Bitter Brew

October 22, 2012
This thoroughly researched and thoughtfully written book takes a look at one of the great American family and business sagas—the life and times of the Busch family of St. Louis, who dominated the U.S. beer industry over five generations. Former journalist Knoedelseder’s (Stiffed: The True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia) begins in 1859, when Aldolphus Busch purchased “a tiny, bankrupt brewery that made bad-tasting beer on the banks of the Mississippi River” and transformed it into Anheuser-Busch, an estate “worth a staggering $60 million.” The bulk of the book then focuses on the next generations of Busch alpha males: August A., who survived Prohibition and made Budweiser into America’s first national beer brand; August Jr., best known as “Gussie,” whose purchase of the St. Louis Cardinals—providing “thirty thousand Budweiser drinkers held captive for two to three hours” each game—was “one of the best marketing teamups in the annals of American business” and solidified Anheuser-Busch as the largest brewer in the U.S.; August III, who introduced the company’s first truly streamlined business model, as well as the successful Bud Light beer; and the troubled and reckless August IV, who unsuccessfully fought to keep Anheuser-Busch from being purchased in 2008 by a foreign conglomerate for $52 billion, “the largest cash transaction in the history of American business.”

November 15, 2012

In this lengthy, well-written, and thoroughly documented company history, former Los Angeles Times reporter Knoedelseder (I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era) covers the Anheuser-Busch brewing lineage from the arrival of Adolphus Busch in the United States in 1857 through five generations to August Busch IV and the hostile takeover of the company by In-Bev in 2008. Knoedelseder uncovers family drama worthy of Dallas throughout that 151-year span. Births (including the traditional baptism with Budweiser), deaths, weddings, and divorces are all recorded here, along with the corporate infighting and marketing acumen that made Anheuser-Busch for a time the world's largest brewer. Alcoholism, drugs, affairs, accidental deaths, and cover-ups are featured alongside stories about the St. Louis Cardinals, Clydesdales, and advertising campaigns featuring talking frogs and lizards (remember them?). It even includes a family tree, which comes in handy since every male relative is named either August or Adolphus. VERDICT A real-life family saga, this book is full of domestic and company details, some of which are sordid, others commendable. Recommended for readers interested in the backstory behind the King of Beers.--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. of Ohio Libs., Oxford

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2012
Knoedelseder (I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era, 2009, etc.) peels away the ubiquitous Budweiser label to reveal an American family dynasty drunk on wealth, power and privilege. Beginning just after the all-American Anheuser-Busch brand was sold to the conglomerate InBev in 2008, the author examines the company's golden years. The company began in the mid 19th century when the son of a well-to-do German wine merchant first landed in St. Louis and set about building a brewing empire. Just how that same empire would one day manifest itself in the comic visage of Spuds MacKenzie is at once astounding and abhorrent. Indelible tag lines like "This Bud's For You" and "Bring Out Your Best" were only Budweiser's public calling cards. As the author adroitly points out, the real architects behind "The King of Beers" were far less palatable figures. Self-absorbed A-B leaders like "Gussie" Busch and his heir, August III, may have produced millions of barrels of beer in their time, but they left a lot to be desired in the humanity department. Knoedelseder's detailed portraits of each man, as well as August IV, are vivid, and their combined histories are enough to outshock even the most scandalous TV drama. No less captivating, however, are the stories behind Budweiser's phenomenally successful advertising campaigns, most notably its tooth-and-nail ad war with Miller Lite in the mid-1970s. For years, Budweiser waged some of its toughest battles across America's TV screens, but it was their largely unseen, interfamily fighting that cost them the most. This comprehensive, fast-paced history adeptly handles both threads. An engrossing behind-the-scenes look at one of America's most successful and familiar brands.

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