Reddit reviews Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer

Budweiser used to be 3.80% ABV, and today it is 5.0%. Budweiser used to be a little lower ABV-- With that, I believe the qualifying characteristics of the yeast has changed as the ABV increased a bit. Budweiser is a pretty terrific example of detectable acetaldehyde, I would reckon since A-B stored yeast even through prohibition, we're tasting roughly the same yeast, and probably did not have contained a lot less of that apple flavor in the early days.

In Bitter Brew, we go through the generations of Busch family members controlling A-B (also this book is fucking awesome, this whole family is way better than any reality TV show family in terms of how bonkers they all are) and we find recipe pride dies right around the 1980's when Lite beer and other gimmick beers come in.

It's also around the time corn gets subsidized. Now, I know what you are thinking, "But there isn't corn in Budweiser, you're thinking of rice!". It's not the most in-plain-sight ingredient on their site, but sure enough, even Budweiser got in on that sweet, subsidized corn market. So expect corn's flavor contributions to also be a difference.

And finally a lot of science has happened between then and now. A-B has optimized just how much Beechwood to add to each fermenter to successfully flocculate the yeast out of suspension, so some wood flavor has disappeared. Yeast has probably become a lot more stabilized in-house, brewing chemistry has advanced tremendously, water chemistry and it's relation to mash pH (pH was invented for this very fact by Sorenson) has become better understood, and if that hasn't changed it's flavor overall, it's sure as hell changed it's consistency, to where Gussie and Three Sticks would go to each brewery and taste batches for such consistency.

So to conclude, I would say the old Budweiser would taste kind of different.

It has been part of their marketing for over a century. You can find it on vintage pins and coasters and magazine ads and pamphlets and signs and more. It was such a point of pride that a family conflict arose when they considered abandoning the practice in the 1950s (see this book for the story).

> Under the Influence: The Unauthorized Biography of the Anheuser Busch Dynasty

I read Bitter Brew and shout out to that one, really enjoyed it.

No idea how well the family treated their employees and community and it was a good beer at one point... and then a spoiled selfish son kills a couple people, gets away with it, and ruins the brand.

http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Brew-Anheuser-Busch-Americas-Kings/dp/0062009273/

I work at a small book store and this is the one that comes up a lot.

Anheuser-Busch did the same thing and if I recall correctly had it delivered by the trademark Clydesdales. Theres an awesome book called "Bitter Brew" that tells the story of the Anheuser-Busch family. Fascinating read for anyone interesting in history and beer of course.