The acquisition of Anheuser Busch, is a shocking statement by itself, but the fact that the king of beers is being acquired by a Belgian company, you know - as in a foreign company - taking over an American tradition... I'm sure many are shocked, many are angry, but then there are those who are enthusiastic. Like me for example, who has tried so many times throughout the years to ingest Budweiser products, and never found any pleasure in doing so. Lets face reality, InBev can't make Budweiser or it's associated brands any worse, the fact is - this could be a very good thing for the world of beer. Sadly the executives at Anheuser Busch have decided over the years to stray far away from the original recipes of the Budweiser products. This was not because they thought they could do it better, this was done to cut costs and improve profit - not because they wanted more money, but because they needed to keep the business operational. We all seem to believe that Anheuser Busch is a megalith, an international conglomerate, wealthy and powerful - but the truth is, the company has been cutting everything down for years. And in this new world of expensive fuels, beer distribution - the delivery of the beer product itself, has become a nearly fatal death blow to many breweries and distributors. The management at Anheuser Busch is aware that their product is at market cap, meaning if they raise the prices again, people will switch to another brand, unfortunately beer loyalty is only an option that revolves around your budget. People may want to buy Budweiser, they may prefer it, but if it goes upward of $20+ per case - and truth be told it's not that great of a product, the fear is that people will either cut back to a less expensive brand, or in a worst case scenario - jump the extra $2 and go into a much better quality product. This acquisition was a genius manuever by the board members at Anheuser Busch, they have fought for years to keep the product, brand name and tradition alive, but they are at a breaking point. The challenge for InBev will be to compete with the fastest growing brand in America, Samuel Adams. The rate at which Samuel Adams has grown over the past 3-years is impressive, and much of this growth can be attributed to the increased cost of mass breweries like Bud / Coors / Miller. The consumer is asked to pay upwards of $20 or more per case for mass brewery low quality watered down suds, or they can pay about $2 per case more and drink a far superior product like Samuel Adams - this is not a difficult decision, especially when Samuel Adams doesn't break our American tradition, founded and operating in Boston. So the challenge for InBev will be to improve the quality of the Budweiser brands while finding a way to lower the prices - not an easy task, and not a task that the current board at Anheuser Busch felt they could achieve. In closure, allow me to repeat an earlier statement to all of you who oppose the acquisition of Anheuser Busch - again, it's not like InBev could make the Budweiser brands any worse...