The Brewers Association reports that there are more than 3,400 breweries in the U.S., the most since 1873. However, about 1,400 of them are brewpubs that aren’t putting beers on bar taps or store shelves. Also, the 1,900 or so microbreweries that exist are competing in a U.S. beer market in which exactly nine companies controlled 90 percent of all beer sold in 2014, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

Consumers may care a lot about company ownership when choosing a craft beer over a “crafty” one, but this seemingly has not stopped the rise of Blue Moon, the unfiltered Belgian-style wheat beer which is brewed by Molson Coors. In 2014, Blue Moon sold over 2 million barrels, which would make the brand, part of MillerCoors’ craft beer division Tenth and Blake, one of the best-selling U.S. craft beers, were it not considered “crafty” because it is brewed by one of the Big Brewers.

Who would have thought that the takeover of a Brazilian craft brewer by AmBev would have a fall-out as far away as Belgium? In early July, the Brazilian beer and beverages behemoth AmBev bought the local craft brewer Colorado for an undisclosed sum, thus continuing its new strategy of buying premium craft beer brands amid stagnant sales volumes in South America’s biggest beer market.

The non-committal headline says it all: Duvel Moortgat’s latest U.S. investment got everybody’s curiosity piqued: Did they buy Firestone Walker brewery outright (or just a stake) and how much did the Belgians’ fork out? On both accounts Duvel’s owners decided to keep the figures close to their chests.

Have a guess: Which is AB-InBev’s fastest growing brand in the United States?

Of the breweries that made Milwaukee famous - Schlitz, Pabst and Miller – only one, Miller, made it into the 21st century. Schlitz closed in 1982 and Pabst in 1996. Although Pabst did not disappear from the market, it only existed as a virtual brewer curtesy of having others brew its beers.

The millstones of justice turn exceedingly slowly. After ten years, the Brazilian unit of AB-InBev has settled its dispute over a fine of 352.7 million reais (USD 185 million) with the Administrative Council for Economic Defence, or CADE, which had found its reseller loyalty programme anti-competitive.

Ha, ha, the laugh is always on the loser. The German brewer Warsteiner was having some advertising fun at the expense of rival beer brand Beck’s. For five days in early July 2015 Warsteiner put up a digital billboard in New York City’s Time Square touting its German credentials. “Warsteiner. Premium German Beer From, You Know, Germany” was the slogan on the 15-storey-high billboard.

Analysts are currently drooling over Constellation Brands, whose shares just seem to go up and up: from USD 40 in 2013 to over USD 120 in early July 2015, doubling the company’s market capitalisation to over USD 20 billion.

Isn’t it ironic that the U.S., once associated with light beers, now keeps on churning out higher alcohol beers en masse?