As could be expected, Asahi only managed to dispose of its 20 percent stake in the country’s number three brewer Tsingtao by putting it back into Chinese hands. In December 2017, it sold its holding to the conglomerate Fosun Group and Tsingtao itself for USD 941 million.

Collaborations | Looks like we have all become communitarians. These days we like to share cars, flats, clothes, food and sometimes partners. As if latching onto the Sharing Economy zeitgeists even profit-driven Big Brewers are suddenly raving about partnerships and doing collaborations. Is this the dawn of a new era, or are these just verbal smoke bombs meant to nullify the relevance of ownership and independence? After all, if the Big Brewers can convincingly appropriate the spirit and practices of craft beer, what’s the point of difference between them and the small guys?

For AB-InBev, it may just be a measure to stop cheaper parallel imports of its brands. But the antitrust body of the European Commission disagrees. On 30 November 2017 the European Commission informed AB-InBev of its preliminary view that the company has abused its dominant position on the Belgian beer market, by hindering cheaper imports of its Jupiler and Leffe beers from the Netherlands and France into Belgium.

As Chinese beer consumers continue to trade up, imported beers have risen in popularity next to domestic high-end brands. Observers say the import segment of the Chinese beer market already controls four percent.

Who thought that size matters in brewing? Apparently, in Mexico they do. Sporting some fairly large breweries already, the country will get another superlative-beating one when Grupo Modelo’s new brewery in Apan, located in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, will go on stream in the first quarter of 2019.

With Brexit negotiations to be resumed in December 2017, both the UK and the EU are accused of dragging their feet over an issue – an Irish border – which has emerged as the biggest hurdle.

It does not seem as if lots of potential buyers are queuing outside Asahi’s door. Although it has been an open secret for the better part of this year that Japanese brewer Asahi seeks to sell its 20 percent stake in Tsingtao, the number two brewer in the country, only two competitors have come forward so far: China Resources Beer, China’s number one brewer, and Carlsberg, which ranks fifth.

Heineken and the Brazilian Coke distributors will begin arbitration in February 2018 regarding a distribution contract that the Dutch brewer decided to terminate as of 1 November 2017. The contract was to run until 2022, according to Brazilian media.

Westward, Ho! The story of the United States has always been one of westward expansion, beginning along the East Coast and continuing until it reached the Pacific. For over two centuries the American West has promised progress and new opportunities. Its laid back, relaxed, entrepreneurial attitude has been instrumental in boosting the growth of craft beer, turning the West Coast IPA into the quintessential American craft beer style.

America now has more breweries than ever. And that might be a problem. New arrivals, riding the craft beer wave, are clogging beer shelves and eating into the sales of legacy brands. Alarmists have declared a state of emergency: a shakeout looms large. Or does it?