Belgium-based brewer InBev NV and Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc have started talks over a friendly merger to create the world's biggest brewer, a source familiar with the situation said on July 11, according to Reuters.

The Belgian brewer has reportedly hiked its takeover bid for the brewer of Budweiser beer by $5 a share to $70, valuing its target at $45 billion, and Anheuser has also reportedly agreed to engage in friendly talks.

InBev refused to comment, and Anheuser-Busch could not immediately be reached.

This is a chronology of the events leading to the talks:

May 23, 2008 - Market speculation over several months concerning a deal between InBev and Anheuser-Busch comes to a head with a detailed report from on-line site FT Alphaville. The report details a $65 a share bid, financing arrangements and names bankers and lawyers working on a $46 billion deal.

June 11, 2008 - InBev's first letter to Anheuser. This outlines a $65 a share cash bid, valuing Anheuser at $46.3 billion. InBev says the bid price represents a 35 percent premium over Anheuser's 30-day average share price prior to recent market speculation.

InBev says the deal will be financed with at least $40 billion in debt, arranged by eight banks, ...More Info

Health campaigners have criticised a Scottish brewery for launching what it claims is the UK’s strongest beer, at 12 per cent alcohol by volume, The Financial Times posted on July 11.

BrewDog, the Aberdeenshire microbrewery, says its new beer, called Tokyo, is inspired by a 1980s arcade game played in Japan. Described as “intergalactic fantastic oak-aged stout”, Tokyo is brewed with specialist malts, jasmine and cranberries before ageing on toasted French oak chips.

“What justification can there possibly be to bring an extra strong beer on to the market? Super-strength drinks are often favoured by young people and problem drinkers – is this really who the brewery wants to target?”

A 330ml bottle of beer would normally have about 1.5 units, but Tokyo has about four units – the recommended daily limit for a man and more than the limit for a woman, Mr Law said.

James Watt, managing director of BrewDog, is philosophical in the face of such objections. “Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. What logically follows is that you must, from time to time, have excess – this beer is for those times.”

Retailing at £4 ($7.9), Tokyo costs £1 a unit of alcohol, compared with 3.8 units for £1 ...More Info

Governor Brian Schweitzer is asking Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. to honor its relationship with Montana farmers as the company wrestles with a buyout offer, Associated Press posted on July 9. He's urging company executives to keep them in mind when at the bargaining table, facing a possible European buy-out.

Schweitzer says Montana's decades-long relationship with Anheuser-Busch has been beneficial for the company and for barley farmers in the state.

Belgian brewer InBev SA is in the midst of trying to take over the maker of Budweiser. The contentious offer is heading to court. The turmoil has made some Northern Plains barley growers uneasy.

Roughly 25% of Budweiser beer is made with Montana barley. "They've invested a great deal of money in receiving stations in Fairfield, in Huntley, in Sidney," Schweitzer said. "And so we fully anticipate that whoever wins this battle that they will be committed to Montana. But I want to continue to work with them to make sure that Montana farmers continue to produce barley for Budweiser beer."

In a letter to the company, the governor asks it to honor the partnership as the buyout talks to continue.

Schweitzer says the company has at least $1.7 million in payroll and benefits in these communities. ...More Info

Tomáš Brányik, António A. Vicente, Pavel Dostálek and José A. Teixeira

Abstract

J. Inst. Brew. 114(1), 3-13, 2008 The attractive prospect of a continuous beer fermentation system consists mostly of the accelerated transformation of wort into beer. Although continuous beer fermentation has been studied as a promising technology for several decades, the number of industrial applications is still limited. The major obstacle hindering the extensive industrial exploitation of this technology is the difficulty in achieving the correct balance of sensory compounds in the short time typical for continuous systems. This paper offers an integral view on the particularities of continuous systems, which may impart beer a sensorial character distinct from conventionally fermented counterparts. The main groups of flavour active compounds are discussed from the perspective of possible control strategies by means of process parameters and strain selection ... Load full article, 6 pages, 456 Kb, PDF file