Shot In The Dark: Like Budweiser, Without The Crappy Taste

September 15, 2005

Like Budweiser, Without The Crappy Taste

The real Budweiser is coming to America:

A beer claiming to be the original "Budweiser'' will soon be sold in the shadow of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., maker of the better-known beer of the same name.

Czech brewer Budejovicky Mestansky Pivovar (BMP) isn't interested in picking a trademark fight, at least not in the U.S., where it's calling its beer B.B. Burgerbrau — burgerbrau translated means "Beer of the City's Residents.'' In Europe, the same brew is sold as "Budweiser Bier.''

"I don't want to stick my hand in that fire,'' said Rob Neuner, president of Classic Beverages LLC of Darien, Conn., the U.S. importer of B.B. Burgerbrau. "Budweiser is a trademark of Anheuser-Busch. We don't want to market the beer as Budweiser per se, but we don't see any problem saying the beer is from the town of Budweis.''

Labels use the Czech term "Budejovicke Pivo,'' which translated means "Budweiser Bier,'' and the brew will offer point-of-sale references to "Czech Budweis City'' as the site where the beer is made.

When I was in Europe, I visited Schlitz - also much better than its America n namesake. I couldn't make it to the villages of Pfeiffer, Hamms or or Kornguertel.

Posted by Mitch at September 15, 2005 05:08 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I believe you can get real Budweiser already under the name Budvar. Although the best Czech beer by far - possibly the best beer in the world - is Radegast. Trust me, if you like beer, that's one of the best.

Then again, I actually like PBR, so perhaps my taste in beers is somewhat questionable...

Posted by: Jay Reding at September 15, 2005 08:04 AM

Then again, I actually like PBR, so perhaps my taste in beers is somewhat questionable...

Posted by: Jay Reding at September 15, 2005 08:05 AM

"Kornguertel".

Hahaha - it took me a minute to get "Grain Belt!"

Posted by: Annette at September 15, 2005 08:55 AM

Budweiser Budvar is sold in North America as "Czeckvar" and in Eastern Europe as "Budejovický Budvar", or "Budweiser Budvar". They also claim to be the original and real Budweiser.

The beer spotlighted by the Strib, "Budejovicke Pivo", claims that theirs is the oldest recipe, but I'm not sure that they have been continuously brewing.

Posted by: Just Me at September 15, 2005 10:13 AM

I drank Budejovický/ Budvar daily when I visited the Czeck Rep[ublic a couple of years ago. It's a great beer. It was also sold by the street vendors in Vienna who sold the Wiener sausages which were kind of like hot dogs but not really. The combo made a super lunch. I have a Budvar bar coasters on my desk at work and often reflect on the shortcomings of a tuna salad/ water lunch in comparison. I don't know if the Czeck beer was the first Budweiser, but it's by far the better of the two.

Posted by: Dave S. at September 15, 2005 12:33 PM

If Anheueser-Busch is using the Budweiser name,
why can they put a product in the bottle that
lives up to it?

Posted by: Hair-old at December 2, 2005 11:52 PM