MillerCoors Testing Mini-Keg for Fridge

(NEWSER) - The nation’s largest brewers plan to raise beer prices in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reports. Anheuser-Busch InBev—maker of Budweiser—and MillerCoors will further test the notion that beer is generally recession-proof. “The environment is very favorable, we think,” says an Anheuser exec. Both companies have been able to offset sales slumps by raising prices in the last year. More»

Super-small operations cater to niches in US niche markets

(NEWSER) - Some so-called “microbreweries” have grown much too large to use that sobriquet, but as certain outfits outgrow the label, others are just growing into it. Portfolio's Lew Bryson introduces the future of beer: one-man brewing. In a market where once-boutique names like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada now command significant share, ultra-small operations have distinct advantages—and disadvantages. More»

Sellers turning blind eye to smuggling, devastating problem: suit

(NEWSER) - The town of Whiteclay, Nebraska, has only 14 residents, but four beer stores which sell nearly 5 million cans a year. If you think those numbers sound strange, you're paying more attention than beer makers, a lawsuit from the Oglala Sioux Tribe charges. The Pine Ridge reservation—where alcohol is outlawed—is just two miles north of Whiteclay across the state line in South Dakota, and the tribe is suing five major beer makers (Anheuser-Busch InBev, SAB Miller, Molson Coors, MillerCoors, and Pabst) it accuses of knowingly contributing to devastating alcohol problems on the reservation, reports AP . More»

2,500-year-old brewery unearthed

(NEWSER) - French people proud of their country's wine-making heritage may be surprised to learn that their nation holds one of the oldest beer-making sites ever found in Europe. The Celtic people who inhabited what is now the Provence region appear to have been just as fond of beer as they were of wine, say researchers who have unearthed a "home-brew" operation in a dwelling dating from 500 BC, reports Discovery. More»

So says MillerCoors, which has a lot riding on it

(NEWSER) - Men guzzle way more beer, but women seem to have a better nose for it. One major brewer—SABMiller, which makes Miller and Coors, among other brands—has concluded that women are better able to discern when a batch is skunky or just right, and as a result, the company has beefed up its arsenal of female tasters, reports the Wall Street Journal . More»