Budweiser Hometown Blues Track

Budweiser was introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant with extraordinary marketing instincts. He named it after Budweis, a Bohemian city famous for brewing, and used pasteurization and refrigerated rail cars to ship it coast to coast — revolutionary at the time when most beer was strictly local.

"King of Beers" was pure audacity. Busch simply declared it so, then backed the claim with the biggest advertising operation the industry had ever seen. The slogan became self-fulfilling — if everyone's drinking it, it must be the king.

Prohibition nearly killed the company but they survived making malt syrup and soft drinks, and came roaring back in 1933. Post-war television ads, sports sponsorships, and the iconic Clydesdales cemented Budweiser as the quintessential American beer — the one at every ballgame and backyard barbecue.