Grab a beer, not water, after a workout

Posted In Just for fun, News at   

When you are really thirsty, like after a good workout, what refreshes you better, water or beer?

If you think that is a rhetorical question, news that Spanish researchers say beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water shouldn’t be a surprise.

Prof Manuel Garzon, of Granada University, also claimed the bubbles in beer help to quench the thirst and that its carbohydrate content can help to replace lost calories.

Prof Garzon asked a group of students to do strenuous exercise in temperatures of around 40C (104F). Half were given a pint of beer, while the others received the same volume of water.

Prof Garzon, who announced the results at a press conference in Granada beneath a banner declaring “Beer, Sport, Health”, said the hydration effect in those who drank beer was “slightly better.”

Juan Antonio Corbalan, a cardiologist, said beer had the perfect profile for re-hydration after sport. He said he had long recommended barley drinks to professional sportsmen after exercise.

Pumpkin beers: Funny, silly, and better than pie

Posted In Beers, Trends at   

Hops shortages. Malt shortages. What’s next?

Maybe pumpkin shortages.

Lew Bryson, writing for Portfolio.com, and Lauren Clark in the Kansas City Star have everything you wanted to know about pumpkin beers but were afraid to ask.

Brewers literally can’t make enough.

James Ottolini of Schlafly Beer gives Clark his theory why.

“They’re fun. Halloween is one of those holidays that are fun. Adults might have stopped going door-to-door for candy, but we never stopped dressing up. As we grow old, we lose some of the playfulness and magical thinking we had as kids. Halloween gives you a permission slip to be funny and silly.”

Dixie celebrates 100th anniversary

Posted In Breweries at   

Dixie Brewing gateThe owners of Dixie Brewing Co. in New Orleans are holding a Halloween party at the brewery tonight, even though it stands abandoned two years after Hurricane Katrina and looters left the building an empty shell.

“We’ve worked too hard to give up now,” owner Joe Bruno said. “Dixie is fine, a lot of people want it back on the shelves and so do we.”

Although the brewery stands empty the first new pallets of Dixie’s Blackened Voodoo, Jazz Amber Light and Dixie Lager have been shipped and are on sale at select retail markets around the country. The beers are brewed under contract at the Minhas Brewery in Monroe, Wis.

After the party owners Joe and Kendra Bruno hope to get to the business of rebuilding. The initial phase of the plan calls for rebuilding a compact state-of-the-art facility within the historic landmark, along with a rooftop Old World Beer Garden, Gift Shop, and Hospitality Reception Center. The Brunos hope for the brewery to be back in operation within the next 18 to 24 months.

German beer sales decline resumes

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German beer sales dropped dramatically in the third quarter, falling 7.2% compared to the summer of 2006.

Officials blamed poor weather and the fact sales were being compared to 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup.

Year-on-year, sales of beer are estimated to have been around 2.3% lower for the first nine months of 2007. German beer sales have been declining for nearly 20 years. Per capita beer consumption was in the 150-155 liter range in the mid 1980s, compared to 116 in 2006.

Poor weather, keeping drinkers out of beer gardens, has made this year particularly difficult.

“The god of weather is still one of the best beer salesmen,” said Peter Hahn, head of the Brewers’ Federation.

Beer tax battle heads to the Internet

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Illinois beer distributors have taken their their fight against Mayor Daley’s proposed beer tax increase to the Internet.

“Stop Chicago Liquor Tax Increase” gives interested parties a direct connection to the Chicago aldermen who will be voting on Daley’s proposal, according to a press release from the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois.

Mayor Daley’s tax proposal calls for an 87.5% on all liquor sold in the city. The increase would raise the cost of beer 30 cents per gallon, or approximately eight cents per six-pack. The ABDI says this would make Chicago beer one of the most heavily taxed beverages in the nation.

When your name is Sam Adams and you run for mayor . . .

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So there’s this guy whose name is Sam Adams.

And he’s running for mayor of Portland, Oregon, and two radio show hosts registers these web domains http://www.samadamsformayor.com and http://www.mayorsamadams.com for him, and then a brewery headquartered in Boston sees the domain names and . . .

He gets this letter “Boston Beer has used the trademarks SAM ADAMS and SAMUEL ADAMS since 1984,” which asked him to surrender the Web sites.

Turns out the brewery didn’t realize this was a real person.

All the details.

Wild elephants electrocuted after drinking beer

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Wild elephants’ tase for rice beer, which has often led to villages where the beer is produced being destroyed, took a sad turn when six of the Asiatic elephants were electrocuted as they went berserk after drinking the beer in India’s remote northeast, a wildlife official said.

The 40-strong herd uprooted an electric pole while looking desperately for food on Friday in Chandan Nukat, a village nearly 240 kilometers west of Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya state.

“There would have been more casualties had the villagers not chased them away,” said Dipu Mark, a local conservationist.

Previous stories.

Lower beer prices? Is this possible?

Posted In Beers, Trends at   

Observers predict beer prices in the UK will tumble between now and the holidays.

They predict store giants could be selling popular lagers for as little as 30p a pint.

Supermarkets reportedly have warehouses piled high with booze after the summer storms put a stop to barbecues and garden parties.

Top selling drinks such as Stella Artois and Carlsberg dropped to 35p a pint last Christmas, compared to 45p in 2004.

Before you start packing your bags for a beer buying trip you might compare the price of he dollar to the pound.

Firefighters get OK to drink in station

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The New Ulm, Minn., city council has approved a measure giving volunteer firefighters the option of consuming alcohol at fire station buildings after fire calls or other related functions.

“I feel these (firefighters) who put themselves at risk in fighting fires are responsible enough to know when they’ve had too much,” said City Council president Dan Beranek, who was one of four members to vote in favor of the measure.

New Ulm is home to August Schell Brewing, the nation’s second oldest brewery.

WSJ on global beer consolidation

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The Wall Street Journal uses the news that Carlsberg and Heineken have formed a consortium to bid for the United Kingdom’s best-selling brewer, Scottish & Newcastle, as an opportunity to explain “Why Consolidation Storm Is Brewing in Beer Industry.”

The maneuvers, coming about 2½ years after the most recent wave of beer-industry consolidation, are a reaction to shifts in beer-drinking habits across the globe. In Western Europe and the U.S., beer sales growth is sluggish amid increasing competition from wine and spirits.

Of course the story mentions concerns about the rising cost of ingredients, emphasizing that price and market share are at least as important to the large companies as the beers they brew.

The WSJ points out the S&N takeover is far from a done deal and other companies could enter bids.

Another possible suitor for S&N is Anheuser-Busch, the world’s third-largest brewer by volume. The St. Louis-based beer maker is heavily dependent on the U.S. market and may be attracted to the opportunity to gain a big stake in Russia or the U.K. W. Randolph Baker, Anheuser’s chief financial officer, declined to comment.

Jean-Francois van Boxmeer of Heineken makes the difference between being a giant brewing company and a small-batch brewer quite evident when he says that it takes so much capital that it isn’t worth the expense being in many of the world’s markets unless your company is either the No. 1 or No. 2 player.

Norwegian chosen top Pilsner Urquell bartender

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World Beer FestivalErik Jönsson of Norway has won the title of Pilsner Urquell International Master Bartender of the Year during competition completed in New York.

Jönsson, 22, triumphed over finalists from 14 other countries.

Finalists took a written exam, were interviewed bya panel of beer experts and demonstrated their skill at pouring Pilsner Urquell according to strict guidelines.

Hanna Michalczyk from Poland and Tatyana Neklyudova, two of the first female bartenders to reach the finals, finished second and third.

After the competition, Jönsson said: “I’ve been really inspired this weekend. Everyone needs inspiration and meeting with bartenders from around the world who all do the same job, but are from different cultures and different countries has been really incredible.”

Heineken, Carlsburg may bid for Scottish & Newcastle

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Scottish & Newcastle stock surged Wednesday after two of its European competitors said they’re considering a takeover bid. Carlsberg and Heineken said they were in talks regarding the formation of a consortium to launch a bid for the UK’s largest brewer.

The companies said that it was “currently intended that Carlsberg will ultimately acquire Scottish & Newcastle’s interest in Baltic
Beverage Holdings, France and Greece, and that Heineken will ultimately assume control of Scottish & Newcastle’s business in the UK and other European markets.”

Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle’s top brands include Foster’s, Kronenbourg 1664 and Newcastle Brown Ale, while Heineken’s main brands are Heineken and Amstel and Carlsberg is known for its Carlsberg beer.

If closed the deal would further the ongoing consolidation among the world’s largest brewers. Last week Moslon Coors and SABMiller announced plans to combine their U.S. operations.

Bud.tv called flawed, but brilliant

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Anheuser-Busch advertising chief Bob Lachky last week described the company’s online channel Bud.tv as a “flawed idea but brilliant concept.”

A-B has sunk millions of dollars into the project with disappointing results.

Speaking at the Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing conference in Phoenix, Lachky blamed much of the problem on the complicated registration process designed to keep underage readers out.

But he also criticized his own company’s approach: ““The other thing that is totally flawed — and I don’t understand this — as you can tell I was doing something else at the time … I don’t understand why you’d have Bud.tv and then not have anything branded on it at all and just have this bizarre content that wasn’t branded.”

Lachky also commented on the merger between SABMiller and Molson Coors announced last week.

“Everyone took that $500 million in efficiencies at face value,” he said. “It means they’re going to be closing breweries and cutting people’s jobs.”