Anheuser-Busch closing down three breweries

[loneryder]

Coors always had more Rocky Mountain water than Rocky Mountain high

Here in the east we called Coors Lite carbonated urine.

 

[edyvw]

Here in the east we called Coors Lite carbonated urine.

I will never understand appeal if that “beer.”

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I will never understand appeal if that “beer.”

They get to hold a beer bottle so they fit in with all the boys. Coors Lite was the original O’douls NA

 

[y_p_w]

Bud light sales down 40% by some estimates based on the whole marketing fiasco, Falling liquor sales in general, craft beers (that are also falling).

I was surprised when Anheuser Busch originally sold out to inbev. Looks like they read the tea leaves well.

Michelob Ultra is the #1 selling beer in the US. Displaced Modelo Especial, which is made/marketed by AB/InBev outside the US, but marketed by Constellation Brands in the US using different breweries.

Anheuser-Busch isn't struggling. This was a business decision that's not likely to be due to Bud Light sales being down. They've been moving to more expensive options like Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois (which is made in the US now for the US market). Might be less overall volume of beer, but higher revenue.

 

[CKN]

But more people are on Zanax, Valium etc..than ever. Pick your poison... I'll stick to beer.
I agree that 'craft brews' are taking there toll on Bud, Coors,etc...nothing like a nice IPA...they do taste better.

That's the oddest sentence I have seen on this forum lately-Congrats!

 

[pbm]

Here in the east we called Coors Lite carbonated urine.

I can drink Miller Lite but I agree Coors Light is watery and Bud Light taste too sweet for me. As I sated earlier, I like a nice IPA or even a Guinness Extra Stout. I do like a nice Scotch as well. Peaty Scotch's like Laphroaig are my favorites.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Michelob Ultra is the #1 selling beer in the US. Displaced Modelo Especial, which is made/marketed by AB/InBev outside the US, but marketed by Constellation Brands in the US using different breweries.

Anheuser-Busch isn't struggling. This was a business decision that's not likely to be due to Bud Light sales being down. They've been moving to more expensive options like Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois (which is made in the US now for the US market). Might be less overall volume of beer, but higher revenue.

Modelo still leads in dollar sales, maybe not volume (since you want to talk dollars.) Mich Ultra is cheap actually - bottom shelf. A price point, not a slight. You always knew a premium priced beer couldn't stay on top in this country.

Stock is flat for 5 years while S&P is almost double. EPS also flat during that time while inflation is 25% - so really is a 1/3 decline. Every article out there says alcohol sales are declining for all the reasons mentioned already.

They can spin it however they want, when my income is growing faster than there's there in poor shape.

 

[GON]

I guess pot has quite a few less health risks than alcohol.

Would have to imagine pot reduces back injuries; people that smoke pot more often than not become consumers and are no longer producers...

It would not be surprising to discover the CCP is the behind-the-scenes promoter and financier of legalizing pot in the U.S.

 

[CKN]

Would have to imagine pot reduces back injuries; people that smoke pot more often than not become consumers and are no longer producers...

It would not be surprising to discover the CCP is the behind-the-scenes promoter and financier of legalizing pot in the U.S.

Another gross generalization.

 

[4wd]

Speaking of beer. A couple of decades ago I met a scientist for Coca-Cola. At the time they had toyed with the idea of offering beer and had performed some research on Budweiser. They're data showed that the product just barely met the definition of beer.

They paid R&D instead of buying one

 

[Owen Lucas]

Another gross generalization.

IDK, China has been behind the fentanyl coming to the US.

Destabilization is part of their strategy. Remember the opium wars? Yeah, it's payback time, except Americans are on the wrong end of the stick.

Potheads aren't exactly known for being productive and smart. Chances are much higher you'll become a burnout if you do it long enough, especially with todays nuclear grade scientifically cultivated weed. This isn't some kid growing a plant in their backyard.

There are operations in Maine and other states run by the Chinese Triads or whatever (surely with the CCPs blessing), basically huge grows in the forests employing illegals / Mexicans to undercut the legal cannabis trade.

It's all farked up. I'm for public executions at this point.


https://www.themainewire.com/2023/1...a-grows-are-all-over-maine/?referrer=grok.com

 

[wlk]

I quit drinking AB when they sold to SAB, switched to Yuengling years ago. But I occasionally still drink HighLife even though Miller sold out too. I try and keep my dollars in the US when I can.
We also have slowed way down on beer in general, maybe a case or 2 a year now since we started a low carb diet. Mrs.'s is pre-diabetic so we cut most carbs out

 

[y_p_w]

I quit drinking AB when they sold to SAB, switched to Yuengling years ago. But I occasionally still drink HighLife even though Miller sold out too. I try and keep my dollars in the US when I can.
We also have slowed way down on beer in general, maybe a case or 2 a year now since we started a low carb diet. Mrs.'s is pre-diabetic so we cut most carbs out

Miller sold out to SAB. A-B sold out to InBev. I think when InBev bought MillerSAB they had to divest the American assets, which my reading says went to Molsen Coors. But for the most part, it's two big companies now dominating the US beer market.

 

[nealberke]

Everywhere.
1. They were popping up like mushrooms after rain. It is a market correction.
2. Never in US history have fewer people drink as % of the population.

Interesting research I heard about in an interview with a psychologist from NYU. 46% of guys 25 and younger said that the thing they are most afraid of is asking a woman on a date.
I think drinking is taking its toll. He actually said in an interview: go out, get drunk, meet someone.

I wonder if working from home has a role in declining beer sales? Folks used to stop off for a drink or two before going home. There was a social component to drinking that working from home may have eliminated?

 

[billt460]

Wait, hold up...

So dressing up a wimpy boyish looking man as a woman, and using it to advertise an already crappy beer, ended up with people buying less of that beer?

Who would have thought!

"The Mulvaney promo caused Bud Light volumes to plummet 25-40% year-over-year (ongoing as of Q3 2025), erasing ~$1.4 billion in revenue and contributing to a 50% drop in AB InBev's North American profits ($1.05B in Q3 2025 vs. $2.07B in 2024). These factories brew core brands including Bud Light, so lower demand there means excess capacity. Analysts and media widely link the pattern of closures to the "stubborn" boycott effects, calling it a "quasi-permanent" hit."

There is one way to fix this though:

Sydney Sweeney.

It also didn't take long for the Bud Light people who dumped it over the stupid queer representation, to realize how crappy the stuff was in the first place. Whatever they ended up switching to, they stayed with.

 

[demarpaint]

They blew it with bad advertising, real bad, it cost them I guess. I gave up on their garbage years ago as a result.

 

[Dave Hess]

People are not drinking like they used to. Or even be able to afford it……..

Yep. And buying food is much more important than beer.

Also craft beer sales are way down. Younger folks don’t want to drink beer.

 

[zzyzzx]

My 2 twenty something nephews don't drink or smoke. One has already gotten Botox injections around his eyes...I was like " WHAT ?!?! "

Obligatory Richard Simmons or Liberace reference.

 

[crashz]

I'm close to the Merrimack facility. Beer production has gone down steadily for quite a few years. Add in the huge contract pressures, employee turn-over, weed legalized in the surrounding states, micro-brews, hard seltzers, and the powder keg lit by the political climate its no wonder they made the decision to close. Its not one thing, but many factors.

For us, the closure sucks. The facility is an anchor employer in town. The revenue from taxes and wastewater is significant. The jobs there are high paying and cannot be replaced. Not to mention, they have a beautiful campus that was once used for events and housing the horses. This is a big loss to our community.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

They are spending another $17m on the Houston brewery - if someone relocated there - likely to find home prices to their liking - but might need to study the beltway system bcs of where the brewery is … (industrial area) …

It must be aluminum can/bottle volume they’re chasing then, they just closed the glass plant there that made almost 2.8M bottles daily…

IOW, I’m not their potential customer.