While most of us were partying through the holiday season, the experts at beerinsights.com worked overtime to put together their preliminary data on the performance of the major U.S. brewers and importers in 2012. They were released on 14 January 2013 and make fascinating reading.

Looks like AB-InBev were highly optimistic when they announced in June 2012 they expected their Modelo deal to close in the first quarter of 2013. That was provided the lawyers at the U.S. Justice Department did not drag their feet. But seven months later, the anti-trust regulators still seem to be in no rush to issue their verdict.

The US company of the Krones Group, Krones Inc. in Franklin/Wisconsin (USA), and Krones AG, Neutraubling (Germany), have now settled the legal disputes that have been ongoing in the US since October 2008. Only one claim for legal fees remains pending. The proceedings concerned relate to claims for damages asserted by several American financial service providers, a group of hedge funds and a liquidator, and most recently investigations by the district attorney in Pennsylvania. The settlement agreed with the liquidator is still subject to formal approval by the insolvency court. The proceedings related to the financial scandal involving the bankruptcy of the US company Le-Nature’s.

AB-InBev's investor Jorge Paulo Lemann is Brazil's richest man, according to Bloomberg's recent billionaires index. Bloomberg ranks Mr Lemann as the world's 37th most wealthy person based on Bloomberg's 30 November 2012 estimates, which put Mr Lemann's fortune at USD 18.7 billion.

No doubt, big brewers face a consumer-led backlash in favour of niche craft beers. But instead of hiding behind a napkin with embarrassment, they have stepped up their marketing efforts to lure consumers back to long-established brands with the help of crafty looking brand extensions. According to U.S. sources, global brewer AB-InBev is preparing to release a new addition to its Budweiser line in 2013. Though called Budweiser Black Crown, the beer will be a golden amber lager, i.e. darker in colour than regular Budweiser, and packaged in special bow tie-shaped cans, it transpired in early November 2012.

Reports are popping up in Bahamian newspapers about a growing feud between the privately-owned Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company (BBB), based in Freeport on Grand Bahama island, and its big rival Commonwealth Brewery, which is located in Nassau on New Providence island.

The US company of the Krones Group, Krones Inc. in Franklin/Wisconsin (USA), and Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, see a possibility of resolving the legal disputes running in the US since October 2008 within the framework of the ongoing settlement talks. The subject-matter relates to proceedings involving various parties in the US.

Anheuser-Busch (A-B), a subsidiary of AB-InBev, can retain its minority ownership stake in one of Chicago's largest beer distributors, Illinois liquor regulators ruled on 31 October 2012, allowing the brewer to have some control over its sales. However, they said no to A-B’s plan to completely take over the distributor City Beverage.

Is AB-InBev running the risk of doing a Schlitz with its Beck’s brand in the United States? In the early 1970s, the then number two brewer in the U.S. changed the brewing process for its flagship Schlitz brand. The executives and company were making money and they thought all was well but then the brand dropped and never came back. Finally, in 1982 Schlitz surrendered to an offer by rival brewer Stroh.

In fine spirits

Drinks companies are raising glasses to the American consumers. Their homes may be worth less than their cars and their jobs prospects dim, but when it comes to trimming the fat from their budgets, Americans would rather eat less than drink less. In fact, they continue to show an unabated interest in high-end spirits. How better to enjoy a presidential campaign that’s turned into a tit-for-tat-mudfest on the telly than with a glass of booze?