And that's... the Rest of the Story
Written: Sep 25 '00 (Updated Dec 11 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Deliciously delicate light lager, grassy and subtly malty
Cons: Can't get it in the U.S., overhyped by beer geeks
The Bottom Line: FLASH! Budvar is now available in the U.S.! Look for it under the name "Czechvar" and make up your own mind.
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| beerfly's Full Review: Budweiser Budvar 12 |
What's in a name?
Budweiser, Budvar, Anheuser-Busch. You'll find a lot of hot type thrown around the Internet (in beer areas, anyway) about "original Budweiser" or "real Budweiser," about stealing names and better beer... You'll find people who will tell you that Adolphus Busch stole the Budweiser name from Budweiser Budvar (false), that Anheuser-Busch (A-B) sued in U.S. courts to keep Budvar out of America (false), that Budvar is the "real" Budweiser (ridiculous).
I'm here to straighten things out. Ready?
First, we need to get some terms straight. "Budweiser" is A-B's product. "Budvar" is the product of Budejovicky Pivovar (that's Czech for "Budejovice Brewery", which is generally shortened to "Budvar"), and "budweiser" is the style of beer in question. Eh? Small 'b' budweiser? You bet. Hang in there.
Way back when, pre-1876, the area where all this started, Bohemia, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While the Empire officially named the brewing town that made this clean, light lager beer Budweis, a German name, the Czechs in the area called it Ceske Budejovice. The beers from the town were called "budweiser," a German construction simply meaning "from (or "of") Budweis." Kind of like calling someone who dives a "diver." And exactly like calling the beers from the nearby town of Pilsen (you guessed it) "pilsener." But there were no beers in the town named "Budweiser."
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch were running a brewery in St. Louis. Adolphus was an up-and-comer, a real dynamo who was mad for quality in the beer. He made several trips to Europe in the 1860s and 1870s (he still had family in Germany), looking for information on brewing high-quality beer. (That's the straight stuff, by the way: I've talked to the archivist at A-B, and seen copies of letters from Adolphus that go on and on for pages of instructions on how to identify and purchase the finest malt and hops. The man was obsessed.)
One of the trips must have truly impressed him. In 1876, Adolphus and his friend Carl Conrad, developed a lager beer they named "Budweiser." The Anheuser-Busch website then gives this incredible source for the name: "Adolphus coined the word "Budweiser" because it had a slightly Germanic sound; so it would appeal to both Americans and German immigrants." Coined. You can find that amazing quote at www.budweiser.com/brew_tour/d.html , I didn't make it up. By the way, "Michelob" is also the name of a town in the Czech Republic.
So. A-B brews Budweiser in 1876, and of course, trademarks the name. This sets off ongoing litigation with all the other U.S. brewers who were making budweiser beer. Oh, yes: there were a number of American "budweiser" beers. Just as there are still a large number of pilsner beers, and there were also Wiener ("from Vienna"), Erlanger, and Münchener beers. But A-B took this placename as their own, and finally hammered the last American one out of existence in the 1970s, DuBois Budweiser, from DuBois, PA. I've seen DuBois Budweiser cans in can collections in Pittsburgh bars.
Meanwhile, back in Bohemia... Almost 20 years after Budweiser hit the streets of St. Louis, the Budvar brewery was founded. They began brewing beer in the budweiser style, and put the name "Budweiser" on the label, as does another brewery in Budweis, the Samson brewery. When Samson sent beer to the U.S., A-B got upset. Legal wrangling eventually resulted in an agreement signed in 1911 between the two companies that essentially split the world's markets between them. Note, an agreement, not a settlement. I have a copy of that agreement, and it is very much an agreement between apparent equals. There was a subsequent agreement between A-B and Budvar signed in 1939, a secret document I've finally been able to obtain: again, looks like an agreement, not a diktat. Of course, one wonders what the Czechs might have signed while under Nazi occupation.
After the war, the battle quieted down as A-B went to work dominating the American market and Budvar quietly went behind the Iron Curtain. The beer was available in Europe and in Communist-aligned countries in Asia, but it was not heavily marketed. Things changed when A-B began looking overseas to expand their markets.
A-B's lawyers are chipping away at the 1939 agreement. It's astonishing the amount of money and effort A-B's putting into this, trying to re-label (Budweiser is sold as Bud, American Bud, and "B" in various European markets), trying to get outright judgments against Budvar, and a couple of attempts to simply buy Budvar. But the Czech gov't has pretty much put an end to this last angle, and the others continue... slowly.
And what about Budvar? Are they the injured party here, pure as their beer? That's the popular opinion, because every story needs an underdog, and A-B hasn't fit that role for years. But I wonder. Here's what I wonder.
*** Every other place in Czechoslokakia went crazy ripping off German names and putting on Czech ones after World War I. Why not Budvar? Why stick with "budweiser," the language of the oppressing Empire?
*** One of the legal challenges, in Hong Kong, found that Budvar was deliberately trying to confuse the issue with consumers about which Bud was which.
*** Finally, as I read the agreement, and I admit I'm not a trademark lawyer, Budvar could simply put a different name on their beer and sell it in the U.S. The DuBuisson brewery in Belgium did it: they renamed their "Bush" beer to "Scaldis" to avoid A-B's wrath. Why not Budvar? [And of course, now they have, and you can buy "Czechvar" in a growing number of markets in the U.S.]
Maybe it's nothing more than isolated incidents, and a wise decision to stick with a product name. Then again, maybe Budvar doesn't mind all the publicity and a little bit of confusion. After all, A-B spends millions publicizing the name "Budweiser" every year. If some of the effect of those millions should dribble down onto Budvar, is that so bad? After all, there are epinions that obviously mistake Budvar for Budweiser.
That's the story. Budvar and Budweiser, fated to be adversaries. Is one better than the other? Well, what's "better" mean? I like Budvar better, but that's one man's opinion. Just because I happen to be right... Anyway, I wanted to give you the real truth on this, because it's important. I've put a lot into researching this; I've got information from the A-B archives, the 1911 and 1939 agreements, a variety of news stories on the various legal challenges, and secondary sources. Trust me, this is as close as I could get to the real story.
So let's talk about the beer! I got this bottle from my brother-in-law Carl, who thought of me when he was in Ireland: bless you, Carl! Budvar is beautifully presented in a tall, tapering glass, just like its close cousin, the pilsner beer. It pours a beautiful golden color--not yellow, not straw, not amber, but gold--capped with a snowy white head that is rocky and puckered like a quilt, a sure sign of all-natural ingredients (and that I washed the glass well!). Can't fault it on looks, that's for sure.
The aroma is beautifully delicate, with hop and malt blending into a refreshingly crisp scent that is grassy, a bit piney, and sweet. Everytime I've had a glass of Budvar I have closed my eyes, whiffed deep, and envisioned a warm sunlit hillside meadow, rimmed by deep forest. I'm not spinning one here, it's that kind of scent, and it's that clean and pure. Laundry softeners and Lysol wish they smelled this fresh.
The taste is every bit as pure and clean, and the malt is soft and pleasant. The hops recede, as expected, into a soft grassy background. There is a gentle but persistent bitterness in the back of the mouth after the first couple of swallows, the perfect use of hops; to balance the malt and to entice the palate.
Good yes, and sublimely quaffable, but... Is this the Überbier, the very bestest bestest beer in the world that so many U.S. drinkers have proclaimed it? Not for me. Hands down, I'd rather have a Pilsner Urquell (draft, please, Budvar's brown glass does give them the edge in that package) or a Staropramen. Hell, I'd rather have a Victory Prima Pils or one of Carol Stoudt's great cask pilsners, or Penn's Kaiser Pils.
What's the story here? In the midst of Olympic weeks, I'm reminded of the Cold War judging where Americans gave western divers high marks and the Warsaw Pact low-balled them, and vice versa. This is beer politics. If rating Budweiser Budvar highly makes A-B look bad, let's go to it! If it weren't for the evil A-B, we could have The World's Greatest Beer in the U.S.! And some Europeans bash the U.S. by bashing A-B and praising Budvar.
Poor little beer. It's a gorgeous glass. But to stretch the Olympic metaphor, to try to make it the world's best is like trying to get 10s on a dive with a 2.5 degree of difficulty. Just ain't gonna happen.
So get the politics out of it. Let Bud be Bud, let Budvar be Budvar. All I am saying, is give beer a chance.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
beerfly
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Member: Lew Bryson
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 82 members
About Me:
One bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, eh? I'll take Kentucky Spirit, Scapa, and HopDevil.
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