Beer in the news

[BobbyOK]

Shit like this pisses me off. Talk about living in the stone ages!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... g-618.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You're pissed off they're challenging the law?

[canuck]

Shit like this pisses me off. Talk about living in the stone ages!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... g-618.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You're pissed off they're challenging the law?

No, how archaic and asinine the law is in the first place. Similar to the u-vint law in NS. Sad and pathetic at the same time.

[derek]

Shit like this pisses me off. Talk about living in the stone ages!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... g-618.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You're pissed off they're challenging the law?

LOL. I'm pissed off that the feds didn't include Beer in the legislation to permit wine to be carried across provincial borders. Not that it would make any difference in this case - as provinces can still have their own laws until somebody finally gets around to challenging them under the constitution.

[Graham.C]

Shit like this pisses me off. Talk about living in the stone ages!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... g-618.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's the same shit that NS is dealing with on the Uvint stories. Our laws are pitiful. Canada makes great wine, yet to get a bottle of Ontario or BC wine in NB is unheard of. They claim they have excellent selection to provide their customers with their demands but the truth is it costs a bloody fortune to bring a bottle of Canadian wine across provincial boarders. This goes for beer too. Why do we continue to complain about our economy only thriving in the west when we do everything in our power to limit jobs in the east. Its dumb logic. I am so sick of not being able to get a bottle of decent Canadian wine (NS is coming along, but it's not my thing), thank god we at least have some good breweries in the East.

I wonder if they covered the cost of all those road blocks with the equivalent tax revenue they lost out on by people buying over the boarder and the fines combined. I wonder if the road blocks had any impact on peoples behavior. Wast of f'ing money and time if you ask me, a over reaction to a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.

rant over.

[derek]

Shit like this pisses me off. Talk about living in the stone ages!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... g-618.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's the same shit that NS is dealing with on the Uvint stories. Our laws are pitiful. Canada makes great wine, yet to get a bottle of Ontario or BC wine in NB is unheard of. They claim they have excellent selection to provide their customers with their demands but the truth is it costs a bloody fortune to bring a bottle of Canadian wine across provincial boarders. This goes for beer too.

True & not... That's completely true of legally bringing in beer to NS or NB. It's not strictly true of wine in NS - after the feds passed Bill C-311 amending the 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, it became legal to personally transport wine (and cider) across provincial borders, and NS agreed to permit personal importation of up to 1 case of wine (as far as I can tell, only the three significant wine producers - ON, BC and NS - did so). Of course, you can't legally get it across New Brunswick (and Quebec is even worse). However, you might be able to get a case of wine shipped FedEx from BC to NS, now, at winery price+shipping, which is the best price you can hope for for any wine that isn't carried by your local store, even if we abolish the NSLC.

Anyway, I think the story is actually a good sign. I'm convinced that the province can't win this case, and have been waiting for somebody to force it through the courts.

[Graham.C]

Good call, although I am in NB. Last time I checked I couldn't get my wine shipped here (I grew up in Niagara and have a few favorites I would like to get cases of). Some wineries will pack it so you can ship it yourself (handy with my Mother still in Niagara) but that doesn't help everyone, nor does it help the wineries. I would love to join a wine of the month club, but it's too much trouble when you don't live in the same province as the region your club is in.

[Eagleray]

I'm planning a trip to Quebec in July, so there is a limit to what I can bring back? Oh man I was hoping on bringing back 48 Bombers for me and friend.

[LiverDance]

I'm planning a trip to Quebec in July, so there is a limit to what I can bring back? Oh man I was hoping on bringing back 48 Bombers for me and friend.

[Jimmy]

Enjoying your new computer skills I see.

[LiverDance]

Enjoying your new computer skills I see.

[akr71]

I'm planning a trip to Quebec in July, so there is a limit to what I can bring back? Oh man I was hoping on bringing back 48 Bombers for me and friend.

You can bring back as much as you want - just don't get caught.

I would guess (and its only a guess) that if you have your bags and other gear around the beer and it isn't too visible, you will be fine. The police likely target the vehicles that look like they may have only made a run across the border for cheap cases of Coors Lite and such. If all you've got is a trunk full of fizzy yellow water, its pretty obvious what you've been up to.

[Eagleray]

I'll have my travel trailer so hopefully will be safe. Wifey would not be pleased at all if I get fined because of beer lol.

[akr71]

I usually stock up in Quebec on my way home from Ontario and have never had problems. The trunk is filled with suitcases and/or camping gear, kids toys, etc and there's 2 exhausted kids in the back seat. If the cops want to pull me over and search the car, I'll sic my cranky, exhausted kids on 'em...

Actually, I have never even seen a roadblock - I doubt its a regular thing... however it still would suck donkeys to actually get a fine (and lose all that beer).

[Graham.C]

I usually stock up in Quebec on my way home from Ontario and have never had problems. The trunk is filled with suitcases and/or camping gear, kids toys, etc and there's 2 exhausted kids in the back seat. If the cops want to pull me over and search the car, I'll sic my cranky, exhausted kids on 'em...

Actually, I have never even seen a roadblock - I doubt its a regular thing... however it still would suck donkeys to actually get a fine (and lose all that beer).

I too tend to stock up when passing through Quebec. I figure if I get pulled over I can make the selection argument over the trying to get lots of cheap beer over the boarder. If they did fine me, I would look for a lawyer. It is obvious we are not evading tax laws, if we had better liquor laws we would be happy to pay the taxes on it in our respective provinces.

[derek]

I usually stock up in Quebec on my way home from Ontario and have never had problems. The trunk is filled with suitcases and/or camping gear, kids toys, etc and there's 2 exhausted kids in the back seat. If the cops want to pull me over and search the car, I'll sic my cranky, exhausted kids on 'em...

Actually, I have never even seen a roadblock - I doubt its a regular thing... however it still would suck donkeys to actually get a fine (and lose all that beer).

I too tend to stock up when passing through Quebec. I figure if I get pulled over I can make the selection argument over the trying to get lots of cheap beer over the boarder. If they did fine me, I would look for a lawyer. It is obvious we are not evading tax laws, if we had better liquor laws we would be happy to pay the taxes on it in our respective provinces.

I've always heard that in these stops the booze just gets poured out on the side of the road. If you intend to fight it, demand a receipt for every bottle.

[Graham.C]

Good point

[akr71]

World's Eighth Trappist Brewery Launches in Austria

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2 ... stria.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trappist monks in Belgium and the Netherlands have developed a reputation as some of the world’s best brewers. Sustaining their monasteries and supporting the less fortunate by making and selling beer (along with other goods like cheeses and chocolates), some of these abbeys have been around for centuries. The Westvleteren 12, created in 1940 at the Abbey of St. Sixtus in Belgium, is considered by many to be the best beer in the world (I’ve certainly never tasted better).

Now, in addition to Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Achel (all in Belgium) and La Trappe in the Netherlands, comes a pair of beers from one of Austria’s Trappist monasteries, Stift Engelszell. The International Trappist Association approved Engelszell, founded in 1293, to use the Trappist seal last May, and two beers—a darker beer called Gregorius and an amber-colored Benno—are now available for sale.

It’s also possible that Americans could one day drink domestic Trappist ale. St. Joseph’s Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Mass., has joined the ITA, making it the 19th member and the first outside of Europe. No plans for a brewery have been announced, but you can buy American Trappist jams, jellies and marmalades.

[mr x]

For AB InBev, Prize Is the Mexican Market

[/b]

Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BT +4.18% is expected to work every angle to salvage its $20 billion acquisition of Grupo Modelo GMODELO.MX -0.17% SAB of Mexico—not because of what it could squeeze out of its U.S. business, but largely to gain a clear path to the beer market in Mexico—a potential bonanza.

But in what is becoming an increasingly common problem for large international corporations, even the loftiest and best-laid global strategies can run into brick walls when they encounter more nationally-minded antitrust regulators.

In a move that surprised both the company and many of its followers, the U.S. government sued Thursday to block the merger on the grounds that the deal would "substantially lessen competition in the market for beer" in the U.S. as a whole and particularly in 26 metropolitan areas, causing both higher prices and fewer choices for American consumers.

AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, denied the charge, arguing that the U.S. market has plenty of choices when it comes to beer, and noting that it has taken steps to distance itself from the new business.

"Now it's either litigate, negotiate or walk away," said Trevor Stirling, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein. AB InBev's "initial response was quite aggressive—you're stupid and we'll see you in court," he said.

However, he and others believe that AB InBev is secretly following a two-pronged approach—simultaneously negotiating and litigating. "My expectation is there will be a negotiated settlement that will satisfy the Department of Justice," he said.

AB InBev declined to comment.

Grupo Modelo may be too valuable for AB InBev to let go. Its strategy is to be a global brewer; the deal announced last June to acquire the 50% of Modelo it didn't already own would give it additional brand and distribution power, it said at the time. The acquisition would also add a fourth big name—Corona—to AB InBev's portfolio of global brands (the other three are Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's). AB InBev currently has nearly 20% of the global market by volume.

More significantly though, said Mr. Stirling, the deal would give AB InBev a clear path to the promising Mexican market, which AB has coveted due to its favorable demographics and one of the highest per capita gross domestic products of all developing markets.

Now, Mr. Stirling said, AB InBev must figure out what it has to give up in the U.S. to get access to the Mexican market.

Beer has a 70% share of the alcoholic beverage market by dollar value in Mexico and is expected to grow, the company said at the time it announced the deal. Moreover, Grupo Modelo is both well-situated and well-seasoned.

Not only has it successfully imported and distributed Bud and Bud Light in Mexico for more than two decades, it has also made its own Corona brand the leading imported beer in 38 countries around the world.

For its part, AB InBev already commands a roughly 48% share of the U.S. market by volume. Bud Light is the No. 1 selling brand in the country and Budweiser is No. 3. No. 2 is Coors Light, which is sold by MillerCoors. Grupo Modelo also owns the No. 1 and No. 3 imported brands in the U.S.—Corona Extra and Modelo Especial.

[mr x]

Beer as cure: Hops molecule may play key role in cancer, diabetes drugs: U.S. study
http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/02/04 ... u-s-study/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GAM]

"Excessive beer consumption cannot be recommended to propagate good health."

Sandy

[mr x]

Easy solution, hammer the session ales with 5+ lbs/bbl

[pet lion]

Easy solution, hammer the session ales with 5+ lbs/bbl

YES!

[mr x]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/s ... lFwuFqQZdK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Source: Bud beer brawl headed to court

By JOSH KOSMAN
Last Updated: 11:08 PM, February 3, 2013
Posted: 11:08 PM, February 3, 2013

The real Bud Bowl will kick off this summer inside a Washington courthouse, one antitrust lawyer believes.

A well-placed source, who correctly predicted in early January that regulators were going to sue to block the $19 billion Anheuser-Busch InBev buyout of Grupo Modelo, believes A-B will not be able to settle the suit and that it will head to trial — likely this summer.

“There is no way this is going to settle,” the source said. “You can just tell — the two sides are very far apart.”

The Department of Justice, in its biggest action since stopping AT&T from buying T-Mobile, wants A-B to either transfer the license to import Modelo beer into the US to a third party or to sell its US-wholly owned distributors, the source said.

That is too much for A-B to swallow, the source added.

A-B alone has the choice of whether to go to court because Modelo cannot walk away from the deal until the end of the year, a second source said.

Also driving A-B to fight, according to the well-placed source, is that it feels it has a real chance to win in court and get the deal completed by the end of the year.

The DOJ does not do a good enough job defining the beer market in its complaint, the source said.

What the DOJ’s case mainly rests on is that Modelo, maker of Corona beer, has since 2008 been narrowing the price gap between its more expensive beer and lower-priced American competitors, A-B and MillerCoors, by not raising prices.

“These narrowed price gaps frustrate A-B and MillerCoors because they result in Modelo gaining market share at their expense,” the DOJ said in its suit.

A-B’s shares rose 4.2 percent on Friday to $92.28 based partly on reports that it was in settlement talks.

A-B declined to comment. A Modelo spokesperson did not return calls.

[chalmers]

Http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/6 ... r-garrison" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Expansion on tap for Garrison
February 4, 2013 - 6:44pm BY COLLEEN COSGROVE BUSINESS REPORTER

Garrison Brewery president Brian Titus oversees production in the company’s brewing facilities on Marginal Road in Halifax on Monday. The company has purchased property nearby to expand its brewing operation. (PETER PARSONS / Staff)
After 15 years in business, a $2-million expansion has Garrison Brewing set to leave its microbrewery status behind.

The Halifax brewery has purchased a second location at the Halifax Seaport in a move precipitated by five years of double-digit growth, a love of experimentation and dreams of getting its product on more Canadian store shelves.

“We produced 26 different beers last year, so we’re kind of the author of our own problems here,” president Brian Titus said in an interview Monday.

“What we found at our current location is we were adding two tanks a year to keep up with growth. For five years, the lowest growth we saw was 20 per cent, but this year, that was capped at 10 per cent because we literally did not have the room to make the beer.”

The additional space will give Garrison the ability to triple its brewing capacity in coming years from around 7,000 hectolitres to a maximum of 20,000 hectolitres of beer a year, giving the local firm the ability to reach craft brewery status.

As defined by the Nova Scotia Liquor Control Act, a microbrewery produces less than 15,000 hectolitres of beer per year.

The new 13,000-square-foot space is located at the Film & Media Centre building on Marginal Road, where Breakhouse, Maritime Data Centre Inc. and the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design also operate. Garrison will take over the space Via Rail once used to repair its trains.

With 12-metre ceilings and ample space to work with, the brewery will introduce two 12,000-litre tanks and start pursuing its brewing goals.

The tanks will immediately increase brewing capacity by 40 to 50 per cent, Titus said.

“If we made one beer repeatedly, we’d have enough room in our current space, but we’d be a boring brewery.

“The market is so in tune right now to experimentation and new styles and twists on old styles, so we want to bring interesting products to the table, not just repeatedly brew the same thing.”

The new digs will become the primary location for brewing, packaging, warehousing and distribution, while its outlet at 1149 Marginal Rd. will retain a portion of its brewhouse as well as its retail shop.

The freed-up space will create room for an enhanced retail offering and allow the company to tap into extra revenues by revitalizing brewery tours and facility rentals, Titus said.

Garrison got its start in 1998 in Halifax’s north end before moving to its home at the Halifax Seaport.

The decision to stay in the area was an easy one that Titus worked toward for two years before the right location became available.

“Our location has been absolutely pivotal for us. It has allowed people to put a face to a brewery and to a brand.”

The keys to the new facility are being handed over today and Titus expects the new operation to be up and running by June.

Although the purchase of craft beer soaks up just four per cent of the provincial market, the local brewery scene is hopping.

Propeller Brewing Co. is expanding with a new warehouse and production facility in Dartmouth and Bridge Brewing Co. officially opened its doors at 2576 Agricola St. last month.

For Titus, the industry-wide successes are signs that the good times for beer drinkers are just getting started.

“We all keep that interest in local craft beer up. It’s not competition. I see it as everyone pulling in the same direction and making things more interesting for the consumer. What a great time to be a beer consumer in the Maritimes.”

(ccosgrove@herald.ca)

[canuck]

Anyone anxious to try the new Budweiser Black Crown?

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02 ... ship-lager

Quote from the article.

We admit we’re pretty snobbish about our beer. And in a day and age when even the corner grocery store carries a good selection of craft brews, we’re stumped as to why anyone would choose Bud, which just doesn’t have a whole lot of that certain something —we believe it’s called taste — we associate with quality beer. So the promise of a “flavorful” Budweiser intrigued us. Unfortunately, Black Crown just doesn’t deliver all that much more – the amber color hints at something sweeter than you get from the yellowish flagship lager, but there’s still not a whole lot of there there. Certainly, no real “hoppy” flavor and only a hint of malt. Perhaps the real improvement on Bud is in the beer’s mouth feel, which is ever-so-slightly thicker in an admittedly pleasing way. The higher alcohol gives Black Crown a decent kick too.

But don’t just take our word for it: The brew has been getting particularly savaged on the “Beer Advocate” site. “I’d hoped for and would have appreciated something at least tolerable. It was a little less than that,” said one reviewer. “This is regular Bud in a black bottle,” added another.

Still, as Anheuser-Busch execs point out, this is the new Bud that Americans chose. Then again, they once also picked Taylor Hicks as their American Idol.