The £200 million valuation of the UK-based Cobra Beer, which is up for sale, may deter suitors like United Breweries from making a strong bid for the company, The Hindu Business Line reported on January, 13.

According to sources in United Breweries, the company believes Cobra Beer is “over-valued”.

UB Group’s Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, recently said he was willing to bid for the company’s UK business. But sources in the company say that even if the company makes a formal bid, any further steps would be based on whether Cobra Beer agrees to bring down the valuation.

Sources pointed out that in spite of such a “high” valuation Cobra Beer is yet to post any profits, though it is considered one of the fastest growing beer brands in the UK.

Cobra Beer had earlier tried to sell its company to Diageo, the world’s largest liquor maker, but after failure of talks, it decided to strengthen and expand its business and raised £15 million a few months ago for this purpose.

Cobra Beer’s promoter, Lord Karan Bilimoria, who founded the company 18 years ago, has appointed NM Rothschild & Sons to look for a buyer. After putting the company for sale, Lord Bilimoria recently ...More Info

Vietnam's second-largest brewer Habeco, 16 percent owned by Denmark's Carlsberg, expects revenues this year to jump 26.4 percent on higher beer sales, Reuters communicated on January, 14.

The Hanoi-based company, which launched its initial public offering last March, said in a statement it expects revenues of 5.26 trillion dong ($310 million) versus 4.16 trillion dong in 2008.

Last year's revenues were up nearly 12 percent from 2007.

The producer of the popular Halida and Hanoi Beer brands forecast beer sales in 2009 would reach 433.9 million litres, up 17 percent from 370.6 million litres last year.

The company did not reveal its earnings figures but said it contributed 2 trillion dong to the state budget last year.

Last April, Carlsberg paid $115.6 million for a 16 percent stake in Habeco, valuing the company at about $723 million.

Shares in Habeco are being traded on the unofficial over-the-counter market at around 30,000 dong each, 40 percent lower than their IPO price of 50,015 dong.

Habeco competes against Ho Chi Minh City-based Sabeco which brews Saigon Beer and is the country's biggest brewer.

($1=16,975 dong)

The Germans’ desire for beer is continuing to fall, German Brewery Federation chief Peter Hahn was quoted as saying by Die Welt on January, 10.

According to Mr Hahn, average per capita beer consumption fell to 109.2 litres, down 2.2 litres from the rate of 2007.

He said a combination of an ageing population, changing drinking habits among younger people and the smoking ban which hit pubs and bars, had led to a one percentage drop in beer sales by October.

The global financial crisis then hit hard in the last quarter, accounting for a further full percentage point decline.

The market is not expected to perk up this year either, says Hahn. “For 2009 I am pessimistic for the entire market,” he said, predicting an annual decline in the market of up to two percent.

“The times when each German was drinking more than 150 litres of beer like in the middle of the 1970s are definitely over,” he said.

He said such a continual drop in sales would lead to a consolidation of the market with smaller companies being bought up by larger ones.

Prices are likely to remain stable for consumers Hahn said.

InBev has restarted the sale process for its South Korean brewery, The Financial Times cited undisclosed sources on January, 12.

The world’s largest brewer has assigned JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, its advisers on the Anheuser acquisition, to oversee a sale process for Oriental Brewery, people familiar with the matter said. The banks, however, gave no comments.

According to dealmakers, the company has decided that the Korean business was no longer considered core to its future strategy, but the divestment would only proceed if InBev receives a sufficiently attractive offer.

InBev explored a sale of Oriental last autumn, but shelved the process because of the financial crisis.

"The sale process for Oriental is about to get going again," said one banker hoping to advise a potential buyer. "Many groups will be interested in taking part."

The sale of Oriental, which InBev has owned for a decade, is expected to generate interest from the world's leading beer groups, domestic strategic buyers and private equity firms.

Analysts believe that an outright sale could fetch between $1.5bn and $2bn. However, buyers could struggle to arrange financing for the more expensive deal because of the state of the global credit markets.

Oriental has struggled to address declining beer volumes in recent years ...More Info

Brewer Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU) announced its preliminary Q4 and full year 2008 consolidated volumes on January, 9.

The company said its beer volumes in Chile amounted to 1.61 mln hl in the fourth quarter (+ 2.7%), and to 5.17 mln hl in 2008 (+ 5.2%).

In Argentina, CCU achieved beer volumes of 1.24 mln hl in the fourth quarter (+36.2%), and 3.68 mln hl in the full year (+35.1%).

CCU said it plans to release its consolidated fourth quarter results by the end of January.

CCU is the largest Chilean brewer and the second-largest Argentine brewer. The company has licensing agreements with Heineken Brouwerijen B.V., Anheuser-Busch Incorporated, Paulaner Brauerei AG, and Guinness Brewing Worldwide Limited.

Asahi Breweries Ltd., Japan’s biggest beer maker, expects a sharp rise in sales of low-malt beer as recession-hit consumers drown their sorrows with cheap suds, AFP communicated on January, 10.

Japan taxes beer based on malt content, meaning lower prices at the cash register for low-malt beer or beer-like drinks made of beans, corn or other produce.

The company said it aims to sell over 30 percent more of its Style Free low-malt beer in 2009 compared with last year and over 40 percent more of its Clear Asahi, which is made with barley and spirits.

"The company will strengthen the competitiveness of conventional brands, mainly Super Dry, while trying to expand the market by proposing innovative drink products," Asahi said in a statement.

Asahi’s total beer sales are expected to grow by 0.8 percent this year from 2008.

Russia’s Ochakovo brewery achieved in 2008 a 25.6% increase of exports in money terms and a 6.5% exports increase in litres, the Union of Russian Brewers posted on January, 12.

Ochakovo’s exports of premium beers grew by 32.1%. Total beer export grew by 16.5% to more than 4 mln litres.

The company has expanded its exports geography over the reporting period: contracts were signed with Australia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Canada. The brewer also has new partners in Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Latvia, it is reported.

In 2008, the biggest shipments were sent to Belarus and Germany. Besides, Ochakovo notes higher exports to Estonia, Moldova, United States, and Greece.

The company said its aim for 2009 is to expand its exports geography by entering the markets of the Latin America, North Africa and Middle East and to secure the further growth of shipments of premium beers.

Malting barley producers say Canada Malt is not living up to signed contracts now that the value of malting barley has dropped, The Star Phoenix reported on January, 14.

This is giving the whole industry a black eye and may contribute to fewer barley acres being seeded this spring, experts comment.

Another source of frustration is the size of the '08 crop. Western Canada produced a high-quality barley crop with much of it eligible for the malting grade. Unfortunately, there's more than the market can use and some producers with a high-quality product will be forced to sell into the feed market at much lower prices.

There are opportunities for profit in 2009, but the right cropping and pricing decisions will be critical, analysts note.

Hop production for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2008 totalled 80.6 mln pounds, Hopsteiner reported on December, 18.

This amount represents a 34 percent increase from the 2007 crop of 60.3 mln pounds and 40 percent above the 2006 production of 57.7 mln pounds.

Idaho’s production increased 76 percent in 2008, while production in Washington and Oregon increased 36 percent and 5 percent respectively.

Acreage in 2008 was up in all three states with a 32 percent overall increase. Yield grew in Washington to 2,072 pounds per acre, and in Idaho to 1,841 pounds per acre. Oregon yields dropped to 1,569 pounds per acre.

Washington growers produced 79 percent of the US hop crop for 2008. Zeus, Columbus/Tomahawk, Willamette, Galena, and Cascade were the leading varieties in Washington, accounting for 71 percent of the state’s hop crop. In Oregon, Willamette and Nugget were the major varieties, accounting for 77 percent of the state’s hop production.

Arja Laitila, Erja Kotaviita, Petri Peltola, Silja Home and Annika Wilhelmson

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 113(1), 9–20, 2007 The present study was carried out to investigate the impacts of bacterial and fungal communities on grain germination and on the malting properties of good-quality two-row barley. In order to suppress the growth of bacterial and/or fungal communities, various antibiotics were added to the first steeping water of barley. This study was also designed to explore the dynamics of the bacterial community in the malting process after antimicrobial treatments by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). The diverse microbial community played an active role in the malting ecosystem. Even previously undescribed bacterial species were found in the malting ecosystem. Suppression of the bacterial community mainly consisting of Gram-negative bacteria was advantageous with respect to grain germination and wort separation. In addition, more extract was obtained after antibacterial treatments. The fungal community significantly contributed to the production of microbial beta- glucanases and xylanases, and was also involved in proteolysis. An improved understanding of the complex microbial community and its role in malting enables a more controlled process management and the production of high quality malt with tailored properties. Key words: Bacteria, barley, fungi, malt quality, malting, PCRDGGE.
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