| FEATURE NEWS |
| Poisoned Beer Investigation An investigation by police in Brazil has found the contamination of beer which killed seven people and sent 30 to intensive care was an accident likely caused by a manufacturing defect. They were poisoned by diethylene glycol after drinking beer from the Backer brewery Police found a leak in a tank..Eleven people linked to the company were indicted but deliberate contamination was ruled out. Overal 53 batches had the presence of diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol .Backer Brewing Company officials claimed it never bought diethylene glycol but did use mono ethylene glycol in the production process. A supplier in São Paulo is believed to have added diethylene to mono ethylene glycol. A hole allowed the coolant liquid circulating in an external system to mix with the drink inside the container. . Earlier this year, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) provisionally banned all Backer beers across the country. The Três Lobos production site in Belo Horizonte was closed and the company laid off 50 people with another 150 on stand-by as it intends to shortly resume activities. Multiple law suites are expected but the company has been know to have abundant political influence. |
| No Beer beer? Roy Farms, the world's largest independent brewery-direct hop farm, has launched an all-new craft beer brand called No Beer™. This first-ever brew doesn't deliver on great taste or a hoppy flavor, but instead recognizes the people who work at hop farms around the world. No Beer cans are completely empty to put the emphasis on the brand's purpose. Roy Farms is based in Moxee, Washington, Hop farming go deep into the soil of the Yakima Valley — 113 years back, to be exact. Enjoy the official No Beer beer video HERE Dixie Brewing Gone New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson announced that the process to change the name of Dixie Brewing is now underway. The franchise owner said the company will reflect on its role to make New Orleans, and the country, more united. “We look forward to listening, learning and making sure that our brewery fulfills its promise of uniting, inspiring and leading all in our community," Benson said. Benson bought the brand in 2017 Dixie has been brewing since 1907 making it one of the longest working breweries in the US. |
August 2020
| Guinness Nurtures Christmas Trees When bars shut in Ireland, Guinness offered to recollect unused kegs from pub owners. From there the beer is decanted, and dispersed to a number of environmentally sustainable routes. The vast majority of the beer goes to willow and Christmas tree plantations; it’s used as nutrients in those farms. To date Guinness Guinness has picked up hundreds of thousands of unused kegs. Also, a large portion of the extra beer went towards producing a bio-gas that the brewery is planning to continue using in the long-run. The company also used some of it for composting, so really, could Guinness be any more perfect right now? Bad News / Good News American beer companies have shipped nearly 1.9 million fewer barrels of beer this year compared to 2019, according to figures from the Washington D.C. trade group the Beer Institute. There were steep drop over the last two months that show how tough it has become for brewers to hit volume targets while bars, restaurants and other on-premise venues have been forced to close or operate at reduced capacity levels. And as if the loss of sales wasn’t enough, buying back out of code kegs cost brewers thousands of dollars. On the other hand volume sales of beer at large grocery, convenience and club stores are booming. Category-wide volume sales are up 13.6% year-to-date. Much of the current off-premise growth is being driven by sales of f hard seltzer — which are up 88.7% year-to-date,. Beer Back On Delta Delta Air Lines has restored wine and beer service for most of its domestic flights. The move comes three months after Delta eliminated alcohol from flights as the coronavirus surged. Flight attendants will now deliver your beer via serving trays, which eliminate points of contact between themselves and customers. Beer is different and easier than mixed drinks, which involves mixing and stirring and often adding fruit or other ingredients by hand. 3.2 Beer Now Only In One State Minnesota is the only state left still restricting beer sales at grocery and convenience stores to those with 3.2 percent alcohol. Why ?Many “light” beers would meet Minnesota’s 3.2 statute, which uses the old-fashioned “alcohol by weight” measurement. Using the more modern “alcohol by volume” measure, a so-called 3.2 beer is actually about 4 percent. Even lower are low-alcohol brews like Amstel Light or Miller 64.The 3.2 beers specially made for grocery stores are a dying breed: Some brewers have dropped them altogether. So why 3.2, and not some other low number?The answer goes back to Prohibition’s repeal.When popular support for prohibition dried up, politicians realized it might take years to undo the 18th amendment, so they looked for a shortcut. Prohibition outlawed “intoxicating liquor,” but it didn’t mention alcohol content. After hearing expert testimony from one T.C. Haffenreffer of Boston, who said 3.2 was the number brewers could hit and still make non-intoxicating beer, Congress acted and, well, here we are. Efforts to overturn the 3.2 restrictions have been opposed by liquor stores and groups like the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association. |