Preliminary data by the German Brewers Association suggest that German brewers sold more than 96 million hl beer in 2016, which represents a small increase over 2015 when sales stood at 95.7 million hl.

It’s a record of sorts. Who would have thought that, with 740 breweries in December 2016, Switzerland ranks 4th behind the UK (1,880), Germany (1,400) and France (793) and ahead of Italy (688)? For a country of only 8 million people, that’s a huge number of breweries. Statistically that’s one brewery per 11,000 inhabitants. In comparison the US has only one brewery per 64,000 people. However, most Swiss breweries would be very small indeed as 99 percent of all beer is produced by 49 breweries with an output in excess of 1,000 hl.

Why has no one noticed that Heineken’s proposed acquisition of about 1,900 pubs in the Punch Tavern group actually nullifies the Beer Orders, a bill introduced by the Thatcher government in 1989 to force the big brewers to divest their large pub estates? Provided the transaction is not vetoed by shareholders bowing to publicans’ protest, brewer Heineken could become the third-largest pub operator in the UK.

Financial markets are buzzing with excitement: Kweichow Moutai could take the crown from Diageo as the most valuable drinks company this year. After a heady share price rally in 2016, when its stock climbed 53 percent, the market capitalisation of Kweichow Moutai stood at USD 63 billion on 11 January 2017, only a few billion behind Diageo’s at USD 66 billion.

This must be a first: a collaboration brew between a US corporate brewer and a Bavarian state-owned one, although few beer lovers will know about the ownership situation.

As in beer so in spirits: big corporate drinks companies are buying up craft distilleries. Spirits giant Beam Suntory, which was formed after the purchase of Jim Beam by Japan’s Suntory for USD 16 billion in 2014, has bought a controlling stake in Sipsmith to drive the global expansion of the pioneering London gin distillery.

Christmas office parties in the UK are said to be raucous affairs, involving snogging behind the filing cabinets and heavy boozing. To get people home safely afterwards, Budweiser and the ride-hailing app are offering free rides to new users throughout December. Sadly, the offer is limited to the UK.

At long last. After discussions had dragged on for months, Asahi managed to beat its private equity competitors in a final auction round on 12 December 2016 to buy former SABMiller’s brewing assets in five central European countries from AB-InBev for EUR 7.3 billion (USD 7.8 billion).

Meeting Mr Hansmaennel in his hometown of Strasbourg was always a delight. He was a keen listener, a well of knowledge and a man of strong opinions. After hours of heated and passionate discussions he would generously invite us to dinner at his son’s restaurant and offer a very special wine from his own cellar, previously set up by his grandfather and expanded by his father.

Those who thought that AB-InBev will have no truck with the pubs that came with their US craft beer acquisitions will need to think again. The maker of Budweiser will move into the UK’s pub-restaurant sector with a Goose Island site to open in London before year end, media reported.