Anheuser Busch And Microbrews

Beer brewing has always been the core business of
the Anheuser-Busch company. An industry leader
since 1957, Anheuser-Busch currently owns over half
of the domestic beer market.

The market share has grown so much that Anheuser-
Busch now has a bigger portion of the market than
the next four competitors, with the international
sales being no different. Anheuser-Busch remains
the leading exporter of beer from the United States,
with sales in more than 60 countries.

Microbreweries, or microbrews for short, have been
gaining a lot of attention in the past several
years. Microbrews are best classified as breweries
that produce less than 15,000 barrels in a given
year.

The strength of microbrews is found in their
philosophy that beer should be of the highest
quality. Therefore, microbrews are only brewed
with malted barley, hops, water, and yeast, which
are the only four ingredients found in the purist
German beers. Mass bottled beers normally add
rice and corn to help lower costs.

The only drawback to microbrews is what they cost.
The more expensive ingredients found in microbrews
cost on average 60% higher than the mass bottled
beers.

Beer isn't like wine, which tends to get better
with age. Beer is instead a food that should be
consumed as soon as possible after production.
With this in mind, pubs or microbrews that
produce beer on the premises are the hottest new
trends, with four new pubs on average popping
up each and every week.

Each year, sales of microbrews goes up an average
of 40% each year. This figure is very impressive
when you consider that the market is shrinking
as a whole. Even with this amazing success, the
microbrew sales represent around two percent of
the entire beer market.

In their pursuit to continue dominating the
entire beer market, Anheuser-Busch has tapped
into the trend of microbrews. They recently
purchased a stake in the Seattle based Red Hook
Ale microbrewery. The new products they released
into the beer market include Red Wolf, Elk
Mountain Red, and Elk Mountain Amber Ale.

Microbrews are normally produced regionally,
therefore Anheuser-Busch is developing regional
manufacturers and distributors. By doing this,
they must decide on the best possible way to
handle their short term cash needs for purchasing
inventory in these tiny plants.

With their recent transition into the world of
microbrews, you can count on Anheuser-Busch to
make quite the impact. They will be offering
more microbrews in the future, which is great
news for beer drinkers. If you like the wild
taste of microbrews, Anheuser-Busch is more than
worth your time and money.

Alaskan Brewing

The Alaskan brewing company is the oldest operating
brewery in Alaska, with their amber beer being
their most popular brand. They produce two other
brands as well, pale ale and Alaskan frontier
amber. If you enjoy fresh amber beer, Alaskan
brewing is what you want.

As you may already know, brewing beer in Alaska is
very hard to do. The coastal community of Juneau
doesn't have road connections to the lower 48 states,
so everything arrives and leaves by water or air,
with weather always having the final say.

In 1986, the Alaskan brewing company became the
67th brewery to operate in the United States and
the only one to operate in Alaska. Since that time,
Alaskan brewery has received more than 30 major
medals and awards, including the best beer in the
nation award during the 1988 Great American Beer
Festival.

The popularity of their beers has led to a great
amount of efforts to keep up with the demand from
consumers. They also hold the unnofficial record
for the production on a 10 barrel brewing system,
which produces an amazing 42 batches a week.

The Alaskan Brewery offers several different styles
of brew as well, which are listed below:

1. Amber - This is the company's flagship
beer, based on a turn of the century recipe that
was used to quench the thirst of the miners during
the Gold Rush era. It provides a smooth, malty,
rich taste that goes well with meals - or friends.
2. Pale - Pale is fresh, crips, and
inviting. Alaskan pale is great with crab, pawns,
and salads. The floral aroma of the hops is
derived from dry hopping the tanks during the entire
fermentation process.
3. Stout - The oatmeal style beer of stout
doesn't have the harshness of other stouts. Great
with chocolate and hearty meals, stout is also
ideal to enjoy while walking in the snow.
4. ESB - If you like hops, the infusion
of hops in this delight will amaze your nose while
the refreshing cascade hops will provide a wonderful
crispness to both the flavor and the finish. This
beer is great with spicy food, wild game, and other
wintery food.
5. Smoked porter - Very exclusive, Alaskan
smoked porter has a world class reputation for its
excellence. Brewed in the fall, this beer is ideal
for storing in the cellar for later enjoyment.
6. Winter ale - This tender brew of spruce
trees has been used for brewing in Alaska since
the late 1700s.