So I was kind of trolling the Budweiser facebook page (hey its Monday, I'm at work, and bored out of my fuckin skull) and noticed this little gem from someone who's facebook profile indicated that they are a Master Brewer for AB-Inbev at their Georgia facility. I will omit the man's name for privacy's sake but this had me outraged. It was a response to a person who posted that craft beer is basically superior to Bud and that Bud uses rice in their formula. Here it is: "@... you are so wrong. It is not a major ingredient, not even close. It does, however, provide an important crispness and a lighter flavor than an all malt beer but don't confuse that as not being a real beer. Budweiser is so balanced and delicate and because of that, it is MUCH harder to make that fuller beers that can better hide flavor problems behind the fullness and hoppiness. Please don't speak on things you are not qualified to speak about." Are all AB-Inbev employees this brainwashed by the company line? You would think that someone who is a master brewer has to at least have some general knowledge about beer. The above comment led me to believe that you really don't need to know shit about beer to be a "master brewer" for AB-Inbev
Um, he's actually correct. If you knew anything about making beer, you'd know that making a pale lager is extremely challenging due to the reasons he states.
Agreed, I am always reminded how much I have yet to learn about brewing when I try and make a simple, light tasting beer. Also, don't even get me started about Macro's precise consistency. I am pretty sure most BAs will at least acknowledge these things, though this does not mean for one second that their beer is enjoyable or flavorful.
So it may be harder to make, however it does not mean that the quality is better. I am by no means a brewer nor do I consider myself one, however I sense the overwhelming smell of bullshit in his attempt to justify Budweiser and its crappiness. This fool thinks that just because it is a more complex process, that that somehow translates into the quality of the beer. At the end of the day, it's still another crappy mass-produced adjunct lager.
It's not good and we might not like it. But, it is a well made beer and consistently brewed the same way over and over.
Funny though, because he mentions flavor problems. And brews for ABInBev. News flash: You've got flavor problems.
But you're remarkably incorrect. Quality is not diminished in a product just because you dont enjoy it.
If it's so challenging, then how does every third world country that can't seem to figure out flush toilets seem to have one?
It's a crappy mass-produced lager that millions purchase regularly, enjoy, and never ever think "Boy, Bud's really dropped off since last year..."
Quality of product does not equal quality of enjoyment. Budweiser is flawless for what it is, a pale American lager. You may not like it, but it is a quality product that is much more of a challenge to make than many types of beers.
The definition of "Quality" is so muddled by marketing and personal perceptions, that it should be taken out of the English language.
Then, as the brewmaster said, please do not speak on things you are not qualified to speak about. If you don't like the taste of AALs, then just leave it at that. No need to talk smack about their quality. Any craft brewer who is being 100% honest will have to agree that ABI & Miller-Coors' quality is top-notch. (They just happen to consistently produce product which many BAs do not like...)
In a way you have to respect the precision and skill to brew such massive amounts of the same beer at different faciilities across the country and have them all taste exactly the same.
I'll step in here and suggest that the term "quality" can have various meanings, depending on what you're after. If you're talking about straight-up batch-to-batch product consistency on a global scale, then you can't argue that the big macros turn out a remarkably consistent, issue-free product that would make most small craft breweries envious. You never hear about infections, lack of carbonation, off flavors, or batch variation coming from the big breweries. Likewise, cases of food poisoning at McDonald's are almost unheard of. Now, I'll take almost any craft beer over a Budweiser, even with the former's almost rampant quality control issues. I'd rather take my chances on a flat Hair of the Dog or Lost Abbey beer any day over the bland, grainy BMC sure thing that I could buy for a fraction of the price. But you have to give the big guys credit for producing a massive amount of beer that gets distributed worldwide with surprisingly few QC issues.
This might help with that... (cryogenically frozen beer from the 80's to present) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114601602889736048.html
LOL!! I love threads like these. Sounds like the brewer is spot on. And I have heard that its easier to mask imperfections in an IPA than in say a light American Lager. While I enjoy craft beer more than any of the marcos, I don't think you can call something crappy and say millions buy it in the same sentence. Well you can. Let's not hate the big guy for being successful, and we'll leave the snobbishness to the wine drinkers. After all if Marcos were making super awesome craft brews, the little guys would be out of business and we wouldn't be here.
I also want to add that Modelo Group is a macro, and Modelo Negro is one of the best examples of a Vienna Lager.
They brew a very CONSISTENT product on a massive scale. You don't like the recipe. This doesn't mean it isn't a quality product.
1) I don't see anything factually inaccurate with his statement. 2) What do you expect him to say on a public forum? That the product he makes (and makes a living from) is bad?
Does that mean that NASCAR cars are quite slow, rather than fast as NASCAR officials would have us believe?
This was a particularly ignorant thing for the AB brewmaster to say: "Please don't speak on things you are not qualified to speak about."This shows that, for all his knowledge of brewing, he has little understanding of the driving force behind the internet and Facebook.
Jim Koch has a famous quote out there that I can't find right now which fully grants the Budweiser point, but he says it in a pejoritive way which is still accurate. It's a great quote. It must be really hard to make such a reduced flavor/low flavor beer without imperfections leaping out at you.
So what did you expect him to post? That Budweiser is crappy beer and he's only there for the paycheck? Seeing that employers regularly check facebook, something tells me he MUST toe the company line or he'll be out looking for work elsewhere.
