The Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week

How’s this for a sales pitch: With Budweiser’s new can design, you’ll get less beer, and you’ll get to pay more per ounce. You’ll also get to support the aluminum industry. Anheuser-Busch is messing with the classic 12-ounce can. Starting in May, Bud will be available in a new “bowtie”-shaped can, which is angled inward in the center, mimicking the vertical Budweiser logo created in 2011. Each of the new cans contains 137 calories of beer, 8.5 fewer calories than the usual can of Bud. And how is Anheuser-Busch lowering the per-beer calorie count?

How’s this for a sales pitch: With Budweiser’s new can design, you’ll get less beer, and you’ll get to pay more per ounce. You’ll also get to support the aluminum industry. Anheuser-Busch is messing with the classic 12-ounce can. Starting in May, Bud will be available in a new “bowtie”-shaped can, which is angled inward in the center, mimicking the vertical Budweiser logo created in 2011. Each of the new cans contains 137 calories of beer, 8.5 fewer calories than the usual can of Bud. And how is Anheuser-Busch lowering the per-beer calorie count?

When planning a move to a new city, it's important to ask yourself a number of questions: What are apartment rentals going for? How good is the public transit system? What's the crime rate? But just as importantly, how much does it cost to buy beer? If the corner store is shilling six-packs for more than $10, is relocating to this place really worth it?

If the biggest selling point for a new beer is the bottle that it comes in, what does that say about the beer itself? There’s no doubt that the labels on beer, wine, and liquor influence our buying decisions. Vodka is supposedly tasteless, so the main justification for buying a top-shelf brand would appear to be that then you can show off the top-shelf label. If many drinkers were honest, they’d admit that they often pick out wines for no other reason than the bottles feature cute animals or a funny name.

If the biggest selling point for a new beer is the bottle that it comes in, what does that say about the beer itself? There’s no doubt that the labels on beer, wine, and liquor influence our buying decisions. Vodka is supposedly tasteless, so the main justification for buying a top-shelf brand would appear to be that then you can show off the top-shelf label. If many drinkers were honest, they’d admit that they often pick out wines for no other reason than the bottles feature cute animals or a funny name.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Beer lovers across the U.S. have filed $5 million class-action lawsuits accusing Anheuser-Busch of watering down its Budweiser, Michelob and other brands.