Brazil
BREWERS AND FARMERS COMBINE TO MAKE CASSAVA BEER A new deal between the Communist party government in the north eastern state of Maranhão and AmBev, the local subsidiary of AB InBev, is set to help local farmers to make a living. A new beer, called Magnífica, is produced using only local cassava – also known as manioc – grown by small scale farmers in the region, which is one of Brazil’s poorest states. The aim is purchase cassava from 250 producers.
USA
South Korea
AB INBEV SHARES DROP 10% Shares in the world’s largest brewer dropped by 10% following a drop in sales in Brazil and Korea in the third financial quarter. The company had a strong second quarter, with its beer sales rising faster than at any moment in the last years, but the months from June to September have been described as “challenging” by the brewing behemoth. Lower beer sales were blamed on increased prices.
USA
Netherlands
Japan
FOOTBALLER CATCHES AND DRINKS FAN’S BEER
LOCAL MAN TRIES TO REINVIGORATE TOWN’S HOP-GROWING HERITAGE
A footballer has surprised fans by catching a beer thrown from the crowd and drinking it in celebration after a goal. Shayon Harrison who plays for Almere City, scored a goal in the 68th minute against Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Eerste Division, then caught the cup of beer as it sailed through the air, took a gulp and tossed it away. Unfortunately, Go Ahead Eagles equalised and the game finished 1-1.
The town of Tono in the Iwate Prefecture provides about 20% of Japan’s home-grown hops (about 1% overall, with 95% of hops imported), but its hop output has dropped by 80% over the past 30 years. To reverse the slide, local man Atsushi Yoshida and Japanese company Kirin are promoting the city as a “hometown of beer”. Changes are hoped to increase yields. The craft beer market in Japan has doubled in the last five years.
Denmark
ARIZONANS THINK THEY CAN HOLD THEIR BEER BEST
MAN PRODUCING ALCOHOL IN HIS GUT PULLED OVER
CARLSBERG DEVELOPING A PAPER BOTTLE
A survey of more than 2,580 American beer drinkers has found that people from Arizona believe they can drink more beer than people from other states before they feel drunk. The survey found that it took 4.04 beers before someone from Arizona felt drunk, with Hawaii coming in last with 2.71 beers. Michigan came in second with 4.02 beers, but it also had the highest proportion of people who felt drunk after one beer (12%).
An American man pulled over by the police for drink driving was found to have a fungus in his gut that was producing yeast that was in turn producing alcohol. Tests at the hospital found that he had the blood alcohol level of a person who has consumed 10 alcoholic drinks. He maintains that he had had nothing whatsoever to drink. The condition has been recounted in the past by the British Medical Journal as ABS (auto-brewery syndrome). The man has been put on a no-carbohydrate diet.
Danish brewer Carlsberg is developing a paper bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres. Two new prototype bottles have been unveiled that have an inner barrier to allow them to contain beer, but which are “fully recyclable”. While those inner barriers are currently made from polymers, the plan is to create a bottle that features none and is instead entirely made from biomaterials. Carlsberg is trying to have zero carbon emissions at its breweries by 2030.
Myanmar
CHANG BREWERY OPENS IN MYANMAR Thailand-based brewery Chang has opened a brewery in the neighbouring country of Myanmar. The Emerald Brewery has been built with sustainability in mind – it has solar energy, energy saving equipment and waste treatment facilities. It will make Chang beer using the same ingredients and recipes as the original. The new brewery opens a year after Fraser and Neave Limited invested US$70 million in Myanmar. The beer will be available in 330ml and 500ml cans, 320ml and 620ml bottles and 30-litre kegs.
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