Beer Wars (2009)

Directed by

Anat Baron

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 29m

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 18 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary examines the American beer industry. It looks at how big corporate breweries dominate the market through advertising and lobbying, while small craft breweries struggle to compete because of outdated distribution laws.

informativecriticaleye-openingbalancedengagingthought-provoking

What happens

Beer Wars is a 2009 documentary film about the American beer industry. In particular, it covers the differences between large corporate breweries, namely Anheuser-Busch, the Miller Brewing Company, and the Coors Brewing Company opposed to smaller breweries like Dogfish Head Brewery, Moonshot 69, Yuengling, Stone Brewing Co., and other producers of craft beer. Also covered is how advertising and lobbyists are used to control the beer market, implying that these things harm competition and consumer choice. Throughout the film, there is a theme that the smallest breweries have next to no chance to compete due to the sheer volume of advertising and outdated beer distribution laws. The original laws demanded a three-tier system to separate the powers of selling beer. The law demands that the beer brewer cannot deliver directly to the retailer, supposedly creating a separation of powers resembling the US government's legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The film claims these laws are now inhibiting growth of smaller brewers and therefore allowing the largest brewers (Coors, Anheuser-Busch, and Miller) to maintain an oligopoly on beer. The film was written, produced, narrated, and directed by Anat Baron, former head of Mike's Hard Lemonade. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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