THE WORLD IS THIRSTY FOR BEER

Sales in the US may be virtually stagnant but a new report says the world’s thirst for beer hit a new high last year, with China leading the way. The report released in late August by the research arm of Japanese brewery Kirin Holdings said it was the 27th consecutive year that beer production marked an increase. It attributed the rise to robust demand in Asia and developing countries. The report said 192.71 million kiloliters (5O.9 billion gallons) of beer were produced last year, up 3.7 percent from 2O1O. China was the world’s largest beer producer – accounting for about 25 percent – for the 1Oth straight year. The United States saw a slight decrease in production from the year before but still ranked second at 11.7 percent, followed by Brazil and Russia.