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| Bud Light Lime hurts Corona |
| No Bailout Needed |
| Just two beers—Heineken and Corona—make up nearly half of all imports to the United States. Both brands have taken hits as the import business shrinks. The trend toward domestic craft beers continues to chisel into the imports' market shares. The Wall Street Journal points out that the recent drop in imports (a swoon-inducing 19 percent in the first two months of the year) is partly due to distributors shrinking their inventories to improve cash flow. Some industry analysts say that one of the reasons for Corona's being eclipsed is a successful new product from Anheuser-Busch InBev: Bud Light Lime. Bud Light Lime debuted only in May and yet managed to outsell Corona Light for the entirety of 2008. Stella Artois (also from Anheuser- Busch InBev) gained more than 13 percent. And Corona rival Dos Equis, gained 27.6 percent, the most among imports. Bell's vs. Bud Bell's Brewing is suing one of its distributors in a Michigan state court to try to block it from selling the rights to market his products to an Anheuser-Busch InBev distributor. The move comes about three years after Bell made headlines by yanking his beers out of Chicago rather than see the rights to market them there sold to a big Miller distributor. Bell, famous for outstanding “craft” beers us concerned is that distributors that primarily make a living hawking mass-market brews aren’t well-suited to peddle his specialty brands |
| Nationally, the beer industry directly and indirectly contributes more than $198 billion annually to the U.S. economy and provides nearly 1.9 million jobs -- nearly $62 billion in wages and benefits. The industry also paid $41 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes in 2008. Consumption taxes included $3.8 billion in federal excise taxes, $1.7 billion in state excise taxes and $5.7 billion in state and local sales taxes. So have another beer and help the government avoid debt. Becks Goes Batty Beck's has just released "Hello Kitty Beer" in an effort to snare more female drinkers. Really. (click to enlarge picture) |
Sierra Nevada Green- The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is currently
working on a process that can convert beer into biofuel. They plan on taking the left
over yeast, used in the brewing process and make it into ethanol. The brew masters
claim they can make 100,000 gallons of fuel each year. The process of converting the
left over beer into ethanol, should be in place by early summer.
The first batch of fuel will be used in delivery trucks, and company cars. As an added
incentive to company employees, they plan on also supplying their own personal cars
with the fuel.
The Beer's Included- MillerCoors has a partnership with Sara Lee Corp. to
produce a co-branded bratwurst that will debut late spring. The partnership will blend
Miller Coors' Miller High Life brand with Sara Lee's Hillshire Farms' line of brats. The new
Hillshire Farms Miller High Life Beer Brats are designed to deliver the flavor of brats cooked
in beer in only a fraction of the time.
No More Short Pours- A bill now in the Oregon House committee calls for
the state to measure servings of beer. It would allow the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission to issue decals to establishments that meet the “honest pint” 16-ounce
standard. The decal system would be voluntary for businesses.
working on a process that can convert beer into biofuel. They plan on taking the left
over yeast, used in the brewing process and make it into ethanol. The brew masters
claim they can make 100,000 gallons of fuel each year. The process of converting the
left over beer into ethanol, should be in place by early summer.
The first batch of fuel will be used in delivery trucks, and company cars. As an added
incentive to company employees, they plan on also supplying their own personal cars
with the fuel.
The Beer's Included- MillerCoors has a partnership with Sara Lee Corp. to
produce a co-branded bratwurst that will debut late spring. The partnership will blend
Miller Coors' Miller High Life brand with Sara Lee's Hillshire Farms' line of brats. The new
Hillshire Farms Miller High Life Beer Brats are designed to deliver the flavor of brats cooked
in beer in only a fraction of the time.
No More Short Pours- A bill now in the Oregon House committee calls for
the state to measure servings of beer. It would allow the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission to issue decals to establishments that meet the “honest pint” 16-ounce
standard. The decal system would be voluntary for businesses.
| The Pilsner Urquell Story The Pilsner Urquell factory of today is a marvel of modern brewing, operating 24 hours a day and churning out 120,000 bottles of beer per hour. But it has its origins in a brewing tradition that stretches back to the late 1200s, when King Wenceslaus II granted brewing licenses to more than 250 city residents. But the quality of Plzen’s beer was poor, according to the brewery, and in 1839 protesters dumped 36 barrels of the local brew outside the town hall to show their discontent. That prompted the citizen brewers of Plzen to combine forces and build a modern beer-making facility, which opened in 1842, the same one that operates to this day. A young brewmaster and reputed ruffian, Josef Groll, took the helm and began making the beer that became known as Pilsner lager, fermenting barley malt, hops and water at a low temperature, and adding yeast that collected at the bottom of the mixture. The water used in today’s Pilsner Urquell, the company says, is from the same underground source used to make the original in 1842. And the strain of yeast used to convert sugar into alcohol during the fermentation process reputedly is traceable to that used in the original recipe. And just in case you were wondering, Urquell, means “the original source” in German send contributions for On Tap to webmaster@beernexus.com |
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Edited by Jim Attacap
