ST. LOUIS -- Budweiser has introduced "Track Your Bud," a digital campaign integrated with packaging that will allow consumers to trace the origins of the beer they hold in their hands to one of Budweiser's 12 U.S. breweries.
By using their smartphone to scan the QR code on Budweiser packaging, downloading the free "Track Your Bud" app or visiting www.TrackYourBud.com, consumers can enter the Born On Date found on bottles and cans and be taken on a guided tour of the creation of their individual beer by the Budweiser brewmaster responsible for it.
"Track Your Bud" content will provide beer drinkers with visibility into the source and selection of ingredients, Budweiser's seven-step brewing process, when their beer began Beechwood aging and which brewmaster tasted it multiple times throughout its brew cycle to ensure their beer meets Budweiser's high-quality standard, the company said.
"Budweiser has a great story, and we want to tell it in a new way that demonstrates the pride, passion and craftsmanship at our breweries that's been the backbone of Budweiser for generations," said Rob McCarthy, vice president for Budweiser.
The "Track Your Bud" platform includes a social application, available now on iTunes and later this week on Android Market, that integrates with Facebook to connect beer drinkers across the country with each other through the Budweiser they hold in their hand. Users also will be able to access video content, collect badges from each U.S. brewery and name batches of beer if they are the first to track a beer from that particular batch.
In addition to its flagship brewery in St. Louis, "Track Your Bud" will showcase Budweiser's breweries in Merrimack, N.H.; Baldwinsville, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; Williamsburg, Va.; Cartersville, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Columbus, Ohio; Houston; Fort Collins, Colo.; Fairfield, Calif.; and Los Angeles.
"There are a lot of great people behind every bottle of Budweiser, and 'Track Your Bud' gives our consumers a way to meet our brewmasters and see firsthand how passionate they are about making great beer," said Jane Killebrew-Galeski, director of brewing, quality and innovation for Anheuser-Busch. "Track Your Bud also gives consumers insight into where Budweiser's raw materials come from--which includes barley farms in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin; and hop farms in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Germany."
The site also details other facts about the Budweiser brewing process, including that brewmasters use the original Budweiser yeast culture strain from 1876 and still practice the time-honored process of Beechwood aging, which was commonly used by German immigrants to the United States in the 19th Century. Anheuser-Busch is the only major brewer that continues to use Beechwood aging, it said.
"There's a lot of attention to detail that goes into making Budweiser," McCarthy said. "Track Your Bud gives consumers transparency into how and where the beer is made and the brewmasters responsible for it all. Budweiser is a national brand, obviously, but our geographically diverse network of breweries and agricultural facilities also make us a local beer in so many places all across America, thanks to the people who make our beer and grow the ingredients. Track Your Bud highlights some of those people."
If a consumer were to track a Budweiser through Track Your Bud that is not within the recommended freshness range, the program also offers a feedback mechanism to let Budweiser know.
Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch brews Budweiser and Bud Light. It also owns a 50% share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo.
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