There is a Price for Everything....

[Dave Vollmer]

I remember seeing the Coors brewery on a visit to the Colorado Railroad Museum.  Very impressive operation!  More impressive were the parade of beer trains departing every hour.

I'm not a big fan of Coors products, but on tap the original Coors is actually quite drinkable.  But the Coors operation in Golden is awesome to see.  Fermenters bigger than my house!

[tatans]

Bud's gone, maybe they will start making beer now, what's next??? Mcdonalds? KFC? Try living in Canada and see who owns All the businesses, Gee could it be the U.S.?  Another one went this week,The Hudson Bay Company was bought up and is now American owned, Canadians are used to being owned and operated by the U.S. I think most Americans better start to learn to speak Flemish??? or Belgium (along with spanish) before too long. The move to invest in the U.S. from foreign countries is just beginning, wait till "europe" and India and China start bidding for American companies, remember, stockholders voted to sell Bud for a couple of bucks, so who is really at fault here.

[SilverSpike]

You might not want to hold your breath while you wait. Several articles in the Wall Street Journal over the past month have painted InBev not as a company run by Belgian brewers, but rather by aggressive Brazilian marketeers. Chances are good they will push Bud even more in the direction of lowest-common-denominator hop-flavored carbonated beverage aimed at the widest possible world market. Bleghh!

Yup, it's a total mash-up - it's a Brazilian owned company that's headquartered in Belgium.  The Brazilians own Bud.   The South Africans own Miller.  These brands aren't going to be brewed in Brazil or South Africa.  Who cares?  In the end, it's just cheap beer.

Not that any of this matters, it's all a big game - Coors, Rocky Mountains?  Ha!  the Colorado facility is in the foothills outside of Denver, and most Coors is brewed elsewhere - what a marketing joke!

Now CSX getting messed with by a British hedge fund that won't disclose it's funding sources, that's worrisome for the nation.  That's about national infrastructure!

You know....when we were touring the Coor's brewery in Golden, CO it sits right along Clear Creek which does come out of the Rockies, so you would guess that at least the cans and bottles coming from there are brewed with Rocky Mtn. water. But they also have brewery locations throughout the states....awe shucks....I bet they truck that mountain spring water all over the country just to brew that Coors Banquet Beer the way Adolph wanted it to be......Right.....

And speaking of big brewery corps......looks like Miller and Coors have joined together now to form MillerCoors, looks like another mega merger snuck right in under our beer tasting noses....

I guess it's history just repeating itself as corporations continue to merger into monster monopoly giants!

We are familiar with that happening in the railroad industry for decades now aren't we! Just look at the Railroad History web pages that trains.com has and you can see the trend of corporate mergers and acquisitions started a long time ago.

Those beers will continue to get watered down it seems.....so I'll stick to Abita Beer.

[csmith9474]

Mr. Beasley--

Anyone who wants to see how Coca-Cola has saturated the world market should watch Billy Wilder's hilarious slam-bang 1960 political satire movie "ONE, TWO, THREE". 

And if you're ever in Heidelberg, run, do not walk to the nearest McDonalds and try out their "GrosserMac".  It's absolutely AMAZING what a little German ingenuity can do to pep up the world's worst hamburger, LOL!

Tom

Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

Mark: 

Another wonderful European 'tour' is to visit the Carlsberg Brewery right out of Tivoli in Copenhagen.  In their little tasting tavern, you slip off your footwear, slide your feet into some sandals, a cute little barmaid measures your foot and you end up with a 'stein' the length of your foot full of one of Denmark's BEST beers!  I'm an 11-E.  Can you imagine the condition I was in after TWO of them, LOL?  And I had to accompany a soprano in a Lieder recital the next day.  Boy, did THAT hurt, LOL!

Tom

Thanks to you, Tom, I am no longer fond of my small feet.

Mark

I really have to get back over there. I wear a 14!!!!

[markpierce]

Mr. Beasley--

Anyone who wants to see how Coca-Cola has saturated the world market should watch Billy Wilder's hilarious slam-bang 1960 political satire movie "ONE, TWO, THREE". 

And if you're ever in Heidelberg, run, do not walk to the nearest McDonalds and try out their "GrosserMac".  It's absolutely AMAZING what a little German ingenuity can do to pep up the world's worst hamburger, LOL!

Tom

Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

Mark: 

Another wonderful European 'tour' is to visit the Carlsberg Brewery right out of Tivoli in Copenhagen.  In their little tasting tavern, you slip off your footwear, slide your feet into some sandals, a cute little barmaid measures your foot and you end up with a 'stein' the length of your foot full of one of Denmark's BEST beers!  I'm an 11-E.  Can you imagine the condition I was in after TWO of them, LOL?  And I had to accompany a soprano in a Lieder recital the next day.  Boy, did THAT hurt, LOL!

Tom

Thanks to you, Tom, I am no longer fond of my small feet.

Mark

[Midnight Railroader]

  Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

You could have travelled a bit more and had a "Berliner" in Berlin.  As I recall, a Berliner is a pastry, kind of like a cruller.  The citizens must have thought JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech had a strange ring to it.

They knew exactly what he meant. His grammar was correct. German for "doughnut" is "der Berliner," not "ein Berliner."

Cute story, but not accurate.

[twhite]

Mr. Beasley--

Anyone who wants to see how Coca-Cola has saturated the world market should watch Billy Wilder's hilarious slam-bang 1960 political satire movie "ONE, TWO, THREE". 

And if you're ever in Heidelberg, run, do not walk to the nearest McDonalds and try out their "GrosserMac".  It's absolutely AMAZING what a little German ingenuity can do to pep up the world's worst hamburger, LOL!

Tom

Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

Mark: 

Another wonderful European 'tour' is to visit the Carlsberg Brewery right out of Tivoli in Copenhagen.  In their little tasting tavern, you slip off your footwear, slide your feet into some sandals, a cute little barmaid measures your foot and you end up with a 'stein' the length of your foot full of one of Denmark's BEST beers!  I'm an 11-E.  Can you imagine the condition I was in after TWO of them, LOL?  And I had to accompany a soprano in a Lieder recital the next day.  Boy, did THAT hurt, LOL!

Tom

[shawnee]

You might not want to hold your breath while you wait. Several articles in the Wall Street Journal over the past month have painted InBev not as a company run by Belgian brewers, but rather by aggressive Brazilian marketeers. Chances are good they will push Bud even more in the direction of lowest-common-denominator hop-flavored carbonated beverage aimed at the widest possible world market. Bleghh!

Yup, it's a total mash-up - it's a Brazilian owned company that's headquartered in Belgium.  The Brazilians own Bud.   The South Africans own Miller.  These brands aren't going to be brewed in Brazil or South Africa.  Who cares?  In the end, it's just cheap beer.

Not that any of this matters, it's all a big game - Coors, Rocky Mountains?  Ha!  the Colorado facility is in the foothills outside of Denver, and most Coors is brewed elsewhere - what a marketing joke!

Now CSX getting messed with by a British hedge fund that won't disclose it's funding sources, that's worrisome for the nation.  That's about national infrastructure!

[R. T. POTEET]

. . . . . . . . . . All of this happened, of course, because of the Industrial Revolution and ... The Railroad . . . . . . . . . . And at the same time, there was great upheaval.  The entire economic order was being re-born, and many skeptics wondered if it would end in calamity for the nation, and the world . . . . . . . . . .

And don't forget that despicable potato that made it all possible!

[MisterBeasley]

  Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

You could have travelled a bit more and had a "Berliner" in Berlin.  As I recall, a Berliner is a pastry, kind of like a cruller.  The citizens must have thought JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech had a strange ring to it.

[markpierce]

Mr. Beasley--

Anyone who wants to see how Coca-Cola has saturated the world market should watch Billy Wilder's hilarious slam-bang 1960 political satire movie "ONE, TWO, THREE". 

And if you're ever in Heidelberg, run, do not walk to the nearest McDonalds and try out their "GrosserMac".  It's absolutely AMAZING what a little German ingenuity can do to pep up the world's worst hamburger, LOL!

Tom

Several years ago I achieved one of my life-time goals of eating a hamburger in Hamburg,  Germany.  I wouldn't even think of going to McDonalds or Burger King to accomplish that.  Instead I had a Hess Burger in front of the rathaus.  (That was a two-for-one trip because I also ate a frankfurter in Frankfurt.)

Mark

[twhite]

Mr. Beasley--

Anyone who wants to see how Coca-Cola has saturated the world market should watch Billy Wilder's hilarious slam-bang 1960 political satire movie "ONE, TWO, THREE". 

And if you're ever in Heidelberg, run, do not walk to the nearest McDonalds and try out their "GrosserMac".  It's absolutely AMAZING what a little German ingenuity can do to pep up the world's worst hamburger, LOL!

Tom

[MisterBeasley]

I just had a disturbing thought - suppose the aim of these Belgian wafflers or Brazilian marketeers, whichever they are, is not to take away our "American Heritage," but rather to expand and export it?  What if their plan is to take our "King Kong of Beers" and flood the world with it?  You know, dominate the world beer market the way Bud dominates the American beer market?

After all, Coca-Cola is already one of the most recognized products on the planet, with true worldwide distribution and a huge market share.  I could, unfortunately, see many nations taking our light, almost soft drink-line Buda-Cola into their hearts.  They've accepted McDonalds and Jerry Lewis, after all.

By the way, I drink a lot of Bud.  It's not what I have with a nice meal, or when I just want to sit down and enjoy a beer, but rather when I'm thirsty and don't want a Coke.  I regard Bud and Harpoon, my house beer, as two different classes of product that happen to be sold in the same kind of store.

[GraniteRailroader]

Just make your own!

It ends up being about the same price, you can control the quality, and it's fun!

How about a tutorial on that?

[SilverSpike]

Hey Tom! Yeah thanks for reminding me, but I never did get around to tasting any of those "Limited Edition" brews from Bud, they sound good though!

Dave, I have not made my own beer, but always wanted to give it a try! I do have some old bottles of wine that my grandfather made in the 1970's, that stuff is ssssmmoooooootttthhhhhh....

[Dave Vollmer]

Just make your own!

It ends up being about the same price, you can control the quality, and it's fun!

[Walleye]

I remember some years back when Budweiser was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and re-released some of their 'Historic' beers--can't think of the names of them, but there were three, as I recall, a Lager, a Dark and a Pilsner and--OMYGAW, WERE THEY GOOD!!  Unfortunately, they were 'Limited Editions', and only available for about three or four months--then back to rice and sandpaper, LOL!  But these older, 19th-century brews certainly brought back Anheuser's German heritage, something that's been lost with 'Bud'. 

Hm, maybe the Belgians will re-release them.  One can hope.  As an American of 80% Austro/German, 10% Czech and 10% Cornish (and the 'Cousin Jacks' certainly like their beer, too), I wouldn't mind one bit! 

Tom

 

Tom,

You might not want to hold your breath while you wait. Several articles in the Wall Street Journal over the past month have painted InBev not as a company run by Belgian brewers, but rather by aggressive Brazilian marketeers. Chances are good they will push Bud even more in the direction of lowest-common-denominator hop-flavored carbonated beverage aimed at the widest possible world market. Bleghh!

[twhite]

Are we willing to sell off our American heritage for a short term $70.00 per share profit?  Anheuser-Busch will!

It's a BEER, for gosh sake, and cheap one, at that... hardly "our American heritage."

Yup, Bud is a cheap beer and I don't drink it either, but the company stated in it's Annual Report of 2007 that it had employed 31,485. I wonder how these Americans feel about their heritage now!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I read this article from the American Heritage magazine entitled "BEER AND AMERICA", written By Max Rudin in March, 2002. While Adolphus Busch is mentioned in the article, and BUD might not be the best tasting American beer, it sure has a long history in American culture. I think that AB would be considered a part of American heritage!

 

Ryan--

I remember some years back when Budweiser was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and re-released some of their 'Historic' beers--can't think of the names of them, but there were three, as I recall, a Lager, a Dark and a Pilsner and--OMYGAW, WERE THEY GOOD!!  Unfortunately, they were 'Limited Editions', and only available for about three or four months--then back to rice and sandpaper, LOL!  But these older, 19th-century brews certainly brought back Anheuser's German heritage, something that's been lost with 'Bud'. 

Hm, maybe the Belgians will re-release them.  One can hope.  As an American of 80% Austro/German, 10% Czech and 10% Cornish (and the 'Cousin Jacks' certainly like their beer, too), I wouldn't mind one bit! 

Tom

 

[Midnight Railroader]

Are we willing to sell off our American heritage for a short term $70.00 per share profit?  Anheuser-Busch will!

It's a BEER, for gosh sake, and cheap one, at that... hardly "our American heritage."

Yup, Bud is a cheap beer and I don't drink it either, but the company stated in it's Annual Report of 2007 that it had employed 31,485. I wonder how these Americans feel about their heritage now!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I read this article from the American Heritage magazine entitled "BEER AND AMERICA", written By Max Rudin in March, 2002. While Adolphus Busch is mentioned in the article, and BUD might not be the best tasting American beer, it sure has a long history in American culture. I think that AB would be considered a part of American heritage!

 

It is a consumer product--nothing more, nothing less.

[loathar]

Thanks stebbycentral,

Lothar, I'll take a good Canadian beer, Labatt's Blue. Oh, wait, they're owned by InBev too!!

 

Blaine

Would you settle for Stroh's or P.O.C.? I was just wondering where you got that info from? I guess they're too embarrassed to admit that on their web site.
John Deere, The all American tractor! (now made in China...)

I've seen two new Bud commercials this week and noticed they already changed the logo! It's now a 3D rotating globe of the Earth with the Bud logo in front of it. They must have known for a while they were going to take the buyout bid.

[SilverSpike]

Are we willing to sell off our American heritage for a short term $70.00 per share profit?  Anheuser-Busch will!

It's a BEER, for gosh sake, and cheap one, at that... hardly "our American heritage."

Yup, Bud is a cheap beer and I don't drink it either, but the company stated in it's Annual Report of 2007 that it had employed 31,485. I wonder how these Americans feel about their heritage now!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I read this article from the American Heritage magazine entitled "BEER AND AMERICA", written By Max Rudin in March, 2002. While Adolphus Busch is mentioned in the article, and BUD might not be the best tasting American beer, it sure has a long history in American culture. I think that AB would be considered a part of American heritage!

 

[dmitzel]

Think German!  Drink lots of beer and eat lots of sausage.

Mark (about 40% Germanic)

Hey, I resemble that remark (75% Deutsch, remainder "black" Irish). Guess in each case I'm destined to like good beer.

Fun thread too. Back to the trains a poster or two pondered about the amount of rail traffic to and from the Coors and Bud breweries that are stateside. Since Strohs closed up shop in Detroit years ago Michigan hasn't had much in the way of beer production. However, on the consumer side there are two large distributors just south of me. The local Bud distributor used to have a rail siding and I recall boxcars parked there in the late '80s-early '90s. However, I think they went to all trucks shortly thereafter and the siding was pulled a few years later.

The local Miller dist. still receives inbound rail shipments from CN at their Orion Twp. location, usually blue CSX boxcars so I assume our local Miller products come from their Virginia satellite brewery. Funny, you'd think Milwaukee is closer but I suppose delays in the Chicago terminal means it's quicker and cheaper to ship from the east coast. Too bad, as I'm partial to Wisconsin brews (favor Leinenkugel's classic Red Lager). As long as Leinie's remain brewed in Cheddarland, I'll stay a loyal customer - and yes, I know "SABMillerMolsonCoors" owns them as a subsidiary.

 

[Midnight Railroader]

Are we willing to sell off our American heritage for a short term $70.00 per share profit?  Anheuser-Busch will!

It's a BEER, for gosh sake, and cheap one, at that... hardly "our American heritage."

[SilverSpike]

Wow - trains, beer and WWII! This forum is really getting cool!

I second that remark! This thread has touched on many more aspects of the global world economy, beer, history and trains than I ever expected.

Thanks!

[Dallas Model Works]

You are correct Magnus, the world "is" one big economy now. This is not necessarely a bad thing, only in the beginning stages. Why? Because the U.S., Canada and Australia were the only nations to come out of WW2 unscathed as far as damage and economy was concerned.

 

What about Sweden and Switzerland? Portugal was unscathed to? So was Turkey, New Zealand, Ireland and Iceland. Not to forget the entire continent of South America. Oh and lets not forget Latin America.

<snip>

Methinks he was talking about combatant nations (although NZ would qualify there although I don't know what the Kiwi industrial capacity was at the time).

Wow - trains, beer and WWII! This forum is really getting cool!

 

[Dallas Model Works]

I'm a fan of Shiner Bock myself, brewed in the little town of Shiner, Tx. I only buy it on base at the mini mart though, other wise I couldn't afford to drink it.

Now you're talking!

 

[Dallas Model Works]

Well, of course I'm sorry to hear of an American brewer being bought out by 'foreign' interests, but if there IS a bright side to this, at least it was by the Belgians, who produce some of the best beer in the world (along with the Germans, Danes, Canadians and Czechs).   So if Bud is going to be owned by the Belgians, perhaps the Belgians will introduce some of THEIR brewing techniques to Anheuser-Busch, and Bud will stop tasting like sandpaper dipped in Hops. 

Just the opinion of a beer aficionado, you understand. 

Tom

I gotta agree. I love beer and will quaff just about any brew offered. But not Bud -- can't stand the stuff.

 

 

[jguess733]

I'm a fan of Shiner Bock myself, brewed in the little town of Shiner, Tx. I only buy it on base at the mini mart though, other wise I couldn't afford to drink it.

[steemtrayn]

Back in 1882, this painting was done by Manet:

And who knows who painted this,and when: