Image: Anheuser-Busch’s new pack designs for Budweiser 

In the US Budweiser is being sued by American consumers for watering down its beer!

The complaint is somewhat confusing: there I was thinking that if you actively purchased Bud you simply preferred the weak stuff…

Evidently not; consumers are suing Anheuser-Busch (the company behind Bud and other beer brands) to the tune of US$5m for what appears to be institutionalised practices of label deception; watered down beers did not have the stated levels of alcohol content. At least they weren’t flavouring the brew with horsemeat (as is the rage in Europe).

However, I’d like to believe that, in light of the success of fantastic American craft breweries such as Brooklyn Brewery and Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, that this lawsuit is simply a consequence of shifting tastes in beer with consumers starting to wake up to more sophisticated beers with stronger flavours.

It’s no wonder Anheuser-Busch themselves have leapt on the American craft beer bandwagon with their 2011 acquisition of the Goose Island Brewery. Let’s hope they ‘get the label right’ on that one.

Adrian Pring, London