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Miller delays taking ‘craft lite’ national

Miller Brewing has delayed its plans to begin national distribution of the Miller Lite Brewers Collection.

In a memo to distributors, president Tom Long wrote that recent test-market results “indicate a need for some additional and refined marketing elements with greater clarity about the brand’s promise of light beer refreshment combined with craft-style taste.”

“We’re trying to create a new category here,” spokesman Pete Marino said. “And when you do that, you need just a little bit more time.”

The three new craft versions of Miller Lite will target mainstream drinkers and seek to exploit trends that favor light beer, a greater variety of beer styles and a willingness to pay more for higher-quality beers.

More about the beers themselves.

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F.X. Matt to resume bottling by June 30

F.X. Matt Brewing Co.will resume bottling beer by the end of the month, “an important step in the brewery’s recovery from a $10 million fire last month.”

“We are well insured and we expect to rebuild the facility as it was or better than that, and probably in the end we’ll end up with a better, newer state-of-the-art packaging facility,” brewery president Nicholas Matt said.

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InBev bid official; A-B stock rises

Anheuser-Busch confirmed Wednesday that InBev has made a a $46.3-billion bid to take over the American brewery.

InBev, whose brands include Stella Artois and Beck’s, is offering $65 per share for Anheuser, the leading U.S. brewer with 48.5% of the market.

A-B said its board of directors “will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch’s long-term strategic plan,” and make a determination regarding the proposal “in due course.”

Wachovia analyst Jonathan Feeney said InBev, known for aggressive cost-cutting, could find about $1.2 billion a year in savings.

“InBev would focus its efforts on streamlining the U.S. beer giant, a possibility which might not sit well with Anheuser distributors.”

Not surprising, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a complete rundown.

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Deschutes celebrates with two new beers

Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery’s celebrates its 20th anniversary this month with two commemorative seasonal beers — Black Butte XX and the 20th Anniversary Wit.

From the press release:

“Black Butte XX is a tribute to Black Butte Porter, the revolutionary Deschutes Brewery beer that has excited beer enthusiasts since its release in 1988. This special Reserve Series brew is an extreme version of Black Butte Porter that the Deschutes brewers enhanced with several pounds of Bellatazza coffee, Theo Chocolate cocoa nibs and by aging parts in Stranahan’s whiskey barrels. These regional partners from Bend, Seattle and Denver, respectively, each provide quality artisan ingredients that give this commemorative beer a truly handcrafted complexity.

“20th Anniversary Wit, Deschutes Brewery’s summer Bond Street Series edition, offers yet another refreshing, hot weather quencher to complement Twilight Ale. This unique Belgian-style wheat beer was brewed with zested Curacao orange peel and just enough spices to keep your taste buds guessing. The Deschutes brewers tinkered with the recipe for months at the original Deschutes Brewery and Public House in Bend, Oregon, before perfecting what will arrive on shelves in 22-ounce bottles this June. A test batch of the Wit was sampled at Portland’s Spring Beer and Wine Festival in March where it won a gold medal.”

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F.X. Matt resumes production

New York’s F.X. Matt Brewing Co. resumed production Tuesday, just five days after a fire that caused more than $10 million in damage and destroyed the brewery’s canning operation. Its bottling line will be down for an undetermined amount of time.

The brewery will have to temporarily outsource to other breweries for canning and bottling, an arrangement that would require approval from federal regulators, president Nick Matt said. Matt said he has been in touch with other beer companies but wanted to select just one, rather than sending the beer out to several different locations. The beer would then be brewed and aged in Utica before being tanked elsewhere, he said.

The fire started accidentally when two employees working on a welding projected inadvertently melted a plastic conveyor belt, fire officials said Tuesday.

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Foster’s debuts high-priced lager

Foster’s has created a limited edition beer that will sell for $60 dollars ($57 US for a 750ml bottle).

Foster’s master brewer John Cozens calls Crown Ambassador Reserve lager “luxury beer.”

“It’s expensive to make and it’s expensive to package but it’s Australian, it’s luxury and let’s hope there’s more to come,” he said.

The launch emulates a similar move in 1954, when the premium beer market was pioneered with the announcement Crown Lager would be made available to the public upon the Queen’s first visit to the country.

Previously Crown Lager had been reserved for aristocracy and visiting dignitaries since its inception in 1919.

The advertiser points out that puts Crown Ambassador in the range of Moet & Chandon champagne.

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Newport, Oregon, has gone to the dogs

Banjo and MaggieWe recently attended the 2nd Annual Brewer’s Memorial Ale Fest in Newport Oregon and it was a howl.

Brewer’s Memorial Ale Fest honors the memory of Rogue icon Brewer the Brewdawg. This festival was something new for me because, though I’ve seen dogs at other beer festivals, I’d never been to a festival that so many dogs were expected to attend or brought my own along. My wife Bonne (official photographer) and I were a little nervous entering the Ale Fest. Our dog, Maggie the Golden Retriever, is very friendly and easy-going but this was going to be a new and intense dog-experience for all of us, we took a deep breath and crossed the threshold into a whole new kind of beer festival.

Why have a beer festival for a dog, you ask? Besides the obvious answer of “Who needs a reason to have a great beer fest?” (I’m serious, who needs a reason! I want names, people!) Brewer the Brewdawg was not your average canine. Born and raised in the brewery, this beer and business savvy Black Lab ruled the brewery and thru dedication, hard work, and sucking up to his master, Brewmaster John Maier, he eventually rose to the rank of CEO of Rogue Ales. (really!)

In May of 2006, at the ripe old age of 13 years, Brewer passed away. To commemorate his life Rogue Ales decided to do the thing they do best, put on a kick-ass microbrew festival for dogs and nobody would have enjoyed the special event more than Brewer. In Brewer’s honor Rogue Brewery and opens its doors to dogs of all shapes and sizes and their human caretakers for two full days of fun, food, and music. (The festival benefits the Oregon Coast Therapy Animals and the Central Oregon Coast Humane Society.)

As I said, I was a little apprehensive because our dog, hadn’t been exposed to this kind intense dogdom before, and there were dogs EVERYWHERE, but our fears turned out to be totally unwarranted. I’ve never seen so many nice dogs. It was as if they knew the festival was for them and they were all on their best behavior. I didn’t hear a cross bark or malevolent snarl the entire weekend.

The festival featured lots of dog activities and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the Doggy Olympic events, Doggy Dancing, and of course we got our dog washed. Oh yeah! There was a pretty good selection of craft beer there too, many of which were specially brewed to honor the fest and the brewer’s own dogs. A few of those beers were…Laurelwood’s ShihZuu Brown, Boulder Brewing’s Mojo IPA, Steelhead’s Wiley RyePA, Astoria Brewing Company’s Bitter Bitch Imperial IPA, Calapooia’s River Dog ESB, Block 15’s Ridgeback Red, Ninkasi’s Oatis Oatmeal Stout, and last but not least Brewer’s Ale by Rogue. Note: This was the second year for Brewer’s Ale a seasonal single batch release and Rogue debuted a 750ml ceramic Brewer’s Ale bottle.

Though an Ale Fest in name, the event had a completely different feel from your typical beer festival. There was a closeness and camaraderie between strangers. How often have you felt isolated in a beer fest crowd because you didn’t know the people around you and you were too shy to say hello? The dogs broke down those walls. I couldn’t walk anywhere without people and dogs reaching out in friendship to greet my dog Maggie and I and there was an overwhelming sense of community. For a beer fest there seemed to be very little discussion of beer, it was more about the dogs and we all delighted in the beautiful Oregon day with the four footed friends we love so much.

I was interviewed by Ted Fouke who was shooting video of the festival for Purina, he asked me the question, “why do beer and dogs mix so well?” I don’t remember my answer; in fact I think I said something stupid like “Uh … they just do.”

Upon reflection, of course it’s always easier to come up with a snappy comeback after you’ve allowed it to peculate in your brain a bit, I’d have to say the reason they go together so well is dogs and beer affect us in similar ways. I’m sure I can find lots of correlations but I’ll just give you one. Petting a dog and sipping a fine beer have the same effect on the human psyche, it slows the world down and allows you to lean back and enjoy the moment. Brewers Memorial Ale Fest just became an annual outing for this family, see you there next year.

An album of photos from the 2nd Annual Brewer’s Memorial Ale Fest can be found on at Brewer’s Memorial Ale Fest 2008.

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Sapporo will brew a ‘space beer’

Sapporo Breweries plans to offer a “space beer” in November.

The beer will be made with barley — to be harvested this weekend — descended from seeds that spent five months in 2006 aboard the International Space Station.

Spokeswoman Momoko Matsumura said the test batch will produce 100 bottles. “We’re really looking forward to tasting it when it’s ready,” she said.

The barley project started when Sapporo teamed up with Okayama University biologists working with the Russian space team. The team took 0.9 ounces of barley into space for storage inside the space station from April to September 2006.

Sapporo isn’t planning to sell the special brew, at least for now, and hasn’t decided how it will distribute the planned 100 bottles, Matsumura said.

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F.X. Matt vows to rebuild after fire

A massive fire has ravaged the F.X. Matt brewery in Utica, New York.

The fire broke out in the canning and packaging area of the brewery Thursday afternoon.

By the end of the night, fire crews had managed to get about half of the fire under control, but were still battling the other half, including various hot spots.

Fire officials say they could very well be here for days. And brewery officials say they won’t know how much of an impact this could have on future business until they have more time to assess the damage fully.

“We will rebuild,” said Fred Matt, vice-president of the brewery. “We’ve been in business 120 years. We went through prohibition when we couldn’t produce beer … and we will be a force to be reckoned with as we go forward.”

Read more.

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New York brewers call for help

The New York State Brewers Association is asking for help from beer fans.

We are asking for your support of the NY Craft Brewers’ efforts to pass an important amendment to the laws governing beer distribution in New York.

Under current law, it is very difficult, expensive and sometimes practically impossible for small brewers to switch from one wholesale distributor of their beer to another. The laws now in effect were enacted about 15 years ago to protect beer wholesalers from unfair distribution contract termination by large, multinational breweries. Wholesalers were legitimately concerned because all too often when a brewery moved its brands, the former wholesaler went totally uncompensated for all the time and effort spent in building sales of those brands.

In 2008, however, the beer and brewing landscape is very different. Although there are fewer wholesalers, those remaining are much larger companies and while multinational breweries certainly exist, the rise and proliferation of small, local craft breweries means that many brewers are smaller than the wholesalers they do business with.

Yet, these small craft brewers are required to operate under the same “franchise” laws that were created to protect the wholesalers from large brewers. Unfortunately, today these same franchise laws are being used by wholesalers to lock in the distribution rights and restrict access to market for these small brewers. Clearly, this is not good for small brewers, but it’s also very bad for consumers because it means less choice in terms of fewer brands and fewer breweries available on store shelves.

S 6101 proposes a change to that law so that any small brewer that is less than 5% of a wholesaler’s business will have the ability to terminate a relationship with a wholesaler providing they pay fair compensation to that wholesaler, i.e. what the brand has transferred for with other wholesalers over the past 12 months or a minimum of 2 times gross profit. Thus, S 6101 relieves small brewers from the franchise laws but importantly would continue to compensate the wholesaler for value of the brand rights if they are terminated.

On behalf of the New York State Brewers Association, please call or email your New York State Senator at his or her Albany office as soon as possible and urge them to support S 6101. This bill has already passed the Assembly and could come up for a vote in the Senate at any time.

Here’s how to contact Senators.

For more information visit Support Your Local Brewery.

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InBev, A-B rumors run hot

“Brew Blog” summarizes the skinny from the Financial Times that it looks InBev had plans for an outright takeover of Anheuser-Busch.

And the big question if InBev pulls the trigger on its bid is whether it will go hostile — and whether fifth-generation brewer August Busch IV will be willing to sell the company that bears the family name.

A highly detailed report in the Financial Times — which laid out the terms of the putative offer ($65 per share) as well as names of banks and advisers involved — notes that InBev approached August Busch IV in October about a deal.

An offer of $65 a share for A-B is a nearly 24% premium over Thursday’s closing price of $52.58.

InBev is looking pretty serious about this.

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Democratic Convention (cars) to run on beer

The Environmental News Service reports the flex-fuel vehicles at this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Denver will be running on waste beer from Coors Brewing.

Molson Coors is donating all the clean-burning ethanol fuel for the fleet of 400 General Motors flex-fuel vehicles to be used for the convention’s transportation needs. The fleet will be for the use of U.S. House and Senate Leadership, DNC officials and state party chairs, delegates, staff, and members of the media.

Coors’ ethanol is not the corn-based variety — it is made from waste beer generated at the Golden, Colorado, brewery, which now produces about three million gallons annually.

General Motors has pledged that half of the vehicles it produces by 2012 will be flex-fuel capable, and two million flex-fuel vehicles are now on the road. The company currently has 11 flex-fuel models for 2008, and more than 15 planned for 2009.

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Mendocino White, Flying Fish Summer Ale hit shelves

A couple of beers new to the shelves:

Mendocino Brewing has released “Limited Edition Summer Seasonal White Ale.” Unfiltered and cloudy, it “features
a thirst quenching blend of sweet orange peel and the subtle spiciness of coriander, topped off with a delicate twist of lemon.”

Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale is back for the 12th summer. It’s brewed with Belgian two-row pale malt and 7% wheat, lightly filtered, and has a earthy, spicy character from Styrian Goldings hops.

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Belgian pub toilet game: Don’t cross the streams

Two Belgian inventors have created a video game for men to play while using public urinals, Reuters reports.

Werner Dupont, a software developer, and Bart Geraets, an electrical engineer, got the idea while drinking Belgian trappist beers, they told Reuters Television at a local festival on Sunday.

“This thing had to be invented by Belgian people and that’s what we are,” they said.

The ‘Place to pee’ booth is designed for two users at a time and offers two games – blowing up aliens in outer space or skiing down a virtual slope. Gamers hit their target by aiming at sensors positioned on either side of the urinal.

A specially designed paper cone allows women to play too.