We’ve all heard the horse piss and watered-down whiskey jokes, but maybe these jokes weren’t so far off base.

Loyal Budweiser fans from across the US are complaining that Anheuser-Busch, the owners of Budweiser, has been significantly watering down its beer. You might think there are just a few people complaining—because everyone else is too drunk to actually care—but there are actually hundreds of people filing class-action suits that are literally seeking MILLIONS in damages. Most of the suits are filed in Pennsylvania, and they claim that consumers of Budweiser and other alcoholic beverages sold by Anheuser-Busch are being cheated out of the alcohol amounts stated on the labels.

So do you think people just kind of noticed their beer made them a little less drunk? No, of course not. Former employees have spilled the metaphorical beans about this one as of late, some of which have actually held high-level plant positions.

Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their products mentioned (in the lawsuit) are watered down,” the main lawyer on the case, Josh Boxer, indicated. “It’s a simple cost-saving measure, and it’s very significant.”

I’m honestly not sure why a percentage point or so really matters all that much in a single beer, but people are really upset about the whole mess. Of course, Anheuser-Busch openly denies the claim (like any company would, really) and it even went so far as to call the claims “groundless.” Its beers are in full compliance with the labeling laws, and people are welcome to come check out its plants to verify that information if they insist.

The suit involves a whopping 10 Anheuser-Busch products, all the way from regular Budweiser beer to Bud Light Platinum. Many brand loyalists are saying that their precious Budweiser company would never, ever do that to its beer unless another company bought them out and changed its policies.

Oh way, it did. In 2008, InBev merged with Anheuser-Busch, and the company has had some serious sway in the policies of the beer company. Could one of those changes actually have forced Budweiser to start diluting its beer? I don’t know. But that’s what this whole debacle’s about.

Consumers of Budweiser are saying they feel cheated out of their hard-earned money and drunkenness, too. Most claims being filed—by individuals mind you—are claiming some $5 million in damages. I’m not sure who could possibly afford $5 million in beer (even though some consumers are saying they’ve bought Budweiser for 30 years now) except for maybe bar owners or retailers, but none of the suits being filed are from either one of those. They’re all just individual, upset consumers.

I think if Budweiser has been diluting its beer, it should just suck it up and fess-up like many other idiotic companies that try to cheat the consumer out of a few extra bucks. If it isn’t adding water to its beer, then it will still come out tarnished in the end. It’s true that any press is good press, but when that press damages your rep as a beer company, you better expect sales will drop no matter what the outcome of the court case is.

Still, Budweiser and its draft—and draft horses—are going to be in the news for quite some time, especially if all of these class-action court cases actually go to court individually. The hotshot lawyer on the case said in a recent telephone interview that he has a ton of evidence to back up his claims, but… he never actually tested any beers to see if the company was breaking any laws.

Yep, we’ll see where this goes.