UK Scores in China
Taxes = Bad Beer
In Japan,the local beers aren’t always palate
pleasers.Blame the taxman. The Finance
Ministry imposes higher taxes on drinks with
greater malt content. So the biggest breweries,
including Asahi and Kirin sell knockoffs, called
happoshu (meaning bubbly spirits), or third
beer, that may use peas, corn, or soybeans to
reduce the amount of flavorful malt. Craft
brewers, which account for about 2 % of beer
sales in Japan, say the tax incentives help bigger
companies produce bad beer that dominates the
market, because it costs a lot less.
Meanwhile, some expensive special brews with
serious ingredients must be advertised as the
cheap stuff because their recipes don’t meet
official definitions of beer—defined in part, as
having at least 67% malt content. The current
tax regime dates to a time when beer was a
luxury primarily used by foreigners. It was seen
as a way to raise money without putting a
burden on Japanese citizens.
British brews are becoming insanely popular in China.
According to Beverage Daily, beer exports from the U.K.
experience a 500 percent increase in 2016 due to rising
consumer demand throughout the country.

Some analysts have cited Chinese president Xi Jinping's
interest in beer as contributing to the beverage's rising
popularity. In 2015, he was photographed enjoying a
beer with former British prime minister David Cameron.

But China isn't the only country to have a stronger
interest in British brews-- exports to India grew by 417
percent and exports to the EU grew by 5 percent.
Approximately 63 percent of Britain’s beer exports are
for the EU while the remaining 37 percent are destined
for other locations around the globe.

The increase in brewery exports has boosted beer to the
third most valuable food or drink export coming out of
the U.K., falling behind only whisky and chocolate.
Planet Trappist-  Belgian scientists just announced the discovery of a new
planetary systems -- and named it after their favorite beer - TRAPPIST-1 .  It is a
system of seven Earth-size planets orbiting a dwarf star "just" 40 light-years away

Numbers- A new survey says that women account for 28 % of the weekly craft
beer drinkers (up 3% year over year) and 36 % of new drinkers.  Meanwhile, craft
beer lost share with Hispanics, only 18 % of whom identified themselves as weekly
craft beer drinkers.

New Boss -  Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that Andy Goeler would take
over as the new vice president of Bud Light, the largest beer brand in the U.S.  The
Bud Light brand is down 2 % over the last 52 weeks, however Mr. Goeler promises
no changes in the beer.  Aren't you glad?

Beer Shipments Decline -  The Beer Institute published an unofficial
estimate of domestic tax paid shipments by beer brewers for March 2017 of
11,724,000 barrels, a decrease of 9.4% versus last year.


Cigar in Carolina - Cigar City is making its way up the eastern seaboard. The
Florida-headquartered brewery announced that it would begin shipping its popular
Jai Alai IPA and other brands to North Carolina. Cigar City produced more than
65,000 barrels of beer last year.
Craft Beer For Non-Craft Drinkers


Heineken is hoping to tempt the 75% of beer drinks who have never tried
craft beer into the growing category, with the launch of two new beers under
its new Maltsmiths Brewery label.  The new beers – a Bavarian-style Pilsner and
an American-style IPA – are being rolled out from this month, and are intended
to take a slice of a “huge untapped market” by appealing to people who
haven’t yet started to experiment with the growing trend.

The Maltsmiths’ Pilsner contains Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops to
give it earthy pine and citrus flavours with depth, while the Maltsmiths’ IPA
has a more caramel base with hops giving notes of citrus, grapefruit, and
tropical fruits and a little pine for freshness, Heineken said.

The beers, which clock in at 4.6% ABV and are available in 330ml cans,
bottles and on draught, were developed at the Caledonian Brewery in
Edinburgh by Heineken’s brewers, Alex Brandon-Davies and Sarah Bartels.

Brandon-Davies explained they had wanted to brew beers that “would appeal
to the beer-curious” who for whatever reason, have “yet to experiment”.
“We’re hoping that drinkers will love the fuller flavours and it will be their
first step into experimenting with beers from the hundreds of other
breweries in the UK,” he added.

The Dutch brewing company entered the craft beef market in September
2015 when it acquired a 50% share in US beer brand, Lagunitas Brewing
Company. At the time of the acquisition, Lagunitas was one of the top ten
craft beer brands in the US.


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Edited by Jim Attacap

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