Bud Light Goes 'Platinum' —With More Alcohol

Tastes great, less filling, and more intoxicating? Anheuser-Busch is rolling out what the LA Times calls a "long-germinating beer concept" that it hopes is all that and a bag of chips. Dubbed Bud Light Platinum, the beer will have a robust 6% alcohol by volume, 137 calories, and an eye clearly on the burgeoning craft beer industry. Regular Bud Light has 4.2% ABV and 110 calories, while Bud sports 5% and 145 calories.

Anheuser-Busch says Platinum should “appeal to a key group of beer drinkers and expands consumer occasions," and is hoping the offering will help stem its eroding market share. The company today said that it saw North American beer sales drop 3.2% this quarter; its prices rose 3% on average. (More Budweiser stories.)