BEER NEWS - August 2008

InBev downs a Bud

The battle for Anheuser-Busch is over, with giant brewing group InBev having subsumed A-B in a 'merger', shareholders finally capitulating towards the end of July. In his blog, Willard Clarke asks what will happen now in the complex global game which A-B has played for years with its prize Budweiser brand and Czech namesake, Budweiser Budvar. But meanwhile the world has gained a new super-giant brewer, immediately number one in the fast-growing China beer market, and well placed to capitalise on the expected growth in Asia and Russisa for beer consumption.

Charlie's darling

Duchy Originals Organic Ale, produced by Prince Charles's organic food and drinks company, is to go on sale in cask-conditioned form in selected pubs from this month onward. The beer has been available in bottled form for several years and is brewed for Duchy Originals by the Wychwood Brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire. Wychwood and the adjoining Brakspear Brewery were bought by Marston's earlier this year from Refresh UK. The revival of cask beer and the growing demand for organic food and drink has prompted Marston's to trial a cask version of Organic Ale. It is brewed using Plumage Archer, a rare vareity of malting barley that is grown at Home Farm on Prince Charles's Highgrove Estate. The beer is hopped with Fuggles, Goldings and Target varieties.

Oh honey, honey

After Magners revolutionised the world the lager drinkers by sploshing some ice into cider and making it trendy, could honey be about to do the same for ale? Two tried and tested ales brewed with a hint of honey have been in the news, with Fuller's launching a poster campaign for its organic Honey Dew beer, with brand manager Clare Draper saying: "Organic Honey Dew has seen sales increase 40% in the last year as people have really begun to discover its deliciously refreshing, zesty flavour."

Brewing up a deal

Successful small Yorkshire brewer York Brewery is seeking investors to help it grow. Having quadrupled in size since it opened 12 years ago, York Brewery now runs four profitable pubs, and its founders, two former Forte managers Tony Thomson and Tony Smith, feel they have taken it as far as they can go on their own. They have asked Avondale, a group specialising in brokering deals for small and medium sized business, to find potential investors who can take the brewery to the next level. "We have worked long and hard to build up York Brewery into a thriving, profitable enterprise," said managing director Tony Thomson. "Last year saw the most progress yet - we opened our first pub outside York and increased our brewing capacity by 50 per cent. We believe the company is on the verge of even greater things, but we need help to get there.� York Brewery has the capacity to produce 150 barrels of beer a week, and employs more than 60 staff. It has three York city centre pubs, as well as Mr Foley�s Cask Ale House in central Leeds.

New wheels at Moorhouse's

There's obvious pride at Lancashire's Moorhouse's Brewery as the staff stand beside their new dray wagon, a 26 tonne Mercedes-Benz, purchased to meet growing demand.The dray will now pound northern roads as a symbol of rising sales for the North West's largest dedicated cask-ale brewery. Moorhouse's say that in recent years beer volumes have soared by 130 per cent, and last Christmas broke all previous seasonal records. The Burnley brewery is now poised for a �3m expansion that will double production capacity to 700 barrels a week, and establish a visitor centre and training school. More power to them we say.