Bye, bye to double digit growth? Craft beer slowed to its lowest growth rate in seven years. During the first six months of 2016, volumes were up 8 percent over the same period last year, says the Brewers’ Association (BA). That’s a big drop from the 13 percent rate craft beer notched in the first half of 2015, and just half the 16 percent expansion it enjoyed in 2014.

Finally, on 20 July 2016, AB-InBev received US antitrust approval to merge with SABMiller. The approval by the Department of Justice (DOJ) was seen as a major obstacle towards the eventual merger, expected to be completed later this year.

You don’t announce a deal these days via the media, you tweet it to all and sundry. The Oregon craft brewer Hop Valley, which was founded in 2009 and has two pub locations in the Eugene area, announced the sale of a majority stake to MillerCoors on its Twitter feed on 29 July 2016.

UC Davis Extension, the continuing and professional education division of UC Davis, has been an internationally recognized leader in educational outreach for individuals, organizations and communities for more than 50 years. With 58,000 annual enrollments in classroom and online university-level courses, UC Davis Extension serves lifelong learners in the growing Sacramento region, all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

Craft beer appears at the crossroads. There are more than 4600 breweries in the U.S., and new ones open at a rate of about one per day. Pundits worry that craft brewers already produce more brands and varieties than supermarket shelves and bars can reasonably accommodate. There are only three options for craft brewers right now. They either need to grow bigger, club together and form groups to look bigger, or go really small and hold down their tiny bit of turf.

Why, oh why? An attorney for the U.S. craft brewer Boston Beer on 24 June 2016, the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union, filed a trademark application for the term ‘Brexit’ to be used for a hard cider. The trademark petition was first brought to light on www.tantalizingtrademarks.com.

It’s a new kind of philanthropy: Lagunitas’ founder Tony Magee, 55, announced on 29 June 2016 he will open venues in two of the nation’s brewing hotbeds — Portland, Oregon, and San Diego, California — to be used exclusively by non-profit agencies for fundraising.

The legal pursuits by some beer aficionados to force the Big Brewers to disclose that they are behind some “crafty” beers, have suffered a set-back. In June 2016 MillerCoors won the dismissal of a proposed class action lawsuit by a consumer who had accused the brewing giant of tricking consumers into paying premium prices for its Blue Moon beer by falsely portraying it as “craft beer”.

As the economy is sinking into recession, Brazil Kirin – the renamed brewer Schincariol – has decided to reposition its popular Devassa brand, while discontinuing the most popular version “Bem Loura”, betting only on the premium variety, made with malt and without the addition of other cereals such as corn and rice, Brazilian media reported on 8 June 2016.

Who would have thought that Americans are finally becoming concerned about GMO foods and that it’s the tiny state of Vermont – with only 600,000 residents – that is setting a precedent?