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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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I'd like to sue but I don't drink.
And I'd hate to disillusion anyone out there, but Buttwiper is not an American beer, unless you count the 7 breweries in Canada. (The ONLY breweries AB In-Bev lists as being in North America.) In Bev seems to be primarily a European "beer" - so inflation is a given... Apparently the EU isn't the only thing subject to inflation.
They even makes Beck's psuedo beer here now...
This is just the start of things to come.
You can 'water' down our currency but not our beer.
Priorities bitchez...
I don't give a flying fuck what Budweiser does to its pissy beer. Let someone start fucking around with the alcohol content of my Black Label scotch, though, and there will be repercussions.
Gimme a Labatt Brador at 6.5% octane content any day of the week from the Great White North.
Molson XXX
Molson used to make Brador and I believe they still do. It is labeled Malt Liquor but it is not like US malt liquor. I'm not sure if they stopped brewing it for a while but I thought they did.
Had that...and high octane it is!
Strange Brew?
*never mind. someone beat me to it*
OT but related:
Colombia coffee growers on strike clash with the police"Thousands of coffee growers in Colombia have gone on strike demanding greater subsidies to protect them against falling international prices and a strong local currency."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21582631
Maybe the brewers need more subsidies? Of course they do; doesn't everyone?
Something else that caught my eye:
Switch Off: UK may soon struggle to keep lights onhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gELXnGelYV0
environazis stike again....
Juan Valdez would do better to Go Galt. As soon as the subsidy checks arrive, he can expect more increases in costs.
Unless they are retailers.
Two guys buy 4 cases a month = two cases each =12 pack each per weekend = these guys are light weights compared to a few of my friends.
I'll eat horsemeat, pink slime, and McChemicals but pissing in my beer is crossing the line! Imma laywer up get'r'dun!
Tis is what happens when you let Brazilians run a beer company
Another European company selling its horse meat.
Four cases per month, for one plaintiff, two cases for the other. Nothing is said about in- or out of NFL season.
Nothing said in complaint about what the alcohol content actually was! Where's the lab tests?
No test, no case, sorrah!
this had been obvious in UK in beer for a fw years now , example Coroa is now down to 4.3% alcohol from 5% + originally and tastes like piss water , also notice some beers listing glucose - fructose syrup as an ingredient, not good
ZH should be the first place to realize that the downsizing accelerated with the loss of the 30-pack -- the real beer-30.
Next the fraud-fucks Inc. will be cutting minutes off Central time.
Pretty soon a "pound cake" wont be 16 oz anymore.
By from those that don't cheat. Many 20 somethings are starting to make their own.
A pound cake never was 16 oz. ;)
Pound of flour
Pound of sugar
Pound of butter.
Consumers need to protest and stop buying bands that do this. I know of 20 somethings that brew their own now because of it. It taste better and has a much better alcohol content.
Send a message by not buying. When enough people do it they will notice in their profits and bottom line.
Bud's new name is Dud. Get the word out not to buy the crap anymore.
Only way theres any alcohol in Bu, uh, piss, is if I drink too much Real beer..
Makers Mark changed their mind...btw..
Maker's Mark reversed their policy based on the bad PR
Well, that's what consumers get for drinking Budweiser.
As someone who has over 25 years in the UK brewing industry,this law suit looks on the face of it,total BS.
Mega Breweries routinely brew huge brew volumes at high gravity and then dilute them down to greater volumes at sales gravity with pure water,using in line analysers such as Anton Paar to adjust the final strength to the required value.The actual alcohol content is checked at every stage -both before during and after packaging -to ensure it is within specification.
In a suit such as this,does any sane person think a company as large as Inbev would resort to nickle and dime tactics as watering down the final product when it could be so easily be proved?
Of course not,move on,nothing to see here.
Hell ya they would! Read about these assholes, they would grind up Grandma for hops.
"Generally, most states leave it up to the breweries to decide whether or not to put the alcohol strength on the label. Often that decision depends on whether disclosing the alcohol content might help or hinder sales. Hence, drinkers of the country’s most popular light lagers—Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light—don’t always know that their beverage of choice is typically 4.2% ABV."
In 1935, Congress passed a law prohibiting the disclosure of alcohol content on beer packaging. In 1995, when the Supreme Court upheld the First Amendment right of Coors to print alcohol content on its packaging—unless state law otherwise forbids it.
So yeah watering "over brewed" beer is nothing new in the industry so is NOT sell 5% beer..... and letting the public think that is what they are getting.
Four cases a month between two guys and they probably weren't even getting the 24 pack. Fucking pussies on so many levels, at least buy a beer that's owned by a US company.
I rarely drink beer, but when I do it's something from Shiner Bock.
I rarely drink beer, but when I do it's something from Shiner Bock.
i thought you were going to say Dos Equis, maybe you're the most interesting man in the world
Take it easy on my boys at Makers, they got their minds right. At least the people's voice still counts somewhere:
Dear Ambassador,
Since we announced our decision last week to reduce the alcohol content (ABV) of Maker’s Mark in response to supply constraints, we have heard many concerns and questions from our ambassadors and brand fans. We’re humbled by your overwhelming response and passion for Maker’s Mark. While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.
You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.
So effective immediately, we are reversing our decision to lower the ABV of Maker’s Mark, and resuming production at 45% alcohol by volume (90 proof). Just like we’ve made it since the very beginning.
The unanticipated dramatic growth rate of Maker’s Mark is a good problem to have, and we appreciate some of you telling us you’d even put up with occasional shortages. We promise we'll deal with them as best we can, as we work to expand capacity at the distillery.
Your trust, loyalty and passion are what’s most important. We realize we can’t lose sight of that. Thanks for your honesty and for reminding us what makes Maker’s Mark, and its fans, so special.
We’ll set about getting back to bottling the handcrafted bourbon that our father/grandfather, Bill Samuels, Sr. created. Same recipe. Same production process. Same product.
As always, we will continue to let you know first about developments at the distillery. In the meantime please keep telling us what’s on your mind and come down and visit us at the distillery. It means a lot to us.
Sincerely,
Rob Samuels
Chief Operating Officer,
Ambassador-in-Chief
rob@makersmark.com
Bill Samuels, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus,
Ambassador-at-Large
bill@makersmark.com
Scandal ale and lager has been my favorite beer lately. I try and drink out of bottles instead of cans. Glass is inert, but cans can leach aluminum into the beer. Check out their game.
http://www.scandalbrewing.ca/beer.html
Glass isn't inert. e.g. You can get lead poisoning from lead crystal decanters.
Ask the manufacturer what they use to colour the glass. Chrome, cobalt, manganese, cadmium and so on.
HTH.
This will be welcome news at the next AA meetup.
Keep Stackin!
Someone should sue them for ruining Beck's Beer. Used to be imported, now it's made in St. Louis and tastes like it. Not many good beers left.
Are you serious? There's a bazillion excellent beers in the US of A - just not from the majors.
If you are talking about the 94% of the market that "brewed in the pipes" majors have, then yes, there is precious good left. However, here is a list of where six percent of the beer market lies and will be found in 100% of my beer fridge shelves at various times through the year:
1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA 2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA 3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 4 The Gambrinus Company San Antonio TX 5 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR 6 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY 7 Bell's Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI 8 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA 9 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA 10 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO 11 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA 12 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE 13 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY 14 Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co. Juneau AK 15 Long Trail Brewing Co. Burlington VT 16 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME 17 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA 18 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH 19 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI 20 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR 21 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN 22 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA 23 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA 24 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA 25 Rogue Ales Brewery Newport OR 26 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD 27 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA 28 CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants Chattanooga/Louisville TN/CO 29 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO 30 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO 31 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI 32 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR 33 BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA 34 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY 35 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA 36 Lost Coast Brewery Cafe Eureka CA 37 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT 38 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA 39 Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Bottleworks St. Louis MO 40 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA 41 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO 42 Founders Brewing Co. Grand Rapids MI 43 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX 44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA 45 Real Ale Brewing Co. Blanco TX 46 Mac and Jack's Brewery Inc. Redmond WA 47 Smuttynose Brewing Co. Portsmouth NH 48 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT 49 Left Hand Brewing Co. Longmont CO t.50 Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville CA t.50 Four Peaks Brewing Co. Tempe AZThere ya go! That's the kind of information posters at ZeroHedge are needed for.
:D
This one makes Arrogant Bastard, one of the best beers out there. Who drinks that InBev crap anyway.
+100 but that stuff costs $7 for a 22oz?
Bud is watered down. Subway footlong is 11". Next I'll find out my condoms are few mil' thinner than dollar store trash bags...
No, it's just a few inches shorter than average.
Those clydesdale horses are really only about waist high. The dalmation is really a shaved and dyed french poodle. The rest is all digital manipulation.
It's true that Budweiser is a crappy beer but at least it hasn't killed anyone.
There was an situation of beer poisoning in 1964, when a Quebec brewery, Dow, put cobalt sulfate into its beer. 16 men died and millions of gallons were flushed down the sewer. Cobalt sulfate is one of the 108 ingredients allowed in beer. It helps to retain the head. They just over did it I guess. Any way happy imbibing.
ignoring of course cirrosis and auto accidents
Something else InBev did was to eliminate the cardboard between the bottles on 12's and cases. Make it harder to sneak the beer around with them bottls clanking together.
this diluted bud's for you