In July 2010, a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830 yielded many bottles of what is thought to be the world’s oldest champagne.

Five of the bottles later proved to be the oldest drinkable beer yet found.

The local government of the Aland island chain where the wreck was found has now commissioned a scientific study to unpick the beer’s original recipe.

Divers found the two-mast ship at a depth of about 50m in the Aland archipelago, which stretches between the coasts of Sweden and Finland in the Baltic Sea.

The ship was believed to be making a journey between Copenhagen in Denmark and St Petersburg, then the capital of Russia.

The salvaging operation to bring up 145 champagne bottles – since determined to include vintages from Heidseck, Veuve Clicquot and Juglar – had one casualty: a bottle that burst open at the surface, revealing itself to be beer.

The brew has already been sampled by four professional beer tasters.

“They said that it did taste very old, which is no surprise, with some burnt notes. But it was quite acidic – which could mean there’s been some fermenting going on in the bottle and with time it’s become acid,” said Annika Wilhelmson of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).

VTT has now been commissioned to get to the bottom of the sunken beer’s recipe.

“We’re going to try to see if we can find any living yeast or other microbial cells, because that would be very interesting with respect to reproducing the beer,” Dr Wilhelmson explained.

“So far we have seen under microscopes that there are yeast and bacterial cells, but we don’t know if they’re dead or alive yet. If we can’t find living microbes, we will look at the DNA and try to compare it to brewing yeasts that we know today, to see how similar or different the yeasts are.”

Pinning down which hops have been used on the basis of further chemical analysis may be difficult, Dr Wilhelmson added, meaning that reviving the 200-year-old brew for modern drinkers may prove difficult.

“Whatever we analyse, we’re going to have to do a lot of interpreting,” she said. “We need to analyse what it is today and start thinking about what it was like when it was made – when it was fresh, because it clearly isn’t fresh now.”

The latest official figures published by the German Brewers Federation show that in 2009 beer sales have dropped to their lowest level for 20 years.

Sales of all domesticly produced beers fell by 2.8% to just under 100 million hectolitres. (2.2 Billion gallons).

Despite the love that Germans have for their bier – in fact sales have been steadily declining since over the past decade with the exception of 2006 when a long hot summer combined with the hosting of the World Cup to produce increased beer sales.

Germany is Europe’s largest economy and it is believed that the figures are a reflection of a sharp 5% contraction in the Country’s output in 2009.

The reduction in the number of blue collar jobs and German’s changing social habits are probably the longer term contributory factors that could result in further erosions into average consumption figures.

We shall see.

Heineken acquires additional brewery capacity in Nigeria

Beijing Yanjing Beer Group Corporation, China’s third-biggest beer brewer by sales, is expanding in its traditional best-selling area of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, by purchasing a local brand called Jinchuan.

Yanjing’s Shenzhen-listed subsidiary Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd bought a 96 percent stake in Inner Mongolia Jinchuan Health Care Beer High Tech Co Ltd (Jinchuan) for 150 million yuan ($23 million), the Oriental Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing Yanjing’s board secretary Liu Xiangyu.

The report also said that Jinchuan’s executives will hold the remaining 4 percent stake, which is not for sale.

Jinchuan has an annual beer production capacity of 100,000 tons and the brand name will continue to be used, Liu said.

The deal was completed in late December and means Yanjing now owns nine breweries in central and western Inner Mongolia, taking a market share of more than 70 percent there.

The second-biggest operator in the district is China Resources Snow Breweries Co Ltd, which owns three breweries in eastern Inner Mongolia and has a market share of about 20 percent.

China National Food Industry Association Beer Sector Commission said Yanjing will also invest 300 million yuan in Bayannur city to build a new factory with an output capacity of 200,000 tons, double Jinchuan’s current total production capacity.

According to previous reports in the Chinese Securities Journal, Li Fucheng, president of the board of directors of Beijing Yanjing, said the company plans to increase output by 3 million tons during the next five years. Two million tons will come from improvements to the production line, and the other 1 million from acquisitions.

In the past year, Yanjing has paid 227 million yuan to purchase two beer companies in Henan province. Henan was thought the last place in Central China that the big three beer giants (Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, Snow Breweries and Yanjing) hadn’t yet established a presence.

“We believe Yanjing’s further investment in Inner Mongolia is to build a market in which it can be dominant, because the nearby Hebei province and Beijing have been its traditional best-selling areas,” said Zhou Jigeng, a food and beverage industry analyst at Guolian Securities.

“To become more concentrated is a clear trend for China’s beer industry. Acquisitions are helpful to big companies because they can obtain the local brand’s marketing networks for nearly no cost.”

According to company data, Yanjing currently has an annual production capability of 500 tons.

Yanjing realized sales revenue of 8.96 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2010, up 8.1 percent year-on-year. Its net profit of 712 million yuan during the same period was a 26.1 percent increase year-on-year.

Brian Duffy the veteran head of Guinness has been appointed Global Category Director for all of the beers within the Diageo portfolio. This division accounts for sales of over $3 billion.

Among some of the brands that fall under his remit include Harp, Tusker, Red Stripe and of course Guinness which accounts for over half of Diageo’s total beer sales.

The board of directors of the Brewers Association (BA), the trade association representing the majority of U.S. brewing companies, has voted to change the BA’s designation of “small” in its definition of a “craft brewer.” The Association’s board of directors also has revised its bylaws to reflect the change.

In the BA’s craft brewer definition, the term “small” now refers to any independent brewery that produces up to 6 million barrels of traditional beer. The previous definition capped production at 2 million barrels. The changed definition is currently in effect and can be reviewed on the BA website, BrewersAssociation.org. The change to the bylaws went into effect December 20, 2010.

In the Brewers Association’s bylaws, two classes of membership (Professional Packaging Brewers and Associate membership) have been redefined with a qualifying barrelage of 6 million barrels versus 2 million barrels.

The association cited several reasons for the change, including the recognition that “small” is a descriptive term relative to the overall size of the industry.

“Thirty-four years have passed since the original small brewers tax differential defined small brewers as producing less than 2 million barrels,” said Nick Matt, chair of the Brewers Association board of directors and chairman and CEO of F.X. Matt Brewing Company. “A lot has changed since 1976. The largest brewer in the U.S. has grown from 45 million barrels to 300 million barrels of global beer production.”

Matt added, “The craft brewer definition and bylaws now more accurately reflect and align with our government affairs efforts.” On the legislative front in 2010, the Brewers Association supported H.R. 4278/S. 3339, which sought to update the cap on an excise tax differential for small brewers to 6 million barrels per year in production for their first 2 million barrels.

The industry’s largest craft brewer, The Boston Beer Company, is poised to become the first craft brewer to surpass 2 million barrels of traditional beer within the next few years. Loss of The Boston Beer Company’s production in craft brewing industry statistics would inaccurately reflect on the craft brewing industry’s market share.

In addition to Boston Beer, the current growth trajectory of other sizable BA member breweries places them on a course approaching the 2 million barrel threshold in the coming years.

“With this change to the craft brewer definition and BA bylaws, statistics will continue to accurately reflect the 30-year growth of market share for craft brewed beer,” said Matt. “Brewers Association statistics on craft brewers will continue to keep pace with the growth of the industry.”

Craft brewed beer market share is now approximately five percent of the U.S. beer industry, and growing. The BA has a stated mission of helping America’s craft brewers achieve more than five percent market share by 2013.

Matt added, “Rather than removing members due to their success, the craft brewing industry should be celebrating our growth.”

Based in Boulder, Colorado, USA, the Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade and education association dedicated to small and independent American

brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. Visit BrewersAssociation.org to learn more. The association’s activities include events and publishing: CraftBeer.com, World Beer Cup®; Great American Beer Festival®; Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America®; National Homebrewers Conference; National Homebrew Competition; SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience; American Craft Beer Week; Zymurgy magazine; The New Brewer magazine; and books on beer and brewing. The Brewers Association has an additional membership division of 22,000+ homebrewers: American Homebrewers Association.

Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com.

Carlsberg has sold their interests in the Feldschlosschen Brewery in Dresden, Germany.

They have worked hard to protect the jobs of the 172 employees at the brewery and have concluded the sale to Frankfurter Brauhaus.

Carlsberg have also sealed an agreement for continued local representation and logistical support through the new owners.

The Felschlosschen Brewery has an annual capacity of 1.9 million hectolitres.

For those not familiar ; The Frankfurter Brauhaus has their headquarters in the “other” Frankfurt – Frankfurt an Oder in the former East Germany. They were formed in 1988 and were once a part of the giant Dortmund based Brau & Brunnen Group.  You can find out more about the new owners here: http://www.frankfurter-brauhaus.de/

In addition the agreement includes that two of Waysnows brands “Waysnow” and Jigongshan will also be sold to AB InBev.

Tsingtao Brewery currently has no production facilities in Henan province. Waysnow is the second largest brewer in Henan. It owns four beer production bases in Zhengzhou, Xinyang, Gushi and the forth one in Hebei province. as well as a malt manufacturing company.

If Tsingtao are going to complete this deal it looks likely that they will have to increase their offer.

According to statistics from ocn.com.cn, there are currently eight small and medium-sized brewers that could be available for acquisition.

Schlitz – The Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous – and once the biggest selling beer brand in America is making a huge comeback as more and more young people find the style and allure of iconic products from their grandparents generation irresistable.

The brewery which owns the brand – The Pabst Brewing Company have recently been acquired by the leading Private Equity firm C Dean Metropoulos. This has sparked renewed enthusiasm throughout the business to build on the growing following and legacy of the famous beer brand. The Company have plans to roll out the Schlitz brand into several key International territories.

Heineken N.V. today announced that, effective October 1, 2010, it will create a Global Business Services organisation focused on the most effective and efficient delivery of Purchasing and Business Process & Technology services across the company.

Frans Eusman, currently Managing Director, Heineken France, will be appointed Global Business Services Director reporting to René Hooft Graafland, Chief Financial Officer. In his new role, Frans will become a member of Heineken’s Executive Committee.

Frans will be succeeded as Managing Director of Heineken France by Marc Busain, currently Managing Director of Heineken’s Egyptian business, Al Ahram Beverages.

The current Group Business Process & Technology Director and Group Purchasing Director will continue in their existing roles, now reporting to Frans in his role as Global Business Services Director, and will form part of the management team of the Global Business Services organisation.

Over time, it is envisaged that the Global Business Services organisation will also explore opportunities to improve transactional financial shared services.

Commenting on the change, Jean-François van Boxmeer, Heineken’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer said, “Given the scale and speed of our organisational development, we believe there is considerable benefit in moving towards a more structured approach to providing business services. With Frans’ extensive knowledge and experience across our business, he is the right person to lead this ambitious and long-term initiative.”

Press enquiries

John Clarke

Tel: +31 (0)20 5239 355

john.g.clarke@heineken.com

Investor and analyst enquiries

Jan van de Merbel

Tel: +31 (0)20 5239 590

investors@heineken.com

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) and Coors Light are bringing yet another eye-catching, highly functional packaging innovation to market that is bolder, colder and more portable than ever before. Coors Light is launching the 16-oz. resealable Silver Bullet Aluminum Pint in Alumi-Tek bottles nationally on September 1, just in time for football season.

“The Coors Light Silver Bullet bottle represents a great opportunity for us,” said Rick Gomez, vice president, Coors Family of Brands. “We’ve seen our past innovations drive share and volume growth. And we’re going to really leverage the Silver Bullet bottle to gain incremental distribution.”

With its striking design emphasizing the Cold Activated mountains, the new Silver Bullet Aluminum Pint reinforces Coors Light’s positioning as the World’s Most Refreshing Beer, according to Gomez. The bottle delivers portability with a resealable twist off cap and wide mouth opening for a smooth pour. Cold Activated technology provided by thermochromic graphics printed on the bottle plus a Cold Activation Window in the secondary packaging lets consumers see that the beer is cold before they buy it. The unbreakable, 100 percent recyclable bottle helps keep beer cold and is perfect for any occasion, including patios, beaches, sporting events and other occasions in which glass may not be appropriate.

In addition to beer, Ball’s light weight Alumi-Tek bottle can be used for a wide variety of beverages, such as carbonated soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, enhanced water and beverages requiring retort processing. Ball leverages its two-piece aluminum beverage can manufacturing expertise to produce the Alumi-Tek bottle because the manufacturing technology for both packages is very similar. The bottles have the same high quality graphics found on cans and are decorated with the same printing process. Ball manufactures both 12-oz. and 16-oz. bottles at its plant in Monticello, Ind.

Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality packaging for beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 13,000 people worldwide and reported 2009 sales of more than $7.3 billion including discontinued operations. For the latest Ball news and for other company information, please visit www.ball.com.

Fosters Full Year Results

• Net profit (pre material items and SGARA) $711.3 million

• Earnings per share (pre material items and SGARA) 36.9 cents

• Material items loss after tax of $1,162.7 million, SGARA loss after tax of $13.0 million

• Net loss (post material items and SGARA) $464.4 million

• Operating cash flow pre interest and tax $1,371.5 million

• Net debt down $426.8 million to $2.2 billion

“We have a longstanding relationship with Carlton & United Breweries and we’re delighted it is set to continue”, said, Asahi Breweries Ltd President & Chief Operating Officer Mr Naoki Izumiya. “We are extremely pleased with Asahi Super Dry’s performance in Australia and are confident Carlton & United Breweries will continue to position the brand for future growth.”

Since 1992, Asahi has been amongst Australia’s favourite premium imported beers. Under this new agreement, the brand is positioned for rapid growth in coming years.

“Asahi continues to be a leading brand in the Carlton & United Breweries portfolio and we’re delighted to cement our partnership with Asahi,” said Carlton & United Breweries Managing Director, John Pollaers. “We value this extended long term agreement and are proud to have built the Asahi brand into Australia’s favourite Japanese beer.”

Carlsberg UK has unveiled a multimillion pound ad campaign for its San Miguel beer brand.

The two executions for the “Make Time” campaign — “Hourglass” and “Sundial” — are built around San Miguel’s iconic Chalice glass.

“We are delighted to unveil San Miguel’s biggest ever outdoor and press campaign,” said director of brands & insight, Paul Davies.

“These adverts get across the very essence of San Miguel – that we should take a leaf out of the book of the Spanish; to make time for yourself, to make time for friends and to make time for a pint of San Miguel.

“We all work hard in today’s society and spare time is a precious commodity – so you have to make the most of your downtime. What better way is there to do this over the summer than enjoying a pint of San Miguel with friends?”

The campaign has been rolled out nationwide and it will run throughout August — a second burst of activity will launch later in the month and will be focused on key cities across the UK, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

The campaign is supported by cinema advertising throughout the summer featuring the ‘slow men’ advert first aired in 2009.

It is the biggest outdoor poster campaign in the history of Carlsberg UK, with over 11,000 poster sites across the UK showcasing the campaign, including bus stops and digital panels on the London Underground.

The creatives will also be showcased in national press such as The Guardian and The Times as well as men’s magazines like GQ and FHM.

As broadcast on the Bloomberg TV channel in the USA.

One of the UK’s leading lager brands, Foster’s, is being given a sales boost this summer by a new, multi-million pound advertising campaign.

The multimedia package includes three TV ads plus digital, social media and outdoor ambient activity, which aim to re-establish the brand’s sunny, care-free view of the world.

Brad and Dan, two laid back Aussie blokes, lead the campaign, giving over-the-phone advice to British callers facing all kinds of social dilemmas.

The pair’s optimistic outlook – helped by the ‘no worries’ attitude to life – means that no problem is unsolvable.

Gayle Harrison, marketing manager for Foster’s at Heineken UK, said: “We know that Foster’s drinkers aspire to the Aussie, ‘no worries’ attitude to life and the new campaign brings it to life perfectly – in a simple, humorous way.”

Foster’s latest campaign also introduces a new strap line for the brand, “Good Call”. The advertising begun on July 2nd and will run for the rest of the summer.

The joint venture of US brewing companies SABMiller and Molson Coors has found an innovative use for one of its breweries’ waste water.

MillerCoors’ brewery in Ohio has teamed up with a company which produces animal feeds from renewable sources to run a full-scale trial.

The new product will use specialist technology to create a fish food ingredient to replace less sustainable ones currently used on fish farms nationwide.

Leo Kiely, chief executive of the joint venture, said: “We aim to ensure that we utilise our waste resources to the greatest extent possible.”

He added that innovations such as this show that there are “innumerable ways” in which one person’s waste can be made useful to others.

SABMiller recently announced that it would also be improving its recycling infrastructure to help reduce the amount of its packaging that ends up in landfill.

The brewer’s Bavaria subsidiary, in Colombia, has partnered with supermarket chain Carrefour to install 15 recycling centres in several major cities.

Almost 20 years after girls last adorned tins of Tennents’ best-selling beer, its so-called Lager Lovelies are back, in a quirky homage to the original branding.

A new campaign by the Scottish brewing firm will see an unusual return to its use of attractive, scantily-clothed models on cans, by putting elegantly-attired chimpanzees in their place.

According to Herald Scotland, the new packaging imagines how company founder Hugh Tennent might have decorated the drink’s cans in 1885, as an eccentric Victorian “with a penchant for pet simians”.

Jane Cannon, marketing manager for Tennents, said: “We couldn’t do the Lager Lovelies today like we did 30 years ago, [but] the Lager Lovelies absolutely have a fond place in the brand. They play a huge part in our history, so this ad fondly pays homage to them.”

The campaign will also include the launch of two new television advertisements, with actor Sam Heughan playing the role of Tennent, who concocted Scotland’s favourite brew in 1885, just five years before his death at the age of 27.

Family-owned investment firm sees potential for brands

Pabst Brewing Company, the third-ranked brewer in the US with a portfolio of once market leading and now underinvested brands, has been bought by a private investor for an undisclosed sum.

C Dean Metropoulos & Co has entered the world of brewing, taking over fast-growing Pabst Blue Ribbon, regional brands such as Rainier and Lone Star, and other brands acquired over the years from now-defunct brewing concerns such as Stroh and G Heileman. Metropoulos & Co has a track record with FMCG investments, with 65 acquisitions in the United States, Europe and Latin America totalling more than US$10 billion.

Pabst is to be headed by Dean Metropoulos as chairman and CEO with his sons Evan and Daren to be actively involved in Pabst’s operation and strategic investments. Pabst’s management team will remain in place under the new ownership.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Dean Metropoulos was enthused about Pabst’s portfolio, in particular Pabst Blue Ribbon, already a counter-culture favourite amongst younger consumers. Lone Star was described as a “doubling opportunity” and Rainier and Colt 45 were also cited as having growth potential.

Metropoulos noted, “These were the biggest brands back 20, 30 years ago, 50 years ago.”

MillerCoors will continue to brew Pabst’s brands. Metropoulos told Bloomberg that the deal was contingent on a long-term continuation of the existing contract brewing arrangement.

Pabst, headquartered in suburban Chicago with offices in Milwaukee and San Antonio, was owned by S&P Company, part of a charitable non-profit corporation.