Prohibition breeds ingenuity. After the ban on kiosk sales of alcohol, some ingenious entrepreneurs invented a specialised retail channel which holds the middle ground between the on-premise and the off-premise. Called “Draught In Off-Trade” (DIOT) it serves beer straight from kegs into PET bottles for shoppers to take home.

Ukraine is turning into Europe’s hub for illegal vodka. With illegal alcohol production estimated at 60 percent of total, smugglers are spreading the moonshine across all of Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Their ingenuity at upscaling operations needs to be admired. Last year authorities discovered several pipes, each a kilometre long. Once assembled they would have formed a pipeline from Ukraine into Moldova, a country to the southwest of Ukraine which borders with the EU member country of Romania.

Carlsberg is optimistic that in 2018 it will hike its profits (EBITDA) by a high-single-digit percentage. Previously it forecasted an increase of about five percent.

“Innovation” must be the most overused term in consumer goods industries. Whether it’s merely a slight modification, a variation or an improvement – all are customarily billed as “innovations”. However, linguists insist that innovation is synonymous only with the truly novel. It is therefore best compared with a revolution.

George Orwell, defender of brown ale and the English pub, would be aghast. During the first six months of 2018, 476 pubs closed in the UK. That is 18 pubs per week according to CAMRA, which keeps a list. In total around 1,000 pubs shuttered last year.

Some thoughts on what makes an entrepreneur. It is fashionable to glamorize entrepreneurs. Business schools toast their erstwhile nerdy alumni who broke the rules and changed the world. Politicians praise them as shining examples for their country’s can-do business environment. Glossy magazines drool over their lifestyle of private planes, big piles in the countryside and arm-candy girlfriends. However, despite best efforts, entrepreneurs are born not made and their lives are often as exciting as cold porridge.

The Brewers of Europe announced on July 9, 2018 that it is stepping up its voluntary commitment on consumer information, recommending to all breweries to list ingredients and calories on the labels of pre-pack containers.

Never trust a press release. Ring and inquire in person. It could save you a fool’s errand. When travelling around the Baltics in July, I decided to pay the new Brooklyn-Carlsberg venture at the Svyturys brewery in Klaipeda a visit. I even went so far as to promise my travel companions an evening of free beer and food. After all, the craft brewery’s opening had been confirmed by both Carlsberg and Brooklyn.

How bizarre. While brewers unfetteredly revolutionise consumers’ understanding of what is a beer by launching weird concoctions, the UK’s gin distillers go the other way and worry about what is gin – and how can they protect it. Spearheading the conservative campaign is the London gin distillery Hayman’s, a family-owned distillery (since 1862) which is located in Balham, South London.

Climate change? Then let’s have more of it if it helps German brewers hike sales. However, brewers are desperate. Unforeseen demand has caused a shortage of empties in the market.