Would Bud plus Bud be win-win?

BudvarWould the beer world be a better place if Budweiser bought Budweiser?

Or put another way, would both American-owned Anheuser-Busch and Czech-owned Budejovicky Budvar be better off if A-B bought Budvar?

In the event you didn’t already answer “no” and move on . . .

Evan Rail explains the ins and out of of privatizing (selling) Budvar in his new Beer Culture blog in the Prague Daily Monitor. Then he asks this question:

Yes, I know that sounds like sacrilege to many beer fans. But if Budvar is privatized, can you imagine that anyone other than Anheuser-Busch would end up owning it? And does anyone out there consider for a second that maybe, just maybe, this might be a good thing — and not only in terms of the reduced legal fees for both companies?

We also have we have this view form the A-B side of the ocean. Brew Blog reported Monday that analyst Stifel Nicolaus published a report titled “On BUD’s Takeout Value.”

It asked whether a buyer would pay “more than a typical takeout multiple for BUD.” Absent a bidding war, Stifel’s verdict was no.

Why? Largely because A-B remains underindexed in imports and crafts.

Although A-B distributes Budvar in the United States, where the beer is called Czechvar, that is different than owning the esteemed brewery.

As Brew Blog points out, we heard plenty of rumors about A-B and InBev during 2007. And if (obviously more like when) the dollar continues to struggle in 2008 and InBev’s stock price grows stronger against A-B’s then the possibility of a less-than-friendly takeover increases.

Monday morning musing: Genetics and auction madness

Not sure what your head is ready for this Monday morning, but we’ll start with the heavy lifting and then move on to good fodder for the around the water cooler. (Does anybody still hang out around water coolers or do they just use IM?)

– Don Russell writes about the developing battle over Frankenbeer in Germany; that is GMO beer. This battle packs a double whammy — GMOs (a bigger issue, so far, in Europe than America) and if this violates Germany’s beer purity law, the Reinheitsgebot.

Today there’s a report in the New Scientist about using “supersonic steam” to speed the brewing process. “The steam rips the liquid apart completely to form tiny, atomized droplets,” says Jens Thorup, Pursuit Dynamics technical director. “The droplets create a massive surface area that speeds up brewing reactions.”

Change can be good. This new process would reduce the carbon footprint of brewing. That’s excellent, but better if it doesn’t muck with traditional flavor.

Increasing prices for beer remind us that we’re talking about something that is grown before it is brewed. There’s a lot to pay attention to along the way.

– This fact hidden in Pete Brown’s post about tapping his well-traveled IPA: “Sadly the brewer of our beer, Steve Wellington, couldn’t make it because sales of Worthington White Shield are up by an incredible 67% this year and he’s brewing round the clock.”

Do you think Coors (which runs the White Shield Brewery within its complex at Burton-on-Trent) has any other beers with sales up 67% for the year? Not even Blue Moon is doing that well. Doesn’t this say something about tradition and beer with flavor?

– Plenty of beer on eBay these days, so remember you are bidding on collectible bottles rather than the contents :>)

* As I type, Bottle No. 1 of the 2007 release of Samuel Adams Utopias is at $810. This one is for charity. There are dozens of other Utopias packages available as well.

* Surly Brewing in Minnesota is auctioning a few bottles of Surly Darkness to raise money for EnergyCents, a non-profit Minnesota organization that helps folks with their heating bills. Here’s one, with a current bid of $152.50. Just click on “View seller’s other items” for more.

Surly put 480 of the 22-ounce bottles on sale Saturday at the brewery, with a limit of two per customer ($33 for two bottles, including tax). WCCO reported that buyers traveled from from Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Michigan to buy the beer, and interviewed some who were in line all night. Darkness went on sale at 9 a.m. and sold out at 12:49 p.m.

* A threesome of Lost Abbey beers — Cuvee de Tomme (375ml), Angel’s Share (750ml), and 10 Commandments (750ml) — sold for $199.99 in an eBay auction that closed Sunday. There was no mention of charity by the seller in Chicago.

A similar auction — Cuvee de Tomme, Angel’s Share, and Lost And Found (750ml) — just closed at $141.01. But did not meet the reserve. Same seller, by the way.

DWI program includes ride home from brewery

Rio Rancho signHere’s a bit of forward thinking from an administrator in the county where I pay property taxes:

“If we are doing (DWI) roadblocks, we have to help people get home safely, too.”

And Diane Irwin, administrator of the Sandoval County DWI and Prevention Programs, is putting my tax dollars (and others’) where her mouth is.

Turtle Mountain Brewing in Rio Rancho has already been providing buses to New Mexico Scorpions hockey games, also in Rio Rancho.

The county’s DWI program will begin offering free rides home throughout Sandoval County to brewery patrons who might have consumed too much alcohol at the game or at the brewery, Irwin told the Albuquerque Journal (subscription required).

The county will test the program through Jan. 5. Rides will be available from 10 p.m. to midnight, when the brewery closes.

“We are working together to make sure people get home safely from the (Scorpions) events,” Irwin said. The DWI program has five volunteers, including Sandoval County commissioner David Bency, who will be driving people home.

If all goes well, program officials will meet with other bars and breweries in Rio Rancho and see how they can collaborate, she said.

It won’t mean fewer roadblocks, which at times can seem like a nuisance, but it makes me feel more positive about the DWI program.

(The photo at the top was taken several years ago – it has since been updated, mostly to reflect the rising cost of a DWI. It’s located only a few blocks east of Turtle Mountain.)

Does light (lite) beer have to suck?

Miller Brewing plans to test market three “craft-style” beers lower in calories and carbohydrates than beers described as “craft.”

The Miller Lite Brewers Collection, &#151 a blonde ale, an amber and a wheat &#151 will begin testing in February in Baltimore, Charlotte, Minneapolis and San Diego.

Jack Curtin doesn’t think much of the idea.

If you been slowly accepting the delusion that the Biggies had gotten the point, Miller comes through with the evidence to the contrary.

“Craft-style” beer. I love it.

I understand Jack’s point, but I was already wondering why so many beer drinkers assume that “light” and “full flavored” are exclusive. I started thinking about this last weekend when a former Pabst brewer explained to me how, when light beer was pretty new, they came up with a time-consuming process in order to lower calories but maintain the alcohol level (and thus flavor).

Full-calorie beers (Budweiser, Miller High Life, Pabst) have been squeezed what seems to be forever by specialty beers (imports and “craft”) on one side and low-calorie beers on the other. Perhaps strategists at Miller looked at this and thought, “ahha.” Brew Blog explains:

Miller Lite Brewers Collection is aimed at mainstream light beer drinkers and capitalizes on three beer industry trends: the growth of light beer; the growing popularity of craft beer; and consumers’ growing willingness to pay more for products that deliver a unique or better experience.

I understand that you are skeptical about Miller delivering a better experience. I’m reserving judgment myself, but it surely is possible.

Amber? Think of British bitters, less than 4% abv and full of flavor. Of course, they’re best on cask, something more easily done in a brewpub than an airport bar. And better bottle conditioned (unfiltered and unpasteurized), which probably isn’t part of Miller’s plan.

Blonde? Since Miller is spelling it with an “e” consider Chimay Doree from the French speaking part of Belgian. I figure the 4.6% beer brewed for the monks themselves has about 130 calories (just a little more than Samuel Adams light).

Wheat? How about a Berliner Weiss?

Nope, light beer doesn’t have to suck.