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A bottle of Maotai (Moutai) produced in 1998 has an estimated price range of HKD 195,000–293,000 (USD 25,000–37,600) in an auction in Hong Kong in 2017 (Photo: HunagnTwuai (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HK_Wan_Chai_North_灣仔北_Grand_Hyatt_Hotel_保利集團_Poly_Auction_preview_exhibits_拍賣_Moutai_貴州茅台酒_Maotai_大麯白酒_Sept_2017_IX1_03.jpg), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)

China | Western palates do not take easily to the taste of China’s national spirit baijiu. Smelling of vodka flavoured with fish sauce, as some say, it is an acquired taste. Regardless of what foreign investors privately think of baijiu, they have recently begun to buy shares in its makers.

People toasting each other with shot glasses (Photo: The Creativv on Unsplash)

Korea | More booze for AB-InBev. After the launch of a Budweiser Magnum whisky in India, AB-InBev’s Oriental Brewery (OB) agreed on 11 September, to purchase Jeju Soju from Shinsegae to move into the traditional Korean distilled liquor market, the two companies said.

Outline of Australia on a map with coloued pins (Photo: Catarina Sousa on Pexels)

Australia | Your next round at the pub is set to get more expensive as Australia’s alcohol tax, on 5 August, went up by 2.2 percent, after jumping 1.8 percent six months previously.

Coopers’ new visitor centre (Photo: Courtesy of Coopers)

Australia | Coopers Brewery unveiled its much-anticipated AUD 70 million (USD 46 million) visitor centre in Adelaide on 7 August. Located next to the brewery, it sports a restaurant and three bars, an expansive outdoor plaza, a microbrewery, and a whisky distillery with an underground stillage for 5000 whisky barrels.

Beverage crates, a Kirin crate among them, on the roadside (Photo: Suzi Kim on Unsplash)

Japan | From beer to lipsticks: what a drastic diversification plan. Kirin Holdings is buying the Japanese skincare and cosmetics brand Fancl for around USD 1.4 billion as part of an effort to reduce its reliance on beer, Japanese media reported on 14 June.

Outside view of Tiger Tiger Bar Hanoi (Photo: Kashish Grover on Unsplash)

Vietnam | Heineken does not seem to bank on beer consumption recovering quickly. It has shuttered its brewery in Quang Nam Province in order to cut costs amid plummeting beer sales, local media reported on 25 June.

Retro sign saying, sorry, we’re closed (Photo: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

Australia | The Kirin-owned brewer Lion is set to close the Malt Shovel Brewery in August, bringing nearly four decades of brewing history on the site in Camperdown, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, to a close. Production will be shifted to other Lion-owned breweries.

Indian flag (Photo: Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash)

India | Exasperated with India’s byzantine regulations and bureaucracies, United Breweries (controlled by Heineken), AB-InBev and Carlsberg, who between them account for about 85 percent of the country’s beer sales, established the Brewers Association of India, media reported on 31 May.

Wine glass containing cool, clear liquid and a slice of lemon, detail (Photo: Jez Timms on Unsplash)

Australia | With the craft beer craze fading, Asahi has ventured into spirits and acquired the super-premium distillery Never Never from South Australia, best known for its award-winning gin brands.

Sign saying “Open” (Picture: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

Australia | If you have ever been to Australia and sampled a Hahn, James Squire, Kosciuszko, Malt Shovel or Lord Howe Island-branded beer, you have drunk a beer designed by Dr Charles “Chuck” Hahn, an American brewer from Golden, Colorado, who arrived in Australia in 1981.

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