Ever wondered what it’s like to step inside the home of America’s King of Beers? Since opening in 1954, this sprawling 95-acre complex has been brewing over 100 different brands of beer, churning out an impressive 125,000 cans every hour. Join us for an exclusive journey inside this mega-brewery, and see firsthand what makes it tick.
History
Just off the 405 freeway, in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, lies the Anheuser-Busch macro brewery, which broke ground in 1952. On the same site, Anheuser-Busch once operated a theme park called Busch Gardens—a nod to the brand’s larger-than-life vision. While a few Busch Gardens parks still exist in the U.S., this one featured boat rides and a monorail tour through the brewery, and perhaps best of all, the price of admission included beer—honestly, find a better deal than that. Sadly, in 1979, Busch Gardens closed its gates, and in its place, the Bud Light facility was built, bringing the era of theme park charm to an end.
Tour
This exclusive tour was made possible thanks to the annual friends and family event hosted at the brewery. The event features everything from food vendors and games to rock climbing and a classic car show. But the highlight, without question, is the free beer—a nostalgic nod to the good old days of Busch Gardens, when admission came with all the beer you could drink.
Cannery Tour
The tour begins in the cannery, where the beer is packaged—either into cans or kegs—and then palletized, ready to be shipped to beer lovers around the world.
Above is the high speed can filler and seamer on can line 66 which was originally installed in 1995. This incredible machine accurately fills and precision seams cans in a continuous operation.
Process Steps
- Empty can is flushed with CO2 to reduce packaged oxygen
- Can is filled with beer
- Filled can is sealed with lid
- Sealed can leaves the filler cell for the pasteurizer.
This machine is capable of filling 2,000 cans per minute – 120,000 cans per hour. That means in this machines lifetime, it has approximately 30,505,680,000 cans. That is 30 billion cans of beer.
Just opposite of the can filling machine is the keg filling machine, which can fill 725 kegs per hour.
Below is an interesting poster that was hanging in the cannery. It reminds the employees how much it costs to make a can of Bud Light and how to keep conscious about wasting material.
The breakdown is the following:
- 12oz aluminum can - $0.05
- 12oz Bud Light beer - $0.08
- 12ox aluminum lid - $0.02
- Total cost per can - $0.15
That’s just 15 cents per can of beer – but this poster was from 2009. So adjusted for inflation, it costs Anheuser- Busch $0.22 – 22 cents – to make a can of beer.
The end of the tour is the best part. You get handed the freshest Budweiser anyone will ever get to drink – there are employees pulling cans off the conveyor belt. Cans that just have been filled and are out of the chiller.
It is astonishing the scale of this canning and filling center. The sheer quantity this factory pumps out every minute is mindblowing.
Canning line running
Brewery Tour
The second half of the tour was of the brewery which is on the East side of the compound. The brewery is a massive building with more stories to it than we were allowed to see.
You can find a detailed description of the process that is used to brew Budweiser here.
It’s fascinating to get a glimpse behind the scenes at this brewery, whether you’re a fan of Budweiser or not. Witnessing the sheer scale of the operation can leave you with mixed feelings—maybe a touch of unease at the industrial enormity, or perhaps awe at the efficiency and drive of American capitalism. Whatever your reaction, one thing is clear: this is here to stay, because, quite simply, America loves beer.