Billy Busch, half brother to August Busch III, has finally started serving his Kräftig beer in St Louis bars – only to get served a USD 600,000 suit by consultancy Rio Creative in a breach of contract. Rio filed a suit on 21 November 2011 against the William K. Busch Brewing Company and company founder William K. “Billy” Busch, St Louis media reported.

When it comes to on-premise beer, the U.S. has always sported strange customs. Go to any bar and, more likely than not, you will be served a beer in a bottle rather than a draught beer. Thankfully, things are changing. And it’s because of craft beer.

... very little, it seems. Exactly three years after Anheuser-Busch was taken over by InBev, the local St Louis newspaper, St Louis Post, on 26 November 2011 ran a story on the new culture at Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters in St Louis, which highlights the profound changes.

How can they drink beer if they are without jobs? The jobless rate in Britain in October 2011 jumped to 8.1 percent, its highest level in 17 years, and young people, the core customer group for beermakers, are being hit hardest. Experts are talking openly of a “lost generation” without hope of finding a job.

Kirin Holdings on 4 November 2011 agreed to buy out shareholders in Brazilian beermaker Schincariol Participacoes e Representacoes, completing its biggest acquisition to date.

Brewers usually blame it on the economy or the weather if figures don't live up to expectations. Same with MillerCoors. The number two brewer in the U.S. reported on 2 November 2011 that low consumer spending and rising commodity prices contributed to weaker earnings in the third quarter.

Is Heineken breaking the glass ceiling for women or has the brewer run out of male candidates wanting to turn around a struggling brand? In October 2011, Heineken USA announced the appointment of Olga Osminkina, most recently Executive Director of Global Marketing for cosmetics company Estée Lauder, as its Senior Brand Director for Heineken Lager.

In October 2011 a São Paulo court lifted an injunction against Japanese brewer Kirin which had been sought by Schincariol’s minority shareholders, who had hoped to block the sale of Schincariol.

It’s a bit like whistling in the dark. PepsiCo is busy touting the value of its combined snacks and drinks portfolio, all the while Wall Street thinks the company should consider breaking up.

They picked a real wrangler should rumours become true that PepsiCo is closing in on a joint venture with Theo Müller Group, a privately-owned German dairy company, which would give PepsiCo a foothold in the fast-growing U.S. yogurt market. The logic behind such a tie-up is that PepsiCo hopes to reach out to health-conscious consumers and is therefore planning to enter the yogurt market with the help of German dairy giant Theo Müller.