Breweries

Bend, Oregon’s newest brewery is Wildfire Brewing, or at least it was, because Chicago-based restaurant chain Wildfire Steaks, Chops & Seafood recently sent a cease and desist letter to the fledgling brewery giving them six-months to change the name. And while the restaurant chain operates in only Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Georgia — and doesn’t brew beer — Wildfire Brewery owner Garret Wales decided it wasn’t worth the fight.

The Oregon brewery simply couldn’t match the cash of the well-established chain for lawyer’s fees. It’s not clear that the restaurant chain would have prevailed. The two operate in separate geographic regions with a wide gap in between the two and only the brewery makes beer, so it’s hard to see where the confusion on the part of customers might be. But the brewery might one day want to serve food, too, and decided to change its name instead.

According to Wales, the challenge now is finding a new name.

“Shoot, we’re going on the Internet and just typing in beer, or going to the thesaurus. Googling Oregon geography and seeing if there’s some landmarks that haven’t already been trademarked. Butte, or mountain – the river’s kinda tied up obviously. Seems like everything locally Deschutes has used already.”

So far, they’ve narrowed it down to five possibilities. But they’re also opening it up to customers, distributing fliers in their market asking the public to suggest a name. If they use on of the names submitted, Wildfire Brewery will give the winning submission a free kegerator.

Andy Brown, a highly respected and experienced Colorado brewer, has been named the new head brewer for Wynkoop Brewing Company.

Brown served as the head brewer for Left Hand Brewing from 2003 to 2007, and was recently a brewer for Oskar Blues Brewery before joining Wynkoop.

“Wynkoop is one of the pioneers in Colorado’s craft beer history,” Brown says. “I’m really excited about setting a new standard here, and increasing people’s recognition of the Wynkoop as the oldest and biggest anchor of the Denver brewpub scene.”

Brown was an avid homebrewer when he enrolled in the American Brewers Guild Craftbrewers Diploma Program in 1999. He graduated in 2000 and then trained under Dick Cantwell at Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle. He then moved back to Colorado and started his career in the state’s acclaimed craft beer trade.

Brown says he aims to boost brewing quality and efficiency at the brewpub, and add new beers and fine tune longtime house beers. All while taking advantage of the unique opportunities the brewpub’s brewing gear offers.

“Few brewpubs in the US serve as much cask-conditioned beer as we do here,” Brown says. “And the open fermenters allow a different flavor development during fermentation than the unitanks most craft brewers use. The large number of storage tanks here also allow me to make lager beers in the classic, slowly aged method.”

Mark Schiffler, a Wynkoop cofounder and current chief operating officer, says Brown’s hiring signals a rejuvenated attention to Wynkoop’s beer culture.

“Twenty years ago,” Schiffler says, “our original brewer, Russell Schehrer, set the tone for us with his focus on innovation and British-style beers. We’ve lost some of that focus over the past few years. These days we’re looking to raise the bar in all aspects of the brewpub, and Andy will help us reclaim our great reputation on the beer side of things.”

“Hiring a highly trained and experienced brewer like Andy,” Schiffler adds, “gives us the opportunity to elevate our beers and build on our legacy.”

Brown says he’s excited about the face-to-face contact brewpub brewing provides, and the location of his new employer.

“I’m really enjoying the brewpub setting and the contact with servers, bartenders and beer lovers,” Brown says. “Plus, I live just a few blocks away and can ride my bike to work every day now.”

The beginning of this year’s football season will see the return of those iconic Miller Lite television commercials where sports figures, comedians and other celebrities debated whether Miller Lite tasted great or was less filling. The “Great Taste, Less Filling” tag line debuted over thirty years ago and was responsible for reviving Miller Brewing and pushing them into the second place spot, behind Anheuser-Busch.

The newly created MillerCoors LLC is reintroducing the successful spots as part of a strategy to grow both Miller Light and Coors Light, both of which are behind Bud Light in the low-calorie beer sales race.

Hundreds of St. Louis Teamsters and families rallied today in downtown St. Louis to show support for Anheuser-Busch workers nationwide in the wake of the purchase of the iconic American beer company by Belgium-based brewing giant InBev. Carrying rally signs that said “InBev: Keep Your Promises!,” rally participants, along with Teamster trucks, overflowed Kiener Plaza next to the famous St. Louis Arch.

“For more than a hundred years, Teamsters and many other hardworking union members have made Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch the great American brand that it is today,” said Jack Cipriani, Director of the Teamsters Brewery and Soft Drink Conference and International Vice President. “Good jobs like those at A-B help our local communities grow. They provide access to good health care and the promise of a secure retirement.”

The Teamsters Brewery and Soft Drink Workers Conference represents more than 7,000 employees of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. in the United States and Canada. Today’s rally was co-sponsored by Missouri Jobs with Justice and included speakers and participants from InBev unions worldwide, the St. Louis Labor Council and employees from all 12 Anheuser-Busch breweries in the United States.

“We are here today to honor all of the workers at Anheuser-Busch and to tell InBev that winning the loyalty of the workforce is key to the company’s success in the 21st century and beyond,” Cipriani said.

InBev has promised to keep open Anheuser’s 12 U.S. breweries and to retain St. Louis as the company’s North American headquarters. During the upcoming contract negotiations the Teamsters plan to press Anheuser Busch to agree to this commitment in the labor contract.

At the rally, Union leaders representing InBev employees worldwide including Europe, Latin America and Canada announced an agreement to form a global alliance of InBev workers through the International Union of Food Workers (IUF). Paul Garver of the IUF stated, “InBev workers worldwide are building a strong, unified voice to insure fair treatment at the breweries and in our communities.”

“Our priorities are protecting good-paying American jobs and their communities, as well as preserving health care and pension benefits for all workers,” Cipriani said. “We urge InBev to keep its promises to its workers and the great communities like St. Louis that helped build Anheuser-Busch.”

Hundreds of working men and women at the rally included long-time Anheuser-Busch employees, many of whom have spent their entire working life at the St. Louis brewery.

“I want to make sure that all of the younger employees get the same benefits I am going to get when I retire,” said Tommy Davis, a 30-year employee of the St. Louis brewery. “I just want InBev to keep their promises.”

As the Olympics begin in China, one of the most recognizable Chinese beer brands, Tsingtao, is announcing that they are planning to build a new brewery in Thailand. If that proves successful, America is likely to be the next location for a Tsingtao brewery. The reasons given for the move are to insure product freshness and to lower transportation costs. Though Tsingtao Brewery does a good job in their home market, it only has a small percentage of the international market. According to statistics provided by the company, it has an annual output of 5.05 million kl, but only 1 percent is exported, one-third of which goes to the United States.

You probably read about the recent travails of Mt. Shasta Brewing Co., makers of Weed Ales. Their crowns — the bottle cap on their beers — reads “Try Legal Weed,” which is funny because it’s brewed in the northern California town of Weed, which was named for an actual person: Abner Weed. Well, the federal TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau) wasn’t laughing and told the brewery they had to remove the language because it violated their vague standard prohibiting drug references. You can read Weed’s version of the events here, and it was covered by a number of news outlets.

Today owner Vaune Dillmann announced that the TTB has reversed their decision and “Try Legal Weed” can once more grace their bottle caps. Dillmann shared the registered letter he received with the Associated Press earlier today, which stated.

“Based on the context of the entire label, we agree that the phrase in question refers to the brand name of the product and does not mislead consumers,” said the letter, dated Thursday.

In a letter to the hundreds of supporters who reached out the brewery, Dillmann added. “Weed fought the law and Weed won!”

Ghost River beers will soon be available in area bars and restaurants, as the new brewing company prepares to launch three new, locally-brewed, craft beers and one seasonal beer into the Memphis market.

Beginning in late July, Ghost River Brewing, the only local brewery using water from the Memphis Sands Aquifer, will begin selling their Ghost River Golden, Glacial Pale Ale, Brown Ale, and Hefeweizen (seasonal) beers through Southwestern Distributing Co.

“We believe the efforts of Steve and Gene Barzizza at Southwestern Distributing have helped expose the community to fresh, flavorful beer. This interest has expanded the market’s potential to support a local, craft-brewed beer,” says Chuck Skypeck, head brewer and co-owner of Ghost River Brewing.

And Ghost River Brewing isn’t just trying to make a profit. Ghost River is helping to support the Wolf River Conservancy by donating a portion of the proceeds of every barrel of beer sold. “It is important that we help the Wolf River Conservancy protect our local, natural resources and the quality of our famous drinking water.”

The Ghost River brand, created by Skypeck and local design firm Communication Associates, includes a new logo, web site, easy to recognize tap handles shaped like canoe paddles, and several local events planned for August.

“Great water makes great beer. Brewing locally guarantees that every handcrafted, full-flavored Ghost River Ale is the freshest beer available . . . and when it comes to flavor, freshness means everything!” says Skypeck.

The Brewers Association just released the numbers for the first half of 2008 and worried brewers everywhere can breath a quiet sigh of relief. There has been the worry that as prices have risen, sales would be slowed as a result. But for the first half of 2008, craft beer surged ahead 11% in dollars over a year ago. According to The Nielsen Company, beer sales are affected the least by the economic downturn, with wine sales showing the most impact. Additionally, craft beer is gaining customers from across all segments of beverage alcohol.

The Brewers Association reports that in the first half of 2008 volume of beer sold by craft brewers grew by 6.5% totaling an estimated 4 million barrels of beer compared to 3.768 million barrels sold in the first half of 2007. Harry Schuhmacher of Beer Business Daily stated, “Crafts have really taken pricing this year given high input costs, and yet it is still driving volume gains faster than the beer category.”

If you’re having trouble finding your favorite brews in Texas, help is on the way. Texas beer Maps has just launched a new website that aims to list “every single establishment in the state of Texas that serves, sells, or brews alcohol,” and that includes “restaurants, bars, night clubs, beer pubs, food marts, convenient stores, liquor stores and wineries.” All that information has put on a customized interactive map using Google Maps technology.

Here’s how the folks at Texas Beer Maps explain it:

How many times have you been home trying to find a new bar or restaurant to go to, but unless you know the exact name, you can’t find reliable information? You can go to our map, type in your address and the map will automatically zoom into your home location. You can then click on bars, restaurants, or any of the other categorized tabs and it will show you every one of the establishments in your area. You can plan trips, or just try out a new bar or nightclub you never knew existed!

We’ve also got how-to sections on the site, a forum, guest book, store with a ton of cool merchandise, historical beer sites, and we’re currently working on bringing you tubing sites, taxi cabs and limos, camping areas, and all the recreation parks in the state!

InBev and Anheuser-Busch have now sent out an official press release regarding the agreement between the two brewing giants, a portion of which is listed below:

InBev and Anheuser-Busch today announced an agreement to combine the two companies, forming the world’s leading global brewer. Anheuser-Busch shareholders will receive $70 per share in cash, for an aggregate equity value of $52 billion, in an industry-transforming transaction. The combined company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev. Both companies’ Boards of Directors have unanimously approved the transaction. InBev has fully committed financing for the purchase of all of Anheuser-Busch’s outstanding shares.

The combination of Anheuser-Busch and InBev will create the global leader in the beer industry and one of the world’s top five consumer products companies. On a pro-forma basis for 2007, the combined company would have generated global volumes of 460 million hectoliters, revenues of $36.4 billion (€26.6 billion) and EBITDA of $10.7 billion (€7.8 billion). Anheuser-Busch and InBev together believe that this transaction is in the best interests of both companies’ shareholders, consumers, employees, wholesalers, business partners and the communities they serve.

The company will make St. Louis, Missouri the headquarters for the North American region and the global home of the flagship Budweiser brand. With about 40% of the combined company’s revenues to be generated in the U.S., the company will draw on the collective expertise of Anheuser-Busch’s dedicated and experienced employees and its culture of quality. Given the limited geographical overlap between the two businesses and the efficiency of Anheuser-Busch’s brewery footprint in the United States, all of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. breweries will remain open.

InBev CEO Carlos Brito will be chief executive officer of the combined company. The Board of Directors of the combined company will be comprised of the existing directors of the InBev Board, Anheuser-Busch President and CEO August Busch IV and one other current or former director from the Anheuser-Busch Board. In addition, the combined company’s management team will draw from key members of both InBev’s and Anheuser-Busch’s current leadership. Anheuser-Busch will become a wholly owned subsidiary of InBev upon the completion of this transaction.

The expanded company will be geographically diversified, with leading positions in the world’s top five markets – China, U.S., Russia, Brazil and Germany – and balanced exposure to developed and developing markets. A combination of Anheuser-Busch and InBev will result in significant growth opportunities from leveraging the companies’ combined brand portfolio, including the global flagship Budweiser brand and international market leaders such as Stella Artois and Beck’s, maximizing the combination’s unparalleled global distribution network and applying best practices across the new organization. Budweiser and Bud Light are the largest selling beers in the world, and the combined company will have an unmatched portfolio of imports, local premiums and local core brands.

Carlos Brito, CEO of InBev, said, “We are very pleased to announce this historic transaction today, bringing together two great companies that share a rich history of brewing traditions. We are extremely excited about the opportunities that this combination will create for consumers worldwide, as well as our shareholders, employees, business partners and wholesalers. Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own. We have been successful business partners for quite some time, and this is the natural next step for us in an increasingly competitive global environment. This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivaled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world.”

August Busch IV, Anheuser-Busch President and CEO, stated, “Today’s announcement brings new opportunities for Anheuser-Busch and its business, brands and employees. This agreement provides additional and certain value for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, while enhancing global market access for Budweiser, one of America’s true iconic brands. We will leverage our collective strengths to create a truly diversified, global company to sustain long-term growth and profitability. In the United States and Canada, both InBev and Anheuser-Busch have seen significant benefits from our existing relationship and we look forward to replicating this success in other parts of the world.”

Budweiser, together with Stella Artois and Beck’s, will become the combined company’s leading global brands, leveraging InBev’s expansive international footprint. InBev has a history of successfully building brands around the world, which will complement the unparalleled strength of Anheuser-Busch’s brand-building in the U.S. The two companies already have a successful U.S. distribution partnership for InBev’s European premium import brands including Stella Artois, Beck’s and Bass. Anheuser-Busch’s world-class sales and distribution system will continue to support the expansion of these brands in the U.S. market.

Anheuser-Busch’s partners fit very well with InBev’s global franchise. Anheuser-Busch has equity investments in two companies with strong brands in two key markets: Mexico’s Grupo Modelo, which owns Corona Extra, the number five brand globally; and China’s Tsingtao, the leading Chinese premium brewer. In addition, Budweiser is a strong and growing national brand in China, and the two companies’ footprints in China are complementary. InBev’s China business in southeastern China will be enhanced by Anheuser-Busch’s strength in northeastern China.

The transaction creates significant profitability potential both in terms of revenue enhancement and cost savings. The combination will yield cost synergies of at least $1.5 billion annually by 2011 phased in equally over three years. Given the highly complementary footprint of the two businesses, such synergies will largely be driven by sharing best practices, economies of scale and rationalization of overlapping corporate functions. InBev has a strong track record of delivering synergies in past transactions and is confident in its ability to achieve these synergies.

In addition, there are meaningful revenue opportunities through expansion of Budweiser on a global scale: InBev is the number one brewer in 10 markets where Budweiser has a very limited presence, and has a superior footprint in nine markets where Budweiser is already present.

The transaction is expected to be neutral to normalized earnings per-share in 2009 and accretive beginning in 2010, and return on invested capital will exceed weighted average cost of capital during the second year after close.

The transaction is subject to the approval of InBev and Anheuser-Busch shareholders, and other customary regulatory approvals. Shareholders of both companies will have an opportunity to vote on the proposed combination at special shareholder meetings that will be scheduled at a later date. InBev’s controlling shareholder has agreed to vote its shares of InBev in favor of the combination. In light of the limited overlap between the InBev and Anheuser-Busch businesses, the combination should not encounter any significant regulatory issues, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

InBev has received fully committed financing with signed credit facilities from a group of leading financial institutions, including Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Fortis, ING Bank, JP Morgan, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. The transaction will be financed with $45 billion in debt, including a $7 billion bridge financing for divestitures of non-core assets from both companies. In addition, InBev has received commitments for up to $9.8 billion in equity bridge financing which will allow the company flexibility in deciding upon the timing and form of equity financing for a period of up to six months after closing. The combined company is expected to retain a strong investment-grade credit profile, and rapid de-leveraging of the balance sheet is expected through strong free cash flow generation.

InBev has retained Lazard as lead advisor, JPMorgan as co-lead advisor, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas as financial advisors, and Centerview Partners as industry advisor. Legal advisors are Sullivan & Cromwell, Clifford Chance, and Linklaters. Financial advisors to Anheuser-Busch are Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc. and Moelis & Company and legal advisor is Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is legal advisor to the Anheuser-Busch Board.

In a Sunday afternoon vote of Anheuser-Busch’s Board of Directors, meeting at the Spirit of St. Louis airport in Chesterfield, Missouri, the $70 per share offer by InBev to acquire A-B was approved. The total sale will be nearly $50 billion and the board of directors of the newly merged company will include two Anheuser-Busch members, most likely including August A. Busch IV. The new company will be known as Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The AP is reporting today that Anheuser-Busch is “likely to accept a sweetened buyout offer from the Belgian-based brewer InBev SA as early as this weekend, a published report said.” On Friday, InBev upped their offer to from $65 per share to $70, a nearly 10% increase in the price. As noted by the AP story, “A deal would be a stunning turnaround from the often heated rhetoric between the two companies over the last several days.” On Friday, the news helped boost A-B’s share price to $66.50, an 8.6% rise. Juli Niemann, an analyst with the investment firm Smith Moore & Co. likewise believes an agreement will be forthcoming any time now.

“It really is all about the money,” Niemann said. “We just had to get a little bit more on the table. Bottom line is the rest is just housekeeping – what’s going to be the name of the new company, that sort of thing. The layoffs will go ahead. Asset sales – you’ve got to pay for it.”