Country music.
Apple pie.
And Budweiser beer.
Yes, there's nothing more iconically American than the red-white-and blue label of a can
of Bud.
How American is it?
Budweiser was even briefly renamed "America."
But how much do you actually know about the King of beers?
Here's a surprising look at the untold truth of Budweiser.
It's not actually American
Don't tell George Washington, but it turns out Budweiser isn't actually American at all.
Nope!
Originally known as the Bavarian Brewery when it was founded in 1852, the company was acquired
by German-born soap-maker Eberhard Anheuser in 1860.
In 1869, his German-born son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, bought half the company, and Anheuser-Busch
was born.
In the 1870's, while on a trip to Europe, Busch discovered a beer called Budweiser,
brewed in the city of Budweis in what is now the Czech Republic.
Inspired, he decided to make his own Bavarian lager, which he gave the highly original name...
Budweiser.
That name theft led to decades of legal disputes which have only settled down recently, as
the Belgian company In-Bev purchased Anheuser-Busch in 2008, and the Czech Budweiser Budvar Brewery
in 2011.
So maybe they should name their next beer…
Belgium?
Trust the process
Adolphus Busch innovated a number of revolutionary ideas, including bottling beer, pasteurizing
it, and refrigerating it so it could be shipped fresh long distances.
And he also made the beer actually drinkable.
William Knoedelseder, the author of Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch
and America's King of Beer, told NPR that previously, the beer at the brewery was
"[... so bad that] people would spit it back across the bar at bartenders."
"Bitter beer face!"
These days, Anheuser-Busch uses a couple of special ingredients to make sure all their
beer tastes the same no matter where it's manufactured or purchased.
The secret to consistency across the brand and all 12 United States AB InBev breweries
is that they all use the same yeast, derived from the same culture originally used by Adolphus
Busch in the first batch of beer he brewed in the 1850s.
And their other secret ingredient?
Strangely enough, it's rice.
Budweiser says it gives their beer, quote, "a crisp taste and smooth finish", but critics
of the brand claim that the company uses that as an excuse to dilute the beer because rice
is cheaper to use than malted barley.
Prohibition pro tip
After selling alcohol was made illegal in America in 1920, most breweries went out of
business.
But Anheuser-Busch managed to stay afloat, and even prosper, thanks to a genius idea
by Augustus Busch's son, August Anheuser-Busch.
He realized that while it was illegal to sell beer, it wasn't illegal to sell the ingredients.
So Anheuser-Busch began selling their yeast and other ingredients to home brewers desperate
for a taste of banned beer.
“Give me a keg of beer!"
Not only did it keep the company afloat, when Prohibition ended, Anheuser-Busch was in position
to take over the industry, as most of their competitors had been wiped out.
Horsing around
We're all familiar with the bastions of the Budweiser marketing department: the Clydesdale
horses.
But did you know that it takes a lot for a horse to actually become a Budweiser Clydesdale?
Yes, there's an "interview process."
The Budweiser Clydesdales have been a tradition since 1933 when August and Adolphus Busch
Jr. surprised their father with a six-horse Clydesdale hitch.
These days, Budweiser breeds the Clydesdale horses and has about 175 in their collection.
According to Warm Springs Ranch in Missouri, the home of the Budweiser Clydesdales, chosen
animals must be aesthetically consistent:
"They must stand at least 18 hands high (or 6 feet tall).
They must be geldings and at least 4 years old.
They must have a bay coat, four white stockings, a blaze of white on the face, a black mane
and a black tail.
And they must weigh between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds."
All in the family
It may be known as the King of Beers, but these days, Budweiser is a pretender to the
throne, as it's only the fourth best selling beer in America.
Don't cry for In-Bev, though, because they're keeping it all in the family, as Budweiser's
upstart younger sibling Bud Light is now America's #1 beer of choice.
“Dilly dilly!”
Light beers in general are on the upswing, with Coors Light at #2, and Miller Lite at
#3.
But it's craft beer loving Millennials that pose the biggest threat to Budweiser: in 2014,
the craft beer industry as a whole outsold Budwesier for the first time, while Anheuser-Busch
revealed that according to their research, 44 percent of 21-27 year old drinkers have
never even tried Budweiser.
Yikes!
Budweiser the video game
In 1983, arcades and bars across the country were introduced to the new hit game Tapper,
which put players in the role of a bartender desperately trying to keep up with the insane
demand for Budweiser beer.
Sporting a Budweiser logo, the game was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch as some sneaky viral marketing.
It turned out to be a little too sneaky, though, and the game had to be rebranded Root Beer
Tapper in 1984, because the original version was considered to be advertising alcohol to
minors.
There's a bright side, though, as the kid friendly version has lived on in pop culture
to this day.
This Bud's for you, Tapper!