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InBev Sued For Overstating Budweiser Alcohol Content
Maker's Mark recent foray into "diluting" reality by keeping prices flat while reducing the alcohol content - a painful reminder that stealth inflation comes in the most unexpected of shapes - came and went, with the outcry limited to a select group of Bourbon lovers. However, when the realization hits that every other alcohol producer may have been engaging in the same less than ethical behavior, including America's precious Budweiser, we expect the response to be faster and furiouser. We also expect the answer to the question of how it is that food inflation is not far greater, will be made even clearer. It will, however, certainly bring new meaning to the phrase the beer glass is half full. Of course, since the lawsuit was filed by two men who "routinely purchased as many as four cases of Bud per month for the past four years" one can see why it may not be taken very seriously.
From Bloomberg:
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s biggest brewer, was sued over claims it overstated the alcohol content in Budweiser beer.
AB InBev routinely adds extra water to its finished products to produce malt beverages with significantly less alcohol content than displayed on its labels, consumers Thomas and Gerald Greenberg said in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia. The company’s overstatement of the alcohol content violates Pennsylvania’s consumer protection statutes, according to the complaint.
“Consumers receive watered down beer containing less alcohol than is stated,” the Greenbergs said in the filing.
The complaint accuses Leuven, Belgium-based AB InBev of mislabeling the alcohol content in Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Black Crown, Bud Light Lime, Hurricane High Gravity Lager and Michelob Ultra.
No one was immediately available to comment on the lawsuit, according to someone who answered the company’s media relations line.
The Greenbergs are seeking to represent all consumers in the state of Pennsylvania in their bid for damages exceeding $5 million and a court order requiring the company to alter its advertising campaign.
The men said they routinely purchased as many as four cases of Budweiser per month during the past four years. The labels on the beer claim the alcohol content was 5 percent by volume, according to the lawsuit.
The full lawsuit:
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Look like Joe Sixpack has become Joe Fivepack. This won't end well.
There are certain lines you simply don't cross. And one of them sure as fuck is beer.
The brands listed are crap beer anyway.
But it is nice to see Natty Ice Light is for real.
I guess it's time for a little PBR&R
Oh heavens ~ Next thing u know they'll tell us that some of the Clydesdales ended up in the beer...
I don't always drink beer. But when I do, it's a Steel Reserve. So do millions of other homeless bums.
Budweiser. The Viscount of Beers!
Steel Reserve? I fucked a Mexican without a condom after four 22's of that shit. I also publicly masturbated on a golf course and then blew my load on a maple tree....treesteelality! That shit has ALL alcohol, as advertised.
Dick, you are a madman. When you stole that cow, and your friend tried to make it with the cow. I want to party with you, cowboy. If the two of us together, forget it.
Bill Murray - Stripes
Anyone know the current price of a pre-diluted bottle of Maker's Mark?
I'm pretty sure those will become highly sought after items.
they have since recanted their heresy and come back to the fold.
Mexican female I hope doc.
I was afraid to ask.
It's funny that people still drink Budweiser.
If you import Budvar from Czech, you can drink Budweiser and drink a reasonable beer at the same time.
Actually, you can safely buy Budweiser and still get that same reasonable beer - at least if you're in Portugal: https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=925867&Site=COE ...or elsewhere in Europe, for that matter: http://articles.marketwatch.com/2010-07-29/industries/30811010_1_budweis...
Just make sure you get the right one: in some countries they both share the same name...
+50
Well considering Budwiser and all of it's products taste like horses ass...
What's the difference between American beer and making love in a boat?
None, it's both fucking close to water...
basic consumer fraud. class action lawyers will have a field day.
No they won't. InBev will be congratulated on holding a known commodity like alcoholic dish water (bud and it's variations) in check by lowering the their costs. I doubt consumer fraud extends to making someone less drunk by something that should be sold as near beer anyways...well, the term beer is also pretty stretched on Bud. Alcool with beer flavor is a better term.
O'Dools would have been sent to the cleaners years ago otherwise.
So is this more sneaky inflation?
BTW I don't see anymore Budweiser = USA commericals anymore. Wonder why? Heh, heh.
No, this is the way politics works now.
Budwiser will kick over a couple of bucks to their stooges in the house reps in the state the case was petitioned. Some type of draft will be written and handed over to the presiding judge on the court circuit that states to drop the case.
It'll be a short case.
If anyone has noticed Kangaroo courts rule the USA now. Why would this be any different? There's been another of tiny news is the arrival of Walmart selling pirated iPads. Believe me, Ralph Nader in this environment doesn't exist anymore.
Nothing is not allowed to be wrong, broken or or false. That's the world now...maybe not Italy though, that will be a lot of fun to watch (can't wait for their first budget period.)
Clyde's Ale?
+49.
Let's remember that the horse DNA they trace does not necessarily have to be meat, ya know.
piss on you
No, the beer.
Well, they have to do something with Clydesdale piss!
Comment of the day!
They figured out how to ferment horses!
Take all the other scandals, crimes, massive theft of taxpayer dollars, the pillaging of the middle class, outright decimation of title laws relating to real estate- including one's home, decimation of basic constitutional RIGHTS, the emergence of a nepotistic KronyKomrade Oligarchy, etc. etc. etc., and forget about all of that...
...for the 2nd American Revolution will we lit by:
1) Ever increasing costs to fill up the F250, Escalade or "Lordy leased me a Mercedeeeees Benz," and
2) Dilution of alcohol content in ditch digger swill.
3) ( really #1) the attempted confiscation of firearms.
#4) Discovery of equinus dollar menuis in their McMrEd grilled onion cheddar burger.
(Naw, that won't matter since it will taste the same)
Only if soy costs more than horse.
But what of ass?
I'm white trash, and I'm in trouble!
Bud is a lousy beer.
They are screwing with the God given right of all of us Americans to cry in our beer and pee on our shoes.
"Of course, since the lawsuit was filed by two men who "routinely purchased as many as four cases of Bud per month for the past four years" one can see why it may not be taken very seriously."
4 X 24 = 96 cans. Between two people plus occasional guests, that is about one beer per day, i.e. one serving, which is recognized as not only being safe, but also has health benefits. Why is Zerohedge disparaging people for having one serving of alcohol per day?
Tyler is saying that the damages will be so small that the court will throw the case out. Trust me, the Tylers have never had any problems with Joe making use of his six pack.
It is a class action suit, started by these two plaintiffs, that anyone affected can try to join. It says right in the filing papers that it is for an amount over $5 million in damages.
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take OUR BEER!!!"
so...they try and take our pop, guns, internet, porn, beef, milk, gardens, homes, minds....by flying sweet fuck now they take alcohol out of our bottled carbonated syrup... you fascist bastards
And hopefully the other one is guns.
Did I miss something They claim its 5% but dont say what the actual percentage in the purchased beer was? How much did they get jip'd out of?
Waaazzuuuuuuup?
Stealth inflation.
If indeed the alcohol content is less as charged, it is amazing that InBev didn't put the correct percentage on their labeling. They pay tax on the alcohol content. When you're producing 100 million barrels/year, small differences like this add up big in a hurry.
...as long as gain > cost (tax), they're skimming those hundred of millions of barrels...
Thomas and Gerald Greenberg are 'Joe Sixpacks'? And they drink 4 cases of Bud a month?
Sure they do.... They may buy 4 cases a month - but they ain't drinking it
Couple of Greenbergs and their friendly lawyer,Senoff ...out there fighting for the the comon man...sure I buy it....and I am sure they are minding their drinking on the shabbat...
They don't roll on Shabbos!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPo9OBrIOi4
96 beers a month is alot of beer to people who don't drink, but the average alcoholic can easily drink more than that.
All that would be is 8 beers on a friday, saturday, and sunday each weekend to consume that much.
I've never understood that kind of piggish gross indulgence, of ANYTHING, at all.
My God, if I drank 8 beers' worth of ANY liquid (which is most of a gallon) in an evening, or even in any normal day, I would be bloated and possibly comatose! What compels anyone to choke down that much of anything, alcoholic or not? It's utterly beyond my comprehension.
Overheard a news story about students at SDSU (South Dakota State Univ) posting pictures of their passed-out friendz on the internet.
Prohibiting a product or action just encourages some fools to "take a dare."
How many beers in a case of Budweiser?
Trick question. There is no beer in a case of Budwiser. It's an alcoholic by product of fermented rice. Has been for three decades.
http://www.wheat-free.org/is-budweiser-beer-wheat-free.html
Beer is usually made from barley. Is bud barley free?
Meh, brew your own. I brew mead (honey wine), just not in the mood this year.
One for every hour of the day. Also called the workingman's suitcase.
They had to make room for the horse meat.
Next, they will say that taco bell is not real beef?
Bernanke's next job will be head of Bud's marketing department. That's where the bullshitters hang out.
I tried Taco Bell once...their "meat sauce" struck me as odd.
Budslimer sucks!
You can mess with a lot in this country...vaporize brokerage accounts..print money to infinity...give trillions to the banks...but don't mess with the alcohol bitchez! Not that Budweiser is real alcohol to begin with.
Just wait til they find out that there's less beef in that 'beef'
Or worse... that it's horsemeat!
Even worse at the Big Super Mercado a few days before the Super Bowl, there was a Budweiser display selling big ass cans of a Budweiser Clamato Juice combo.
Now, I understand drinking, and that's just a plain waste of good alcohol.
I saw that, too. It was gross.
But it is not "good" alcohol, as it is made with rice; not one of the ingredients in the Reinheitsgebot.
Read the label.
:/
German beer is boring. Believe me, I live there.
British beer is far superior, far more innovative, more flavour and far more diverse.
I have to say that I do like me some Tadcaster.
Can't get the stuff. I'd have to import it... Have you ever heard the saying "taking coal to Newcastle"?
The local market is swamped by local German beer (obviously), with a little Belgian and some Czech beer simply because they're close. You basically get 3 types of beer here. Pilsner, Dunkel (dark) and Hefe-Weisse (wheat), and they as far as I can tell within each category are all trying to taste exactly the same.
Obviously there's the occasional microbewery and the occasional brewery that does something different but boy they are hard to find. Presumably they have to hide from the ministry of brewmasters for not conforming to the letter of the Reinheitsgebot. The result being it's boring; German beer is "langweilig".
German beer is great if you like lagers. I lived there for 5 years and was in heaven. But, now I'm into pale ales and IPAs. I don't think I'd be so happy there now... beer wise.
Sam Adams Boston Ale may be the best beer in the world.
No joke.
I shouldn't have down arrowed you, I apologize.
But you should try Ommegang.
Fuck it, quantity rules over quality. Spend less, drink more and piss your pants.
You can just click up if you want to change it, but I'm not bothered. believe, I get junked all the time. No worries.
Sam Adams Boston Ale (not to be confused with Boston Lager...) is light, refreshing, nutty, clean and really an outstanding product. Now, I am talking about your "every day" beer here, not as a competition between brews but what one can reasonably find and afford to drink on an every day basis. When you come home from the cubicle, you're happy to see that cold one sitting in the fridge.
It is really good. I urge everyone to try it.
Get thee to Old Chicago and have a Tooth Sheaf Stout (dark Australian Ale)
Sam Adams is glorified piss water (it's better than other megabrewery beer, but that's not saying much).
Germany's best brew is Weissbier(aka Weizenbier).
The best brew in all the world comes from the Trappist monks (in Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, France[Flanders]) that still use 15th century recipes to brew batches of liquid gold that is so cloudy it's opaque, and is feremented twice, once in the cask and once after being bottled.
It was intended as a liquid bread during "the dark ages" but you should be so lucky to find yourself stuck with such a antiquated ale.
(Pilsner drinkers move on to Bohemia/Czech Republic; others may find quite decent ales in little known places in Britannia).
Don't question these facts. Just have faith.
Chimay is some serious shit. If I wasn't all "buy local" on my Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY) I would be wearing a Chimay jersey.
As I told Akak last month, this (Chimay) is probably the best I've ever had (but it was on tap, like in the glorious picture you're about to see):
chimay-triple-on-tap
Oh, yeah, I can buy local, too. There happens to be a Trappist monastery on the third floor of my building!
:/
Get a grip, man.
I think he was just stating he supports his local economy (but just a guess).
The good shit from all the finest monasteries is available at more "boutique" style liquor stores in just about every major city, although the very best of these are rarely available in the U.S. since they tend to be sold out of dark nooks and in very limited batches. Remember, this is genuinely hand crafted, slow brew, made in accordance with actual centuries-old methods and consistent ingredients, and not some bullshit advertised/marketed as such.
When the really good stuff does occassionally make its way stateside, it tends to sell out quickly and at extreme prices.
US Westvleteren Trappist Ale Release | 12.12.12I had that, Trappist Ale. Too bad it cost so damned much.
Terrible Yankee piss beer. Hangover is ruthless. That's how alcoholic drink quality is truly measured. 10 Boston Lagers and the excruciating, unrelenting migrane kicks in.
A mere 2 or 3 Budweisers can give me a hangover, yet I can drink copious amounts of high quality beer and rarely suffer anything so unpleasant.
The only thing that gives me worse headaches than Budweiser is the few malt liquors I've ever been unfortunate enough to drink, or red wine (which I hate).
I think Budweiser is made with untreated sewage water from the Hudson River.
Go to Belgium and you can drink a different beer everyday for 2 years, probably more.
I'm not a big fan of rice beer either. More of a wino-American.
I think the term of art Knuks was looking for is "innocent alcohol". ;)
Rice beer is piss swill. If it tastes like nothing and underwhelms, you're just drinking Japan's version of Mexico's Corona (which American Yuppies think is exotic).
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is probably the best German wheat beer, IMO, which I forgot to mention.
When are you going to whip out the Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest?
I like to think of myself as a nice person, and have no problem sharing the best of my stash with just about anyone (and I've found many people who are like-minded, whether beer or whatever).
If I could, I'd give you baptism by fire with some Westvleteren XII that I was able to recently snag. Talk about skipping to the top rungs.
To be perfectly honest, I have ales that cost 1/4 as much and are usually available that are just as good if not better, IMO (they're also Alsace-Flanders or Belgian ales).
I know and I do appreciate that but what I am talking about is something you can go down to the Fiesta and pick up for $7.99/six on sale.
My idea is to turn people on to a nice beer they can drink whenever they like, without having to know the secret code or paying through the nose.
:D
I see the point you're making and agree.
The last thing I'd want to do on the beach in the middle of summer is be stuck with heavy brew. India pale ales or even American beers like Anchor Steam (very cold) fit the bill at those times.
The best, all-around, drinkable and affordable beers for such times, in no particular order are:
Sierra Nevada, anything Bell's, Victory, Stone IPA, Lagunitas, New Belgium, anything Goose Island, Troegs, Heavy Seas, Yards, Smuttynose, New Glarus, Central Waters, Summit...
Almost all of these are only 20% to 30% more expensive than true shit beer like Budweiser, yet most have 30%+ more alcohol by volume, but more importantly, taste 3000% better.
Costco has some cases of some very good beers and ales that go on sale from time to time at about $1 per beer (stuff that'd run $10.99 and up for a 6 pack in a good liquor store).
Agreed. It's the last straw when you've already got less money, more problems and can't even catch a good buzz. Add in "now I'm pissed off" and you have the makings of Civil War mark II.
And speak for yourself about it not being real alcohol. I used to drink that pisswater until I was half blind plenty of times. I don't any more, of course. Too filling, makes me fat(er). I just drink the hard stuff over rocks now. Shortest path to victory.
Victory Gin comes highly recommended by Winston Smith!
FU Bernanke!!!
Can i blame this on him too?
Here, have a horse meatball, they're swedish.
a) it Bush's fault
b) theres and app for that
c) new meaning for Open Market Operation "Liquidity Injection"
Here's a Svidish meatball for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY_Yf4zz-yo
Wassup? Ya'll gone apey, or am I just two drinks behind?
I prefer this one:
Meatball Massacre - Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Wu3Bps9ic (3.19)
Had a neighbor years ago. A postal worker by the name of "Dutch". Told me he drank a case of beer a day. I had no reason to doubt him.
"I drink a case of beer a day", he said, "but I never *touch* alcohol!"
Great handle!
Still gettin' yer writin's published in pr0n mags?
I've had enough.
This is the final fucking straw for me.
Adding water can only improve the flavor; they should be thanked.
What's the big deal ? With Bud you're just adding water to water anyway...
Trade secret: most major breweries in the U.S. take one high-gravity brew and cut it into various other products with water to make the various types of beer they market. That technique greatly speeds up the brewing process and need for more equipment. They also use the cheepest form of grain they can (mostly rice) which adds no flavor to beer. Use of these adjuncts prevent these products from being sold as 'beer' in Germany, which adheres to the German purity law. Thankfully, most microbreweries in the U.S. adhere to this law also, and give the American public something worth drinking.
WAR ON THE MOONSHINERS! RAW MILK SELLERS! HOME VEGGIE GARDENERS! AND COLLECTORS OF RAIN WATER ... starts in 3,2, ... oh wait, it already has started ....
It's fucking Budweiser a/k/a crudweiser. Buy some real beer.
High Gravity is still cheap...
@francis_sawyer
Well, I didn't mean to sound like a snob. I'm not a man of unlimited means. There is a place for cheap beer, but (as the most interesting man in the world) when I do drink cheap beer, I drink Miller High Life.
High Gravity is the strongest buzz for the cheapest price at the moment...
Something for the FourLoko crowd? I'll read up and may give it a try. For a reasonably-priced buzz, one could try Sierra Nevada's Torpedo IPA, but you have to like the pine-resin flavor of the Cascade hops. I prefer dark ales, but it's not bad in the late-Spring to early-Fall window.
When your thirst arrives but your paycheck doesn't.
scum,a disgusting company. three tier distribution system is wrong.
Horse piss!!
Horse [piss & all included]
~~~
There ~ fixed it...
Goes nicely with some horse meat, I hear.
I'll take Guinness and Samuel Adams, thank you.
I'll take a pint of 'Paul Revere's RIDE' please...
This weekend I drank:
Saranac - from NY State
Harpoon - from Mass.
Fuck InBev and their patented queer lime flavorings and slap-happy destruction of what they think is American iconography. Fuck em in their waffley Belgian brownholes. America makes good beer, makes it well. It's when the multinationals swoop in with BennyBux that this kind of stuff starts to happen.
Happened to Lowenbrau when Miller bought them.
And Becks now too
who's killing the great beers of Europe?
The "watered down" state of Budweiser should be evident to even the most mangled taste buds. Go for Budweiser Budvar instead. The real Budweiser.
Budweiser is so bad it doesn't deserve to be called a "beverage", never mind "beer." I'll take a single bottle of any of twenty microbrews - or a Molson Export (in Canada, not the crap that gets into the U.S. stores) - over a truckload of the "king of beers." Stuff should be banned.
Your liquor and beer is watered down; most if not all of it. Know this.
that would explain why now need an 8 pack instead of a 6 pack for the same buzzzzzz
Time to broaden yer horizons:
http://www.absinthebuyersguide.com/absinthe.html
As if one can call Bud as beer.
It's Budweiser...
The plaintiffs are Tom and Jerry!
So when they're done drinking their longnecks, they chase each other around the piano and break the bottles over each other's heads, yes?
New 10 oz bottles priced the same as 12ozs .... happening all over in so many products.
Think globally, drink locally.
Actually, think locally, too.
Ethonol ethics.
This news does make us all sadder, bud weiser
This news makes me feel like I've been malt by a beer.
If I understood the article from earlier correctly, this has to be considered dropping the big one in The Coming Water Wars.
We eat shit.
We drink shit.
Your beef is horse.
Your sushi is tilapia and mercury filled.
Your beer is rice water.
Your bread is sawdust with crushed cockroaches.
Ersatzbrot, it's what's for dinner. If you've been good.
Some come here to sit and think
Some come here to shit and stink
I come here to scratch my balls and read the bullshit on the walls
For a good time (in de-basement) call Ben Shalom at XXX-XXX-XXXX
or
what are you looking up here for, the joke is in your hand..
Why would anyone put mercury in the mud holes they raise tilapia in?
Does the US tax on alcohol content as in the UK ?
No, the US taxes on wealth, unless you have some, then it doesn't.
I drink the BUD 55 myself.
It is like drinking spring water and I can drink 'em all day without puking.
Weekends it's Grey Goose, very dry, martini, shaken with a twist.
3 of those and my world is rocked.
Which one do you have in the morning?
"I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer,
The future's uncertain and the end is always near..." "Roadhouse blues", The Doors
Budweiser is shit to begin with. Germans say it is like making love in a canoe because it is close to the water - apparently now it is just water, only cheaper.
It's those pigs at Inbev, the shit they sell here and call Beck's is lighter and tastes like Budweiser. I've resorted to making my own since I can't get the import any longer. BTW Bud likes to tout "beechwood aging", which I heard is nothing more than adding beechwood planks to the brew to increase the rate of fermentation so it only takes a week or two at the most. Swill sold by pigs...