Local liquor stores, Budget Liquors and Famous Liquors, do not think they will be affected by recent accusations that Anheuser Busch has been watering down some of its products.

In the past couple weeks, multiple lawsuits have been filed in different states claiming Busch has been weakening its beers and labeling the products with higher alcohol content.

Busch has denied all the watering down charges and has even started an add-campaign to combat the lawsuits and negative comments.

“A lot of the people that come in here, they don’t really care; they don’t really read news,” Mike James, clerk and wine taster at Famous Liquors, said.

With so many customers not knowing about the controversy and the popularity and affordability of Budweiser, James says he doubts the store’s sales will change.

Zack Applehans/Photographer: Anheuser Busch has been accused of watering down some of its products.

The famous beer brand is still doing extremely well at Famous Liquors and is one of their best sellers, James added.

James says it is deceitful to mislabel a product in such a way and thinks Busch would face problems if it ever was shown to be watering down its drinks.

“If I were a humongous Budweiser fan and I found out about it, yeah, I’d be a little disappointed,” James said.

Chris Cutoar, owner of Budget Liquors, has been in the alcohol selling business for 23 years and Budweiser makes up about 60 percent of his purchases.

The Budget Liquors owner is highly skeptical of the claims and would be surprised if the charges ended up being anything more than a baseless sham.

Companies like Busch are hit with lawsuits all the time, Cutoar said. The worst thing he could see happening to Busch as a result of the most recent accusations is some bad publicity.

Part of Cutoar’s skepticism stems from the plaintiffs, Busch customers, not having tested the beers in question before throwing the charges at the company.

The primary base for the allegations is the statements of former Anheuser Busch plant workers, who say the company does indeed water down its beer as part of its beer making process.

A beverage with a label claiming higher alcohol content than what the drink actually contains is in violation of various laws in states across the country.

According to a National Public Radio report, tests done at the behest of NPR news last week prove Budweiser, Bud Light Lime and Michelob Ultra contain the amount of alcohol listed on their labels.

Jim Almeda, ISU Health Promotion and Wellness coordinator, does not foresee any bad effects from the alcoholic drinks having less alcohol than what is seen on the label.

“It may actually help to reduce the amount of impairment and intoxication that can result from consumption,” Almeda added.

There is a misconception amongst consumers regarding the watering down of beer, Cutoar said. In fact, adding more water is a natural part of making light beer.

Other than Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Bud Light Lime, the list of accused beers includes King Cobra, Bud Ice, Busch Ice, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, Bud Light Platinum and others.

Some of the lawsuits totaled more than $5 million.