Starting Nov. 20, Anheuser-Busch’s Historic St. Louis Brewery Will Shine Again for the Holidays

Visitors for the ‘Friday Night Lights’ Also Will Get Rare Chance to Tour Brewery at Night

ST. LOUIS (Nov. 16, 2009) – It’s been an annual tradition for almost a quarter of a century: On the Friday before Thanksgiving, Anheuser-Busch welcomes visitors to celebrate the season with a holiday light display.

This year, Anheuser-Busch again will help make the season bright with its 24th annual holiday light display, which runs daily from Nov. 20 through Jan. 3.

Visitors enjoying the “Friday Night Lights” this year also will get a chance to tour the inside of the historic Brew House, the Clydesdales stable and Bevo packaging facility during a free evening tour on the first three Friday nights of December.

“Our brewery tour has never before been open at night during the holidays,” said Sue O’Leary, senior manager for Brewery Tours and Gifts. “Visitors will be able to take a brewery tour, view the lights, and do some holiday shopping at the gift shop.”

The nighttime brewery tours, offered in addition to the daily daytime tours, will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 4, 11 and 18. Tours will leave every 30 minutes. The gift shop will be open until 9 p.m. on these days. Holiday decorations and music will be featured throughout the Tour Center, which offers an extensive selection of the latest in apparel, hats, glassware, holiday ornaments and other collectables bearing Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch brand logos.

The public can view the holiday light display from their cars from 6 p.m. until midnight by accessing Busch Place from Arsenal Street and turning onto Pestalozzi Street. Free parking is available at the corner of Lynch and 12th streets.

“For many of our friends and neighbors, touring the brewery light display during the holidays is as much a tradition as enjoying a cold Budweiser at a Cardinals game,” said Jeff Pitts, general manager of the St. Louis brewery, adding that the free brewery tours give visitors a chance to see how A-B employees craft the world’s best-selling beers.

Display highlights include a 65-foot Douglas fir tree blanketed with glistening gold lights positioned in front of the historic Bevo packaging plant near the intersection of Busch Place and Pestalozzi Street, and a large tree of changing colors situated at Pestalozzi and 13th Streets.

The regular tour center daytime hours will remain in effect on those Fridays with the expanded hours.

Regular brewery tour hours are:

Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Sunday: 11:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Regular gift shop hours are:

Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

The Tour Center and gift shop will be closed on Thanksgiving, Dec. 24, Christmas Day, Dec. 26, Dec. 31 and New Year’s Day.

For more information on the free brewery tours, call 314-577-2626 or go to www.budweisertours.com.

Media can download high-res images of the holiday lights at here.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 49.2 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in FORTUNE Magazine’s Most Admired Global Companies list in 2009. Anheuser Busch is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum cans. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer, and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.