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Budweiser is stirring up an old controversy that made customers and craft brewers furious

Budweiser America and Camouflage Bottles
Budweiser

Budweiser is bringing back its "America" cans and bottles this summer. 

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On Tuesday, Budweiser announced it will once again sell cans and bottles with "patriotic packaging" — swapping the name "Budweiser" for "America," as well as debuting a new design that covers bottles with camouflage. The new camo packaging will be available from now until July 4 weekend. 

Budweiser is donating a portion up to $1 million of the profits from the bottles that are sold from May 22 to 29 to military non-profit Folds of Honor. 

When Budweiser announced plans to erase its own name from packaging and replace it with "America" in May 2016, the campaign was polarizing — in part because, while Budweiser is brewed in the US, Budweiser's parent company AB InBev is based in Belgium.

"Frankly, Budweiser calling itself 'America' is the most un-American thing I’ve observed in quite a while," Will McCameron, president and co-owner of the Greenville, South Carolina microbrewery Brewery 85, wrote in a blog post on craft beer website Brew Studs.

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"Don’t come to me bitching about the state of the American economy with a can of Bud in your hand," the post continued. 

Budweiser and AB InBev have received backlash for acquiring various craft brew brands, most recently the Asheville, North Carolina-based Wicked Weed brewery. The company announced in mid-May that it plans to invest $2 billion in US brewing by 2020. 

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