Big Beer's Titanic Brawl

Anheuser-Busch and Miller slug it out over a $30 billion market

For Americans by the millions, summer is that mellow and hazy season of beaches, baseball and, of course, beer. Yet for the folks who brew the U.S.'s favorite grownup beverage, the summer of 1982 has been anything but serene. American beermakers are engaged in the most ferocious free-for-all in their 357-year history. After years of steady expansion, two giant companies, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis and Miller Brewing Co. of Milwaukee, are locked in a struggle for dominance of the entire market, while smaller...

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