Budweiser is digging into its archives for a limited edition release this holiday, with a beer based on a recipe that hasn’t been brewed since the Prohibition era.
Budweiser 1933 Repeal Reserve hits store shelves this week, a rare addition to the flagship Budweiser brand. (The last was in 2012 with Budweiser Black Crown. Typically, new releases are tied with the Bud Light brand.) The limited release is also a different sort of venture for the brewery, which is owned by AB InBev. While holiday seasonal beers are fairly common for smaller craft brewers, Budweiser has traditionally avoided the practice of releasing a special product during the period.
1933 Repeal Reserve, an amber lager, will ship in a classic short, stubby bottle and boasts a higher alcohol content than the flagship Budwesier brand, coming in at 6.1% alcohol by volume (versus Bud’s 5%). Brewers tweaked the recipe, which the company says was created by founder Adolphus Busch for his friends (and only sold in St. Louis), to boost the alcohol content.
To celebrate the launch of 1933 Repeal Reserve, Budweiser has partnered again with Lyft to give select New Yorkers rides in antique cars. Passengers 21 and older will get the chance to sample the beer during the rides, if they choose. (The two companies partnered earlier this year to offer up to 150,000 free round-trip Lyft rides.)