AB-InBev are not the only one to adjust (read: lower) the alcohol content of some of their products. As of February 2012, one of the major Australian wine brands, Jacob’s Creek, has introduced a range of four wines with lower alcohol contents: sparkling or still sauvignon blanc, vermentino, and shiraz rosé, which sit between 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent ABV. The wines are sourced from vineyards noted for lower sugar levels at early ripeness with grapes picked in the early hours of cooler nights.

At the height of Bionade’s success, you could be forgiven for thinking that Germany’s youth had seen the light: they could enjoy a soft drink while saving the planet. Bionade was politically correct, environmentally friendly, almost healthy (well, it was still a soft drink) and ultra cool. After all, Bionade had put mortal fear into Coca-Cola’s executives that they launched their own healthier version of a soft drink called The Spirit of Georgia in 2008.

The CEO of Carlsberg, Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, will deliver the keynote address at Canadean’s 8th International Beer Conference, being held in Copenhagen on 29 and 30 May 2012.

As of 1 March 2012 Carlsberg has appointed Benet Slay, formerly Managing Director Northern Europe for Diageo, as its new CEO for Carlsberg UK.

It’s nice to see that one’s advice is occasionally taken up. A few years ago we wrote that perhaps AB-InBev should employ some bloggers to give Mr Brito’s malicious U.S. critics a good run for their vitriol on the internet. In early January 2012 UK media found out that AB-InBev had attempted to do just that.

AB-InBev is to cut the alcohol content of their Stella Artois, Budweiser and Beck’s brands in a move to offset escalating duty costs.

Stranger things have happened. Many still wonder why AB-InBev has purchased Budejovicky mestansky pivovar (BMP) from Czech brewer Pivovar Samson, the smaller of the two Budweiser breweries located in the town of Ceske Budejovice, in December 2011. Will AB-InBev put the BMP brand Budweiser Bier to sleep for good or will they use it as a fighting brand in export markets which are dominated by Budweiser Budvar? In any case, the deal between AB-InBev and Czech brewer Pivovar Samson settles one of the two trademark disputes AB-InBev has been embroiled in for over a century.

On 19 January 2012, SABMiller reported a 3 percent rise in beer volumes in the last three months of 2011, as growth in emerging markets helped offset volume declines in North America and Europe.

How much madder can it get? According to estimates, German brewers have raised beer sales by perhaps 1 percent in 2011 but they paid dearly for the extra volume: by an inflationary use of price promotions.

Even long after the end of the harvest in Europe, there still is uncertainty about the availability of malting barley. Depending on the concessions of the maltsters and brewers, this amount can vary. The weather conditions in 2011 have lead to substantial quality problems.