Lawsuit Accuses Anheuser-Busch Of Watering Down Its Beer
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Feb 27, 2013 4:30PM
Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Beer drinkers across the globe have long said Budweiser tastes like watered-down piss. A lawsuit filed Tuesday also makes that claim. Class-action lawsuits filed in three states accuse Anheuser-Busch InBev of overstating the alcohol content in Budweiser, Michelob and other beers the company produces. (As if you needed another reason to avoid “the King of Beers.”)
A lawsuit filed in Philadelphia Tuesday cited information from employees at AB’s 13 U.S. breweries of watering down their beer, which is normally labeled as 5 percent alcohol content for Budweiser and 4 percent for light beers like Bud Light. The suit contends the company uses “sophisticated equipment” to measure the alcohol content of beer throughout the brewing process and water is added just before bottling, reducing the alcohol content by 3 percent, putting the actual alcohol content somewhere between “Near Beer” and “light beer.” Similar lawsuits were filed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
California lawyer Josh Boxer, the lead lawyer in the suit, said the information is “a simple cost-saving measure, and it's very significant.” Anheuser-Busch InBev vice president of brewing and supply Peter Kraemer said in a statement the claims were “groundless.”
"Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest beer maker and controls 39 percent of the U.S. market. In addition to Budweiser and Michelob, AB InBev also brews Stella Artoiss, Leffe, Hoegaarten, Beck’s, and Chicago’s Goose Island, which the company is positioning as its lead craft brewing brand. The beers listed in the suit include Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime.