Budweiser's 'Watergate': Anheuser-Busch Accused Of Diluting Beer

Three class-action lawsuits have been levied against Anheuser-Busch, suing the company for over $5 million on the claim that the company is cheating consumers by watering down its beer.

The claims cite statements from former brewery workers, who state that Anheuser-Busch routinely adds water to their beers. Anheuser-Busch uses “process control technology” to monitor and ascribe the alcohol content of its beers while they are being produced. After producing but just before bottling the beers, the Anheuser-Busch breweries allegedly add water to the beer, reducing the alcohol content and “depriving consumers of the value they paid for.”

Lawyers say that the watering down of beers can result in beers that contain 3% to 8% less alcohol than their labels indicate. Multiple brands are indicated in the suits, including Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Bud Light Lime, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Black Crown, Natural “Natty” Light, its redneck cousin, Natural Ice, and the King of Beers, Budweiser. Bud Light could not be watered down more to make the list.

Varieties for drinking as its own objective such as your average weekend bender, day-drinking marathons, and beer pong, flip cup, funnel races, and other fratletics — Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, Bud Light Platinum, Natty Light — would still deliver the good times; but freshman would only gain ten! Finally, there would still exist America’s favorite beers for celebrating your latest eviction or hazing pledges — Bud Ice, Hurricane High Gravity, and King Cobra! All the booze, half the sadness! The only brand that might need to go is Michelob Ultra. That would depend on whether people would still want to flaunt their “ultra” lifestyle if the beer’s recipe were no different than Bud Light’s (he author has never sipped nor seen Black Crown, nor met anyone who has).