Denmark | The integration of acquired craft breweries can prove challenging, especially for major, transnational brewers. At issue is not just where to hook them up inside the organisation. The bigger question is cultural: Is it best to let former independent microbreweries continue to do their own thing, or will they benefit from interaction with other craft brewers within the group?

Russia | The Moscow Brewing Company (MBC) received official approval to import and distribute Guinness stout, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on 21 September. MBC will supply Guinness on draught as well as in bottles and cans.

United Kingdom | When the famously wonky 19th century pub in Himley, Staffordshire, burned down in a fire on 5 August, less than two weeks after being sold by the pub company Marston’s to the property firm ATE Farms, the news made headlines across the world and caused a nationwide outcry.

Hungary | Heineken was fined approximately USD 41,000 in Hungary for breaking competition law through an exclusive supplier agreement with a venue in Budapest, media reported on 19 September.

Germany | The limited legalisation of recreational cannabis is a central project of Germany’s ruling coalition - and highly controversial. The cabinet of social democrats, liberals and greens approved the bill in August. It will allow adult consumers to grow their own plants and obtain cannabis from non-commercial, so-called cultivation associations. Possession and consumption within limits will then be exempt from punishment.

United Kingdom | These are bad times for ale breweries: Within the span of 12 months, Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) is shuttering three heritage breweries: After Jennings in Cumbria and Ringwood in Hampshire, the Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire is to cease operations in November this year with the loss of six jobs.

France | Duvel Moortgat has taken over the French brewery Brasserie du Mont Blanc. The purchase of the brewery, announced on 18 September, is the latest in a string of international breweries to be added to Duvel Moortgat’s portfolio.

United Kingdom | Once the preserve of greedy airlines and Amazon, dynamic pricing has arrived in one of Britain's most sacred spaces: the pub. As the UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, reported on 11 September, Britain's biggest pub chain Stonegate Group has rolled out the flexible pricing system at some 800 sites across the country.

France | Locals say: If you drive into Strasbourg on the motorway from the north, the first landmark you see is the big IKEA store, followed by the new Perle brewery and the cathedral tower beckoning in the distance. After 18 months of construction and installation works, the Perle brewery opened its doors in July.

France | Storm clouds are gathering over Bordeaux’s winemakers. Unpredictable weather patterns affecting yields, declining export volumes, and consumers drinking more beer, have forced some wine producers to uproot their vineyards. Additionally, the French government has pledged EUR 200 million (USD 215 million) to destroy surplus wine in a bid to shore up prices and support struggling producers.