There’s one hitch. AB InBev’s CEO is a skilled financial engineer, but he has had trouble selling beer. The company’s shipments in the U.S. have declined 8 percent to 98 million barrels from 2008 to 2011, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Last year, Coors Light surpassed Budweiser to become America’s No. 2 beer. (Bud Light remains No. 1.) Meanwhile, Brito is alienating lovers of AB InBev’s imports by not importing them. And he’s risking the devotion of American beer lovers by fiddling with the Budweiser recipe in the name of cost-cutting.

I'm still shocked to hear that there's a Budweiser recipe that people are devoted to.

What? That's just un-Amurrican.

Show me how you'd make a beer can airplane out of a bottle of Stella Artois, city boy!

Or how about this Budcopter?

I was thinking an entirely different mode of transportation. Bud Car!

Actually, Can Sculptures are a form of artistic expression. Go figure.

Three worst beers ever; please tell me they own good tasting beers, in addition to this.

They own 14 brands including Spaten, Corona, and Beck's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anheuser-Busch_InBev

Nothing is independently owned these days, is it? Everything is a conglomerate. Nothing is sacred. There is no true scotsman. ;)

Thanks for the list! Was too lazy in the moment to look it up.

What's your preferred brew?

I like Guinness.

But I'll also try anything local that isn't owned by one of the bigs.

This sounds just plain awful:

AB InBev followed up in April with the rollout of Bud Light Lime-A-Rita, targeted at young women who prefer hard liquor. Never mind that it killed a similar product three years ago called Tequiza. “It failed miserably,” says Mike Mazzoni, a beer industry consultant. “It just didn’t taste good.” AB InBev says it learned a lot from the Tequiza experience.

Seriously, how do you screw up Budweiser?

Just re-read this story.

I think the main lesson I learned here is: You can't cost-cut your way to growth.

See also: The Dramatic Consolidation of the Beer Industry