Bitter Brew audiobook

As happens quite often, I heard about this book while listening to NPR on our local public radio station, and it sounded interesting, despite my tendency not to find history interesting.Indeed, it is a rather fascinating book about the Busch family, of Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) fame. And what a family! At least three men -- grandfather, father and son -- who were gifted and obsessed businessmen. Between them, and over a period of around a hundred years or more, they created an incredible fortune and a family dynasty. But, at the same time, those same men put the creation of power and riches above that of their wives and children, ultimately creating a family of dysfunction, indulgence, corruption, and tragedy. The arrogance of those men, and their power-hungry single-mindedness comes through clearly, as does their genius.It's also disappointing to see how easily those three Busch men manipulated the masses and their drinking habits, not to mention cultivating people in power at both state and federal levels.The Busch family misfortunes are sad to learn about, not least those of the last Busch family member, August IV, to head the company before the InBev takeover -- but not much to sympathize with, as his were mostly self-inflicted misfortunes.Along with this, the book conveys what happened to those major American breweries that I was introduced to when I first arrived in the US (in the late 60s and early 70s): Not just Anheuser-Busch (A-B), but Miller, Coors, Schlitz, Pabst, and even Canadian breweries Molson and Labatt. I had not heard about the wholesale amalgamation of so many of them. I already knew that A-B had been taken over by InBev, who I had heard was a Belgium beer conglomerate. I did not know that InBev is owned/controlled by three billionaire Brazilian financiers.I suppose I can say that my attitude towards American beers such as Bud, Miller, Coors, et. al. is thoroughly justified by what I learned from this book. I never drink any of them, much preferring the products of microbreweries. My original reasons were (and are) taste. Now, they also include a wish not to support companies with such self-serving, monopolistic and misleading practices. The men running InBev, for example, are portrayed as being brutally cost-cutting -- not interested in what they produce, but purely in making a profit. I have learned that Anheuser-InBev now owns something like 200 beer brands, including many longtime brands such as Bass, Beck, Stella Artois, Budweiser (except for the original Czech Budweiser Budvar -- a MUCH better beer than American Budweiser. The Czech company is unrelated to the American Budweiser, although they apparently have marketing agreements in the US), Labatt, Lowenbrau, Rolling Rock, St. Pauli Girl, Whitbread, and many, many more (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InBev_br...). The second largest beer-related conglomerate, SABMiller owns something like 150 brands, including Miller, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni, Grolsch, and many more (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABMille...).It's enough to make you cry!Altogether, a fascinating, but rather discouraging book.

Lost a star for typos. The most offensive - "Gravis" Road in south St. Louis? Really? As if a four-second Google search would have killed your editors.

This was a selection my book club picked. I would never have picked this book up voluntarily on my own. I don't really care much about the lives of the rich and famous. That being said, this turned out to be a fascinating book. I supposed it helped because I live in St. Louis.There were parts I kind of skimmed. But it was an easy read, although somewhat biased. The author is definitely not a fan of the Busch family. However the part on the St. Louis Cardinal purchase by Gussie Busch was fascinating. How Grant's Farm came into being was also interesting. And even though I'm in St. Louis and have heard plenty of Busch family stories over the years, I really had no idea of the magnitude of their wealth. Like crazy rich. The "fall" part of the book was kind of heartbreaking even though the author has no sympathy for The Buschs'. It's a good lesson in "money doesn't make you happy."If you love the Cardinals as I do, or have any interest in St. Louis history, this is a very good read. Go Cards!

3.5 stars so rounding up to 4. This fam is wilddd

First of all, you can tell that I'm on a roll.....two books read very recently....kind of manic I guess and making up for lost time not reading much. Yes, I need to read more.....nothing like a good book to get you in the groove again......This is a great book about Anheuser-Busch and the history around Budweiser. I can honestly state that I'm a Miller Lite and/or Coors Lite drinker; however the story behind Budweiser is still a great read.Most of the press focus is on August IV but there is so much more to it than just the last family CEO that sold out to InBev. Yes, August IV is a fucked up rich man but he was in a family that pushed you to your limits and didn't always provide that father-son relationship that most of us received growing up. I have some guarantees that August IV will be dead in less than 5 years even though he is worth over $100 million dollars....a classic case showing that money doesn't buy happiness.This book came out on Election Day (November 6) and I finished the book today....three days later. I was hooked the whole way and really recommend this book from a lot of different angles.....business leadership dos and don'ts, father/son relationships, the positive contribution that AB provided to St. Louis and the USA, the great advertising that Bud provided for so many years (especially during the SuperBowl) and the finality of "selling" out when you don't want to.Highly recommend the book....even if you are not a beer drinker.

This is much more a history of the Busch Family and how it impacted the company than it is a history of Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch. I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of detail on the company particularly in the later years as craft breweries started to become more impactful on sales. That said, it's still an interesting read and full of information I'd never before been aware of. The unraveling of the last Busch (Busch IV) in particular is fascinating and just goes to show that money can cover up many flaws and mistakes for you, but only for so long. The last quarter of this book reads like a bad reality show script at times. It's amazing how even after dozens of bad and poor decisions a company like this can continue to exist and at times grow, almost as if by mistake. While I hoped for a bit more focus on the brewing decisions of the company, this was a solid read and gets more and more interesting with every chapter so that by the end you can't put it down.

If this was my first book I'd read on the Busch family, I would have been impressed. There were a few new stories, and certainly a different "spin" on the family than the first book I read. Amazing how holding such a small percentage of the company, they managed to have everyone in St. Louis thinking that they owned the whole thing. lol On one hand, the brewery, like I'm sure they all did at some point, provided a lot of middle class jobs. An opportunity for people to work for one company their whole career, to buy a house, send their kids to college, drive decent cars...that is what I appreciated about them. How they spent their own money...gosh, it was their own money, but what a WASTE!!! Extravagance to no end. Giving money to charities? Yes...but never, never forget...Anheiser-Busch NEVER did anything for ANYONE without getting ten fold back themselves. All the money they "gave" away..were write-offs for them. Period. It's sad that in the end, that August IV was not able to step up to the plate and run the company. Daily drugs will do that to a person. I suppose for the brewery to survive, it had to happen...be sold. The Busch's are all rich (filthy rich), and InBev...four days after buying the company, laid off 1000 or 1400 workers in St. Louis alone. Scumbags. I'm sure most of the people that bought and/or read this book are from here. It's part of our history!

This was very interesting to see how the King of Beers (Anheuser-Busch) was knocked off its throne. There are a lot of stories I did not know about (such as why a baseball team was purchased) and it really gives the reader a good timeline as to what happened. The book does not overwhelm with dates or names. The addition of the photos helped. I liked seeing how the business started and its connections to St Louis. But still seeing how Anheuser-Busch survived all those years only to be taken down is still sad to see. Not only for the employees but also the town that loved its beer.I did find myself playing the ‘what if’ game.What if Busch beer had been left to one of the daughters?What if it had been left to someone other than the firstborn son?What if actions had consequences?What if fathers and sons connected more?But it seems that all good things must come to an end.The book does wrap up how things are going with the beer maker now that it has new international ownership. My, how things have changed. But it’s nice to hear that some Busch family members are trying to tap the beer market again.https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...

I wasn't aware of how wild August Busch IV is until a dead hooker turned up in his place in Frontenac, not far from where I grew up, a few years ago. Come to find out, he was being protected by the media, as the scion of one of the most important business families in St. Louis FWIW. Of course all of that has since come to an end. Bitter Brew traces the story of Anheuser-Busch from its origins, back during the dark ages, up through the hostile takeover by InBev, a few years ago, with all of the ups and downs (especially downs) in between. It's less an informative business tome and more of a trashy tell-all, with lots of alcohol-fueled hijinks, thot cruises, random dead female companions and what have you. If you're from St. Louis, you'll get a huge kick out of this. Even if you aren't, you'll almost certainly find this amusing.

I haven't been a consumer of Anheuser Busch products for well over a decade. It's a part of my life that I just outgrew, but when I was drinking Budweiser was one of my favorites. "Bitter Brew" is an excellent business story, where generations after generations ruin the family business because of their birthrights. Instead of getting the job base on merits, August Busch IV (The Fourth), became CEO and ruin the legacy of the family and the business. Not only he made really bad business choices for Anheuser Busch, but he was also a big time substance abuser and playboy. It is because of his family's name that he became the head master brewer. It's really interesting to read these kinds of books. Not only it's informable, but the ultra wealthy crumbles because of birthrights.

As a craft beer enthusiast, I was happy to get a recommendation to read this book. I’m old enough to have lived through the days where US breweries only numbered in the double digits. So, by necessity, I have had more than my share of American macro brews.What a group of intelligent, driven and horribly flawed men. The mistreatment of family, political shenanigans, greed and more are major defining points of all of these men. Through “Gussie’s” era, AB at least had the appearance of a family business though family relations were falling apart. See Busch III ousting his father to take the head chair. And while the Third may have taken the company to its biggest heights his treatment of labor, loss of touch with his market and criminal coddling of the Fourth - doom was eminent. The Fourth ending up a doped up, arsenal owning paranoid should spark a modicum of sympathy, but it just doesn’t. It is justice that the family company slipped through his fingers. Seems he could have been the leader that could get AB back in tune with the younger generations, albeit for many wrong reasons. But the sense of entitlement, utter lack of regard for anyone but himself and getting away scot-free for multiple murders (yes plural) is just too much to get past.A fascinating tale of a dynasty created and spectacularly destroyed.5/5

I was looking for something more substantial when I picked this up, but I suppose I should know better when reaching for a Bud. The tawdry tales of the Busch clan one generation after the next made for a highly entertaining read, to the point where it started veering into salacious territory. The audiobook also made some strange choices when it came to how cartoonish and weak it made quotes by women throughout. But the whole tale made for good rubbernecking, as the power inherent in a great American dynasty eventually fails to keep pace with the reach of globalization.

Grew up in St. Louis but never fully knew the story of Anheuser-Busch. From the early days of the company to the tyrannical rule of August 3 to the sad downfall of the company under Fourth. This book has a lot with feelings of pride, hope, sadness and despair. If you love beer and are from St. Louis definitely a great read.

This was not a light read by any stretch, but my husband read and recommended--fascinating story, so very well told! Not just a history of the Busch family, but of America and the ever-evolving world of beer as well.

Good book. Loved all the history on the company and families.

It puts perspective on the American Dream.