On the face of it, the former Foster’s wine business, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), on 28 February 2013 posted disappointing half year results to the end of December 2012: net profits fell 23.2 percent to AUD 45 million (USD 45.9 million) and net sales dipped 3.4 percent to AUD 816.9 million, while EBIT dropped 20 percent to AUD 73.4 million and volumes slipped 2.5 percent to 16.5 million cases.

The dispute over what constitutes a craft beer – as opposed to a pseudo craft – has now broken out in Australia too. While in the U.S., craft brewers complain that the “Big Brewers” put crafty-looking beers into the market thus hoping that their me-too creations can help them cash in on the growing craft beer boom, Australian consumers have long grown used to the fact that several former craft breweries are owned by the country’s major brewers. What has now caused an outcry is that one of the smaller craft brewers, Byron Bay Brewing, is having a beer brewed, packaged and marketed by Foster’s/SABMiller – without as much as telling consumers.

After Carlsberg began posting job openings for Myanmar nationals in mid-summer on its website, speculation was rife that Carlsberg was seeking to return to Myanmar following the easing of international sanctions which had forced the brewer out of the country in the mid-1990s.

Gaining market shares seems to be brewers' top priority. Or how should we interpret SABMiller's recent acquisition of the loss-making brewer Kingway otherwise?

It seems that SABMiller have realised that the previous Foster’s management axed too many experienced brewing/technical staff, thus creating an embarrassing shortage. That’s why in January 2013 there were ten technical job vacancies at Foster’s published on the website seek.com.au.

Is Australia going the way of Germany or is it the other way round? It does not really matter as what I saw on a recent trip to Australia signalled to me: “very bad and worse to come”. When I visited a liquor shop in Adelaide in early January 2013, I noticed that every other bottle of wine carried a sticker saying “best offer”. As if this was not bad enough, there was also an offer for an Australian white wine at AUD 25 (USD 26 / EUR 19.30), which, by Australian standards, is not really expensive. What made me gasp for air was the fact that with the wine came a free six pack of Mexican Sol beer (owned by FEMSA/Heineken). In a nearby cooler cabinet the same Sol six-pack was priced at AUD 16 (USD 16.60 / EUR 12.50).

Water problems continue to be a major headache for Indian beer producers, especially in the Maharshtrian city of Aurangabad, which is dubbed as Beer Capital of India. Home to almost all of the big beer companies and some of the best brands in the country, thecity of Aurangabad has been facing an acute water problem for the last five months. A deficient monsoon (July- September period) triggered the water scarcity in the region. The water of the Aurangabad regions is considered the best water in India to produce beer.

On the face of it, things don’t look all that bad for Efes’ beer division. On 15 January 2013 Turkish brewer Efes reported that total beer sales by volume in 2012 were 28.4 million hl, up 23.5 percent over the previous year, thanks to the combination with SABMiller in Russia and the Ukraine early last year.

That’s desperate. In mid-January 2013 Asahi Breweries said it is aiming to increase beer and beer-like drink sales in the Japanese market by 0.5 percent this year to the equivalent of 164 million cases (a case holds 20 bottles of 0.633 litres each). Asahi will aim for the increase by selling more inexpensive, so-called third-category beer (a non-malt, carbonated beverage with a beer-like flavour and alcohol strength of 5% to 6% ABV).

The craft brewer Boxing Cat from Shanghai, China has announced that the much anticipated Cat Scratched Celt beer is now pouring at its Sinan Mansions location. The Cat Scratched Celt is a collaboration creation between the Boxing Cat Brewery and The Celt Experience of Wales. Cat Scratched Celt represents the combined brewing philosophies of the Boxing Cat’s brewmaster Michael Jordan and The Celt Experience’s brewmaster Tom Newman.