdales still be making the rounds at fairs and will the Super Bowl ads be nearly as good? posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:24 AM
posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:25 AM
posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 15, 2008 at 09:35 AM
posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Anybody else here a member of Beer Church? posted by
Maggiepoo
on Jul 15, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Only drink imports, won`t touch anything the Americans call "beer", prefer Mead myself and a occasional Bock... posted by
ChicoEsquela
on Jul 15, 2008 at 11:18 AM
posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 15, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Magiepoo, not even American made microbrews?
I don't care for the mead.
My problem with some imports is that in this town people don't buy them as much, so you end up paying $8 a six pack for old beer. Trader Joe's has some fantastic brews, some American and some Imports. The only problem is that they don't refrigerate them. I also don't usually care for any beer that is in a green bottle. They are usually skunky for some reason. posted by
sfinboston52
on Jul 15, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Samuel Adam is still American made. posted by
Maggiepoo
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Micro`s are great if the brewers are in it for the finished product not mass "Ohhh Micro Brewery" profit,,,, Little one in San Leandro (what?) had the best Pumkin Beer ever made, He was a brewing messiah. Samual Adams is a gimick, Anchor Steam anyone... posted by
sfinboston52
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Samueal Adams is a gimick since 1984? http://www.samadams.com/sam... posted by
Maggiepoo
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Excuse me, Mass produced gimick since 1984...better posted by
sfinboston52
on Jul 15, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Their summer ale is good. posted by
vanityfair
on Jul 15, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Anchor Steam's Liberty Ale. Yum. posted by
murphyslaw
on Jul 15, 2008 at 01:03 PM
Just for the record, I haven't had a beer as of 7-16-1995 but, if I ever do wish to have one, I'll drink nothing less than $20.00's a bottle. posted by
ProgressivePete2
on Jul 15, 2008 at 01:08 PM
My latest fave is Mission St. Pale Ale. I reallyl can't stand any beer that has other weird flavors in it like pumpkin, or fruit like some of the summer and winter brews. YUK! I like beer flavored beer, which is why I can't stand bud, coors, miller, burgie, lucky lager, etc. posted by
adampayne
on Jul 17, 2008 at 08:41 AM
These days it is almost too hot to imbibe, even for really good beers. I can pour a cold one out on the patio, Red Nectar or Red Tail from Humboldt and Mendocino Brew companies respectively for my taste these past few years, but when I go inside I simply sweat like crazy. Am I too old for beer in Bako?
posted by
Maggiepoo
on Jul 17, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Red Tail...A OK.. good choice there...PP..the pumkin beer was really quite nice and had a earthy ,hop taste,, He olny made one batch a year.... posted by
Goofy1
on Jul 17, 2008 at 09:37 AM
Not to old Adam...I just drink more and then I don't notice the sweat or the heat and feel much happier. posted by
adampayne
on Jul 18, 2008 at 03:58 PM
That might be the ticket, Goofy1! By the way, Goofy1, I checked your profile and found some amazing shots of your converted bus. You might rival Neil Young's touring bus with what you have accomplished. Amazing job, and I'm sure the cold ones kept you hydrated. Thanks for sharing the quality of your work. Inspirational!!!
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