By Jared Curtis
The king of beer
Anheuser-Busch Brewmaster lets locals tap into his knowledge
Home brewers, beer connoisseurs and fans of Anheuser-Busch ventured through downtown Des Moines last week with the opportunity to meet and extract knowledge from George Reisch, brewmaster of one of the most popular beer companies in the world.
Reisch started his Doll Distributing sponsored tour at Old Chicago in Ankeny before heading downtown to three bars, the Royal Mile, Hessen Haus and el Bait Shop. At each stop, food was paired with different drinks, and Reisch shared his wealth (I mean wealth, I learned more about beer from him in an hour than I have my entire life) and knowledge on the subjects. These types of events have become more common for Reisch, which isn’t a problem for him.
“I have a lot of fun on these trips because I get to meet a lot of wonderful people,” Reisch said. “I also get to meet with our wholesalers. I enjoy when they are as passionate about selling the product as we are brewing it.”
Reisch has been with Anheuser-Busch for 30 years, although he began building brewery knowledge well before then.
“My family owned Reisch Brewery for 117 years. I remember as a kid riding my bike to the brewery, but the main thing that resonated with me were the smells,” he said. “It was really a sensory stimulus, and to this day I still love that smell.”
A number of interested brew fans showed up for the event to bask in Reisch’s knowledge, including some members of the Iowa Homebrewers Union.
“I figured I would come down, enjoy some beer and listen to what George had to say,” said IBU member Laura Glasgow. “He has a wealth of knowledge.”
Reisch enjoyed all the bars he visited and mentioned how much he enjoyed the Hessen Haus on his last trip. This time around, the Red Monk and el Bait shop caught his attention.
“The Red Monk was a great place and very unique,” he said. “I also wanted to look behind el Bait Shop’s wall and see all the tap lines because it’s like going into a brewery. I met a lot of down-to-earth people and passionate home brewers.”
When asked what was his favorite beer is, Reisch immediately says, “Budweiser.”
“People don’t realize it, but Budweiser is so hard to make,” he said. “It’s the hardest beer I’ve ever had to make, but you get the most fun in life by overcoming a hard task.”
Reisch also spoke on the changing trend of low carb beer and consumers switching to alcohol to stay away from carbs.
“Our low carb beers are doing very well, but people need to realize that a typical light beer is only 100 calories,” he said. “A Long Island Ice Tea can be 800 calories. So even though it doesn’t have the carbs that beer does, there’s a lot more calories you’re going to have to burn.”
Reisch is not only passionate about Anheuser-Busch, but also brewing beer in general.
“It’s important to do something you’re passionate about,” he said. “And for me, brewing beer is a labor of love.” CV
Caption: Jay Doll (Doll Distributing), George Reisch (Anheuser-Busch Head Brewmaster) and Mark Doll (Doll Distributing) enjoy a drink at the Royal Mile, the first stop of Reisch’s Q&A bar tour in downtown Des Moines.
