In its 20th year, Grand Teton Brewing Company, known throughout the West for their exceptional microbrews, has won another medal with their legendary Bitch Creek ESB. At this year’s prestigious Great American Beer Festival, Bitch Creek found itself in familiar territory, once again standing on the podium, this time with a silver medal in the American Brown Ale category.

The U.S. carbonated soft drink market’s long struggle to achieve growth persists. After six straight years of sub –1 percent growth (mark those words), volume declined for the third straight year in 2007, says the Beverage Marketing Corporation. In 2007, volume decreased by 2.6 percent to 14.7 billion gallons (9.8 billion cases) from 15.1 billion gallons (10.1 billion cases) in 2006.

They should have known what was coming. In the end MillerCoors had to bow to public pressure and announce that they were putting on hold the introduction of Sparks Red, a new caffeinated alcoholic beverage about which 25 state attorneys general have expressed concern.

SABMiller announced that its Colombian subsidiary Bavaria has agreed to dispose of its Agua Brisa bottled water business and assets, which will be acquired jointly by Coca-Cola FEMSA and The Coca-Cola Company, for a consideration of USD 92 million. The disposal of Agua Brisa is subject to approval by the Colombian competition authorities and other customary pre-closing conditions, with the closing of the transaction expected in late 2008 or early 2009.

The controversy over MillerCoors’ alcoholic energy drink, Sparks, underlines the claims made by our correspondent Ina Verstl in her paper at the EBC’s “Beer, Nutrition and Health” symposium that for as long as brewers continue to engage in the production of these beverages, they cannot expect that their claims “beer is good for you” are considered trustworthy.

It was a brief spell of three years at the helm. Massimo von Wunster, Regional President, Heineken Americas, has decided to leave Heineken and return to his home country Italy.

Warren Buffett, the so-called “Sage of Omaha”, admitted in a recent interview that he sold a large chunk of his shares in Anheuser-Busch prematurely.

The chief executive of Anheuser-Busch, August Busch IV is to receive a payoff and contract worth USD 125 million on completion of the deal with InBev.

Fortune Brands will receive USD 230 million in compensation for an early termination of its U.S. joint venture with Absolut under an agreement signed with Absolut’s new owner, France’s drinks group Pernod Ricard.

… especially if brewers from all over the world meet for their own Olympic World Brewing Congress. After Orlando and San Diego, Honolulu was the port of call for more than 800 brewing industry representatives from 2 to 6 August 2008.