Ukraine | Despite a war raging, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conducted a purge of high-ranking officials deemed corrupt and continued his strive to “de-shadow” the alcohol market.

United Kingdom | Diageo shares dropped to their lowest in seven months on 26 January, after the company said sales volumes fell in three of its most important markets at the end of 2022.

Belgium | The renowned Trappist beer Achel will no longer be able to market itself as a Trappist beer, leaving only five breweries of its kind in Belgium.

United Kingdom | Publicans and punters were in for a bad surprise. Heineken confirmed that, as of 16 January, it would charge 15.8 percent more per keg on average.

Switzerland | In Geneva, the billionaire Pierre Castel had registered under the name Jesus Castel. For 30 years, the Swiss taxman was clueless. Then he realised his mistake after reading the press.

Germany | German brewers will need to raise prices. But with so much budget beer sloshing around – will they be able to push price hikes through?

Denmark | Never let a good crisis go to waste must be Royal Unibrew’s motto because, on 3 January, it announced the acquisition of Copenhagen’s craft brewer Nørrebro Bryghus. Financial details were not disclosed.

United Kingdom | All that glitters is not gold. James Watt, CEO of Scottish craft brewer and pub operator BrewDog, has paid out more than USD 580,000 from his own pocket to winners of a bungled “solid gold” beer can promotion. The treasure hunters were peeved when they found out that the golden cans were not made of solid gold as they had been led to believe.

United Kingdom | A new UK brewery tracker was launched on 13 January 2023 by SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, setting out the definitive number of actively trading breweries across ten regions.

United Kingdom | If you look at the list of the ten best-selling beers in the UK in 2022, nine of them are international brands but all are brewed in the UK: Carling (originated in Canada), Foster’s (Australia), Moretti (Italy), Peroni (Italy), Coors (USA), Stella Artois (Belgium), Carlsberg (Denmark), San Miguel (Spain), and Amstel (Netherlands).