According to this report Busch Light and Busch are the #6 and #7 best-selling domestic beers in the US. Busch is hugely popular in the South; it’s popular in the West; I’m pretty sure it’s popular in the Midwest. I don’t know of any region of the country where it’s not immensely popular. But you can’t get it in New York City, and as far as I know this has always been the case (even back when it was called Busch Bavarian). Why?
Come to think of it, Natural Light, another mega-brand nationally, doesn’t seem to be available here either. I don’t get it. Why would Anheuser-Busch, the colossus of American brewing, be timid about the New York market?
I’d bet it’s a distributor decision, not a brewery one. I can’t get Busch at my local Bevmo in SoCal, either. They just don’t stock it, even though it should be available.
Possibly a more interesting question would be: "WHY aren’t they calling it Busch Bavarian any more?
And why can I not find Brew 102, no matter how hard I look? Half the reason I wanted turn 21 was so I could try some Brew 102 (fresh from the pure mountain springs of downtown Los Angeles).
I doubt it. If Anheuser-Busch wants a particular beer sold in a particular market, they’re going to get their way. They’ve been known to push distributors around. They are the big boys, not the distributors. My bet is that it’s a marketing decision by AB.
In four elections, they didn’t go for him. They probably don’t want any beer associated with his name. Even though they’re spelled differently and have no connection.
What’s the bottom of the barrel, super-cheapest beer commonly sold in NYC? Frequently around here, Busch or Natty Light is that beer.
I wonder if maybe there’s an entrenched regional beer of some kind, and ABInbev isn’t bothering to confront them head-on for that segment of the market. Or maybe Bud Light sells too well to remove shelf space from it in favor of a lesser selling beer?
Schaeffer? Steinlager? There used to be a number of “sportsman’s brews” for sale from regional breweries. Do any of them still exist as independent breweries?
The ones I see bars practically throw at people during happy hour drink specials are Pabst Blue Ribbon, Miller High Life, the Mexican brand Tecate, and Genessee. The latter may qualify as an entrenched regional brand, but I never got the impression it had much mass appeal.
With a little research, you could probably find a beer distributor that handles Manhattan, and ask them where Busch is.
It’s probably not too easy to find, nor any bottom feeder beers, because of an economic principle that in expensive places you only get top-shelf stuff. In Manhattan, rent’s ridiculous. Every beer you buy has maybe $2 added to the price to pay the restaurant’s rent. People won’t pay $4 for a Busch, but they might pay $6 for a Pete’s Wicked.
I haven’t had it in at least 30 years but I always thought Busch was fairly drinkable when ice cold. Genessee Cream Ale was an underage favorite. But I haven’t tried that in 25 years either. Worst beer ever? I vote for Piel’s Draft (in bottles).
Bup: interesting, thanks. it looks like there are a couple of Brooklyn neighborhoods (Bushwick and Bed-Stuy) where it’s not too hard to find Busch, but everywhere else in Brooklyn it’s kind of a long shot unless you know exactly where to go. I don’t see any outlet for it in Queens, but perhaps I’m misinterpreting the search represented in that map.
Steinlager? The beer that won the America’s Cup? All the way from New Zealand to New York, or is there a local beer of the same name? It wasn’t crap as I remember.
