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I suggest you educate yourself.

Left Hand
Rogue
Stone
Sierra Nevada This one has a space program too.
Terrapin
New Belgium
Lazy Magnolia
Southern Tier
Dogfish Head
Ommegang
New Glarus
Brooklyn Brewing Company
Avondale
Good People
Straight To Ale
Heretic

Just to name a few.

Another good american lager.

Let's abuse the analogy: Budweiser is cheaper and more consistent than most microbrews.

Entirely off topic, but Budweiser actually has a lot of talented people working for them. It actually takes more skill to brew a beer without flavor than it does to brew a beer with flavor. The flavor will hide flaws that are much easier to notice in beers like Budweiser.

For instance, the brewmaster at award-winning micro New Glarus Brewing used to to work for Anhueser-Busch. The New Glarus beers aren't as consistent as Budweiser, of course. Then again, they have flavor.

Given the quality of American beer, I'm surprised they drank half of it before throwing it away.

You obviously have never had a Spotted Cow

Speaking as a European, I have, and really no offence, found US cheese to range from bland for the better stuff, to disgusting for the most mass-market ranges.

Speaking as a life-long Wisconsinite who's marrying a French woman, and has lived near London (Twickenham) for a while and spent more time in/around Paris than I care for, you opinion is actually fairly valid. Wisconsin is know for it's cheese in the U.S., but that pretty much covers cheddar. Sure there's emmental (aka swiss), mozorella, Blue and parmesan but it's really not much variety at all.

I'm exaggerating a little bit and there are some quite good stuff out there, but it's also not cheese you're going to normally buy and enjoy with a dinner because it's 10-year aged cheddar or some other awful expensive stuff.

As it were, I learned that it's due to the Federal law against non-pasteurized cheeses. Apparently it's illegal to sell the stuff, according to some other French people my fiancee has befriended who own a cheese shop in the Green Bay area.

Yup, even that "import" stuff like Brie is all pasteurized. The goat cheese (which only seems to be one kind of variety with mixed in herbs or spices) is pitiful at best.

England and France have a much larger assortment of cheese thanks to not having this law. Of course, the only difference is that the English love to eat their cheese on crackers (at the butt of many jokes in France) while the French refuse to eat it with anything other than a baguette.

So, while the French discovered Wisconsin (probably where our cheese history started, and was once spelled Oisconsin, as in "Oi", French for 'yes'), it seems the British had gave us the cracker. =P That's if you still have room left from all the beer and brats the Germans gave us!

And if you haven't tried, New Glarus and Capitol Brewer beer is some pretty great micro-brews. Don't be fooled by the recent popularity of Stella Atois, in the US. It's just the "bud" of Europe. Cheapest stuff I could get at any disco in the UK. Not to mention the parent company recently buying out Budweiser.

opps. On topic... I came here wondering what could put WI in the /. news, I should have figured it was either the Oshkosh EAA or Road America.

Who wouldn't want to invade Wisconsin? It's the land of beer nuts and cheese.

Who needs to invade us? I'll invite you over for a Friday Fish-Fry (It's more popular to call it a 'fry' than a 'boil', at least in the SE of WI) or grill out some of our famous Brats. To top it all off, we'll tour the Miller brewery, sample some of Wisconsin's best micro-brews, Capitol Brewery and New Glarus. Or even the more popular Leinenkugel's variety.

And yes, I've been to the popular local event Brat Days, the popular festival where the headlining band are those popular 70's and 80's bands or former members of them. Like Vince Neil, Firehouse, and others. I've also been to Brat Fest. No, not because I like brats (I do, but it's not something I dare eat too often). Just the right place at the right time kind of thing.

If beer, brats, and (any variety of Cheddar) cheese is your thing, come on over! Of course, you might want to call the E.R. before coming, as you might suffer several heart attacks doing it. hehe

Award-winning Wisconsin cheeses and beers (1, 2, 3) certainly aren't crap.

In addition to cheese, Wisconsin is the leading state in the production of paper products.

You'd also still probably be hearing about ethanol too, though--Wisconsin is ranked 7th and rising in ethanol production.

Beer is a bad example. Brewing is a trade, and trademarks do not protect beer styles. It's a recipe. There are restrictions on what you can call your beer.

Many of the American brewers who "knocked off" European styles were actually immigrants themselves. Adolphus Busch (who we have to blame for Budweiser) himself was a German immigrant, coming to America when he was around 18 and then marrying Lilly Anhueser. Many of their products were somewhat different than their German equivalents, and based on recipes recovered (such as the Classic American Pilsner were quite good. American brewing didn't become terrible until after Prohibition.

On another note, Bud is--believe it or not--very difficult to brew. It's damn hard to remove all the flavor from the beer like that without showcasing other flaws. This is purely anecdotal, but I can think of at least one ex-Anhueser-Busch brewer who has done quite well after going out on his own. The brewmaster at one of my favorite local breweries used to be a production supervisor at Anhueser-Busch, and he makes excellent, flavorful and award-winning beers.

Finally, 300+ years? Budvar has been brewing for much longer than that, but their beers were nothing like they are now . The first pilsners (like Budweiser Budvar) weren't brewed until the 1840s. As an aside, brewers all over the world (including Germany, of course) quickly imitated the first pilsners produced.

But you're right, Budwar Budweiser is a hell of a lot better than Anhueser-Busch Budweiser.

Many of us don't, actually. Unfortunately we're in the minority.

One of my favorite breweries is run by a guy who used to be a Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. So not everything that comes out of Anhueser-Busch is bad--only the bottled products.