The Final Chapter in Brewing News......4/22/11

• BUD: $61.44
• SAM: $91.97
• TAP: $48.03

So, we have reached the finale. It's the end of the semester and this is my last blog regarding all the news that is the brewing industry. News stories were limited this week, so I decided that I am going to use the majority of this weeks blog to recap some of the major stories that have affected the industry over the course of the semester and where things stand with these different issues and what we may be looking forward to as far as stock prices for the remainder of the 2011 year.

First off, the big bad Anheuser-Busch InBev, this industry's top dog, has seen some extreme ups and downs over the semester. Some of the things that greatly affected the public perception of Anheuser-Busch and caused a great deal of fluctuation in stock prices for this company involved the speculation revolving around the NFL lockout from the NFL Player's Union. This news caught this nation by storm as this country's primary form of entertainment is professional football and it certainly caught the investors of A-B and those with a vested interested in the company off guard. Because A-B is the primary sponsor of the National Football League, the truth of the lockout that has taken place has forced the fear of dramatic sales decreases on the company as they receive an incredible amount of sales from those attending the games as well as from those who support their team from the comfort of their living room's with a 12 pack by their side every Sunday. In my opinion, I believe the National Football League and the Player's Union will have to come to some sort of agreement before this fall because there is way too much revenue at stake, not only for those in the brewing industry like A-B who is the primary sponsor of the NFL, but also for those who sell everything from groceries to team memorabilia. I think that when this is all said and done and things get back on track to where they should be it will allow the stocks at Anheuser-Busch to flourish like the should be, even if the company did sell out to Belgium's own InBev.

The next big series of events over the course of the semester revolved around those at Boston Beer Company. Boston Beer has been having a rough time living up to the forcasted increases in stock prices many people felt this company would have over the course of the year as a whole. Much to the disappointment of the public, as well as myself, craft beer has seen some growth but not nearly the growth the investors and board members of these companies had projected. A lot of the reason that these companies, like Boston Beer have seen such hard times is due in whole or in part to the fact that the cost of nearly all the supplies needed in the brewing industry have suffered the pain of inflation. Everything from glass to hops has gone up a great deal in price forcing many of these brewers to tighten up on spending and try to be much more frugal. Along with cutting down on unneeded expenses, some of these companies have been forced to raise prices to compensate for the costs they are being dealt by their suppliers, and this price jump has caused many people to steer towards "the cheap stuff" again rather than the craft beer flavors they know and love. At least for Boston Beer, their rise in volume from years prior has allowed them to better weather these tough times than many of their smaller allies in craft brewing. Also, Boston Beer has tried to take a stance not only to continue to offer their great craft beer at the reasonable prices we all hope for, but they have also tried to use what resources they can to help keep many of the nation's smaller brewers afloat. I think prices will stabilize again and things will get back to normal, at least i certainly hope they do because I am certainly one of the brewing industry connoisseurs who prefers the taste of craft beer over the watered down and rather tasteless mainstream beers.

In conclusion, over the course of this semester, through mergers, acquisitions, good and bad times, stock prices have stayed relatively the same. this plateau of prices gives me faith that no matter how hard times get the brewing industry will continue to remain relatively recession proof and for those who have investments in these companies....rest assured, beer and brewing is an American past time and something many Americans can't and won't live without so you will always have a stable investment with little chance for losing your hard earned money you have invested. .......As always........................................."stay thirsty my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The World of Brewing.....4/15/2011

• BUD: $61.54
• SAM: $90.86
• TAP: $47.86

Well, its that time again, time for the weekly dose of everything that is the brewing industry. This weeks first topic on the table is about the pain being felt by the CEO of Molson Coors. Molson's CEO Peter Swinburn recently saw his compensation package drop by 13 percent from 2010's falling beer sales. His total compensation was only valued at about $7.1 million which is down from about $8.1 million from the year before. Most of the decline was accounted for by shrinking stock awards, which fell 34 percent to $2.3 million. Swinburn wasn't the only one at Molson Coors who has been feeling this pain as the company has struggled with falling beer sales for some time now and increasing costs for ingredients. Certainly the makings for a lethal combination for all those employed with the company. Numbers-wise the company earned $707.7 million for the fiscal year which is down from $720.4 million the year before.

The next story this week comes to us courtesy of Molson Coors again, this article is from April 13th on Yahoo! Finance and states that "Molson Goes Light with Sublime". The article talks about how Molson Coors Brewing Company is now producing and marketing Molson Canadian 67 Sublime, which is a premium beer with citrus flavor but contains not more than 67 calories per 341ml bottle and has 3 percent alcohol by volume. This beer is now hitting the shelves at select retailers and establishments across Western Canada and Ontario and it will be available in the national markets starting around June 2011. This should certainly be a great addition to the innovative low-calorie beer category. Management at Molson Coors claims that the new brand is offering "health and wellness" along with innovative flavors to make it interesting and enjoyable for all crowds. This launch of the Molson Canadian 67 Sublime is part of a revamping program taken up by Molson Coors to hold back the decrease in volume in the premium and value categories. Sublime will be one of several new products created under the Molson label to cater to the shifting consumer tastes in Canada and also in the U.S. where drinkers are ordering more specialty beers or wine in recent years. The company is especially concerned with the Canadian market where they currently have a roughly 40 percent market share.

This weeks next article comes from a press release posted at Brewbound.com stating "Samuel Adams to Provide New Opportunities for NYC Small Businesses". According to the article, Samuel Adams, aka Boston Beer Company, announced that they will be expanding their philanthropy initiative, Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, to New York City. Focused on the food, beverage and hospitality sectors, the program is geared at supporting lower income small businesses by providing accessible financing as well as business and financial literacy tools and assistance.This program was launched in 2008 in a partnership with ACCION USA, on of the country's top not-for-profit microlenders, and the initiative has already loaned about $540,000 to 60 businesses, largely in the New England area, with the goal of reaching $1,000,000 by the end of 2011. Food, beverage, and hospitality small business owners can apply for loans ranging from $500 to $25,000 to be used for a variety of business purposes including expansion, equipment, and marketing, with all loan payments recycled back into the fund. Their primary goal here is to help fill the current small business lending void in the city's neighborhoods and be responsive to the business and financial management education needs of these business owners through one-on-one coaching. Personally, I think this is a very respectful and helpful initiative the company has taken to help combat the nation's current financial crisis many of these small business owners are feeling, and certainly it will give Boston Beer some always helpful positive PR.

This weeks last topic for discussion comes from an article posted just a few minutes ago on Yahoo! Finance from PR Newswire titled "Concha Y Toro and Brown Forman Complete the Sale of Fetzer Vineyards". Apparently, Vina Concha Y Toro announced today the final acquisition of Fetzer Vineyards and related assets that Brown-Forman Corporation owner in California. This process was completed successfully, which means the transfer of ownership is fully assumed by Concha Y Toro. This acquisition contemplates a portfolio of brands with an attractive positioning in the American market. The brands acquired represent a volume of 3.1 million cases and sales of $156 million in 2010. This acquisition also includes the almost 1,100 acres of owned and leased vineyards in Mendocino County, California, warehouses and production capacity for 36 million liters in Hopland, California, and 6 million liters in Paso Robles, California, and a bottling plant. The principle installations are the the Hopland, California where they employ about 260 people. The CEO of Concha Y Toro was quoted saying, "For Concha Y Toro, the future development of the brands at Fetzer Vineyards is an important challenge, something to which Concha Y Toro commits all its effort and energy to continue with the history of quality which it has already deservedly earned. I am sure that the joint work teams of Concha Y Toro and Fetzer Vineyards will be capable of continuing toward a new stage of development and the integration of this operation will enable us to incorporate the culture of excellence and commitment of Fetzer's team , also continuing to strengthen links with its surroundings and community in this beautiful zone of Mendocino." Well, in my opinion it sounds like a financially smart investment on the part of those at Concha Y Toro and it seems they have a great deal of plans in place to minimize the chance for failure here.

Well that's it for this week so until next week.........."Stay thirsty my friends!"

Brewing News and Updates....4/8/11

• BUD: $59.03
• SAM: $91.50
• TAP: $46.78

Well, we are nearing the end of the semester but there is still a lot of news in the brewing industry that I want to update you on.

First off, yesterday was an interesting and important day for those of us who follow the beer industry. April 7th, 1933 was a very big day in the history of booze as it marked the anniversary of the passing of the Cullen-Harrison Act which became law in the United States. This act made it legal to sell and manufacture alcohol for the first time in 14 years as it was the beginning to the end of prohibition and is a day to remember as the end of the dry nightmare.

Now, on to the news of the industry that has impacted the market. Danish brewery Carlsberg has decided to make some big changes in hopes of increasing sales. In a story titled Branding Makeover for Carlsberg from The Wall Street Journal's website, they discussed how the executives at Carlsberg have decided to revamp the branding, ingredients and distribution of their Carlsberg lager, including a new range of packaging and a new slogan. In detail, the company has changed the design of their cans, changed their slogan, and have reformulated the lager using a new barley developed to keep beer fresher for longer. The company has claimed that consumers will be unable to taste the difference between the old version and the new version, which is already in production and is being rolled out across all Carlsberg markets.The new barley the company is intending on using is called Null-Lox barley and has been developed by the company in ten different versions to suit a range of climates, which will mean the beer could be stored in less than optimal conditions. Null-Lox also has had great disease resistance and needed fewer pesticides. The company is intending on harvesting around 200,000 tons of the barley this year. I certainly feel that this is going to be a very smart move for the company even though they are taking on considerable risks in modifying the world's seventh biggest brand.

In other news, Kingway Brewery Holding Ltd., maker of Kingway Beer, said Monday that its

state-owned parent company has exercised a right to buy a 21.37% stake in the brewer held by Heineken-APB (China) Pte., a Singaporean-Dutch joint venture. This offer has allowed GDH Ltd. the ability to thwart a plan by conglomerate China Resources Enterprises Ltd. to acquire the holding. GDH, which currently owns 52.5% of Kingway Brewery, will acquire the additional shares on the same terms that Heineken proposed earlier to sell to China Resources, which makes China's top-selling beer, Snow. This deal was valued at 1.08 billion dollars and was a big move by GDH in using their pre-emption right to acquire these shares and keeps China Resources from being able to buy a major stock in the Hong-Kong listed firm. This will also allow GDH's state in Kingway Brewery to raise to 73.82% after this deal.

In another story, Anheuser-Busch has made headlines recently as they are in the midst of a gender discrimination suit filed by the brewer's former highest-ranking female executive. This case has recently been sent to the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday. Francine Katz, Anheuser-Busch's former vice president of communications and consumer affairs, alleges that she was given a smaller salary and bonuses than male executives. This case was originally filed in the St. Louis City Circuit Court in 2009 and is still making big headlines as it comes closer to conclusion. Anheuser-Busch wanted to try to settle the situation within the company's internal arbitration process but Katz has demanded her day in court. According to Katz, she raised numerous concerns about the pay disparity between 2002 and 2007 to Anheuser-Busch's CEO Patrick Stokes, former Chairman August Busch III, and former CEO August Busch IV. Apparently, little was done to remedy the situation until Katz finally decided that she was going to stand up for herself.

The last story this week is also about Anheuser-Busch, but certainly on a lot more positive note. A-B said Monday that it's glass bottle plant, Longhorn Glass Inc., is back in production after a $40 million upgrade and expansion. This glass plant supplies bottles to Anheuser-Busch's Houston brewery, including those for Budweiser and Bud Light. The factory now has one of the fastest glass-forming machines in the world. This overhaul allows Longhorn to increase production to 700 bottles per minute, which is up from their previous 600 per minute on one of its lines. Let's hope their sales will continue to rise through the nation's current tough times as the company has a great deal of funds wrapped up in the expansions and improvements they have made here. 

WELL, that's it for this week so..........................." Stay thirsty my friends!!!" 

Weekly Brewing News and Updates.....4/1/11

• BUD: $58.86
• SAM: $92.11
• TAP: $47.24

Well let's get straight to business this week. Obviously today was April fools day but nothing too exciting happened that caught me off guard or 'fooled' me. Instead, rather, a long day of work and then straight home to where I sit now bringing you your weekly brewing industry news. So let's get to business.
First off this week I want to talk about an article I read at minyanville.com posted by Matthew Mallon titled Top Alcohol Sales: The Year Booze Came Back. In this article, Mallon talked about how the recession hit the booze industry almost as hard as it hit everybody else. He states that all that bad news may have driven many of us to drink, but post-2008, we were downing the cheap stuff , switching out top-shelf brands for supermarket vodka. Alcohol sales declined overall in 2009 and into 2010, especially for premium brands, which makes 2011 an enticing time for adding some bottle service to your portfolio. Up-market sales are on the rise as customers are once again reaching for the high-end hooch, and he went on to talk about a few of the spirit-fueled companies poised to make a big splash in 2011 as a result.

 The first company he mentioned was Diageo (DEO). This company has a library of brand names from Guiness to Johnnie Walker to Smirnoff, which are all market leaders in their categories. Diageo is the world's largest alcoholic beverage conglomerate. Aside from producing the top-selling brands in almost every conceivable form of firewater, they also produce Captain Morgan (rum), Bushmills (Irish whiskey), Gordon's (gin), and Bailey's (liqueur). Diageo is also the world's biggest producer of Scotch, operating a vast range of single malt distilleries and blending plants. They HAVE been experiencing some tough times in Europe lately as the ongoing Eurozone implosion has affected consumption, but North American and Asian sales are on rise and analysts predict a 2011 acquisition spree by the conglomerate, possibly involving a little Jose Cuervo in their future????

The next company looking to make some significant improvements this year is Constellation Brands (STZ). They are currently the worlds largest wine company and home to some well-known names such as Robert Mondavi, Woodbridge, and Clos du Bois, not to mention beer brands such as Corona and Negro Modelo. They have been on a premium tear over the last decade or so, snapping up some high-end names while divesting value spirits and low-end wineries such as Inglenook and Paul Masson. Now, the company did take on a great deal of financed debt through their restructuring phase, but they are in a good position to make a strong comeback from their financial hardships as wine sales in the U.S. were up 4% last year and exports of American wine were up 25%. That is why this company will be well positioned to take advantage in a market with a great deal of continued growth potential.

The third topic this week is about the Fortune Brands (FO), who is home to Jim Beam and Maker's Mark as well as a catch-all of home/hardware brands brands and high profile golf names such as Titliest, recently announced it was going to spin off it's non-booze divisions and focus itself on the hard stuff, both existing brands and new acquisitions. Mallon states that to that end, it's Beam Global Spirits and Wine unit just picked up reality TV star Bethany Frankel's Skinnygirl line of "low-calorie" cocktails. Launched just a year and a half ago, the brand has quickly become one of the US ready-to-drink cocktail markets biggest sellers, which is part of a growing trend towards low-calorie spirits that Fortune is eager to exploit. Mallon also went on to say that was a wise move as women's alcohol consumption continues to rise while men's alcohol consumption has stayed relatively the same or decreased even. So, look for this company in the general alcohol market to put up some impressive numbers in the market this year and to make some astonishing growth.

The next company on the table for discussion in news this week is about Brown-Forman (BF.B), who is the owners of my personal favorite for an iconic brand which is Jack Daniels, as well as Southern Comfort, Finlandia and several other high-profile spirits. Brown-Forman was knocked around quite a bit during the recession as target drinkers went off-brand, but recently the company posted an unbelievable 30% improvement over the final quarter of 2010 compared to just a year earlier. The company, which generates 45% of its sales from good-old-boy tipple Jack Daniels, made its gains by selling off non-spirits related divisions including luggage and ceramics and turning their focus to international markets instead. This change of direction will continue to give them the needed momentum to move back to a market position they were once noted with.

The last company Mallon talked about was our American favorite Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the dominant player in the beer biz and one of the five biggest consumer products corporations in the world. They currently have a 49% U.S. market share and unsurpassed global reach as they hold either the #1 or #2 market position in 19 countries. The companies sheer size and marketing muscle makes it a sensible long-term choice, and Mallon also stated that along with Anheuser-Busch, the number two US market leader Molson Coors and would be a smart move as well.

The last thing Mallon talked about was how although Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch control the standard beer market, people should also take a look a something a little tastier and invest in the craft beer industry and companies like Boston Beer and the Craft Brewers Alliance because these tasty brews will only become more attractive as time goes on.
Well, thats about it for this week guys and girls, so until next week..........."stay thirsty my friends"!!

Its time for the weekly brewing update for 3/25/11.

Here we go for brewing industry news for March 25th, 2011.  This week had few stories that amounted to much but there was a couple things that did catch my attention.
First off, this week I read an article on Yahoo! finance about how Molson Coors has continued their global strategy in expanding the Coors Light brand. Molson Coors announced this week that they will be introducing Coors Light to the beer drinkers in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is the largest beer market throughout the Caribbean, in which the light beer category is estimated to make up over half of the country's overall beer volume. Many feel that this is a great opportunity on the part of Molson Coors by bringing one of the world's most refreshing beers to beer drinkers in that country. It's perfectly timed with the market's growing enthusiasm for American beer and the unique drinking experience provided through the cold activation technology. The Coors brand is already widely popular in the Dominican communities across the U.S. so the folks at Molson are optimistic as to its success in the Dominican Republic. Retailers across the Dominican Republic will be carrying Coors Light bottles and cans featuring the cold activated mountains label that turns blue when the Coors Light has been chilled to the perfect temperature for ice cold refreshment. These innovations and packaging enhancements that have become a hallmark for Molson Coors in recent years and has helped them become one of the fastest growing international beer brands worldwide.

My next story this week comes from atmabus at SeekingAlpha.com who wrote about how Boston Beer company keeps chugging along. Boston Beer Company, who's roots date back to the 1860's, is the largest American beer company and has only been around for about 25 years. Although the only have about 1% of the market, the makers of Sam Adams are the largest remaining American brewer. This is because the other larger brewers have all been purchased by companies from outside the U.S. Budweiser sold to InBev from Belgium, Miller sold out to SAB from South Africa, and Coors sold to Molson from Canada. All the players have commoditized the industry while Boston Beer has taken the opposite approach and chose to remain very localized, differentiated, independent, and driven by passion for quality rather than quantity. Founder Jim Koch takes annual trips to Germany to acquire the premium raw materials the company uses for their one of a kind taste and full flavor. Sam Adams has certainly revolutionized the industry with it's success. When Koch started there were no U.S. craft breweries. Now there is over 1600 and they represent roughly 10% of the beer market in this country. Certainly an impressive number considering the companies short history. I couldn't agree with the author of the article more when he says it is very refreshing to see a successful American start-up stay true to its roots despite such rapid growth and popularity.

Continuing on the topic of craft brewers leads me into another article I read from Tom Rotunno at cnbc.com titled The Beer Industry's Bright Spot. This article is discussing how the craft brewers are continuing to show steady growth despite slumping sales overall in the beer market. According to the latest figures released by the Brewers Association, US craft brewers reported an increase of 11 percent by volume and 12 percent in retail sales in 2010.  This growth, which represents more than one million barrels, or the equivalent of more than 14 million new craft beer cases, comes at a time when total US beer sales were down a little over one percent or roughly two million barrels.  This trend has caught the attention of the larger brewers like Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors, who has seen the growing popularity of their Blue Moon brand in recent years. Sales of Blue Moon rose almost 25% in 2010 which is Molson's closest beer that goes in line with the craft brewers market. Fortunately, Boston Beer will be able to stay in the craft brewing industry a little longer as the Brewers Association increased the threshold for being a craft brewer from 2 million barrels to an astonishing 6 million barrels per year. The reason this helped Boston Beer was because they are projected to pass the 2 million barrel mark before this year is over. The increase on the threshold will let them keep the branding as a craft brewer in an industry segment they were responsible for starting.

Well that's pretty much all the news for this week, except for the fact that all my stocks are up this week from last week. Certainly some very good news as I have been seeing some drastically low stick prices across all three of my companies I chose to invest in. I don't know what speculation has caused the recent rise in prices but I am certainly very glad to see it make a positive turn again. Anyhow, until next week........."stay thirsty my friends"!!

It's time for beer news for 3/18/11...

• BUD: $55.04
•  TAP: $43.25
• SAM: $85.76

Off we go for this weeks blog following a festive Saint Patrick's Day celebration for me. Last night was certainly a busy night at all the local bars and the green beer was most definetely flowing. Great times and good spirits made for an eventful night. Now its time to get back to business though. So it's time to talk about some news in the world of brewing this week.

First off for news this week I want to talk about an article I read from David Kesmodel at The Wall Street Journal's website. The article I am referring to was about how investor C. Dean Metropoulos and the Pabst brand he purchased last June are in the works to release a drink they are calling "Blast". Blast, from the makers of the famed american brew Colt 45, will be geared towards being in direct competition with Phusion Products LLC's Four Loko, Anheuser-Busch InBev's Tilt and United Brands Co's Joose. This new malt beverage will marketed by famous rapper Snoop Dogg and will contain fruit flavors and be 12% alcohol by volume, twice the amount of the original Colt 45. This move is going to place the brand into the: high alcohol, fruit-infused malt beverage category, which has been a rapidly growing market category but has drawn much criticism from lawmakers and the different anti-alcohol groups. Promotions for this will begin very soon and it will be advertised s

olely by Snoop Dogg via music, television and other appearences including the fact that Snoop Dogg is already touting Blast on Twitter for his many followers.Blast will be making it's debut in stores on April 5th, which is a rather comical pun that they are releasing it on 4-5 like Colt 45. It will be sold in six packs of seven ounce bottles as well as single 23.5 ounce cans. Overall, this is certainly seeming to be a smart move for the brand as sales have drastically declined over the last few years and I think it will definetly give them the competitive edge in the industry again. On a last note with that, if its anything like Four Loko I would warn you to certainly take caution when drinking it because its effects will hit you very quickly and could lead to the same black-out symptoms where Four Loko got its publicity.

On a different note, Molson Coors did their humanitarian part this week as they donated $50,000.00 to the Japan relief efforts being coordinated by the International Red Cross. Molson Coors has a dedicated sales and marketing organization in Japan and has since 1992, and through this they have expressed a great deal of solidarity with their Japanese team. Also, along with the corporate donation the company has made they have set up a great deal of microsite's at different plants encouraging their other employees to help out with donation's through the difficult times Japan is facing.

The next story for the week deals with the brewer Grupo Modelo SAB. They are the brewer responsible for the brand Corona Extra which is the best-selling imported beer in the US, and Modelo Especial. Apparently, after their main-rival Femsa Cerveza got purchased by Heiniken NV many have begun to speculate as to whether this family owned brewer is going to get acquired by the always pressuring Anheuser-Busch InBev. Fortunatly, as of right now, this company is remaining family owned and beginning to make a rise back in the industry as the mexican economy has started to recover along with the companies U.S. sales. This current rise in sales for the company is being realized as many are again beginning to spend the "extra buck" on quality and consumers are focusing less solely on price. Finally taste is winning the battle again, which is definetly a good thing because that gives me more hope for the craft brewers out there as well.

The last story I found rather important this week was from thestreet.com and it was discussing how the author of the article, jonas elmerraji, feels that brewing stocks are boasting recession proof results. My opinion, this guy has had way too much to drink. After looking at how bad my stocks have dropped over the course of the last 3 months in all three of my companies, I seriously don't feel that the industry as a whole is battling this recession very successfully at all. When I look at companies like Boston Beer Company who has seen a drop in prices of almost 15% in just 3 months, I fear more and mo

re for the future of  brewing and what results the industry is going to see over the next quarter to come. Lets hope for the best and certainly don't lose faith because stocks in this industry can and hopefully WILL bounce back. Until next week though, I repeat........"stay thirsty my friends!"

It's time for your brewing industry news for 3/11...

• BUD: $57.05
• TAP: $44.10
• SAM: $87.23

Well here we go for another week in the world of brewing, and I have a few stories to talk about this week, This weeks first story is focusing on one of the brewing industries favorite holidays. Which holiday am I referring to?? That's right, Saint Patrick's Day!!!!! This holiday is one of the biggest drinking holidays for many of the local pubs and bars and generates a great deal of revenue for them. However, many of the brewers within the industry have begun focusing less and less on smacking a green label on their bottles or adding the normal green food coloring to become more festive and instead these brewers are tipping their hats to one of the most authentically Irish beers on the market and that's Guinness. Guinness has been the traditional Irish beer since back in the 1970's when, ironically, it was still actually made in Ireland. Now, however, with their current London address they are still holding strong sales every Saint Patrick's Day as people attribute this smooth stout to the traditional Irish heritage the people feel they are supporting on that holiday. Many of the other brewers within the market have decided instead to focus on making better tasting beers that they can market year round to gain the sales they need to pull through this recession as best as possible. Also, surprisingly, many stats from Saint Patrick's Day in the last few years has shown a tremendous lean towards the craft brewers of each local town. Many of these craft brewers are making distinct beers for the Irish holiday and they do this because it is something they are known for. They brew up their special holiday brews and distribute them at the local pubs and bars around their breweries and have taken increasingly more sales year over year.

Enough about Saint Patrick's Day, instead I want to turn the focus to the NFL lockout. I touched base with this topic some last week but wanted to go a little more in detail this week. I read an article today from earlier this morning that was title NFL Lockout Winners and Losers and was written by Laura Griffin from CNBC. This article caught my attention when it was listed under my industry sector news for the week. Now, about the article, it refers to the many different places and organizations that are looking to lose a tremendous amount of money if this strike persists with the NFLPA. As I read through the article, one big thing that shocked me was the dollar amount for how much money many of these host cities.would be losing if this 2011-2012 football season doesn't kickk off like it is supposed to. Between breweries and bars along with all the other profits brought in from the football season in general, these host cities are looking to lose roughly 160 million dollars per city if there is to be no season come this fall. That study she was referring to only focused on those cities that have football teams locally in the NFL and didn't discuss the many other places nationally that stand to lose a great deal if this strike continues. I think this in incredibly important for the brewing industry because this lack of sales and the speculation of what could come has caused unsettling drops in the value of nearly all stocks across the publicly traded brewing companies. Not good. Plain and simple. I think the NFL needs to get their things in order and get this season off to a smooth start or this industry could start a pretty steady decline that would be incredibly hard to bounce back from.

The next story this week is about an article I read from The Daily Feed  written by Kevin Depew on March 9th. This story was about how wine has proven to be more recession proof than beer. Suprising? Certainly was to me! After reading through the article though, I did find some pretty interesting information that Mr. Depew had to discuss. The basis of his discussion was based on the fact that during the two most recent recessions in our country wine sales have increased by 3-5% while beer sales have dropped around 6-9%. the main reason Depew feels this has happened is related to the class of the people that consume these different beverages. He discussed how many of the people who purchase and drink wine are of a higher social class and in-turn they have felt the financial impact of the recession less severely than those who consume beer. Many of the consumers in the world of brewing are your everyday blue-collar workers who commonly live paycheck to paycheck and when the economy tanks like it has over the last roughly ten years, these people can't find the extra money as often to enjoy their favorite brews like the more wealthy white collar individuals who consume wine. I do have to say that after reading the article, it seems a relevant argument and in fact possibly investing in the wine and distillers sector may be a smarter investment than what brewing ever could be.

Lastly this week, I wanted to discuss Boston Beer Company's fourth quarter profits that they posted on Tuesday. Boston Beer released their fourth quarter earnings announcing exceptionally strong sales and earnings growths. The only problem from this was that many analysts had much higher expectations for the company and because there sales did not meet those expectations it caused the price of their stocks to suffer as of recent. Overall, SAM posted fourth quarter profits of $12.2 million, or 87 cents per share compared with only $7.5 million, or 52 cents per share this time last year. For the full  year,earnings were up over 60% as well and posted profits of $3.52 per share versus $2.17 only a year ago. Full year net sales rose from $415 million in 2009 to $464 million for fiscal 2010. On top of the years profits and revenue amounts,

the company also ramped up its promotional spending 16% as well, spending nearly $37 million in the process to promote its core Samuel Adams lager and seasonal, along with its Twisted tea and Hardcore Cider namesakes.

News of brewing for 3/4/11

• BUD: $58.04
• SAM: $94.40
• TAP: $44.24

So, another week is in the books and things continue to unfold within the industry. To start things off this week, Molson Coors could be in a better spot to thrive in the brewing market than they may have ever planned. The reasoning behind this is due largely to the recent stories about a possible strike by the athletes of the NFL. The Players Union's contract with the National Football League expires this year and many reporters believe that a strike could be brewing, so to speak. The big reason this could be largely beneficial to Molson Coors is that with their recent sponsorship deal with the NHL, and the NFL players possibly going on strike, this could cause a large percentage of the current football fans to shift to hockey as there may not be much, if any, of a 2012 football season for fans to watch or celebrate. On the other end of that spectrum, this could be very detrimental to the folks at Anheuser-Busch InBev because they are currently under contract with the NFL for their sponsorship. Hopefully the NFL's players do not go on strike, mainly because I am a huge football fan, but also because it would just be another brutal blows to BUD's profiits, which is certainly not needed right now as they rebuild from this recession. Those at Anheuser-Busch seem optimistic and feel that, even though they only posted a 2.1% increase by volume last year from the previous year, they are and will continue to keep growing.

Since there seems to be little news within the industry that relates to any of the publicly traded companies, I did find one story that I thought was particularly interesting. The story I happen to be referring to was at irishcentral.com and discussed how President Obama has officially declared March 2011 to be Irish American Heritage Month. More importantly, the White House also announced that the president would be brewing his own beer called White House Honey Ale for St. Patrick's Day.Obama, who said he will pay for the beer making equipment himself, has made presidential history by being the first U.S. president to brew beer at the White House. Also, apparently the White House Honey Ale was also brewed and served for the White House Super Bowl party last month as well. I do have to say that I am glad to see the president has made this bold move and I respect his continued course of individuality.

Another story I found mildly amusing this week was a little battle of David vs. Goliath. This article I stumbled across at abc15.com. In the article it discussed how the San Tan Beer Company in Chandler, AZ has been asked by The Boston Beer Company to stop using their "traditional" SanTan glass. The Boston Beer Company cited the similar look of the SanTan glass to that of theirs for advertisements for Samual Adams and many of their other craft beers. I really can't believe that they have taken such a brash move against the small and seemingly harmless San Tan Beer Company who only tries to share the same or similar craft brewing enthusiasm that those at Boston Beer Co. constantly vocalize.

My last story this week is from guttridge.co.uk where brewing was the topic for discussion on their "Conveying News" web page. The story I found particularly interesting was about how local brewers in the UK are continuing to defy the downturn and about how the production of cask beer has increased in the face of industry-wide declines. Volumes for independent brewers grew grew by nine per cent in 2010. These SIBA members have made incredible progress by increasing more than 800 percent since 1976. Also, along with the extreme increases they have seen by volume, this dedication to success by the country as a whole has helped them create an increasing number of new jobs as well as help increase business for the many local farmers that supply the resources they uses for brewing.

Well that pretty much sums up the current news in the brewing industry and other relevant stories outside of just those related to those publicly traded companies. Until next week, though, remember..........."stay thirsty my friends"! 

What's up with brewing?--- 2/25/11.

• BUD: $55.20
• TAP: $45.00
• SAM: $91.74

Well, certainly an uneventful week in the brewing industry. Outside of my stocks hitting some unsettling lows, there was little news to make the headlines since my last week's post. So, here we go.

First off, on a positive note, on Tuesday the NHL agreed to a sponsorship deal with Molson Coors. This means that Molson Canadian is set to become the official beer of the National Hockey League. Certainly the biggest shock of this agreement was felt by the league's current sponsor Labbatt Breweries. Labbatt, who has been the league's sponsor for more than a decade, was under the impression, until recently, that things were on track for them to remain sponsors until 2014. They later were informed by the league's chief operating officer John Collins that he feels the NHL needs to take steps in a different direction. Collins, who was quoted saying "this is a monster deal", feels that this change in sponsorship is going to allow for Molson Coors to have major positions across all of the league's current events and the ones they are hoping to create. This seven year deal between the NHL and Molson is just another sign of the postive momentum Collins has been working toward since he was brought on in

 2008. He feels that this will allow for the NHL to gain abundantly more American TV contracts and agreements with various American networks like NBC and Versus. As for the feelings of those at Molson Coors, current president and CEO Dave Perkins feels this will allow the company to take their brand to a whole new level. He also stated that he feels it will enable them to really take hockey to their beer drinkers and to their fans, and to provide hockey experiences to the brand. My opinions on this matter is that I feel it will give Molson Coors some great momentum in the market and most definetly will increase brand awareness in a sport where the could receive a great deal of sales and publicity.

In other news, Belgium owned Anheuser-Busch announced this week that they will be closing their Manitowoc, Wisconsin malting plant. This decision, which will be taking place within the next six to nine months, will affect thirteen employees currently working at this plant. The decision to close the plant was based on current market forcasts, location of raw material supply and more efficient malting processes elsewhere. According to news reports at bizjournals.com, the company determined that their current malting needs were being sufficiently met through other sources, including their malting facilities in Idaho and Minnesota. The brewer did say that there are no plans to change operations at any of Anheuser-Busch's other plants. Certainly my regards go out to those at the Wisconsin plant who will be out of work over the course of the next year from this decision.

My last topic this week for discussion deals with an article written by Colleen Paulson of The Motley Fool. Paulson's article, which was titled "Who's Broke Now?", certainly caught my attention with curb appeal when I strolled across it while browsing through my industry-related news. So, in this article, Paulson went on to discuss the pain that has been felt by the beverage companies because of a weakened economy. She talked about how many consumers have chosen to eat out less over the course of the last three years or so and have resorted to cheaper beverage options. One of the companies Paulson feels could dish out some pain to investors is the Craft Brewers Alliance. The CBA has been feeling a great deal of pain through the current recession and has dwindled their liquid assets down while continuing to dig a deeper hole for themselves with debt. She also went on to point out that the Anheuser-Busch owns 35% of the CBA and she feels this could lead to unfavorable situations, as it did for Rolling Rock. In the article she informed us that Rolling Rock was, at one time, a craft brewer with a loyal following and a one-of-a kind taste that they received from the Latrobe,PA's rolling streams' water they used in their brewing. Once being bought out by Anheuser-Busch, the company got packed up and moved to a new operating facility in New Jersey. The loyal following and distinct taste they once had suddenly faded away as the commercialization began. The CBA has fortunately boasted a five-year revenue growth rate of 34.7% but a 53.20 trailing-12-month P/E. This, she stated is why its too rich for her blood and also why she feels that one misstep could lead the company to what could be a "very painful hangover".

Well that's it for this week, and until next week I remind you to PLEASE "stay thirsty my friends"!

Beer Industry News and Updates for 2/18/2011

• SAM: $95.74
• TAP: $45.60
• BUD: $54.90

Well there certainly is a lot to discuss this week within the brewing industry. First off, China New Borun Company made the news this week again with some positive news for their shareholders. On Thursday the company announced that they have signed two letters of intent with parties in Sichuan Province. These two pre-sale letters of intent state that the company will provide 6,500 tons of their famous corn-based edible alcohol per month starting in the second quarter of this year to their customers in Sichuan Province. This volume will account for about 15% of the companies expanded total production for 2011. These agreements along with the others they have made since the opening of there Daqing Phase III facility will account for 90% of the companies projected production for this year.

Next, in the news was Molson Coors Brewing Company LLC. This week, MCBC announced their regular quarterly dividends that will be payable to their shareholders on March 15, 2011. The company announced that the quarterly dividends payable to their Class A and B shareholders will be US $.28. Also, Molson Coors Canada, Inc, the wholly owner subsidiary of Molson Coors Brewing Company, announced that they too will be paying quarterly dividends to their exchangeable shareholders in the amount of CDN $.28 as well. All dividends will be payable to their shareholders on record on February 28, 2011.

Another story this week deals with a news article written by Ian Wyatt of Seeking Alpha. Mr. Wyatt's article was written about two companies he feel has blossoming stocks for under $10. The reason this is important to me is that one of those companies he happens to be referring to is The Craft Brewers Alliance (HOOK) who is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. In his article he discusses the amazing growth seen by the Craft Brewers Alliance over the last 12 months. The growth he is discussing focuses on how HOOK has made a growth of over 250% in stock prices since March 1, 2010 where they closed at $2.26 per share. As of today HOOK reported a closing price of $7.78 which leads me to agree with Mr. Wyatt's analysis. Now, although I do agree that they would certainly be a wise investment, I also have to agree with many industry analysts who feel that the growth of The Craft Brewers Alliance will most likely plateau or show less significant increases over the next year versus the previous 12 months.My last topic for discussion this week deals with an interview that was done on Fox News on February 15th about the "Beer Stimulus Plan". Being interviewed here were Dan Kopman, Co-Founder of Schlafly Beer, Nick Matt, Chairman and CEO of Matt Brewing Company/Saranac and Leslie Henderson, CEO and Head Brewmaster of Lazy Magnolia Brewery.  In the interview these three brought for a point about their plea to lower the federal excise tax being imposed on micro brewers. The reason these companies feel that they have a valid argument is that although micro brewers only account for about 5% of the beer by volume in the U.S. the do account for 50% of the jobs with the brewing industry. Currently, the nations 1,700 micro brewers employ over 100,000 people in this country and that is why these companies feel they have a valid argument in their favor. Beyond that, if they are able to get this bill through congress it will also lower the cost to taxpayers per employee within this industry. Currently, it would cost taxpayers around $90,000.00 per person employed in the brewing industry and this bill would drastically lower that cost to taxpayers down to only about $4,000.00 per employee. Lastly, the succession of this bill would give the many micro brewers nationwide the needed capital to not only expand their businesses with much needed equipment but also the funding to be able to hire many more employees in our nations goal of lowering the unbearable unemployment rate that we face. I say it sounds like this will be a win-win for all parties involved and I certainly hope they will be able to get a favorable vote in congress.

Well that's all for this week so, don't forget..........."stay thirsty my friends!"

Brewing industry news 2/11/11...

• TAP: $45.05
• SAM: $93.26
• BUD: $55.99

 Beverages - Brewers 
Composite Value: 662.6

Today's Change: +1.07%

This section, from Yahoo! Finance,  shows the beer industry closing prices for this week.

There is certainly alot on the table to talk about this week..... To start things off, August Busch IV was able to have a sigh of relief this week after the recent allegations he was facing involving the death of his 27 year old girlfriend Adrienne Martin(both shown in picture to the right). After nearly two months of speculation in Saint Louis, prosecutors laid their accusations to rest determining that the Busch's girlfriend had high amounts of both cocaine and oxycodone in her system and is believed to have taken a fatal overdose. This news finally relieved the Anheuser-Busch heir of any charges that had originally been sought after as many had originally been suspecting foul play to be the cause of death for the 27 year old model and girlfriend. At least now he will be able to try to take some new steps forward in his life and the publicity will die down quickly so as to not damage the family, or more importantly the company's image any further.

Meanwhile, in other news, Netherlands based Heineken NV, recently announced the acquisition of five major breweries within the Nigerian brewing market. This recent purchased has caused an overwhelming increase in stock prices for Heineken within the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), as this acquisition is looking to boost the company's market share to over 65 percent of the Nigerian beer market. The reason this is going to prove to be incredibly valuable for Heineken is because the brew market in Nigeria is the second largest beer market in Africa, accounting for over 15 percent of the markets 92 million hectoliters average. Trading in the beer sector within Nigeria rose from 10.9 shares to over 15.8 million shares in just the last two weeks proving there is much interest and certainly many hopeful investors looking forward to what should be a very positive future for that market as well as for the Heineken company.

The fourth quarter has produced some astonishing numbers within the industry as many brewers have released reports showing losses of almost half since this time last year due to the rise in the cost of many key ingredients. This story has been addressed alot lately, but as stocks continue to fall industry wide, I feel it is a very important issue. For one, with costs up on the supplies and ingredients needed to produce our favorite beers we could all be seeing some steep increases on prices as well, especially for many companies within the craft brewing industry because these companies will not have the "buying power" of the industry giants. Fortunately, many of these companies have started to strategize ways to lower the costs of production as a means to keep prices down......at least for as long as possible. Some of the companies have been looking at different promotions to increase desire for their specific product while others have ventured into making different styles of drinks that will require less of the ingredients that are facing inflation costs. MolsonCoors, for one, is looking at releasing a new Miller Genuine Draft lemonade this summer and trying to use advertisements to gain more interest also in Blue Moon. Both SAM and HOOK ( Craft Brewers Alliance-Nasdaq) will follow TAP's lead with the summertime promotions as well.

Lastly, China New Borun Corporation(NYSE-BORN) recently announced the opening of their Daqing Phase III facility. BORN, the leading producer of corn-based edible alcohol in China, is going to be using this new facility to meet the demands of a rapidly growing market within China for the corn-based alcohol. With growths of over 50 percent within their market over the last 12 months, this facility was most definitely a necessity as they have increased sales to over 380,000 tons per annum. Also, along with their existing by-products of DDGS, corn germ, and liquid carbon dioxide, this new facility will allow for the creation of one additional by-product which is corn crude oil. They are expecting with their expanded capacity and current by-products offering they will be able to increase revenue and profit growth in 2011 by substantial amounts as they push forward towards their goal of becoming the world's largest producer of corn-based edible alcohol.

The world of brewing as of 2/4/11.

• SAM: $93.83
• TAP: $47.47
• BUD: $55.59

The end of another week of trading with new prices to share with you. First off, on a positive note, The Boston Beer Company (SAM) made an incredible increase over the course of the week boasting a 4.5% increase from $89.76 last week to $93.83 this week.  Another of my companies, Molson Coors Brewing Company also made some movement in the right direction as they climbed up 2.1% from $46.51 last week to $47.47 by the close of business today. Now for the bad news, Anheuser-Busch (BUD) made another unfortunate drop in prices from $56.47 down to $55.59 which was a decrease of 1.6% and their lowest prices since the start of my investments with them. Overall, not a very bad week but I am still  staying hopeful for the week when all three of my companies make some substantial progress in the right direction.

Now as for the news and excitement within my industry of brewing.....another few stories have made the headlines this week. Recent reports of barley shortages have caused some to worry about the future of stock prices within the brewing industry. Poor barley crops in both Europe and North America could cause the prices of our favorite beers to increase drastically. This rise in prices could cripple sales for many brewers and unfortunately cause a very unsettling drop in stock prices throughout the industry. Some companies, like Anheuser Busch, who get their barley from South America may be able to weather this storm a little better than others, which lets me keep at least some hopefullness for future of my stocks in the brewing industry. This increase in hops has been the first major increase in prices since the hops shortage since 2007 when many companies were facing hard times.

One company who stood out in the midst of the hops shortage in 2007 was The Boston Beer Company. They hosted what was called the "Hop Sharing Program". Through this program they donated over 20000 pounds of hops to 96 different craft brewers nationwide to help keep them afloat. It will be interesting to see, with the prices of hops on the rise, if any of the industry giants will make another generous effort to aide the craft brewers through the upcoming tough times they will face.

In other news, Vina Concha y Toro sealed a strategic alliance with Cervezas Kross this week. The agreement contemplates the acquisition of a minimum of 40% of the beer company. This is the first time that the Chilean winery has taken a participation in a company of a sector not belonging to the wine business and the objective will be to participate actively in the premium segment of the national beer market.  By entering this business, Concha y Toro will be able to take Kross from its present positive situation to unimaginable growth levels, in turn taking advantage of know-how in marketing, logistics and distribution by being distributed by Concha y Toro y Toro and its commercial network.Vina Concha y Toro enjoys an outstanding position among the world's most important wineries. With consolidated sales in 2009 of US$643 million and more than 28 million cases sold worldwide, the company demonstrates the solidity of its business model and international leadership with a presence in more than 135 countries. One thing has been made certain through this whole deal and that is that both companies involved here have reaffirmed their wish to convert Cerveza Kross into a benchmark in the Chilean beer market, opening up future growth prospects for the brand. This should play out to be very interesting within their domestic market as well as internationally through the many foreign markets they distribute to. 

The last topic of discussion this week is about a beer by the name of "Big Flatts 1901". The reason I wanted to discuss this particular beer is because it will be selling for only $2.99 for a six pack and sold at your local Walgreen's. Why is this important? The answer to that is that with an economy still in the midst of a recession, and this beer having both incredible price appeal and great taste, it could cause sales to suffer for some of the major brewers like Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors. Im still a little sceptical as to what type of serious threats this beer could make against these industry giants, but there has certainly been a great deal of interest in it since its recent release in Walgreen's, Costco and Trader Joes.

Stephen Colbert, the host of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central, certainly shared my enthusiasm in this new beer as he did a taste test on his show recently. Big Flatts certainly did not win any awards here as he stated “Big as in the quantity you can buy with the change between your couch cushions. And flat for both the taste and the position it’ll put your body in,” , this comment obviously as a crack on the beers name as  well as others he made throughout the show have proved he is certainly not going to be a fan of the "budget beer".  Others, like Gina Rakers on the beer blog http://www.hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/, have made comments like "In a word, the taste is terrible, but at 50 cents a can, you can’t expect a whole lot". So although the recent sales have shown considerable demand, these critics amoung others are not impressed.