Czech Republic | Well before the onslaught of the covid pandemic, beer was an integral part of the Czech national consciousness. After all, the country had come up with the names of Pilsner and Budweiser beers, regularly topped the international consumption charts, and even had a president write a one-act play about life in a brewery.

Poland | Craft brewers were caught between a rock and a hard place during the pandemic, when the Polish government put the country under two lockdowns, lasting from March to May 2020 and from October 2020 to May 2021. As hospitality venues were forced to shut, craft brewers could not pivot to e-commerce as they did elsewhere in Europe because of an ancient alcohol law from 1983, which does not mention internet sales (unheard of then). Despite their best lobbying efforts, the government insisted that this omission means e-commerce is illegal and refused to amend the law.

Russia | AB-InBev Efes, the Russia-based unit of AB-InBev, expects double-digit growth in its non-alcoholic beer sales in the next few years, Reuters reported on 16 June 2021.

Italy | The covid pandemic hit Italy’s economy earlier and more severely than other large eurozone economies. In 2020, Italy’s economy shrank 8.9 percent, the second-largest contraction after Spain, and it still has further to go than Germany and France to recover its pre-pandemic scale.

United Kingdom | There is trouble brewing at the Scottish punk brewer BrewDog. Some 70 former employees, many of them anonymously under the collective name of Punks with Purpose, posted an open letter on the internet on 9 June 2021. In it they accused the company and its two founders of fostering a personality cult. The signatories allege there was a “toxic attitude” at the company. Some said they had suffered mental illness as a result.

Europe | Looks like the US culture wars have spread to Europe, turbocharged by social media. BrewDog became the first target. But Danish craft brewer Mikkeller was not far behind. On the morning of 12 June 2021, an anonymous group put up several posters outside Mikkeller’s Copenhagen headquarters and accused the brewer of sexism and racism via an Instagram account.

Germany | The European Patent Office (EPO) has rejected a joint appeal filed by NGOs against a patent on barley owned by Carlsberg (EP2373154). This was reported on 8 June 2021. The Board of Appeal will publish its reasons for the judgement at a later stage.

Belgium | The AB-InBev connection is spurious at best, but this has not stopped Belgian media to sell a bizarre story about tax planning gone wrong as a love and crime story, involving the late Amicie de Spoelberch, her heirs, a corrupt lawyer and finally the Belgian tax man.

Belgium | It was a big event by any standards. Though conducted virtually over four days, the Brewers of Europe Forum (1–4 June 2021) attracted an unprecedented number of delegates: nearly 2 500 industry members attended the Forum’s 19 sessions, which covered a wide range of topics, from recycling and recovery to innovative brewing techniques, beer styles, marketing and packaging.

Belgium | In a rare interview with the press, Michel Moortgat, the CEO of beer group Duvel Moortgat, admitted that its beer sales dropped 12 percent to 1.94 million hl in 2020, but that buoyant sales in the remainder of 2021 could make up for a lot.