Product Details

• Region: All Regions
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002Q7T79K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,491 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caution...You may reevaluate the beer you drink., December 15, 2009

By 

D. Gajewski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beer Wars (DVD)

An interesting documentary on the beer industry. There is a reason why the big brew companies are big. From political clout in the form of huge donations to politicians to frivilious law suits against small brewers that are becoming successful and may become a threat. I found it startling the control that the 3 largest brewers (Anhheiser Busch, Coors and Miller) have over the markets. If you are happy with the thought of Horse drawn beer wagons or beer made from fresh mountain streams, don't watch this documentary. It will tarnish your views forever. Cheers

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could've been a lot better, March 27, 2010

By 

Gene Twilley "GTwilley" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Beer Wars (DVD)

This movie was okay; that's about it.

It kind of played like one of my undergrad papers would have read. I felt like there was a lot of good content and argumentation that could have led us in any number of directions. The conclusion, however, felt rushed and thrown together to meet time or spaced deadlines. What I'm saying is that it felt like starting out the night with a porter and ending with a big branded lite beer.

There was some guilt by association, but nothing to show (really) what sort of legislation was being guided by the PAC money being spent. In addition, this was a clear smear against AB, who was ultimately purchased by InBev (and mentioned as such in the film - which made the attacks against AB throughout the film seem ultimately silly). There wasn't a coherent line of argument that showed that a bias exists because certain groups exist to push out the small guys.

Yet, this is the point that was being made. Baron is trying to convince us that greedy corporations are pushing out the mom and pops for the sake of share holder satisfaction.

Nothing really new here, but the argument could have been more convincing with better investigations.

I would have liked to have seen more about the craft breweries - what are they dealing with and / or going through to produce their product and stay competitive. While I hold to my AB smear theory, I think this is also a clear advert for Dogfish Head (not that this is a bad thing - I LOVE their beers); Sam (the founder) has more face time than even Anat Baron. Too, there was a lot of East Coast representation (again; not a bad thing - I live in Philly and travel a lot in New England for work - this is what I usually drink; I would have liked to have heard more about some of the Left Coast's stories. There were some other brewers who got their 3 minutes of fame, but it seemed like Baron spent all of her time in Delaware with Sam Calagione.

Altogether, an interesting watch because of the features on Dogfish Head and Sam Adams but nothing that really gets me going (like Who Killed the Electric Car did...)

4.0 out of 5 stars The Big Two control the beer business, October 13, 2011

By 

CGScammell (Cochise County, AZ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beer Wars (Amazon Instant Video)

There is a lot that I already knew about the major breweries holding a monopoly of the beer that's sold across the country. Just talk to any experienced bartender, bar owner or liquor store manager and they will tell you pretty much the same thing this documentary did: Anheuser-Busch and Miller control who sells what beers and where they are displayed in stores. A-B and Miller control 70% of the beer market and the smaller and better craft brewers are struggling.

So to gain the other 30 percent of the market, marketers for A-B try to buy up the smaller brewers, such as Rolling Rock. As one brewer said, they buy up the smaller companies not so much for the beer, but for the brand recognition.

A few brands featured are Dogfish Beer and Yuengling, all eastern beers, but the story is pretty much the same across the country. When Congress allowed craft beers to be sold in the late 1980s, that is when A-B, Miller and Coors started paying attention to the growing microbrewers that were springing up across the country. The Big Three were all about cheap beer with cheap adjuncts (a fine word for fillers such as rice and corn) whereas the finer craftbeers are more about real beer made the old-fashioned way with pure ingredients. This documentary featured one segment where several beer drinkers would mention their favorite beers but then couldn't tell one brand apart from the other during a taste test. People drink the national brands not for taste but out of habit.

Although I could say that this documentary could go into more detail about the wars between the Big Two and the smaller brewers and less about the woman beer entrepeneur, the point is made. Distributors are controlled by A-B and Miller so if the regional distributor doesn't want to carry the smaller craft beers, they can shut out the smaller brewers out quite easily.

I discovered craft beers over ten years ago when I lived in New Jersey and can never go back to the national brands. The only time I buy Bud Lite is when I need a cheap fly attractant. Bud Lite has so much added sugars in its mixture that flies are attracted to the beer, crawl inside the bottle or can, and drown. You won't see as many flies be attracted to a high-quality craft beer as often.

So, enjoy this 90-minute documentary. Open your mind to real beer. Once you taste a real beer, it's hard to go back to that stale Bud. You truly are what you drink.