Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), the world’s biggest brewer, was sued by consumers in three U.S. states for allegedly overstating the alcohol content in its Budweiser beer. 
 
 AB InBev’s St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. routinely adds extra water to its finished products to produce malt beverages with significantly less alcohol content than displayed on its labels, violating state statutes on consumer protection, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia. Similar lawsuits were filed in federal courts in New Jersey and San Francisco. 
 
 “AB’s customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume it can sell,” Thomas and Gerald Greenberg said in the Philadelphia complaint. 
 
 AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois, controls 39 percent of the U.S. beer market. The company is seeking government approval to buy the rest of Grupo Modelo SAB, Mexico’s largest beermaker, for $20.1 billion. The Modelo brands account for 7 percent of the U.S. market. AB InBev shipped 98.5 million barrels in the U.S. in 2011, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. 
 
 ‘Completely False’ 
 
 The claims against Anheuser-Busch are “completely false,” Peter Kraemer, the company’s vice president of brewing and supply, said in an e-mail. 
 
 “Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws,” Kraemer said. “We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world.” 
 
 Budweiser, the No. 3 beer in the U.S. in 2011, was introduced in 1876 when company founder Adolphus Busch set out to create a national beer brand, according to the Anheuser-Busch website. Each batch of the beer, which blends American aroma hops with barley malts and rice, follows the same family recipe used by five generations of brewmasters, according to the website. 
 
 The complaints accuse the AB InBev unit of also mislabeling the amount of alcohol in Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Black Crown, Bud Light Lime, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, Natural Ice and Michelob Ultra. 
 
 Ohio, Colorado 
 
 Josh Boxer, an attorney for plaintiffs in California, said additional lawsuits will be filed against the company in Ohio and Colorado. The California complaint, filed by Sonoma County residents Nina Giampaoli and John Elbert, seek to represent consumers in the state and consumers nationwide who have purchased AB InBev products in the past five years. All three complaints seek damages exceeding $5 million. 
 
 Total damages “could be quite significant based on the volume of products that AB produces a year,” Boxer said. 
 
 It’s unclear in the complaints how the plaintiffs determined the alcohol content was less than stated. Boxer said the complaints are based on information from former workers at some of the company’s 13 U.S. breweries. 
 
 “On information and belief this is a corporate policy of AB to intentionally short the alcohol content,” Boxer said in a phone interview. “We believe this is a corporate policy that comes from AB InBev and trickles down.” 
 
 Four Cases 
 
 The Greenbergs said they routinely purchased as many as four cases of Budweiser a month during the past four years, with the contents labeled as having an alcohol content of 5 percent by volume, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Giampaoli regularly purchased one six-pack of Budweiser a week during the past four years, according to that complaint filed Feb. 22. Brian Wilson, who is suing Anheuser-Busch in federal court in New Jersey, purchased one case of Michelob Ultra per month. The label stated the beer contained 4.2 percent alcohol by volume, according to his complaint filed yesterday. 
 
 AB InBev allegedly keeps the alcohol level for each batch of malt beverage at specifications above the desired final product at least initially then adds water and CO2 to the final stage of the brewing process, according to the complaint. 
 
 The company began using in-line alcohol measuring instruments known as Anton Paar meters that can measure the alcohol content in malt beverages to within hundredths of one percent, according to the complaint. AB allegedly uses the precision technology to shave the alcohol content instead providing consumers with a product based on the stated label, the Greenbergs said in the complaint. 
 
 Adding water to the brewing process cuts the stated alcohol content by 3 to 8 percent, Boxer said. 
 
 In addition to damages, the lawsuits are seeking a court order requiring Anheuser-Busch to fund a “corrective advertising campaign” to remedy its allegedly illegal conduct. 
 
 The case is Greenberg v. Anheuser-Busch Cos LLC, 13- cv-01016, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at spearson3@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net 

 Beer lovers across the U.S. have accused Anheuser-Busch of watering down its Budweiser, Michelob and other brands, in class-action suits seeking millions in damages. 
 
 FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, file photo, Bud Light beer is shown in the aisles of Elite Beverages in Indianapolis. Beer lovers across the country have filed $5 million class-action lawsuits accusing... (Associated Press) 
 
 The suits, filed in Pennsylvania, California and other states, claim consumers have been cheated out of the alcohol content stated on labels. Budweiser and Michelob each boast of being 5 percent alcohol, while some "light" versions are said to be just over 4 percent. 
 
 The lawsuits are based on information from former employees at the company's 13 U.S. breweries, some in high-level plant positions, according to lead lawyer Josh Boxer of San Rafael, Calif. 
 
 "Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their products mentioned (in the lawsuit) are watered down," Boxer said. "It's a simple cost-saving measure, and it's very significant." 
 
 The excess water is added just before bottling and cuts the stated alcohol content by 3 percent to 8 percent, he said. 
 
 Anheuser-Busch InBev called the claims "groundless" and said its beers fully comply with labeling laws. 
 
 "Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world," Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply, said in a statement. 
 
 The suit involves 10 Anheuser-Busch products: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime. 
 
 Anheuser-Busch, based in St. Louis, Mo., merged with InBev in 2008 to form the world's largest alcohol producer, headquartered in Belgium. In 2011, the company produced 10 billion gallons of malt beverages, 3 billion of them in the U.S., and reported $22 billion in profits from that category, the lawsuit said. 
 
 According to the lawsuit, the company has sophisticated equipment that measures the alcohol content throughout the brewing process and is accurate to within one-hundredth of a percent. But after the merger, the company increasingly chose to dilute its popular brands of beer, the lawsuit alleged. 
 
 "Following the merger, AB vigorously accelerated the deceptive practices described below, sacrificing the quality products once produced by Anheuser-Busch in order to reduce costs," said the lead lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of consumers in the lower 48 states. 
 
 Companion suits are being filed this week in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and elsewhere. Each seeks at least $5 million in damages. 
 
 The named Pennsylvania plaintiffs, Thomas and Gerald Greenberg of Ambler, said they buy six cases of the affected Anheuser-Busch products a month. They did not immediately return a message Tuesday, and Boxer would not elaborate on their purchases except to say the consumer-protection suit does not involve retailers or bar owners. 
 
 One of the California plaintiffs, Nina Giampaoli of Sonoma County, said she bought a six-pack of Budweiser every week for the past four years. 
 
 "I think it's wrong for huge corporations to lie to their loyal customers _ I really feel cheated. No matter what the product is, people should be able to rely on the information companies put on their labels," Giampaoli said in a news release issued by Boxer's law firm. 
 
 Bloomberg News first reported Tuesday on the lawsuits. 
 
 In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Boxer said he has evidence to corroborate the former employees' allegations, but stopped short of saying the beers had been independently tested. 
 
 "AB (Anheuser-Busch) never intends for the malt beverage to possess the amount of alcohol that is stated on the label. As a result, AB's customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume it can sell," the lawsuit said. 

 Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world's largest brewer, said Wednesday that profit fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter due to higher financing costs, and it forecast weak first quarter sales volumes in the United States and Brazil. 
 
 FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, file photo, Bud Light beer is shown in the aisles of Elite Beverages in Indianapolis. Beer lovers across the country have filed $5 million class-action lawsuits accusing... (Associated Press) 
 
 The maker of Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois and Beck's said net profit was $1.76 billion ((EURO)1.35 billion), down from $1.85 billion in the same period a year ago. Exchange rate-linked losses in the fourth quarter of 2012 and gains on derivatives a year earlier caused a combined $400 million downward swing. 
 
 Revenues rose 8.8 percent to $10.3 billion, due to price hikes, and operating profit rose 10.7 percent, thanks to cost-cutting, the company said. 
 
 AB InBev said it expects weak first quarter volumes in the U.S., its most profitable market, as consumers there have less disposable income and weather has been worse than a year ago. 
 
 But the company, based in Leuven, Belgium, reported that sales volumes had grown in the U.S. in 2012 for the first time since 2008 and "market share is showing signs of stabilizing." 
 
 It also expects first quarter "softness" in Brazil, where it has a 68.5 percent market share with brands Skol, Brahma and Antarctica, due to an early carnival and wet weather. 
 
 Volumes in China, the company's third-largest market, grew 1.9 percent and AB InBev said it gained market share in the fourth quarter, with Budweiser becoming the best-selling "premium" beer in the country. AB InBev expects better growth in China this year. 
 
 More than half of Budweiser sales now take place outside the U.S., the company said. 
 
 AB InBev didn't outline whether it expects to increase profits in 2013, saying only it expects its revenue per gallon sold to increase faster than the rate of inflation, and costs to rise "in the mid-single digits." 
 
 Shares erased early losses to rise 0.5 percent to (EURO)70.15 in Brussels. 
 
 The numbers were "below market expectations at the earnings level," but better than expected in terms of revenues, said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Kilik & Co. He said the company is "well positioned to capture rising emerging market incomes and recovering Western economies." However, he repeated a "neutral" rating on shares, because those strengths are already reflected in the share price. 
 
 AB InBev has been attempting since June to take over the half of Corona maker Grupo Modelo it doesn't already own for $20.1 billion, but the deal was challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice over concerns it would make the company too dominant in the U.S. 
 
 In response, AB InBev announced a side-deal this month to sell the rights to market Corona in the U.S. to smaller competitor Constellation Brands, hoping that would appease regulators. For now the deal "remains subject to the existing challenge," AB InBev said Wednesday. 
 
 The company's U.S. subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri, is facing a lawsuit from consumers who on Tuesday accused it of watering down its beers, including Budweiser and Michelob, so that they carry a lower alcohol percentage than their label suggests. 
 
 "Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world," said Peter Kraemer, vice-president of brewing and supply, in a statement.
– Anheuser-Busch is ripping off beer drinkers by watering down Budweiser, Michelob, and other brands, according to class-action lawsuits from drinkers across America. Lawyers say the company uses technology designed to accurately measure alcohol content to dilute its beers just before bottling, making the beer 3% to 8% weaker than what it says on the label, Bloomberg reports. Lead lawyer Josh Boxer says the case is based on information from former employees at the company's 13 US breweries, the AP reports. The watering down is "a simple cost-saving measure and it's very significant," Boxer says. The suits—which the company describes as "groundless"—allege that the diluting began soon after Anheuser-Busch merged with Belgium firm InBev in 2008 to create the world's biggest brewer. "I think it's wrong for huge corporations to lie to their loyal customers," says one plaintiff who bought a six-pack of Bud every week for years. "I really feel cheated. No matter what the product is, people should be able to rely on the information companies put on their labels." The suits involve 10 Anheuser-Busch products: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice, and Bud Light Lime. More bad news for Bud today, as per the AP: Q4 profit dropped 4.9%.