When the United States invaded Iraq, it hoped to turn the country into a booming economy fuelled by its oil reserves that are among the largest in the world. Alas, the fighting never stopped and the U.S. vision remained, well, a vision. A year ago, American troops left. But the nation’s leaders are still locked in a political crisis while insurgents launch attacks. Many wonder: where is Iraq headed?

The Carlsberg Group is reportedly looking for a buyer of its 100 percent subsidiary Carlsberg Uzbekistan. According to local rumour, Carlsberg is conducting negotiations and there are investors wishing to acquire its assets. This being Uzbekistan, the sale could drag on for a while to force Carlsberg to accept a lower price for its brewery with a capacity of one million hl beer.

Now that Heineken has its acquisition of Asia Pacific Breweries all sewn up, a bidding war for the rest of Fraser & Neave (F&N) is gathering pace. In November the Singaporean conglomerate received a rival offer from a group led by Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd (OUE), which offered USD 10.7 billion for F&N's property and beverages conglomerate.

Outgoing Lion CEO Rob Murray seems to be a sore loser. On 20 October 2012, in an interview with Australian media, he called the family behind the largest Australian-owned Coopers brewery “dysfunctional”, referring to Lion’s highly public but ultimately unsuccessful attempt in 2005 to take the smaller brewer over.

As BRAUWELT International predicted months ago, the Indian drinks baron Vijay Mallya would eventually be done in by his struggling Kingfisher Airlines. We were proven right. Strapped for cash, he was forced to sell the biggest stake in his other business venture, United Spirits, to drinks company Diageo on 9 November 2012 for about USD 2 billion.

When the Scottish firm Brewdog launched its beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin with an alcohol content of 32 percent , the beer bottles came with a “how-to – enjoy it”. It read: "It should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance...In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost."

It’s probably a sign of keeping up with the times that Casella, the company behind the Arvo brands, has termed Arvo 51 the first "crowd-sourced" beer.

The earth shook briefly on 28 September 2012 when Heineken’s executives dropped tons of worries, having received news that shareholders of Fraser & Neave (F&N), the Singaporean conglomerate that owns Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), had finally voted to approve the sale of the brewing unit to Heineken for a sweetened price of 53 Singapore dollars, or USD 43.24, for each share of APB the Dutch brewer did not already own.

Higher taxes on beer and tobacco are supposed to pay for several economic reforms, including free schooling from the age of three, Israeli news services say. Israel’s recently craft beer renaissance might start to whither due to a significant rise in excise and purchase taxes that the Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz ordered at the end of July 2012.

It’s like with second marriages. Hopefully they work out better than the first ones. After an acrimonious split from its first Thai partner, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, and his Chang brewery (later to become ThaiBev) in 2005, Danish brewer Carlsberg at the end of September 2012 tied the knot with ThaiBev’s rival Singha, the company behind Thailand’s first brewer Boon Rawd and maker of Singha and Leo beer brands.