The use of malt by US brewers slowly declined over the last 20 years, reaching a low of just over 128 million bushels in 2005 according the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The increasing production of low calorie beers was largely responsible for this decline. But the good news is that the amount of malting barley used for brewing began to increase in 2006 and 2007, and the trend appears to have continued in 2008.

Most of the makers of consumer goods, interviewed in the U.S. media in recent weeks, emphasised the relative stability of their "staples" business, but offered a muted outlook for consumer spending this year.

At Miller Brewing, they were considered the savvier marketers. After all, did they not invent light beers? At Coors, marketing and advertising has often resembled a potluck affair – sometimes they got it right, sometimes they did not.

The company, which is a leading international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol in the wine, spirits and imported beer categories, with a significant market presence in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand and more than 250 brands, said revenue excluding excise taxes fell 6 percent to USD 1.03 billion in the third quarter.

Shortly before Christmas, Coke started delivering stevia-sweetened Odwalla Mojito Mambo and Odwalla Pomegranate Strawberry nationwide and hoped to introduce Sprite Green in New York and Chicago before the end of the year.

Distribution, distribution, distribution. Ask any newcomer to a market and they will tell you that distribution remains the biggest obstacle to any business success. The privately-owned Ajegroup probably underestimated the problems it would encounter when it started brewing in Peru. Having mastered the challenges of building its first brewery ever near Lima, the family owners probably thought that selling beer in a country of 27 million people whose beer consumption has been rising significantly over the past decade would be easy. Alas, it was not to be.

Throughout 2008, a number of state attorneys general had repeatedly raised concerns about alcoholic energy drinks, particularly their marketing to young people. By September, twenty-five states and interest groups had asked MillerCoors to cancel the release of an alcohol-infused energy drink, Sparks Red.

In a separate investigation SDE will decide if AmBev’s promotion of its Puerto del Sol and Puerto del Mar brands around the same time Kaiser introduced the Sol brand in Brazil was meant to confuse consumers. Sol is one of the best selling Mexican beer brands owned by FEMSA.

In a statement, Anheuser-Busch InBev said that three-quarters of the jobs to be cut would disappear from Anheuser-Busch’s North American headquarters in St. Louis. The brewer also said it would leave 250 U.S. positions vacant and eliminate an additional 415 contractor positions. The majority of jobs cuts will occur by the end of the year, with the remainder scheduled for 2009.

It’s no secret these are challenging times in professional brewing. Only those who have the best education stand the greatest chance to benefit from the transitions in the industry. For those seeking advanced-level brewing training to move their career forward, the World Brewing Academy International Diploma Programme seems like a good idea.