American Originals: Budweiser

It was a big to-do. but wasn't posted here. There was recent news that Belgian (if you could call it that, as the company is rather mysterious and does not really have a "concrete" home office) beer giant InBev has purchased Anheuser-Busch for 52 billion (with a 'b') dollars. Madness.

A massive global fizzy yellow lager company buys a massive American fizzy yellow lager company. Big news in business, but for news of spreading a quality TASTY beer product to the masses? Yawn. Wow, Budweiser will share the locker room with the likes of Stella Artois and Beck's! Snooze...

Anyhoo, giving credit where credit is due, Anheuser-Busch does a phenomenal job of quality control. A Bud purchased that was brewed in St. Louis tastes the same as a Bud brewed in Columbus, OH tastes the same as a Bud brewed in Williamsburg, VA. Quite a feat, even if it is a boring fizzy yellow lager.

Tonight, July 17 at 9:00pm EST, CNBC will air an episode of "American Originals: Budweiser". It will re-air Sunday July 20th 10PM, Sunday July 27th 12AM, and Monday July 28th 9PM. Sure it's crap beer, but it is an American institution and quite an innovator. Did you know that Anheuser-Busch trailblazed the use of refrigerated railcars to distribute their beer nationally? Or that the company is the largest recycler of aluminum cans in the nation?

"American Originals: Budweiser" taps into the beer industry, as CNBC reveals how Anheuser-Busch cultivated its Budweiser brand to remain a leader even as it was losing market share. CNBC gained unprecedented access in order to show viewers how Budweiser executives built the brand and how they respond to one of their most challenging issues yet: how to battle relentless competition from exotic brands from overseas and microbreweries as well as favorite local brands and other national beers. The fate of the last of the independent American beer brands is at stake and CNBC shows you what is being done to maintain market share lead.