Every old-school journalist wants this assignment: test beer to see if it’s been watered down, as a recent class-action lawsuit in California claims. CNN conducted an independent lab test of Budweiser and related brands this week. The results?
Budweiser contained 4.94% alcohol by volume, compared with 5% stated on the label.
Bud Light Lime possessed 4.13%, compared with 4.2% stated on the packaging.
And Bud Ice showed 5.35%, compared with the label’s 5.5%.
When told of the results, a spokesman for Anheuser-Busch, which brews the brands, reiterated the company’s stance that the lawsuit is “completely false” and “groundless.”
Berrong on Beer: Why I drink good beer
“The sample test results you provided are well within the variability of the all-natural brewing process and all in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws, as we noted,” Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply for Anheuser-Busch, told CNN.
Joshua Boxer, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he wasn’t surprised by how CNN’s results differed from the brewer’s figures.
The lawsuit’s claims are partly based on internal information from former Anheuser-Busch employees, and the suit will be seeking the beer maker’s internal numbers on alcohol content, Boxer said.
“That’s the proof you should actually be asking for,” Boxer told CNN.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys believe a bottle of Budweiser has 4.7% alcohol instead of the label’s 5% figure. Over a year of brewing, that alcohol difference amounts to “tens of millions” of dollars in savings for the company, Boxer said.
“The most accurate data, as we discussed, is going to come from Anheuser-Busch because they do their testing six times per second,” Boxer said. “And they use different technology, in fact, from the laboratories you used.”
Earlier this week, two California residents sued Anheuser-Busch, alleging the company waters down Budweiser and other beers “significantly” to boost profits.
