Big Brewers gone wild!

It seems kind of deceptive, at least to me, to invent a fake micro-brewery (Green Valley Brewing Co) to promote a new beer and "hide" the fact that it's from the largest brewer in the world, but that's just what Anheuser-Busch has done with their new "Wild Hop Lager". Don't get me wrong, I'll actually try the beer before slamming it, but that's not the issue here.

I could be mistaken, but it seems like most people who care about and buy organics are the type of people who like to support local businesses and eschew purchasing from giant multi-nationals whenever possible. I'd be willing to bet that the marketing people at A-B realized the same thing and the only way to "sell" this beer is to disguise the fact that it's one of their products.

This quote from Patrick McGualey, V.P. for Product Development at the St. Louis headquarters, caught my eye:

"People who might buy Wild Hop and Stone Mill are 'more affluent, highly educated, more high-end shoppers' who buy organic. I'm not describing a Bud Light drinker," he says. "I'm describing a new customer."

It makes me wonder how that "highly-educated new customer" will feel after buying what they think is a genuine microbrew (especially with a bucolic name like Green Valley) only to find out they were duped into buying an A-B product.

Anyway, if anyone has seen this in stores please drop me a line so I can try it. I could order it, but I don't want to get stuck with a case just so I can try one.

For more info check out wildhoplager.com NOTE: The site was down a little while ago, you may have to check back later...