InBev next to facilitate vertical integration by purchasing expanses of manure fields: InBev began courting Anheuser-Busch shareholders and staff on Thursday after making a $46.3 billion bid, hoping to add Budweiser to its own Stella Artois and Beck's beers and create the world's largest brewer.
The thing I found most interesting in the article: "SABMiller [is] the world's largest brewer." I never knew that.
If you want a decent analysis of the takeover situation, check out The Motley Fool. Excerpt:
I don't think this is welcome news to Anheuser-Busch on any front, but it's a great move by InBev. Anheuser-Busch shares have been stagnant over the past five years, and A-B shareholders have little reason to expect anything different over the coming years. Sales of the company's flagship brands, Budweiser, Michelob, and Busch, are dead in the water, and there's no reason to think that sales will perk up any time soon. This fact has certainly not been missed by the company's current shareholder base.
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I can't believe, simply can't believe, that this happened in Wisconsin! A Sheboygan man is behind bars after being arrested twice for drunken driving within two hours early Tuesday. Police say the 24-year-old driver was stopped by an officer about 1:50 a.m. after he was spotted driving the wrong way on a one-way street in Sheboygan. The man was arrested, cited for driving drunk and released to his brother about 3 a.m. at the police station. Police say about 40 minutes later, an officer saw the same man, driving the same vehicle at 20 mph over the 30-mph speed limit. I'm thinkin' this guy just might have a legal and mental problem.
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Another use found for alcohol: An Australian who was bitten on his penis by a deadly snake has told how he used a cold rum can to soothe the pain.
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Eighth-grade kid in Texas finds 100-year-old bottle of beer. He investigates and discovers it was brewed by the predecessor of Lone Star, which was later bought by Anheuser-Busch, which is being bought by InBev, which is a really stupid name for a corporation. Anyway, local archaeologists think it's neat.
But will the local prosecutor charge him with minor-in-possession? Can't be too safe, you know. Zero tolerance and all that.
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One of the best things about the emergence of microbreweries: the different beer names. Every Friday as I surf for beer news, I see a bunch of 'em. This morning's favorite: Druid Fluid. The name of its brewer is also good: Middle Ages Brewing Company. Of course, Druids come from pre-Roman Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, and post-Vietnam San Francisco, so they're not from the Middle Ages, but we can forgive chronological errors if the beer is good.
Check out this page for some great beer labels.
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PSA for all three of my Left Coast readers: Eleven great summer beer festivals in the West.
