Czech Republic | Faced with paying over USD 600 million in an arbitrage judgment, Czechs are thinking about privatizing the Budvar brewery, heir to the Budweiser moniker and unending court battles with Anheuser-Busch (today AB-InBev). Could this century-old beer battle, hopped with nationalism and language identity, be over?

Austria | The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) has confirmed that it carried out a search at Brau Union's headquarters in Linz at the beginning of April this year. The watchdog told the Austrian TV network, ORF, on 23 June, that it had received complaints against Brau Union for market abuse which warranted the search.

Germany | Anyone wanting a 1.3 million hl brewery, which is located slightly off the beaten track and only suitable for export production? If interested, please apply to Oettinger brewery, Germany’s major producer of value brands.

Switzerland | Migros’ 2.3 million cooperative members do not want to see alcohol on Migros’ shelves. In a vote they prevailed against Migros’ leadership: The administration of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives (MGB) wanted to lift the ban on alcohol, as did the ten regional administrations.

Belgium | Between the two family branches that own Belgium’s fourth-ranking brewer Haacht, a conflict has erupted over the future course of the business. The criticism centres on Frédéric van der Kelen, 88, the company’s Chairman, who has steered Haacht in one capacity or other for more than 50 years.

Belgium | Belgians consumed more beer in 2021, which indicates a slow recovery from 2020, as the country did not shed its covid restrictions until early June 2021.

United Kingdom | Is BrewDog a pub operator with a brewery attached, or a brewery which operates a string of bars? This is probably a moot point because, with more than 110 bars globally and nearly 1 million hl beer sales in 2021, BrewDog has shown that its integrated beer and bar business works to its advantage.

United Kingdom | Sales of low- and non-alcoholic beers have almost doubled in five years, thanks in no small part to the Big Brewers launching 0.0 versions of their flagship brands. The category now accounts for 3.1 percent of the UK’s beer market, IWSR said, compared with 2.7 percent globally.

Belgium | Outside of events like Sober for October and Dry January, is there a potential for the low- and no-alcohol category to become mainstream? AB-InBev thought so when, in 2016, it set itself the target that by 2025 one in five of its beers should be low or non-alcoholic.

United Kingdom | It makes you wonder why Heineken has decided to close its only brewery in Scotland, when all the world is talking about the environmental impact of “food miles” and manufacturers’ carbon footprint. Is not the concept of consolidating beer production in one or two breweries per market outdated, as it means that beer is shunted up and down the country to reach consumers?