This Bud’s for You

Anheuser-Busch may be fresh from winning a takeover battle for ownership of China’s Harbin beer concern, but globalization hasn’t flattened history at the nation’s largest brewery, whose Los Angeles facility toasts its 50th anniversary this month.

These days Anheuser is concocting reduced-calorie beers and racy advertising, but the 95-acre Van Nuys plant remains one of Southern California’s retro landmarks. While their parents savored the product, boomer kids savored the delights of the now-vanished Busch Gardens, opened in 1966, which included gondolas and a bird preserve. The park was re-christened the Busch Bird Sanctuary-Los Angeles in 1976 before closing in 1979. You can’t take a boat ride at the facility anymore, and the aviary is the stuff of urban legend, which says that wild Busch parrots and their progeny still haunt the Valley.

“I’ve been seeing exotic birds on the brewery grounds since I came here 12 years ago,” says plant manager Gary Lee. “Of course, some of them may have been tourists.” Be that as it may, the plant puts out more than 700,000 cases daily of 18 brands, including Budweiser and Kirin, and it’s time to celebrate.

Yesterday’s invitation-only festivities included a time-capsule dedication, the interactive “Budweiser True Music” exhibit and the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. Oh--and brew. As for the public, an alcohol-free historical display is viewable on an ongoing basis in the foyer area of plant headquarters.

Anheuser-Busch brewery, 15800 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys; (818) 989-5300.