The new Freedom Reserve brew will come in vintage stubby bottles
as well as one-pint cans. Bud describes it as brewed with toasted
barley grains "for a slightly sweet aroma with a touch of hops, a
rich caramel malt taste and a smooth finish with a hint of
molasses."
Bud says the formula is inspired by a recipe preserved in
manuscript collections of the New York Public Library. It appears
in a notebook that Washington kept while he served as a colonel in
the Virginia militia. The Digital Public Library of America has
archived
what looks to be the same original recipe, describing it as a
type of "small beer," which at the time was considered a blue
collar beer. "While other, higher-quality alcohol was for the rich,
who could afford the luxury, small beer was typically for paid
servants," notes the entry, entitled "George Washington Had a
Killer 'Craft' Beer Recipe."
Budweiser spokespeople stressed that while Freedom Reserve is
inspired by the recipe, it is not a duplicate. It's brewed by three
Anheuser Busch brewers who are military veterans—John
Williams, Bobby Walker and David Morris—whose signatures are
featured on packaging. "With Freedom Reserve we remain dedicated to
our mission to support our veterans and their families through our
longstanding partnership with Folds of Honor," Ricardo Marques, VP
for Budweiser, said in a statement.
The special brew comes as Bud keeps tinkering with
special-edition varieties in hopes of generating new interest in
the brew, which has been in a long-term sales decline. In April,
Bud announced that in September it will come out with a
Reserve Copper Lager that is aged on Jim Beam bourbon barrel
staves. Last year, Bud debuted 1933 Repeal Reserve Amber Lager,
which claimed inspiration from a recipe used before Prohibition
began in 1920.
While patriotic-themed marketing is fairly commonplace in the
alcohol industry, Bud's move to claim the "America" brand was seen
as controversial. Some critics seized on the fact that Bud owner
Anheuser-Busch InBev is based in Belgium, not
the U.S. Of course, Budweiser has been brewed in the U.S. since
1876. In early 2016, Trump, foreshadowing his ascension to the
presidency, quipped on "Fox & Friends" that the brewer is "so
impressed with what our country will become that they decided to do
this before the fact."