The popular website Gawker.com published an article titled Drunk Americans Display Patriotism by Buying Foreign Beer.

The gist of the piece is that people are led to believe they’re drinking "American beer" and supporting the American economy when they drink Budweiser, Miller and other Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors products, when the fact is that the American brewing industry is actually dominated and controlled by foreign interests.

The largest U.S.-owned company that makes and sells American beer is Rochester, N.Y.-based North American Breweries, which only has 1.2% share of the U.S. market with brands like Genesee and Magic Hat.

The article gently reminds you that no matter how many American flags you see in the commercials, the money you spend on Bud, Coors and Miller High Life ultimately ends up in British, Canadian, Belgian or Brazilian hands. The "foreign hands clutching our precious American dollars in one hand, and with the other hand making more patriotic All-American flag-waving commercials targeted at you, the drunk American beer sheep."

Are you a sheep? Is the article onto something? All I can say is that I’m glad to be the kind of person who primarily drinks craft beer and local microbrews. I know where my money’s going – and for the most part, it’s staying close to home.

TAGS [ CRAFT BEER | BIG BEER | BUDWEISER | MILLER | COORS | AMERICAN BEER | ANHEUSER-BUSCH ]