... the morning of our first full day in st. louis we went on a tour of the anheuser-busch headquarters, where we learned all about the history of the company and how beer is made ...
... it was a good tour, but, not being a fan of either beer or high-speed bottling machines, i was most impressed with the artwork scattered around the facility ...
... also, i enjoyed learning the history of the company ... most unusual was how anheuser-busch survived the "dark times" of prohibition by manufacturing yeast, alcohol-free beer, and, most unusual, truck bodies ...
... not to disappoint any of you who are budweiser fans, but, at least in modern times, it seems that "beechwood aged" is very loosely interpreted to mean that it's enough to slice up some foot-long strips of beechwood and toss it into these giant stainless steel brewing tanks ... what's next, battery-powered robotic clydesdales ...
... at the end of the tour we were offered a chance to sample some of the company's products ... adrien and i, of course, committed the mother of all faux paus when we returned our glasses almost as full as when they had been poured ... i don't think we'll get invited back, but that's probably more because their secret microphones picked up my comments that anheuser-busch is no longer really an "american" company since it was acquired a few years ago as a holding of the brazilian/belgian "inbev" conglomerate ... {sigh} ... well, at least coke-cola is still holding on ...
NIKON D200 & OLYMPUS E-PL1