Infected beer at Ellon brewery: BrewDog scolds staff

Scotland | Staff at BrewDog’s Ellon brewery in Aberdeenshire were read the riot act in a furious email about “sour beer” by Chris Fielden, the firm’s chief supply chain officer, after the firm had received a record number of complaints.

Diageo abandons sale of Pimm’s

United Kingdom | Is Pimm’s too much of an English thing? Drinks firm Diageo had to scrap the sale of its gin liqueur Pimm’s after failing to reach a deal with potential buyers.

United Kingdom |  Carlsberg’s UK venture, Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC), is planning to shutter the Banks’s Brewery in Wolverhampton in autumn next year. Nearly 100 employees will be affected by the closure.

Diageo trials 700 ml paper-based bottle for Johnnie Walker

United Kingdom | On 24th September, Diageo began a trial of a 90 percent paper-based bottle for Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky at its Johnnie Walker Princes Street bar in Edinburgh. The drinks firm hopes to both reduce the amount of packaging it uses and change the materials used, in order to bring down its Scope 3 emissions. 

Luxembourg | The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), on 27 September, issued her opinion that the damages claims, resulting from market abuses by Heineken’s Greek subsidiary, should be decided by a court in the Netherlands.

AB-InBev made huge loss in UK in 2023 despite price hikes

United Kingdom | The UK is a tough market, not just for craft brewers but for Big Brewers too. While Heineken UK saw its profit cut in 2023, Budweiser Brewing Group, the UK and Ireland business of AB-InBev, continued to make a substantial loss during its latest financial year despite raising its prices, UK media reported on 30 September.

Scotland hikes MUP by 30 percent to combat alcohol related harm

Scotland | The minimum unit price (MUP) at which alcohol can be sold in Scotland rose by 30 percent to GBP 0.65 (USD 0.85) on 1 October in an attempt to keep up with inflation over the past six years. MUP is not a tax to generate income for the government. Instead, it seeks to reduce the availability of cheap alcohol in shops by setting a minimum price.

Hertog Jan: The Dutch beer paradox

The Netherlands | It is quite an achievement. The AB-InBev-owned Hertog Jan pilsener, best known for its jolly, beer swilling duke on its label, overtook Heineken as the biggest selling beer in the Dutch off-licence in 2023. This success is not down to Hertog Jan’s competitive price. Nor to its ingredients. In fact, Dutch consumers seem oblivious to the fact that the pilsener is brewed with adjuncts – unlike Heineken beer, which is all-malt.

United Kingdom | The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a warning to the public on 5 September, that potentially deadly counterfeit bottles of a popular vodka brand are being circulated throughout the country.

German court issues five-year prison sentence for beer tax fraud

Germany | The Darmstadt Regional Court, on 5 September, found a 45-year-old man guilty of more than 900 cases of beer tax evasion to the order of EUR 11 million (USD 12.3 million) and sent him to prison for five years.