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).

France | When Heineken announced the closure of its Alsatian brewery in November 2022, and the loss of more than 200 jobs, many observers pretended the decision came out of the blue.

Europe | Publicans have been warned: Heineken said in December 2022 that it would push through price increases more consistently. Ireland’s publicans were the first to get a taste of things to come.

Netherlands | Heineken’s full exit from Russia is dragging on. Like Carlsberg, the Dutch brewer had wanted to be out of the country by the end of 2022. But it seems Heineken was too optimistic when it set itself this date.

Ireland | It may be a cliché that the Irish have a way with words. But it is hard to deny that some do have the gift of the gab. Take the craft brewer Rye River.