St. Louis Brewing Giant Anheuser Busch Going into the Vodka Business

If you drive down Highway 55 towards downtown St. Louis you'll see them: the team of Clydesdales pulling the world-famous Budweiser beer truck. At one time they were one of the most recognized advertising icons on the planet, but they're not used much anymore. Nowadays the horses hang out at their stables at Grant's Farm; a sort of giant petting zoo down on Gravois Ave. that used to be the Busch's private estate. And sometimes they go on parade on special occasions at the ballpark. But they and the brewery they adorn still cast a huge shadow over the city of St. Louis. The brewery employs about 5000 people at the St. Louis location. There was a time when working for Anheuser Busch, Chrysler Motors, or McDonnell Douglas Air craft Company meant that you were pretty much set for life. It was the cream of the blue-collar crop. At one time the brewery even had a beer clause in the worker's contract. You were allowed to take home a certain amount of the stuff every month.

I remember an acquaintance of mine who was in the wine business some years back, telling me that he had a meeting with Augie Busch and some of the directors of the company. He told me that he had brought some wine with him and was told to get "that stuff" out of the boardroom. Apparently it was beer only for these guys. Well, there's a new generation of Buschs running the brewery now and the thinking has changed. At first there were only the signature brands: Budweiser, his cheaper cousin Busch, and the premium Michelob. Then rival Miller came out with a light beer and Busch followed with Bud Light. When Samuel Adams and some local craft brewers began to make a tiny dent into the beer market, giant Busch noticed and began making their own version of ales, bocks, Pilsners and seasonal brews. Now the trend among younger drinkers is away from beer altogether and towards distilled spirits and mixed drinks. Mixed drinks like vodka and energy drinks jumped some 43% last year to $782 million in sales.