Fuller's acquisition of Dark Star last week led to another round of speculation about beer-industry acquisitions to come. But do current trends in bond yields suggest that consolidation may already have peaked?
Breweries
The Hook Norton Brewery & the Brexit Bacillus
Hook Norton no longer uses its magificent copper coolship because a heat exchanger does the job far more quickly and with much less risk. So what's all this about "E.U. rules"?
The Price of Everything
How much art can 113 million bottles of Orval buy? Why is Achel Bruin so undervalued? And why should Brasserie Cantillon read Richard Cantillon's "Essai"?
Bamberg: No Smoke Without Fire
Bamberg, with eight breweries in its centre and dozens peppering the surrounding region, lives and breathes beer as if it were air. And that air carries the meaty aroma of beechwood smoke.
Culture, Craft and Touring for Tradition
Wondering why Munich isn’t awash with Mango-Juice Double IPA, Espresso Coffee and Vanilla Stout, or Arugula Brett-Spiked Saison, is like complaining that the Italian Alps don’t look like the Cotswolds, or that the Vietnamese don’t eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
Munich: Highway to Hell
With the Oktoberfest on the horizon, I consider the birth of Mӓrzen and Hell at the festival, explore Munich beer offerings away from the Theresienwiese, and pay tribute to Georg Schneider, patron saint of Weiβbier.
Munich, Nuremberg and a Darker Side to Beer
The Reichsparteitage schedule of drinking, communal singing, political speeches and celebration of the Volksgemeinschaft was an amplified version of an evening in Munich’s beerhalls in the 1920s and 30s.
Pasc-ale’s Wager
A Chaucerian pilgrimage to the Ales Tales Belgian Beer Festival in Bethnal Green, on which two signs are given, three poets share their wisdom, 10 ales are drunk, and one circle is closed.
Brew Day!… “Pacific Northwest”
With a couple of friends to lend a helping hand, brew day can be a hospitable time of aimless conversation, mutual admiration of shiny brewing equipment, and shameless indulgence in good beer, cheese and ham.
A Beer by Any Other Name
International mega-brewers acquiring craft breweries poses a substantial challenge to the concerned consumer that arguably needs to be addressed by the US Brewers' Association. With their “independent craft brewer” definition, however, and especially with their new seal, they have only compounded that challenge.
