''Beer Wars'' is a 2009

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the American

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

industry. In particular, it covers the differences between large corporate breweries, namely

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

, the

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

, and the

Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors brew ...

opposed to smaller breweries like

Dogfish Head Brewery Dogfish Head Brewery is a brewing company based in Milton, Delaware founded by Sam and Mariah Calagione and, as of 2019, owned by the Boston Beer Company. It opened in 1995 and produces 262,000 barrels of beer annually. Select brews (includin ...

, Moonshot 69,

Yuengling D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewery, brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest Craft brewery and microbrewery, craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and l ...

, Stone Brewing Co., and other producers of

craft beer Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

. Also covered is how

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and

lobbyists In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

are used to control the beer market, implying that these things harm competition and consumer choice. Throughout the film, there is a theme that the smallest breweries have next to no chance to compete due to the sheer volume of advertising and outdated beer distribution laws. The original laws demanded a three-tier system to separate the powers of selling beer. The law demands that the beer brewer cannot deliver directly to the retailer, supposedly creating a separation of powers resembling the US government's legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The film claims these laws are now inhibiting growth of smaller brewers and therefore allowing the largest brewers (Coors, Anheuser-Busch, and Miller) to maintain an

oligopoly An oligopoly (from Greek ὀλίγος, ''oligos'' "few" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. Oligopolies often result from ...

on beer. The film was written, produced, narrated, and directed by Anat Baron, former head of

Mike's Hard Lemonade Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. is an alcopop supplier based in Levittown, Pennsylvania Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Del ...

References

External links

* * 2009 films American business films American documentary films Beer journalism Documentary films about business 2009 documentary films Documentary films about beer 2000s business films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films Films about companies {{2000s-documentary-film-stub

See also

References

External links