Pilsen

České Budějovice & Anheuser Busch: The other bohemian

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

Chris touched on a really great topic in his previous post, Good beer is regional. I could not agree more – the best beer is usually local beer. This is not to say that we do not need diversity in our beer selection. I would not be very satisfied if I was limited to drinking only porters and pilsners for the rest of my life. I would miss my warming barely wines and Belgian dubbels. Most craft brewers regularly search for and sample new styles of beer that they can add to their expanding portfolio. For example, many craft brewers in the Pacific Northwest have begun brewing a wide variety of Belgian ales. I do not have to travel far to taste a world class Saison, Driftwood Brewery of Victoria BC brews a great Saison. It is true that a BC Saison may taste different than a Belgian Saison, but it is supposed to taste different. Brewing is a creative art form, and emulation is not very creative.

It is good to be inspired by other brewers, but to outright steal a regions style of beer and claim it as your own is crossing the line. This is how the Anheuser Busch Company created their popular, yet incredibly bland, Budweiser.

The American brewing industry got its start when German immigrants started to brew familiar Bavarian style lagers in their new homeland. Bavarian lager, with its clean taste, soon began to dominate the American beer market, but not for long. As American tastes began to change in preference of lighter food, Bavarian lagers, being malty and flavourful, began to fall out of favor. Anheuser Busch reacted to this change in what appeared to be a positive approach. Adolphus Busch, the then owner of Anheuser Busch, bought the rights to a light tasting bohemian style lager from fellow brewer Carl Conrad. This beer soon became the number one selling beer in America and was dubbed Budweiser, a trademark riddled with controversy to this day.

The Czech Republic (Bohemia) is known world wide for brewing the first Pilsner in a town called Pilsen – no surprise there. Most beer drinkers are familiar with a Pilsner style of beer, but are unaware that there is an equally tasty bohemian style lager brewed to the south of Pilsen in a city called České Budějovice or Budweis. Anheuser Busch’s bohemian lager was inspired by Bohemian budweiser and it is no surprise that this popular American brew was titled Budweiser. Anheuser Busch took things one step too far when they trademarked and defended their right to the Budweiser name, taking a style of beer, or at least a way of promoting that style, away from other brewers. From that point on no brewer other than Anheuser Busch was allowed to label their beer as a budweiser, even if it is a budweiser lager.

I can walk into almost any pub in Canada and ask for a porter, pale ale or hefeweizen and I will not be offered any particular brand of beer, but if I was to ask for a budweiser, a style of beer brewed since the 1400’s, I would be offered a boring old bottle of Bud. Thank you for killing a perfectly good style of beer Anheuser Busch. But not all hope is lost; Budweiser Budvar and Budějovický měšťanský, both located in České Budějovice (Budweis) are both still brewing a budweiser. Budweiser Budvar is available in Canada under the label Czechvar, but it is packaged in green bottles and is often exposed to the harsh lights found in BC liquor stores. As a result, the beer is skunked more often than not. Budějovický měšťanský, better known as Samson, is not easily tracked down in these parts, but I would love to try it. If anyone has a Samson budweiser on hand please let me know where you found it.

It would be great to see home brewers or local craft brewers recreate this lost style and take budweiser back from the grips of Anheuser Busch and put it into the hands of true beer lovers. It will be a good day when I can walk into a pub and order a budweiser only to be asked – which one?

Erik

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