The Daily Mail found the perfect headline for a story after construction workers uncovered a skeleton that archaeologists believe is 4,000 years old and holding a type of beer mug: “At least he died happy.”
Marion Green, of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, said that the find last week was one of the best preserved Bronze Age skeletons she had ever seen.
She added: “It is a beautifully decorated pot which could have been used as a type of beer mug.”
A new study finds that wine may do more damage to your brain than beer.
The study, reported in the medical journal Alcohol & Alcoholism, saw researchers carry out detailed brain scans of men and women diagnosed with alcoholism and compared them with brain scans of healthy adults. The size of the hippocampus was largest in the healthy group – 3.85ml. In beer drinkers it was 3.4ml, while the average for spirit drinkers was 2.9ml, and for wine drinkers, 2.8ml.
The study shows that the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory, spatial tasks and many other functions, was more than 10 per cent smaller in those who preferred wine to beer.
A Michigan barber hopes to convince the state’s attorney general’s office to reinstate his cut-and-a-beer service.
Thomas Martin, who has 11 shops in the Grand Rapids area, used to offer customers one complimentary beer until authorities told him to stop.
State Rep. Kevin Green says he doesn’t see why Martin’s clients can’t have a beer since no one is looking to get drunk. The Wyoming Republican has asked the Michigan attorney general’s office to research whether giving customers a beer violates state law.
Excise duty on alcohol will rise by 6% above inflation from midnight on Sunday, Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced. The government has taken the action in an effort to curb binge drinking.
Duty on beer will rise by 4p a pint, cider by 3p a pint, wine by 14p a bottle and spirits by 55p a bottle. Duties will continue to rise by 2% above inflation for each of the next four years.
The increase comes at a time when Britain’s pub industry is suffering. Already truggling in the wake of smoking ban laws, pub trade has been steadily losing ground to supermarkets offering deeply discounted promotions on multi-packs of beer.
Rob Hayward, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said: “The government is punishing all beer drinkers rather than punishing the minority of drunken hooligans.
“Its policy is fueling Britain’s binge drinking problem by driving people away from beer, out of the pub into the arms of the deep discounting supermarkets.”
The brewer of Samuel Adams beers surprised Wall Street with its earnings. Boston Beer reported profits were up more than 270% in the fourth quarter.
The company also forecast 2008 earnings above analysts’ estimates, and said it plans to increase prices by 5 percent to counter rising costs.
The company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $6.8 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $2.5 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier.
Heineken USA launched of BeerTender for the U.S. market. The devide is designed exclusively for the Heineken and Heineken Premium Light DraughtKegs. The countertop cooler uses a patented carbonator pressure technology to “deliver a perfect pour every time.”
Engineered by Krups, the BeerTender works this way: Insert a Heineken or Heineken Premium Light DraughtKeg into BeerTender, connect the included disposable draft tube, close the lid, and serve.
“BeerTender is an innovation in draft technology and a must-have for any beer aficionado who values a premium-quality draft beer experience and stylish product design,” Ken Kunze, senior vice president, chief marketing officer Heineken USA, said for a press release.
Not surprisingly, he is referring to drinking Heineken products.
Selected models allow the consumer to adjust temperatures to 36°F, 39°F or 42°F to accommodate a personal drinking preferences. And there is a 30-day freshness count-down indicator available on some models.
The BeerTender, designed to sell for between $279 and $299 depending upon the model, is already available in the Netherlands, France, Austria and Switzerland. More information is available at www.BeerTender.com.
Port Brewing In San Marcos, California, will release the 2008 Bourbon Barrel-Aged version of Lost Abbey The Angel’s Share on Saturday. This first bottled release of the highly coveted beer.
Expect a line by the time the doors open at 10 a.m., so the brewery has set some ground rules:
– Bottles will be $15 per cork finished 375ml bottle.
– Limit of 12 bottles per person.
– Beer will be sold only at the brewery. No email orders or holds for pick up at a later date.
– There are approximately 120 cases available. Once it is gone, it is gone.
– Be on the lookout for Terrapin Hop Shortage Ale some time this month. The Georgia brewery is celebrating get the doors open for its new brewery by creating a “Side Project” series to be sold in 22-ounce bottles. From the press release
2008 will forever be known in professional brewing circles as the year of the hop shortage. Brewers everywhere are scrambling to find hops just to produce their standard line of beers. Some brewers are so nervous, they are even cutting back on brewing hoppy beers. “Not us,” states John Cochran, Founder & President of Terrapin Beer Co. “If there is going to be a shortage of hops, why not put them all into one hop bomb of a beer?”
Look for a new “Side Project” beer every few months.
– Mendocino Brewing has released its Limited Edition Spring Seasonal Bock Beer. A press release describes the beer as “golden hued lager . . . created to celebrate the coming of Spring and the start of a year that is replete with the promise of things to come.”
– Anheuser-Busch has a new spring release and is making a beer previously sold regionally available across the country. Sun Dog Amber Wheat is the spring release, replacing Spring Heat Spiced Wheat. That beer became redundant when A-B rolled out Shock Top Belgian White on a full-time basis.
“Wheat beers are one of my favorite styles to brew because of their versatility. From Bavarian to Belgian to American, each style has its own color, aroma and taste,” Florian Kuplent, brewmaster, said for a company press release. “Our take on the American amber wheat ale is a luminous deep amber color with a slight caramel sweetness and refreshing citrus note.”
Previously available in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri, Wild Blue Blueberry Lager now will be sold nationally. The beer was created by Blue Dawg Brewing – a group within Anheuser-Busch.
“We’re focusing our efforts on getting Wild Blue in adults’ hands at local food and film festivals and even fun events like pet parades, where dog lovers can get to know Wild Blue, with its feisty bulldog label,” said Jeff Pierson, innovation manager, Wild Blue. “We aren’t taking this beer down the traditional path. Wild Blue is going places we haven’t been before and we know having the beer at places where adults like to get together, socialize and try new things will be key.”
File this press release under the business of beer.
Fort Worth-based Ben E. Keith Beverages — one of the largest beverage distributors in the United States and one of the largest independent Anheuser-Busch wholesalers — has acquired the Texas division of College Station-based C.R. Goodman Distribution Company, a distributor of more than 60 high-end craft and import beer brands. As part of the deal, Ben E. Keith assumes ownership of C.R. Goodman’s business in Texas, while C.R. Goodman’s founders retain ownership of its Colorado business and its import company, Belukus Marketing. All Texas operations, which include 63 employees in its Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio facilities and sales offices, will remain the same under the Ben. E. Keith Beverages’ name. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition increases Ben E. Keith Beverages’ overall beverage distribution area to include the entire state of Texas. The company’s distribution area for Anheuser-Busch products will not expand.
“We are thrilled to add so many key specialty brands and dedicated employees to our company,” said Kevin Bartholomew, president of Ben E. Keith Beverages. “C.R. Goodman is renowned for its strong craft and import brands portfolio, and it is our number one priority to continue to build this business.”
Founded in 1982 by Ken Goodman and Chuck Robertson, C.R. Goodman distributed more than 60 brands of high-end craft and import beers, including Spaten, Fireman’s #4 of Real Ale Brewery, Full Sail, Anchor Steam, Dogfish Head, Ace Cider, Breckenridge, König Stone, Duvel, Samuel Smith and Chimay. The company sold approximately 700,000 case equivalents in 2007.
There’s a reason that distributors want more specialty beers in their portfolio. That’s what consumers are buying.
“It’s a bit overwhelming. The weirdest thing was when [Samuel Adams] sent me pictures of my beer on the bottling line. I saw thousands of bottles with my face on it.”
– Rodney Kibzey
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rodney Kibzey’s friends call him a “beer rock star.” Because Kibzey was a winner in the 2007 Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest a Weizenbock brewed to his recipe currently is on shelves across the country.
Each Longshot six-pack contains three bottles of Weizenbock and three of Grape Pale Ale from Samuel Adams employee Lili Hess.
Kibzey’s beer was one of two winners of a national homebrew contest. The other was an Imperial IPA and production of that one was delayed because of the hop shortage.
Grape Pale Ale is the 2007 champion of Samuel Adams’ annual employee homebrew contest. Attendees at the 2007 great American Beer Festival tasted the three employee finalists’ homebrew and voted Grape Pale Ale their favorite.
Reports abound that actor Matthew McConaughey wants to name his unborn son “Bud,” after – you guessed it – Budweiser beer.
A source close to the actor said: “Matthew’s older brother Michael named his second son Miller Lyte because he loved the beer so much. And Matthew loved the name so much he really wants to name his son after his favorite beer. He is thinking of going for Bud after Budweiser beer.”
However, Brazilian model Camila, the boy’s mother, is less than impressed with his choice of name.
The source added: “Camila is pretty old-fashioned. She hates the name and won’t let Matthew push her into this.”
A Missouri legislator wants to make Budweiser the official beer of Missouri.
“We’ve got a state dinosaur, a state frog, a state reptile, a state flower, a state nut, but no one has given a thought to a company that’s been in Missouri for many, many years and is bringing prosperity to our state and manufacturing a product in our state that many people enjoy,” Rep. Curt Dougherty said.
He argues this might be good for tourism.
In a statement released Friday, an executive for Anheuser-Busch said the legislation was “flattering” but not requested.
Amazon is ready to start selling wine in the US, the Financial Times reports.
According to Decanter, a UK-based wine publication, Amazon will work in partnership with wine.com.
It wouldn’t be simple, as the Motley Fool explains:
Pimping vino via cyberspace is a thorny issue. Moving libations over state lines is a regulatory challenge. That may explain why Amazon pulled the plug on its 1999 minority stake in WineShopper.com – which now simply redirects to privately held Wine.com – even before the dot-com bubble popped.
There is no mention in any reports about beer.
Material Girl Maddonna is denying reports she bought a London pub near her home.
Spokeswoman Barbara Charone said: “There’s no truth in it at all. I told the papers that on Friday but they decided to run it anyway. That’s the tabloids for you.”
The Seattle Times asks, “Does the tap handle tell you anything about what the beer tastes like? Or what’s in it? What the alcohol content is?”
Perhaps not, but tap handles are hot and this story profiles Renton-based Taphandles Inc., one of the country’s largest producers, which expects to ship half a million tap handles this year, mostly to American and Canadian brewers. It employs four designers at its Renton office who spend their days dreaming up designs to be made at its production facility in Guangdong province, China.
They can get a little crazy.
Some bartenders also think brewers might be going overboard. One tap handle for Maudite, a Belgian strong dark ale brewed in Quebec with a logo featuring a smug-looking devil, actually lit up when pulled. Another brewer offered an illuminated, working clock. “That was a little excessive,” says Ian Roberts of Brouwer’s Cafe in Fremont. “But think about it — it was the one lit handle on the entire bar.”
There is, of course, a bottom line. Notes one bartender: “Any attention-grabbing you can do is good. But if your beer’s no good, nobody’s gonna give you a second look.”
Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie have bought a traditional London pub near their home. The couple paid $5 million for the Punchbowl in Mayfair, buying it from friend Greg Foreman.
“She absolutely adores the pub. They pop in regularly to get away from it all,” according to the Morning Advertiser.