Anheuser-Busch InBev, world’s largest brewer, announced on December, 15 that it has made an early payment of 3.7 billion USD to Facility “C” of its senior acquisition facilities from proceeds of previously announced disposals.

The company paid 3.7 billion USD of the remaining 8.9 billion USD outstanding under Facility “C” maturing in November 2011, thereby reducing the original 13 billion USD of the Facility “C” to 5.2 billion USD.

Further to the various repayments and refinancings, the Leuven, Belgium-based brewer now has 17.2 billion USD outstanding under its original 54.8 billion USD acquisition facilities, used in connection with the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., with the earliest maturity being November 2011 and most outstanding amounts due only in November 2013.

As a direct consequence of this prepayment, finance costs in 4Q09 will include incremental accretion expenses of 39 million USD and a one-time loss of approximately 221 million USD, as interest rate swaps hedging the re-paid parts of Facility “C” are no longer effective, the company said.

While the accretion expense is a non-cash item, the cash equivalent of the negative mark-to-market adjustment will be spread over 2010 and 2011.

This loss is in addition to the fourth quarter incremental accretion expenses of 86 ...More Info

Despite the fact that ASEAN has decided to remove custom barriers from New Year, Danish brewer Carlsberg still hesitates to invest in the Thai market, ScandAsia posted on December, 16.

Carlsberg was out of the country after a serious disagreement with a former partner, whiskey king and billionaire, Khun Charoen in 2003. The two parties settled in arbitration in London in 2005. Since then, Carlsberg either dared not or simply missed the chance to get back on the Thai market.

"It is true that something happens with customs duties from next year. But Carlsberg has no plans regarding entering Thailand. The prerequisite for entering is a business model that looks promising. We will be sure that we succeed, before we enter. Thailand is a big country and therefore we must be convinced that it will generate a surplus," the International Press Officer Jens Peter Skaarup of Carlsberg said.

Before the dispute with Charoen, which began in 2003 Carlsberg was a conspicuous part of the streets in most places in the country.

Despite the fact that there has been six years since the brewery really were present, one can still find old advertisements in the Bangkok cityscape and draft beer taps with Carlsberg's name. But ...More Info

Cambodia’s Chip Mong Group has inked an agreement Sunday with Germany’s Ziemann Group to establish a US$60 million joint-venture brewery to produce a “world-class beer” in Cambodia, the Phnom Penh Post reported on December, 14.

“We hope the venture will lead to Cambodia producing a quality product to compete in both local and international markets,” Leang Khun, president of Chip Mong Group, said.

According to the terms of the joint-venture agreement, $60 million in capital will be invested by Chip Mong Group, leaving Ziemann Group responsible for operations at the new brewery, which will be called Khmer Brewery.

Work on the plant, to be located in Choueng Ek commune in Phnom Penh’s Dang Kor district, is scheduled to commence in January. When construction wraps up 15 months later, the brewery will create 700 jobs and produce from 100 to 200 million litres of beer annually, Leang Khun said.

Joachim Gunkel, managing director of Ziemann, said the Ludwigsburg, Germany-based firm brought its technical expertise to the venture. He said the firm had 150 years’ experience in the industry, and partnered with some of the world’s biggest producers, including Corona, Heineken and Beck’s.

“We see this as the beginning of a long-lasting relationship where we will ...More Info

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. said on December, 15 it now projects full year 2009 earnings per diluted share of between $2.05 and $2.35.

The company previously provided an estimate of full year 2009 earnings per diluted share of between $1.75 and $2.05.

"We have raised our earnings projection for the full year 2009 based on achieving improved levels of brewery operating performance earlier than anticipated, together with continuing favorable energy and commodity costs and our expectations that these factors will continue for the remainder of the year," said Martin Roper, CEO of Boston Beer.

Russia’s beer output constituted 99 mln hl in January – November this year, down 6.1% as compared to the same period in 2008, Rosstat reported on December, 15.

November beer output, however, increased by 3.7%. Experts explain the increase by the fact that the nation’s beer production registered a 9.4% decline in the same month in 2008.

Brick Brewing Co. Limited, Ontario's largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery, released on December, 10 its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

"The success of Waterloo Dark and Red Baron brands continued into the third quarter inspiring the launch of two new products, Red Baron Lime and Red Baron Light," said George Croft, President & CEO. "Red Baron's clear bottle provides a significant point of difference compared to other brands at a similar price point. Differentiation is crucial in a marketplace that is fundamentally changed from a year ago."

The experience of this past year has made it clear that the increase in the Minimum Retail Price of beer has reduced the price gap between the value segment and mainstream beer prices and put significant downward pressure on the Laker brand. The Laker brand must undergo a transformation to stem the decline and the company is in the midst of a strategic review of the brand with a focus on all facets of the marketing mix, Brick Brewing said.

"Management is constantly seeking opportunities to reduce costs. During the third quarter, the company signed a distribution outsourcing agreement with Ryder to reduce shipping costs by approximately C$0.5 million annually," ...More Info

The reduction of malt stocks and purchases by brewers has put big holes into maltsters’ sales books, analysts said in a research note published earlier this month.

It is also said that malt use per hl of beer has been reduced, and this must be true for a number of brewers. But many brewers claim that they left their recipes fully unchanged, the demand for premium beer is rising, and a report from Japan even says that malt is used in “third category beer”, sources claim.

The German “law of purity”, which allows nothing but malt, water, hops and yeast in beer, is also practiced by a good number of brewers in other countries. Other raw materials for the production of beer, sugar, maize, rice etc. have lost a great part of their price advantage.

A recovery of malt production and shipments is likely in 2010, but it still needs an improvement of the general economy, beer sales and the consumers’ mood, experts believe.

Nile Breweries Ltd, SABMiller’s Ugandan subsidiary, is to build a US $16 million malting plant following the success of its initiative to convert locally grown barley into brewing malt, the world’s second-largest brewer announced on December, 15.

Construction will start in January 2010 on Nile Breweries' existing site in Jinja, and is expected to be completed towards the end of the year.

Mark Bowman, Managing Director of SABMiller Africa said, "The construction of the new malting plant in Uganda is further evidence of what can be achieved when African governments and business work collaboratively to benefit the local communities in which we operate.

"This significant investment comes as a direct result of the success we have had in Uganda of the local raw material sourcing strategy which we are seeking to introduce across all of our African operations."

The use of locally sourced raw materials began in 2002 when Nile Breweries launched Eagle Lager and, subsequently, Eagle Extra both of which are brewed using sorghum grown by smallholder farmers in Uganda. Purchases of sorghum by Nile Breweries have multiplied from 1,600 tons in 2003 to a peak of 12,000 tons in 2007 and in doing so provided income of nearly $2m to ...More Info

A fire-brigade was called on December, 5 to Global Malt’s facility in Worms, a town southwest of Frankfurt, Allgemeine Zeitung reported on the same day.

The reason why the company’s silos have been smouldering during several days remains to be determined, sources said.

A year ago, a fire on the premises of the same company caused the death of one fire-fighter and left injured seven others.

France’s 2009/10 barley output is estimated at more than 12.9 mln tonnes, FranceAgriMer communicated on December, 9.

More than 10.7 mln tonnes will be available for the market, FranceAgriMer analysts said, taking into account the 1.6 mln tonnes of the opening stock and 40 thousand tonnes of barley expected to be imported this season.

France’s domestic barley consumption forecast was reduced to 2.5 mln tonnes, of which 1.5 mln tonnes expected to be used as feed.

The forecast for French barley sales to other EU nations has been revised downwards to 3.9 mln tonnes (- 190 thousand tonnes from last month’s forecast). If prospects for exports to Benelux remain positive (2.1 mln tonnes forecasted), the forecast for sales to Spain has been reduced considerably. The forecast of exports to third countries was also reduced by 0.1 mln tonnes from last month’s publication.

France’s ending barley stock is expected to exceed 3.8 mln tonnes.

For 2009-10, Canada’s barley production is estimated to decrease by 19% from 2008-09 to 9.5 mln tonnes due to a sharp rise in abandonment, resulting in a sharply lower harvested area, and to lower yields, Statistics Canada reported on December, 15.

Supply is estimated to decrease by 7% as higher carry-in stocks moderate the drop in production.

Domestic feed use is expected to decline to due to lower livestock numbers while exports fall because of large world supplies of feed grains.

Carry-out stocks are expected to fall by 23% to 2.2 mln tonnes.

The off-board price for barley is forecast to fall by about C$25/t while the PRO for malting barley (Sel CW 2-Row) is C$208/t.

According to official statistics, Russia’s barley exports amounted to 183 thousand tonnes in November, 2009, Zerno-Online communicated on December, 15.

As compared to October this year, November barley export dropped by 63 thousand tonnes. In November 2008, Russia exported 146 thousand tonnes of barley.

During the first five months of the current season, Russia’s barley export volume was 1.408 mln tonnes, 328 thousand tonnes less than in the same period last year.

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) announced on December, 11 it was issuing final payments to farmers for the designated (malting) barley they delivered to the CWB during the 2008-09 crop year, as well as feed barley delivered into Pool B.

These payments represent the balance of the money owing to farmers after their grain has been marketed through the CWB, and after operating costs have been deducted, CWB said.

Final payment for select 2-row malting barley constituted C$14.05 per tonne, total payment amounted to C$314.05 per tonne.

Final payment for select 6-row malting barley constituted C$14.33 per tonne, total payment amounted to C$294.33 per tonne.

Final payment for Pool B feed barley constituted C$80.15 per tonne, total payment amounted to C$183.65 per tonne.

Dominik Szwajgier

J. Inst. Brew. 115(3), 243–252, 2009 ABSTRACT
Phenolic acids are widely distributed in foods and raw materials. They are easily absorbed by humans due to their simplicity. Once they enter the blood plasma, they act as antioxidants. Beer can be a rich source of phenolic acids in the diet. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of phenolic acids in two experimental worts and beers as well as in nine market beers (using HPLC-UV). An examination of the total antiradical activities of phenolic acids with in vitro model systems (using ABTS and DPPH free radicals), at the concentrations comparable to those detected in beers, was performed. Only low fractions of the main phenolic acids present in barley malt (ferulic, vanillic and p-coumaric acid) were detected in the experimental worts. Moreover, the concentrations of phenolic acids significantly decreased until the last steps of beer production. The main beer phenolic acids (vanillic and ferulic acid) exerted a lower share of total antiradical activity against both free radicals (calculated as the sum of the individual activities of all acids detected in beer) than the minor phenolic acids (caffeic, chlorogenic, o-coumaric, sinapic or syringic acid). The synergies, between individual phenolic acids in pairs, were also studied with in vitro model solutions using free radicals. The total antiradical activity of the compounds studied in pairs, was at the most as high as the sum of the antiradical activity of the individual phenolic acids, but in most cases it was considerably lower (i.e. no synergy was detected).

Key words:
antioxidant, beer, ferulic acid, phenolic acids, synergy,wort.
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