than delicious beer from the Czech city Budvar!

http://www.american.edu/ted/budweis.htm

The quality of the beer has nothing to do with it. Don't you get it? The U.S. is losing every company that actually MAKES A PRODUCT. Has it occurred to you what that means?

Not so much?

Fucking idiots.

Well said, Mr. Leonard. Budweiser isn't worth fighting for. It doesn't take centuries of perfecting to result in that recipe. InBev's Stella Artois is a much finer mass-manufactured product. Sierra Nevada, however, uses far too much hops to hide brewing imperfections. Try Ommegang out of Cooperstown, NY. Beer America could be proud of.

You brought up how terrible Bud is, this article reminded me of an old Canadian joke.

What do American beer and sex in a canoe have in common?

They're both F%$king close to water.

that Budweiser became a nationwide brand by destroying other iconic brands. Take NYC for example - we had long-established local brands like Rheingold, Schaefer's, Ballantine. People didn't drink Bud here until it muscled everyone else out of the market in the 70s. What goes around comes around.

But you're deluding yourself if you think only Americans drink it. Even if that were remotely true, think about the number of very pale "American Pilsners" around the world.

Tsing Tao from China? Bud Clone.

Imperial from Costa Rica? Bud Clone.

Kirin from Japan? Bud Clone.

Kingfisher from India? Bud Clone.

Fosters from Australia? Bud Clone.

Perroni from Italy? Bud Clone.

Granted that some of the above beers are better than others, and many if not all are better than Bud. This was a list I spent about 30 seconds composing.

Still, I think the light colored American Pilsner with is a world wide phenomenon and you can reliably find Bud itself around the world.

It's not a style I prefer. I don't think Bud tastes good. However, I think while it's one thing to dismiss it in terms of your own preference, it's quite another to dismiss it as a beer of impact. InBev isn't buying it for fun and games.

I agree that it is somewhat symbolic of everything wrong with America and the dilution (literally and figuratively) of American manufacturing.

I don't think Sierra Nevada is overrated. It's a fairly generic pale ale produced in high volume. Prominent hop flavor and bitterness, malt present, but on the softer side. It's well-balanced and is a great go-to beer because it is often the only beer of any distinction.

Maybe the poster who felt it was overrated had unreasonably high expectations. I would love to hear his descriptions of the so-called brewing defects he feels are masked by the hops. It sounds like he doesn't know what he is talking about. Put up or shut up, I say. I think the folks down at Sierra Nevada have a microscope or two and would be well aware of any defects and more than capable of correcting them. This guy probably made a homebrew or two and thinks he's Michael Jackson (PBUH).

I will say this - most people who make wine have it easy. It's ok, expected, and even sometimes very good for wine to be different from one year or one harvest to the next. The weather, the terroir, all combine to make a product that is unique to a time and a place and tha uniqueness is celebrated.

Beer has to be the same day in day out, year after year. You can dismiss the monolithic and bland nature of the product in question (or try to say Sierra Nevada has defects), but it is quite an accomplishment to have a consistent beer product over time given the vagaries of the harvest, the water, and all of the other variables that can go into it. When was the last time you said to yourself "that 2003 six-pack of Cooper's Sparkling Ale was quite memorable and I will be tracking down more as soon as I can contact my Cicerone?

The largest employer in St Louis being taken over means job loss. In an economy where once they go they stay away, the reception to takeover is hostile. I have friends and relatives that work for Busch. The mood in St Louis is combative. From the corner offices to the warehouses they plan to fight, and no one is buying the lip service of your jobs are safe.

Maybe one lesson is that we shouldn't rely on beer companies (or any other kind of company) to provide healthcare, civic improvement, educational programming, etc. That's sort of like pinning education funding to casino revenues instead of taxes. Come to think of it, doesn't Missouri do that, too?

I like Bud and Bud Lite. It’s a good, cheap summertime beer. When fancy pints in NYC can be as high as $10 and it’s as hot as hell outside it’s a good choice. I like ordering it when everyone else is ordering something fancy and expensive – I promise you that people around me cancel that pricy ‘mico-brew’ and hop on my Bud Lite band wagon quick once I’ve made it ok. And I like 40s (and fancy beer hardly ever comes in a 40 oz). Pour it in a chilled glass and it’s all the same.

And this company has branded itself very well. That Bud can IS iconic and it’s really not Christmas time until I see those Clydesdales trotting through the snow. Do I care that a foreign company is buying them up? Not really. I don’t think it changes how I view the brand at all.

but I highly respect the company. It seems to be one of the few places I've heard about that employees enjoying their jobs. A place where they are actually proud of the company.

I've also visited the St. Louis brewery, and thought it was an example of a great American company. AB isn't in financial trouble, so I find it troubling when a non-American company is trying to take over AB. Potentially by hostile means even.

America isn't going to keep its greatness by selling out to the highest bidder. We should try to actually out do the bidder.

If you think somehow AB has done beer injustice, you should blame prohibition not AB. AB just happened to be large enough to survive it.