12 Wednesday, December 6, 1972
Because malt is so important in brewing, we use the finest Western two-row barley available in addition to the Midwest six-row variety. The extra cost of this premium barley is worth it, since it makes for a milder, more pleasant beer. Here, our barley is first cleaned, graded, washed and steeped, then allowed to germinate for a minimum of five days under a gentle stream of humid air in slowly revolving drums.
Penetrating heat heats the sprouting process and dries the grain. Root shoots are screened off.
The cleaned barley malt is stored until needed for grinding in the Brew House.
Meanwhile, specially selected rice is crushed in separate mills and weighed. Budweiser is brewed with rice (including actual table-grade rice) even though many brewers use corn syrup instead because it is much cheaper. But cheaper is not for Budweiser.
The ground rice and barley malt are wetted with clear, filtered water (absolutely ideal for quality brewing) and cooked. This mash is then strained in huge tanks, producing a clear amber liquid called scort.
Hops are the "seasoning" of fine beer. Only the choicest imported hops from the honored fields of Central Europe and the very best of domestic blossoms from the western United States are used in brewing Budweiser. (Absolutely no extract is used!) The result is Buds's rich, mild aroma and snappy, refreshing taste. Here, these choice hops are added to the wort, which is boiled in giant brew kettles until the wort has assumed just the right delicate hop flavor.
Many beers would be ready for artificial carbonation, filtering and bottling at this point, but not Budweiser. Instead, it goes to huge tanks in the lager cells. Here, beechwood strips are spread across the bottom of each lager tank, beer is pumped in, freshly yeastedwort is added, and the beer is allowed to carbonate itself naturally as it ferments and ages, slowly and quietly a second time.
(This is the exclusive Budweiser Beechwood Aging process. It takes more time [actually as much as three times as long as the process some beers use] and costs more money, but the strips of beechwood provide extra surface for the brewers' yeast to cling to—and help clairify the beer naturally.)
BENEFITS
The final step: the beer is carefully filtered — creating the sparkling brilliance and clarity that have made Budweiser famous throughout the industry. And the world.
All that is left to do now . . . kegging, bottling and canning operations and adding the familiar label that identifies the most popular brand of beer the world has ever known:
Budweiser, King of Beers.
Anheuser-Busch, Inc. • St. Louis
Brewing beer right does make a difference!
For a 20" x 28½" Budweiser Brewing Chart art print in full color, send $1 check or money order payable to: BREWING CHART Aphneuser-Busch Inc. Dent C Box 8861 St Louis Missouri 63102