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February 3, 2016

BEER CAN COLLECTION WORTH A PRETTY PENNY

IT APPEARS that hoarding, ahem, “collecting” actually does pay off.  At least it does for one man, whose collection of 87,OOO vintage beer cans has been valued at $1.6 million.  Jeff Lebo began collecting in 1975 at the age of 13 and has since amassed thousands of unique cans from...
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Pabst GETS INTO THE CIDER BIZ

IF THERE’S a hot trend right now besides craft beer, it’s cider. Pabst Brewing Company has entered into a partnership agreement to distribute, market and sell all of Vermont Hard Cider Company’s brands in the United States. The agreement will take effect March 1. Pabst will have an exclusive license...
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HEINEKEN LOOKS FOR ISLAND LOVE

HEINEKEN is broadening its horizons and heading to the islands. The Dutch brewer recently completed the purchase of Jamaican lager Red Stripe from drinks company Diageo for $78O.5 million. The deal entails Diageo offloading its brewing companies in Jamaica, Malaysia and Singapore, to Heineken. Under the agreement, Heineken acquired 57.9%...
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HOPS SALES ARE HOPPING

HOPS are a hot commodity these days, and the prices reflect it. Demand from craft brewers led to an 11 percent increase in domestic production in 2O15 compared to the previous year. The US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service says production totaled 78.8 million pounds. Washington state produced...
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THE WINE & SPIRITS WHOLESALERS OF AMERICA

The trade group has three new staff members: Heather Calio is Director, State Affairs; Reid Teschner is Coordinator, State and Regulatory Affairs – both based in Washington, DC; and  Arthur Rebisz is Digital Strategy Project Manager for WSWA Services, an affiliate of WSWA.  He is based in Boston.  All are...
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WILLIAM GRANT & SONS

CEO STELLA DAVID is stepping down at the end of February and she’ll be succeeded by current Chief Commercial Officer, SIMON HUNT.  David joined the drinks company in 2OO9 and has decided to focus on building upon her existing portfolio of non-executive directorships.  At William Grant & Sons, she oversaw...
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BOSTON BEER COMPANY

The maker of Samuel Adams beers has named FRANK SMALLA as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer when current CFO WILLIAM URICH retires early this year.  Smalla was most recently Kraft’s Senior Vice President for Finance and served with the food and beverage company for two decades.  In January, he...
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THE BODY AS BREWERY . . .

WELL THIS IS A unique strategy. Drunken-driving charges against an upstate New York woman have been dismissed based on an unusual defense: Her body is a brewery. The woman was arrested while driving with a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit. She then discovered she has a...
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THE KEFIR BEER CURE

BEER, it’ll heal what ails ya’. A craft beer made out of the ingredients from kefir – a fermented milk drink – could substantially reduce inflammation and stomach ulcers, according to a study in the journal of functional foods. Using a sample of 48 rats, researchers induced inflammation on subjects’...
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THE ROLLS-ROYCE OF COCKTAIL KITS

FEELING PARTICULARLY flush and looking to blow some cash?  For consumers with a spare £26,366 (US $38,54O) burning a hole in their pockets, Rolls-Royce has created a limited edition custom-made cocktail hamper.  The luxury car maker created just 15 of the kits, which take eight weeks to make.  Each one...
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