Beer Wars (2009)

Director:

Anat Baron

Writer:

Anat Baron (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Brewed in America.

Plot:

A contemporary David and Goliath story that takes you inside the cutthroat world of the big business of American beer. |

Cast

Norman Adami	...	Himself - CEO, Miller
Anat Baron	...	Herself
Roberta Baskin	...	Herself - Center for Public Integrity
Jeff Becker	...	Himself - President, Beer Institute
Simon Bergson	...	Himself - Founder, Manhattan Beer Distributors
John Boehner	...	Himself - House Majority Leader, 2006
John Bryant	...	Himself - Odell Brewing
Betty Buck	...	Herself - Buck Distributors
August Busch III	...	Himself - CEO, Anheuser-Busch, 1974-2002 (archive footage)
August Busch IV	...	Himself - CEO, Anheuser-Busch, 2006-2008
August Busch Jr.	...	Himself - CEO, Anheuser-Busch, 1946-1974 (archive footage)
Sam Calagione	...	Himself - Founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Peter A. DeFazio	...	Himself - Representative, Oregon
George Hacker	...	Himself - Center for Science in the Public Interest
Steve Hoch	...	Himself - The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Kim Jordan	...	Herself - Founder, New Belgium Brewing Company
Rhonda Kallman	...	Herself - Founder, New Century Brewing Company
Greg Koch	...	Himself - Founder, Stone Brewing
Jim Koch	...	Himself - Founder, Boston Beer Company
Bob Lachky	...	Himself - Executive VP, Anheuser-Busch
Dennis Long	...	Himself - President, Anheuser-Busch, 1979 (archive footage)
Diane Matagrano	...	Herself - Matagrano Distributors
Chris O'Brien	...	Himself - Author, 'Fermenting Revolution'
Maureen Ogle	...	Herself - Author, 'Ambitious Brew'
Garrett Oliver	...	Himself - Brooklyn Brewery
Charlie Papazian	...	Himself - President, Brewers Association
David Rehr	...	Himself - President, National Beer Wholesalers Association
John Serbia	...	Himself - VP Brewing, Anheuser-Busch
Jim Shpall	...	Himself - Owner, Applejack Liquors
Marc Sorini	...	Himself - McDermott Will & Emory
Benj Steinman	...	Himself - Publisher, Beer Marketers Insights
Carol Stoudt	...	Herself - Stoudt's Brewing Company
Frits van Paasschen	...	Himself - CEO, Coors
Dick Yuengling	...	Himself - Fifth Generation Owner, Yuengling Brewery

Directed by
Anat Baron

Writing credits
Anat Baron		(written by)

Produced by
Anat Baron	....	executive producer
Anat Baron	....	producer
David Person	....	field producer

Original Music by
Buddy Judge

Cinematography by
Sandra Chandler

Film Editing by
Douglas Blush		(as Doug Blush)

Sound Department
Jeremy Grody	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jeremy Grody	....	sound supervisor

Visual Effects by
Chris Kirk	....	motion graphics (as Christopher Kirk)
Chris Kirk	....	title design (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Tony Arias	....	lead assistant editor
Rachel Patrick Conover	....	assistant editor
Brian Funck	....	additional editor

Other crew
Quinton Nixon	....	transcriber

Production Companies

• Ducks In A Row Entertainment Corporation

Distributors

• Gravitas Ventures (2010) (USA) (TV) (VOD)
• IndieFlix (2010) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Mindbomb Films  titles

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Ducks In A Row Entertainment Corporation

Quotes:

Himself - Founder, Boston Beer Company:Unfortunately almost all our beer knowledge comes from Budweiser, Miller, and Coors. It's as if all we knew about food we learn from McDonalds.

Movie Connections:

Features "Squawk Box" (1995)

Cheers?

"Beer Wars" is by-and-large stylishly done, it is largely entertaining, and it makes its subject an interesting one. Part of its trouble, though, is that it doesn't seem to know exactly what its subject is, beyond the fact that it has to do with beer. The film vacillates as it proceeds between being a series of profiles of small brewery owners, a history of the beer industry in America, a travelogue of the director's trip to various beer-related corporate events, and a screed against the modern business of brewing and Anheuser-Busch in particular.

The one element that seems to unite everything is that is seems to be trying very hard to get across the message that "the beer industry operates as a business," which was quite obvious to me before I started watching "Beer Wars." There is little attempt to hide a bias against Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors and towards small breweries, but this black-and-white view of the subject becomes tiring and does not seem very thoughtful. Big-beer executives are interviewed in long shot to show their opulent boardrooms, small beer businesspeople are shown with inspiring music at home with their cute children.

What's missing is the fact that both large and small breweries are businesses -- they both want to make money and they both want to make beer. Putting everything in such simple terms does a disservice to the subjects. I usually like the beer from smaller breweries much better, but that doesn't mean I can't recognize that they are moneymaking operations as well (or that I can't enjoy a Boddington's because Inbev has bought a stake).

In addition, director Baron is keen to point out that she comes from a place of experience in the beer world having run Mike's Hard Lemonade, but that is hardly finely-crafted beer, nor is it beer at all by any definition other than that or certain lawmakers. One of the underdog subjects she decides to follow is trying to market a mixture of beer with caffeine, which sounds to this viewer like a terrible idea and not the kind of gourmet beverage that Baron is suggesting Big Beer is trying to quash.

In all, an interesting subject comes through, but the film is far too unfocused within it, and even though I agree with most of its points, it comes off far too stridently partisan for my taste.