Could we run out of beer?

We certainly could! If recent reports are to be believed, Beer production might be severely impacted within 30 years! Full story here

 

Stock up on fruity drinks

Sales are booming of fruity drinks – ciders and beers mostly. We reported in February of the meteoric rise of Kopparberg in Ireland and it seems that herb and fruit infused beers are set to become a major growth category for brewers facing dwindling sales of ale/stout, according to the manufacturer of a new range of natural flavours. Full story here. So stock up now and get in early on this growing trend. Your customers are looking for these drinks….

 

Can you match Beer with Food?

Beer is often overlooked as an accompaniment to food, being considered more of a social drink in itself.  But many a good meal can be enhanced by pairing it with the appropriate beer.

We came across this great website during the week that lists plenty of suggestions for food and beer pairings.

 

Budejovicky Budvar types – to licence or not to licence….

As our packed little lift descended down through the lift-shaft in solid rock to the underground lake some 300 metres below ground level, I looked warily through the glass floor at the foaming waters approaching me in the spotlight beneath and found myself thinking of my family back home. If anything went wrong now, they just wouldn’t be able to cope – where had I hidden the remote?
I was visiting the Budejovicky Budvar brewery outside Prague and as it turned out, not everyone in our party knew that this was merely a simulated journey and that in reality the ‘lift’ itself hadn’t moved at all. A simulated  video of the journey down the shaft had been projected up through screens on the floor. Very clever. Budejovicky Budvar’s distributors in Ireland, Noreast Beers, had brought over a party of 23 publicans and off-licensees to see for themselves how this growing premium imported beer is brewed at source.
And so we found ourselves enjoying what amounted to a technologically sophisticated brewery tour, skilfully executed for the visitor in seemingly lifelike conditions by the wonders of modern technology.