“The hospitality centers had pretty limited appeal because it was for patrons who were of legal drinking age who wanted beer,” he said. “We were looking for something that had a broader age appeal.”
Why don’t they just come out and say we want to charge everyone $10 a cup because we’re stripping the patron of every last dime we can before they leave the park?
I hate corporate double-speak, like we’re too dumb to figure out they’re trying to increase their profit margin. And notice the new free thing they’re going to offer with greater age appeal? Free ice cream at their hospitality center? Oh wait that’s right… the age appeal thing was a smoke-screen for - we’re just canceling any hospitality whatsoever cuz we’re cheap.
For cripes sake just say the fricking truth and stop insulting our intelligence.
I’m a huge fan of Busch Gardens and especially Sea World, but the number of people who will stop visiting the parks because of this can be counted on two hands. Still, it’s a damn shame because it was almost like a rite of passage the first time I could hit up the hospitality center.
On another note, a local bar, Taco Mac specifically, features a beer of the month each month. For January, it is ‘Budweiser American Ale’. Is this supposed to be the same old swill they’ve churned out forever and trying to get hip or is it a new concoction? I’m not about to find out on a first hand basis.
I tried it. I’m love a good ale. This one is not. Somehow it tastes like Ale but with all the good yeast tastes taken out. I don’t know if it was pasteurized post brewing or what, is bland taste what makes it “American”?
Don’t buy it for $3 a bottle at your local Taco bar. You’ll feel ripped off. If you must pick it up at the grocery store.
In the larger article, it was noted that InBev planned to sell the theme parks to raise money to pay off all the debt from buying A-B. Moving to remove the tasting rooms makes sense in that context.
I just recently visited the tasting room at Sea World San Antonio just before Thanksgiving, and previously did the full tasting program a year or so ago. I thought the program was well done, and the people with me seemed to really enjoy it. To me, it was a quest in trying to find a somewhat decent beer in a field of swill.
My wife and I used to love to go to Busch Gardens and get a little tipsy on free beer. That’s what made Busch Gardens different. Without free beer, I’d much rather go to Universal or Disney.
The same old swill is lager, rather than ale, isn’t it?
I wonder if it isn’t just Bud trying to masquerade as something a little classier? Lord knows the macrobreweries are trying to horn in on the craft brew scene, with stealth labels like Redbridge (Anheuser-Busch) or Blue Moon (Molson Coors) to hide their true identities.
Yeah, the regular Bud is a lager. American Ale is a new beer. Its darker (but not dark) and has a stronger taste. For people who think that the only types of beer in the world are Bud, Busch and Miller Lite, it’s going to be considered a classy upgrade.
For those that don’t buy their beers by the 30-pack, it’s a sub-par ale that isn’t worth buying for anything other than curiosity. There are too many beers in the same category that taste better and cost the same or less.
At Taco Mac, I’d go with a Negro Modelo, Bohemia, or whatever your favorite Mexican beer is.
The brewery tour on Pestalozzi is one of my fave places to take folks visiting St. Louis. At the end of the tour people would just give you their tickets for beer in the hospitality center, and we’d get absolutely blitzed. I’ve been expecting them to act on this for over a decade, since it got abused like crazy.
Not a big deal, j.
Oh, and FWIW, I love me a Budweiser. It’s all about the right context, just like any other beverage. Don’t be the douchebag insisting on a microbrew or expensive import at a punk show or during a softball game or floating a river. (If you are that guy, you might as well just buy a big hat that says “I’m a douche!” on it and wear it for those occasions, because that’s pretty much what everyone else is thinking…)
I’ve heard American Ale described as being exactly the kind of bland attempt you should expect from a macrobrew trying to bea craft microbrew. Better than their regular swill, worse than a real craft beer.
You know what? Fuck you. I, for one, do not magically lose my sense of taste when in the presence of music, sports, or water. Now I’m not going to pitch a hissy fit because I can’t get a Left Hand Milk Stout (or whatever specific brew), but I’m not going to pay beer prices for poorly filtered water, no matter what the context. I’m simply not going to pay for anything below about Sam Adams quality, and if that means I’m drinking water instead, I like to drink water so that’s no great sacrifice.
I can get behind this (well, except the fuck you part.) I drink beer to enjoy the taste of the beer, not to get intoxicated. The intoxication is a nice side effect, mind you.
What is wrong with wanting something of quality? If I’m going to drink a beer, I’m going to drink an actual beer, not that rice derived shit that the the big American breweries put out.
