Big Bud's Night Out (Budweiser Lager)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Budweiser Lager
Date:	12/02/02 (273 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: World renowned, Great taste

Disadvantages: May stop you trying other beers?

Episode 1

"Come on Budsters, into my knapsack you go. We’re off to our first house party in a while so I need your support tonight". The author glanced at the innocent brown bottles who scurried into the safety of his bag.

"What’s that, where’s Stella? No, she’s not coming. It’s just us for this one." The distinctive, world-renowned bottles looked at each other with a modicum of trepidation.

"Whassup? You’ve been watching too many of your own adverts. OK, no more ad-related jokes. No, not even froggy renditions of Bud – weis – er."

The intrepid crew sank into the relative comfort of their car seats and off they went in the general direction of suburban Northampton. A short drive later and they pulled up outside the host’s abode. The author whisked the bag off the passenger seat and headed for the front door. A particularly brave bottle popped his head over the edge of the bag to gauge where they were. His subsequent report back consisted of hushed speculation as to what the evening entailed.

As is in vogue at these affairs, it wasn’t long before the author was hanging out in the kitchen talking to any other dudes that would talk to him. "Come on then Budskis, out you come and we’ll have you here at my side for the rest of the night." The brave Budster from before eased his way onto the table. "Have you ever read 1001 Arabian Knights?" he asked the author.

"No my friend. Is it any good?"

"It’s a veritable classic that you should give a go. For now, I could tell you more about Budweiser if you would find that interesting?"

"Well I’m on my own at the moment. Can’t see me pulling just yet. OK, tell me more then." With this remark the author noticed a particularly fine example of womanhood slip by. He couldn’t help but notice and be
gan to plot for later on.

"I’m sure that you can’t have helped but be aware of our famous brown bottle with the Anheuser-Busch crest omnipresent on the main body of the bottle. Flanked on both sides is the famous eagle logo bearing the initials AB. We also have "King of Beers" emblazoned below and a red background Budweiser label towards the top of the bottle. We can be bought in bottle, can or on draft and it’s hard to find any outlet that doesn’t sell us being available the world over. We retail at £1.49 for a 500ml bottle."

The author glanced around for more activity. A dry feeling was starting to permeate. Maybe it was time for a drink?

"How much do you know about our history?" Procrastination was a talent for those with deadlines to avoid.

"Nothing really." The author retorted.

"Well our roots go back to 1852. George Schneider established his brewery - Carondelet. 8 years later Eberhard Anheuser bought it and re-named the operation E.Anheuser Busch & Co in St Louis. In 1857 Adolphus Busch had come to America and started his own brewery. He had joined up with Eberhard and together they’d become Anheuser-Busch.

Budweiser the brand came into existence in 1876. It was bottled and distributed by Carl Conrad.

1901 and the brewery broke the million barrels a year mark for the first time. 60 years on and the latest brand addition became part of the group – Michelob.

Budweiser purchased the baseball franchise St. Louis Cardinals in 1953 and have been associated with the outfit ever since.

Today we are the worlds leading beer and available in many forms. You can try Budlight, BigBud, Michelob or plain old Budweiser."

The author looked around and started to wonder why he actually drank Bud at all. Certainly bearing in mind that he spent more time talking to it than drinking it. At that moment Barry
the Hut walked in. Barry had got his nickname a few months earlier after having been identified as having an all too worrying similarity to Jabba the Hut of Star Wars fame.

"Are you drinking or what?" asked Barry. "Or should I say whassupppp?" he sniggered. The buds and their owner exchanged a frown.

"No rush, Barry. So what have you got with you?"

"Only Theakston’s Old Peculiar. This’ll put hairs on your chest!" At that Barry donated one of his trusty crew and the author duly tried it.

"Hmmm...Bud’s got a sweeter, drier taste than this although they are 2 completely different animals. The Budskis are 5% alcohol by volume and made from hops, rice and barley malt. The beer undergoes a Beechwood Aging process that delivers the final product. There is even a "born on" date to identify the date the product was packaged as an indication of freshness. Budweiser is the official beer of the 2002 World Cup Finals."

Barry looked at him slightly startled. "Where did all that come from?"

"I’m not sure." said the author a little bemused himself.

"Do you not think it’s a bit of a sell-out drinking such a mainstream beer? I mean look at the massive advertising budget they have. There is a danger that folks get sucked in by the hypnotic draw of black men throwing around cool one-liners and frogs on Lilly pads under the threat of electrocution." This was a very thoughtful question by Barry’s standards as his usual level of conversation revolved around marks out of 10 for the closest babe.

"Maybe. It’s certainly worth trying others too. I like Bud because I know what to expect. It’s very much in the same vein as Stella belonging to the Superleague of premium lagers. Yeah, I’d like to see people take a chance and scour the aisles at their local supermarket for a di
fferent beer. Bud has got things sussed, though. I went to the beer-making factory in Orlando, Florida last year. Very impressive and how can you decline the free samples on offer? Naturally, to get a real feel for the flavour I had to try several of the free samples and didn’t end up taking the brewery tour."

By now the bottles were getting bored and one of the usually more reticent members chimed in "We have a great online presence you know? Check us out at budweiser.com. You can find out all about our history; there’s a feature on Budworld in St Louis and even a virtual brewery tour requiring Macromedia flash. The main page is in a magazine format and you can select Bud Quality, Bud Life, Bud Sports or Bud Fun. There are explanatory features detailing our links with Nascar racing and our association with horses, in particular, Clydesdales. It’s a very intuitive site with lots of colour and plenty of interactivity." Both Barry and the author glanced at the bottle and then at each other.

"So you gonna drink ‘em or what?" enquired Barry.

"I’m not sure I want to any more. I feel as though I know ‘em." replied a ponderous author.

Time stood still for a few seconds as the girl of his dreams walked in. "With or Without You" by U2 played in the background as the atmosphere turned to an air of romance. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. The moment he had waited all of his life for had finally arrived. He just had to ask her..."Do you fancy a Bud?"

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