Don't fear big beer

Today's New York Times has this interesting op-ed piece (registration required; go to Bugmenot.com to avoid registration).

From the article:

JUST 10 years ago, the proposed merger of SABMiller and Molson Coors into MillerCoors would have worried craft brewers. Back then, “American beer” was thought of as a cheap product with very little beer flavor. But today the United States has by far the most exciting beer culture in the world, and America’s 1,500 craft brewers are undaunted by the prospect of a juggernaut that would have 30 percent of the domestic market. The age of American industrial brewing is over.

Big Brother just got bigger (and additional news)

Today, Reuters reports that Miller and Coors will merge their operations and become MillerCoors.

Joy.

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For an inside look at Brooklyn Brewery, and the story of an AP foreign correspondent turned brewer, turn your attention to this video at CNN. According to Charlie Papazian's Microbrewed Adventures: A Lupulin Filled Journey to the Heart and Flavor of the World's Great Craft Beers, Brooklyn's Lager is the best selling lager in New York City. Well, at least until Miller's Genuine Draft Silver Bullet Chill arrives in stores.

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It's not exactly current news... I'm not sure that most Indiana beer fans are aware of the lack of availability of Bell's beers in Illinois. Larry Bell had a rough go with his distributor, and due to Illinois laws he was left with the desicion to bend over or go home. He chose to go home. There's a nice (and old) article about it at the Chicago Reader (December 15th, 2006 edition).