Bryan_Polcyn's Blog

First, Miller.  Now, my beloved Anheuser-Busch.  The once proud, dominant, masculine, midwestern beer belt has been swallowed - chugged like a can of Beast on a college campus.  Guzzled like a warm Natural Light in your parents' garage.

InBev?  Who the (blank) is InBev?  At least I'd heard of Coors.

I grew up at Busch Stadium.  The original Busch stadium.  I took my first A-B Brewery tour at age 7 - not for the beer, but for the Clydesdales and the gift shop loaded with St. Louis Cardinals souvenirs.  (In case you didn't know, A-B once owned the Cardinals.)

I can still recite the contents of the Budweiser label by heart...

"This is the famous Budweiser beer.  We know of no beer produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age.  Our exclusive beechwood aging produces a taste, a smoothness, and a drinkability you will find in no other beer, at any price."

No Google.  No cut and paste.  That's from the heart.  The same heart that some Belgian conglomerate just ripped out.  This isn't just another big corporate merger to me.  It's beer.  And it's personal.

The temptation in Milwaukee may be to celebrate.  Misery loves company, hey?  From where I sit, it's just bad news all around.