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"!