The Discontinued Beer You Forgot Budweiser Once Made – Chowhound

As one of the top ten oldest  in the United States — and the definition of a domestic beer –  Budweiser has had a long history as Anheuser-Busch’s flagship brand. There have been plenty of other Bud brands over the years, some successful and enduring, like Bud Light, while others have been shorter-lived. Case in point: Does Bud Dry ring a bell? Not everyone will remember the Budweiser offshoot that was on the market from 1989 until 2010,  when it was discontinued. The pale lager was brewed with Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive DryBrew method, resulting in a crisp, less sweet flavor without an overwhelming aftertaste. The motivation behind creating Bud Dry stemmed from the positive consumer response to Michelob Dry, another Anheuser-Busch beer  and among the first premium dry beers brewed in the U.S. that was introduced in 1988. 

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The slogan for Bud Dry, “Why ask why? Try Bud Dry,” likely mirrored what was on the minds of some consumers: Is Bud Dry really necessary? Especially considering Budweiser and Bud Light already existed and were among the best-selling beers at the time. However, dry beer was flooding the market in the U.S. and other countries, pushing Anheuser-Busch to jump on the bandwagon.

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, dry beer began as a popular beer in Japan and ultimately made its way to other regions, including the U.S., Canada, and Europe. While not all dry beer was the same, there were a few common characteristics that market researchers found consumers interested in, including a refreshing, less sweet beer with a weak finish or little to no aftertaste or aroma. Different ways to make beer dry or bitter include brewing it with different yeast strains, adding more hops, and fermenting it longer. While some dry beers have a higher alcohol content, according to the New York Times, Mary McHugh, a spokeswoman for Bud Dry in the late 1980s/early 90s, said at the time, “Our beer has been created for the taste, not for more alcohol.”

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Bud Dry was created to draw new beer drinkers to the market, however, it may not have been as successful as brewers hoped. According to Anheuser-Busch (via the New York Times), Bud Dry sold 3.2 million barrels in its first year and had a $70 million marketing budget, much of which went toward creating commercials for the “Why ask why” campaign that appealed to a wider audience (the first round of Bud Dry commercials were criticized for overt sexism). But with the introduction of Bud Ice in 1994, Anheuser-Busch slowed its marketing efforts for Bud Dry as its popularity waned, eventually discontinuing the dry beer entirely.