By now, you’ve probably seen the Budweiser American Ale commercials, which is rolling out on September 29. (Here’s a horribly boring YouTube “tutorial.”) There’s a touch of both sweet and sour in this little gimmick of a brew. On the sweet side, it seems to say that somewhere behind the scenes, real craft beer is making a dent into the Big Three enough for them to want to appeal to that market segment; on the sour side, it just puts a bad taste in our mouth, as sour things usually do. These companies make enough money on weak, adjunct-filled beers. We just don’t like it. We feel defensive, as if they are not allowed in this territory. Not to mention, it seems they’re trying to take a page from Sam Adam‘s marketing campaign with “education” and explanation of the brewing process, etc. (If imitation is in fact the sincerest form of flattery, Sam Adams just became Prom King via Anheuser-Busch.) To real craft drinkers, the commercials and advertisements are almost tongue-in-cheek hilarity, because in the eyes of the craft beer world, it seems the Big Three are running to catch up.
[Side Note: If you managed to make it through that Bud tutorial, they say 25 ibu's is "hoppy." Try telling that to a Double IPA-hophead and they'll likely spit it back in your face. Read this BeerAdvocate forum post where a Bud rep allegedly compares Bud American Ale to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale "but without all that nasty hoppy bite aftertaste." Oh, my!]
In defense of being called beer snobs, let’s just say we respect the Big Three. We do. And we’re not saying the Big Three shouldn’t try to keep up with popular styles or grow with an expanding portfolio. It’s just a case of Identity Crisis: Are these breweries traditionalists or pioneers? Can you be both? Granted, without them, craft beer may not have had a renaissance at all, for all we know. It took a long time for the brewing industry to bounce back from the Prohibition. Seriously. But that’s just the thing: The Big Three did not really help revitalize (or develop) the variety of styles of beer that again exist in this country. They just kept brewing alive, thank goodness. But mostly in the form of German styles, like the Lager or Pilsner.
The tacky crown on the wedding cake is the way they go about promoting these “craft” products. In most cases, they hide their production of a beer with a fake craft name and/or brewery. Look at the new Michelob line, i.e. Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale. They want to check the water without diving in. They want to test the market, but not quite embrace it. (On that note, we commend Budweiser for actually sticking the Bud name on the American Ale label.) But, Lew Bryson sums it up best:
“Can a beer that is brewed in a “craft” profile, but labeled with a mainstream brand…ever sell? Who’s going to buy it? Bud drinkers? To be blunt: not effin’ likely. Craft drinkers? Maybe, but most of them will not want to buy a beer from A-B (or InBev, for that matter). Sorry, guys, but for the majority of serious craft drinkers, who makes the beer is as important (or more so) as what the beer tastes like. Crossover drinkers? Maybe. If we could ever get a solid number on just how many people who regularly drink Blue Moon know it’s a MolsonCoors product…I could give you a better answer.”
Will we try Budweiser American Ale? Maybe. Will we carry it? Absolutely not.
