Bitter Brew

Anheuser-Busch, the company behind Budweiser and Michelob, grew into one of the richest and most flamboyant family-run businesses in American history. William Knoedelseder traces how the Busch family built that fortune, and how its heirs squandered and fought over it.

The account opens with the years around the Civil War and follows the family across roughly three hundred years, up to the present. Along the way, Knoedelseder covers the wealth and excess that came with success, the ambition and pride that drove family members, and the costly consequences that followed. Much of the story centers on disputes over who would lead the company next.

Written by a journalist, the book suits readers interested in American business history, large family enterprises, and the personal dramas behind famous brands.