China’s brewers and distillers bank on rising number of high-earners

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.

AB InBev's Oriental Brewery buys Jeju Soju

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.

Australia: You booze you lose

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.

Finally: Coopers brewery opens new visitor centre on 28 August

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.

Kirin buys Fancl in shift away from beer

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.

Heineken shutters a Vietnam brewery as beer consumption plummets

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.

Lion consolidates breweries and closes Sydney’s Malt Shovel

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.

Carlsberg, Heineken and AB-InBev set up India’s brewers association

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.

Asahi Beverages buys South Australian distiller Never Never

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.

Australia’s Chuck Hahn opens another brewery

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.