Interesting goings on in the world of beer

After a long respite, back to talk a little about the magical product made primarily with water, hops, yeast and barley.

First off, I'm amazed that customers (or now former customers) had the nerve to sue ABInbev, and with the help of former employees, over the minute possibility that someone was watering down their products. In today's world, not only would this have been a major fail on the part of ABI, but it is also unlikely that it would have gone undiscovered with social media. That same social media that ABI is now using to counter those claims.

ABI is not blameless in that they are now maintaining some beers that were formerly imported, but are now being brewed here in the US in the import sections of your grocery stores (here's looking at you Beck's and Bass).

And lastly, I am shocked by the number of lawsuits being thrown around by the small craft brewers. As for the most part these companies are all small businesses and many have gone through the same struggles and growing pains, you would think the people in charge would show some compassion and at least have a discussion before bringing the lawyers.

I do love the industry that is beer and enjoy very much that I'm allowed to represent both my products and beer in general to the public. So Prost, Skol, Cheers, Slainte, etc. Enjoy your pints and I look forward to posting again soon.

State questions

There are some interesting things coming down the pike in a couple of the states that have very strict alcohol laws.

Costco is pushing hard to challenge the way that Washington controls its liquor after losing its lawsuit last year. Costco is pushing one initiative for the ballot and a second group has a different initiative as well.

And in Pennsylvania, there is an upcoming bill in their legislative body to privatize liquor and wine sales. Pennsylvania has some of the stricter laws on the books with requirements to buy by the case at stores and wine and spirits only at state stores.

The overall question remains on how much the federal government wants to be involved. There are 50 different sets of laws for 50 states, and the federals have typically been extremely wary of getting in the way of states' laws. So other than the courts, I believe that this will continue to be fought state by state. Wholesalers have also been coming down on different sides depending on the statute being pursued. And as a supplier, we can only watch and hope that things do not become to difficult to sell our products to the consumer.

World Cup

According to various sources, ABInBev has decided to allow a South African brewery access to the fan parks outside of stadiums in South Africa in June. This had to be a particularly difficult decision, as the most likely South African beer is Castle, which just happens to be owned by SABMiller. Like the last World Cup in Germany, I suspect that ABInBev, which is currently set to have Budweiser as the only beer available in the stadium, will end up capitulating in the stadiums too. And in the long run, I wonder if it decides that soccer is not worth its money, as it finds that the majority of the rest of the world would rather not have Budweiser forced upon them. As a soccer fan, I'm glad that Bud recognizes and supports the game, but as a drinker, their one size fits all approach leaves something to be desired.

Asahi Breweries Pushing Fast-Cooling Kegs in the U.S. - Beverage World

Asahi Breweries Pushing Fast-Cooling Kegs in the U.S. - Beverage World: "Asahi Breweries Pushing Fast-Cooling Kegs in the U.S.
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 09:29

Tokyo - Japan's Asahi Breweries Ltd. has begun to tap the urban eateries market in the U.S. for rapid-cooling kegs of its Super Dry brand of beer.

Beer kegs typically need to be chilled in a refrigerator before use, but Asahi has developed a keg server that uses ice-cold water to cool the beer instantly.

This setup allows even small establishments with no space for a keg refrigeration room to serve beer on tap. Small restaurants that currently only serve beer in bottles and cans will be able to add a fresh brew to the menu.

Asahi is already testing the business in Los Angeles and San Francisco and plans to start sales in New York this month. By 2012, the company hopes to have 150 shops signed up for its Super Dry kegs.

Marketing will be targeted at smaller pubs and clubs, steering clear of establishments that already offer multiple beers on tap. One focus will be Japanese restaurants, which tend to carry only one choice of beer.

With beer sales down in Japan, Asahi is working to position Super Dry as a strategic global product. Its goal is to double volume sales of Super Dry in foreign markets over the next three years, expanding the scale of overseas sales to reach some 10 percent of the current domestic tally.

(C) 2010 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd."


This is a good idea. Not sure it is as innovative as claimed, but definitely something in a different direction.

Big Beer Bet for Obama, Harper on Olympic Hockey - Beverage World

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama owes his Canadian counterpart a case of beer.

Obama made the friendly wager with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper before Sunday's U.S.-Canada gold medal game. Canada beat the United States 3-2 on Sidney Crosby's overtime goal.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had a case of Yuengling, a Pennsylvania regional brew, riding on the game. Harper wagered 24 bottles of Molson. The beer battle pitted Canada's oldest brewery against the oldest beer maker in the United States. Molson Canada is now a subsidiary of Molson Coors Brewing Co., a marriage of Molson and Denver-based Coors.

There was no word on where the cross-border exchange would occur.



"Well, Canada got the better of this deal too."

Bud Light Golden Wheat

Personally, I'm amazed by the amount of advertising that ABInBev is doing for this product. I do not doubt they will move some cases and get some fantastic placements. But the timing for this sure is strange, as the typical wheat beer consumer primarily drinks this kind of product in the summer (many wheat beer products are available all year round).

More to the point however is that Bud Light with Golden Wheat is not really adding many new consumers as followers of ABInBev, but merely moving its own consumers from one product to another. This has been consistent in recent times with things such as American Ale.

I know that they are capable of better things and wish they would use their might to get behind them. New items like their gluten-free beer would gain them more new users if it got the same push as one of these new Bud Lights. Still I do like the fact that ABInBev is following SABMiller and trying to get past the straight light lager hurdle.

It's all about light beer

US: Beer industry volumes up as import sales slow
24 September 2009 Source: just-drinks.com editorial team
The US beer industry posted its third consecutive year of increased volume last year climbing 0.5%, according to figures released this week. However, the recession has shaped the market with imported brands suffering at the hands of the growing popular category.
The growth of the distilled spirits and wine industries also continued to take market share away from beer industry, albeit at a slower rate in 2008 than previously, the data showed. On a volume basis, beer held an 85.3% share, wine 9% and spirits 5.7%, the Handbook showed. In 2007, the shares were 85.4% for beer, 5.6% for spirits and 9% for wine.
The Beverage Information Group's 2009 Beer Handbook showed that beer industry volumes reached 2.94 billion cases.
Light beer has grown to become the largest beer segment, controlling more than half of the beer market. Last year's launch of Bud Light Lime helped the Light beer segment gain 2.1%.
Ice and popular segments have also gained volume. These categories benefited from consumers trading down in the recessionary environment with ice gaining 4% and popular beers seeing its first upturn in more than 20 years with a 0.3% gain to 232.6m cases. Another direct result of trading down can be seen in the decline of imported beer, which lost 5.4% to 386.1m cases last year.
"Lights have gained ground continuously since their arrival almost 30 years ago and show no signs of slowing down," said Eric Schmidt, manager of information services for the Beverage Information Group based in Norwalk, Connecticut. "Light is forecast to grow 2% on an annual compound growth rate over the next five years."
The popular beer segment is also expected to continue its positive momentum, while imports, predicted to lose volume in 2009, will slowly recover over the next five years as the economy emerges from the recession, the Handbook said.