William K. “Billy” Busch, son of the late Anheuser-Busch CEO August A. Busch Jr., has introduced a new beer brand, called Kräftig,
the
St. Louis Business Journal
reported.
Kräftig Lager and Kräftig Light will be available in the St. Louis area; plans call for the brand to expand beyond the region.
The beers are being brewed under contract in LaCrosse, Wis. The companies that will distribute the new German lagers in Missouri and Illinois do not handle Anheuser-Busch InBev products, the report noted.
During a launch party, Busch stressed “repeatedly” that Kräftig and the William K. Busch Brewing Co. (WKBBC) are “in no way linked to Anheuser-Busch InBev” and that the new beers are not microbrews; “they are meant to compete with the big boys,” the journal article said.
James Hoffmeister, WKBBC’s CEO, spent nearly 40 years at Anheuser-Busch. Chief operating officer Gary Prindiville Jr. is a 25-year Anheuser-Busch veteran. Executive board member Michael Brooks, now CEO and chairman of fishing reel manufacturer Ardent, worked at Anheuser-Busch for 19 years.
Billy Busch founded an independent beer wholesaler, Silver Eagle Distribution Co., in 1984, the article said. (Source:
St. Louis Business Journal,
Nov. 4, 2011.)
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