Enjoy the flavor of exceptional beer with a good conscience. This is possible when savoring one of the outstanding beers distinguished with the Slow Brewing Quality Seal.

MegaBrew | In October 2015, the globalisation of the brewing industry drew to a close. The long-awaited takeover of SABMiller by AB-InBev, dubbed MegaBrew, was to render AB-InBev the unassailable leader in the race to global domination. However, five years on, AB-InBev finds itself in an unenviable position. Burdened with debt, it can no longer rely on deals to boost its growth.

Huge untapped potential | Considered as a pariah state for a long time while under the rule of the military junta from 1962 to 2011, Myanmar (also known as Burma) is emerging as one of the most interesting beer markets for domestic and global brewers. A number of foreign brewers have entered the country in recent years. This article presents an overview of Myanmar’s beer market and its major players.

Literature | Charles “Charlie” Bamforth, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UC Davies, California, like no other understands how to impart brewing knowledge in an instructive and entertaining way.

Changes | Of course, nobody knows the future, but there are a few observations and predictions that we can make with some degree of confidence: The COVID-19 virus has disrupted traditional consumer buying patterns in all segments of the food and beverage industries, and beer is no exception. Most breweries now have their backs firmly pressed against a wall. Many will fail, but many others will survive because of their strong financial foundation, market foothold and a ton of ingenuity and grit; and these will be stronger once we get to the “new normal.” Importantly, the consumer will have changed, too.

Australian beer | They had it so good. For nearly three decades, Australia enjoyed an unbeaten run without a recession. It sailed through the dot.com bust and the global financial crisis unscathed. Neither fires, droughts, floods, nor the slump in iron ore price could stop it. The economy just seemed to go up, up and up. Covid-19 might prove a major setback.

Germany | World beer production totalled 1,913 million hl in 2019, compared with 1,904 million hl in 2018. This is a slight increase of 0.5 percent, says the upcoming Barth Report.

GlobalData | According to GlobalData’s recent (June 5) COVID-19 adjusted forecasts, the global beer and cider market will recover to 2019 value by 2022, reaching 630.4bn USD in 2022; this represents a difference of -55.4bn USD against the previous baseline value of that same year [1].

Fight for market share | With more than 8000 breweries currently operating in the United States, the war to capture craft beer drinkers’ dollars is heating up. While it is not clear where the saturation point of breweries-per-capita is – and while it is likely to vary from one region of the country to another – it is clear that “beer tourism” has become a new arrow in the quiver of breweries fighting for market share. If any evidence were needed, the recent “Beer Marketing and Tourism Conference”, held for the fourth year, this time in St. Petersburg, Florida from February 4 to 6, attracted more than 200 attendees from 36 U.S. states, as well as from such countries as Australia, Canada, Germany, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

BrewDog goes mainstreamCraft beer | Shock, horror. Scottish craft brewer BrewDog has gone for a rebrand that is so sensible and grown up that it would make the royal tree hugger Prince Charles proud. Is this the way of the world? That eventually all rebellious punks will take out their earrings, get a haircut and wear a tie to work?