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On bottles of Budweiser it claims that:

We know of no brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age.

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This seems implausible both from the point of view of economics (it’s brewed in enormous quantities and sold cheaply), and given it doesn’t involve any special additional ingredients, ageing, or hand production. Why do they claim this and how are they allowed to?

Note: I can see that it may hinge on what “brew”, “know”, “producer” means but unlike, for example “possibly the best beer in the world....” , it makes an objective claim.

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    They don't say "there are no brand" but "we know of no brand". Also "which costs so much" could be just "costs exactly same"
    – Jan Ivan
    May 11, 2020 at 14:14
  • Do you not think “so much” means more, not “ some particular amount”? At best the latter would be a deeply unconventional use of language!
    – dothyphendot
    May 11, 2020 at 14:22
  • I think you are right, there are many words that leave them an "out" to claim whatever they want. "We know of no brand" what does that mean? AB was the largest brewer in the USA at one time and they did put a ton of money into their processes, equipment and distribution and don't forget advertising! So, in that fact they did spend a lot of money. But for the actual ingredients? No, it's very cheap to make their beer
    – farmersteve
    May 11, 2020 at 15:29
  • But they say to “brew and age” not to produce, market, and distribute. I’m just curious as to whether there is, or was ever, any factual content to this or if it just nonsense.
    – dothyphendot
    May 11, 2020 at 15:32
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    So the consensus is that whether or not it were ever true, the claim is definitely not true now, but is sufficiently ambiguous for them to get away with. I’d happily accept that as an answer. Has stated my curiosity!
    – dothyphendot
    May 13, 2020 at 18:10

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The answer may be in the question you asked:

it’s brewed in enormous quantities

If you look at the aggregate cost, it is indeed almost certainly the most expensive beer in the world to brew and age, because they make so much of it. The total cost for brewing Budweiser probably far exceeds the cost of brewing any other single recipe, year over year.

Per bottle, however is a different story. Budweiser isn't particularly cheap, from a bill of materials perspective, but it isn't exceptionally expensive either. However when it was introduced, it was extremely expensive. At retail it cost the equivalent of $17 a bottle today. The cost savings today are largely due to efficiencies in integration, scale, and processes.

So is it still true that it's the most expensive beer to produce today? On a per bottle basis, certainly not. That doesn't mean, however, that they're cutting corners on production, but as the comments noted, simply taking whatever legal liberties are available to them when making that claim.

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    There are two answers here both partial (a) that it’s a clever use of language and b) that it was once true) which together make this is a great answer
    – dothyphendot
    May 18, 2020 at 18:18

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