WASHINGTON, DC – Anheuser-Busch held its eighth annual Brew Across America Congressional brewing competition here last week at Nationals Park. The event creates bipartisan teams of lawmakers to partner with breweries across the country to create brews competing for critics’ and people’s choice awards.
This year, Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Representative Wesley Bell (D-MO) triumphed, in partnership with Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis Brewery, to win the Brew Democracy Cup for their “Arch Light Lager.” The People’s Choice Award went to Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Riley (D-NY) for their “Hudson Valley Harvest Lager” created in partnership with Anheuser-Busch’s Baldwinsville Brewery.
“Everyone knows Missouri brews great beer—so it’s only fitting that the Arch Light Lager brings home an award at Anheuser-Busch’s Brew Across America competition,” Schmitt said. “It’s a point of pride that Anheuser-Busch beers are brewed with nearly 100 percent American-grown ingredients, supporting the farm economy in Missouri and across the heartland, and my partner, Congressman Wesley Bell, and I were excited to celebrate America’s best brews together.”
Bell added, "Anheuser-Busch is a St. Louis institution, and I was proud to showcase the work of the brewers who keep that tradition going by creating Arch Light Lager. Beer supports our local economy and brings people together in a way few things do.”
Also competing were Reps. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) with Wicked Weed Brewing and their “Chuck and Tom’s Bipartibrew;” Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) and Sam Graves (R-MO) with Four Peaks Brewing Co. and “Meet in the Middle Mango;” and Reps. Luz Rivas (D-CA) and Harriet Hageman (R-WY) with their “Giddy Up and Peel Out,” made with the Anheuser-Busch Los Angeles Brewery.
Anheuser-Busch also announced a $25,000 award for the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America initiative.
Earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch teamed up with the Manufacturing Institute, the nonprofit workforce and education arm of the National Association of Manufacturers, becoming the first U.S. manufacturer to implement a digital credentialing system that converts military experience into in-demand manufacturing skills.
Anheuser-Busch also brought along their signature Dalmatians and Clydesdales to interact with attendees, and USA Rice's Shelby Young agreed with the critics – Arch Light Lager was the cream of an excellent crop.