It’s Friday again. Aside from this marking the start of a weekend of overindulgence, it also means that it’s time for another Beer News weekly round-up. I must say I am a bit boggled at the amount of craft beer news I can throw at you every week. I have decided to pick a cross-section of articles and encourage you to hunt down the rest yourself!
Beer makers turn waste into fuel
Brewers can recover 50 percent of energy costs from leftovers. After beer is made, the waste from breweries could help generate power, researchers now suggest. (via Courier Times)
Raise a glass to ‘beer country’
When it comes to taking spirited vacations, wandering a vineyard falls flat in the face of handcrafted brew. With more than 1,500 breweries across the United States, beer is not just a drink — it’s a destination. (via CNN)
Is Bigger Really That Much Better?
This week, Sigel’s announced that it is taking early orders for a dozen 6-liter bottles of Unibroue’s La Fin Du Monde golden ale. (via Dallas Observer)
Beer price hikes are brewing
Like other food manufacturers, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s two largest brewers, have been hit by rising commodity prices. (via LA Times)
If you happen to be in Vancouver, make sure you check out the Gastown Cask Carouse tomorrow hosted by the good people at CAMRA. I’ll be there enjoying a few pints from R&B Brewery and discussing all things hops and barley with good friends. Make sure to keep a look out for Cask Cast tomorrow, truecask.com’s weekly round up of best beer shows the internet has to offer.
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As Stone Greg pointed out via twitter yesterday, the media is making WAAAAY to big of a deal out of this. It’s common practice. A-B and Miller have raised some of their prices every fall for several years. In a world of shrinking market share, the only way to keep the bottom line growing is to raise prices.
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. As Macro beer prices rise, it will shrink the gap between macro and micro in the consumers perception. The caveat being that micros don’t have to raise prices as well. One reason many macro drinkers I know don’t switch to micro is price. Once the price gap gets narrowed, there are fewer reasons not to drink good beer!
Posted by Andy The Beerman on August 28th, 2009.
Could not agree more Andy!
Also I think they are making such a big deal out of this because this is the second time in 12 months they have done this. Normally they do it annually not bi-annually. Plus lets face it, the media loves to jump all over anything financial right now.
Posted by cbjerrisgaard on August 28th, 2009.