– Another round of beer bonuses. A-B InBev is paying about $5.8 billion to reacquire a Korean brewery it unloaded for $1.8 billion in 2009. It might look like ABI didn’t make the best business decision, but “ABI’s managers, who haven’t invested their own money, will share an extra $2.5 billion in bonuses, including nearly $300m for Carlos Brito, the company’s boss.” Plus pick up some more cash because of the bump in stock price. [Via The Economist]
– Can we tell the media anything? and get away with it? More (if you were paying attention last week) from Luke Nicholas in New Zealand. [Via Luke’s beer]
– Pull up stool with Brian Grossman. The son of Sierra Nevada Brewing founder Ken Grossman talks about the giant new brewery soon coming on line in North Carolina. And other things, like “Thank God my dad didn’t make cat food.” [Via All About Beer]
– Praiseworthy beer from American Trappists. Don Russell uses the release of Spencer Trappist Ale, from St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts, to review of the history of a mostly forgotten U.S. monastery brewery. St. Vincent’s Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa., brewed and sold beer for more than 40 years at the end of the nineteenth century. [Via Joe Sixpack]
– Between Beruit and a Hard Place. It will be difficult for Steve Hindy to top “story of a Isarelia-backed militiaman and murderer who kidnapped me in Lebanon and ended up selling ice cream to children in the streets of Detroit” in his upcoming “The Craft Beer Revolution: How a Band of Microbrewers Is Transforming the World’s Favorite Drink.” [Via Vice]
Excellent interview with Brian Grossman, that kid has his head on his shoulders. I’d argue Sierra Nevada is responsible largely for the APA style, the reason being, the recreation of Albion Ale showed that, good as the beer was, it really wasn’t an APA as defined today (big citrus bouquet and flavor). So far, IMO, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, especially the draft in the Bay Area, and I know it wasn’t a draft for a long time, is the best pale ale in America. Is it as good as the best English cask ales? I believe not, but that doesn’t matter, a great style was originated which has had a rebound effect in Britain and many other places.
Gary