The world's largest beer maker should be worried about its survival

[closeupready]

31. Beer is high carb, and diuretic. I stick to lower volume stuff with more kick -

wine, basically.

Micro/craft brewing has been a thing since the early 90's, so if it hasn't conquered Big Brewing at this point, I don't see the immediate threat.

Part of why the big American brews aren't as popular in the US as 'craft' or European beers is, IMHO, because Germany has a beer wholesomeness law - the Reinheitsgebot - which dictates you can't sell in Germany something as "beer" if it has any ingredients beyond hops, barley, malt, and water (if I'm remembering correctly - if not, DU will correct me shortly, I predict). So when you buy a German beer, you feel confident that it meets a minimum of standards in terms of food hygiene. US craft brews mimic the spirit of these laws so as to improve the brand value to a US consumer which increasingly is demanding more transparency in food products.

Meanwhile, there are no such Reinheitsgebot laws in the US (of which I'm aware), thus US breweries can adulterate their brews with substances added in the interests of preservation, coloring, head formation, ... basically whatever.