world of beer....

Posts in category By Country

A Casino/Brewery – The Perfect Combination

May2nd
2012 Written by admin

Some time ago we wrote about the concept of the casino brewery in an article about a few of Las Vegas’ best breweries.  On might imagine that a city with a history of entertainment and gambling such as Las Vegas would also have a rich heritage of brewing its own beer but surprisingly that is not the case.  There are some breweries here now but these are relatively recent additions – perhaps the feeling was that the casino atmosphere was more suited to cocktails and mixers rather than the amber nectar.

Things change of course and now it is quite normal to sit down at a game of poker or take a seat at the roulette table with a glass of beer.  Even better, there are a number of local breweries that offer casinos the chance to sell a beer that is a cut above the usual corporate offerings.  You can read about them in this article but today we’re going to concentrate on one that appears to be the perfect marriage for beer drinkers – Barley’s Casino and Brewing Company.  It’s not actually in Las Vegas but is situated in Henderson, Nevada, not far from Vegas and as far as we can tell appears to be the only one of its kind.

Barley's casino and brewery

Barley's Casino and Brewery

Barley’s Casino and Brewing Company opened about 15 years ago, just predating some of the other breweries that began to open a few years later.  It seems like such an obvious solution now – open up a huge slots-based casino and produce the refreshments yourself.  It will prove more profitable in the long run, especially if your brews get a good name for themselves and perhaps new and returning customers will come and play your slot machines and video poker purely because they know they can get a good beer there.  If you don’t sell your beer outside the casino, beer aficionados will head to your venue just to try them out.

The casino itself is not gigantic but it’s not small either.  Slots and video poker are the main focus here (more than 200), there’s no poker or blackjack and you can’t test out your roulette skills here, but you can also use the sport betting facility if that’s your thing.  Or why not order yourself beer while at the Brewer’s Cafe.

The beer has always been decently reviewed and includes brews such as Boulder Cold, Black Mountain, Red Rock and Blue Diamond.  Slots fans and beer fans – give it a try.

 

, , , , , , , ,

Brewing News 15/8/11

Aug14th
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Beer Is Alcohol – Russia

We’ve mentioned this in passing before, but it’s worth elaborating a little on what seems at first glance to be a bizarre piece of news emanating from Russia.  A few weeks ago, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev finally signed a bill to the effect that beer was now recognised as alcohol.

This isn’t a surprise to anyone else but prior to the new law, an alcoholic drink was one

Kids drinking beer

The kids love a beer....

which contained at least 10% alcohol, anything else was foodstuff.  Largely for this reason, beer sales have increased dramatically in recent years as big breweries (especially Carlsberg) have expanded into Russia.  There were no age restrictions on buying beer and it could be sold around the clock like any other food.  In fact this situation will remain until 2013 which is when the new law will take effect.

The vodka industry has been pushing these changes for some time.  Although it’s still marginally the most popular drink, sales have fallen around 30% over the past decade while beer sales have risen 40%.  It’s a battle which has pitted the traditional vodka industry against the incoming brewing giants and has already resulted in a 200% tax increase on beer. The government said that the increase was to control consumption (which it may partly have been) but it was also a sop to the vodka producers who are losing the next generation of Russian to beer.

For another eighteen months at least though, visitors to Russia will be able to witness beer being drink out of bottles on the street by an assortment of age groups.  It’s a common sight to see workers swigging out of a bottle as they wander home from work.

President Medvedev is also attempting to bring alcohol consumption in general under control.  An average Russian drinks twice the critical level as set down by the World Health Organisation and the vodkas industry has also been targeted for tax rises.

 

 

 

News    , , , , , ,

Weihenstephan Brewery, Bavaria, Germany

Jul28th
2011 Written by admin

Weihenstephan Brewery, Bavaria, Germany

The Weihenstephan Brewery in Bavaria is immensely old.  It’s so old that it describes itself as

weihenstephan brewery

The Monastery and Brewery

the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world.  While it can’t take credit for inventing the brewing process – that had occurred centuries before – it can claim to be the forerunner of the quality brewing process.

So how old is it?  The first reference is a historical document from 768, describing a tax on hops grown in the grounds of Weihenstephan monastery.  The brewing would have then taken place in the monastery itself.  Officially the brewery came into existence in 1040 when the current Abbot, Abbot Arnold, obtained a brewing license from the city of Freising.  This is the date from which the brewery says it has been continuously operating.

During the next 400 years or so the monastery was variously pillaged, ransacked, burnt down and rebuilt but brewing continued.  In 1516 the quality of Bavarian beer was assured when Duke Wilhelm IV or Bavaria passed the Bavarian Beer Purity Law which ensured all beer produced in that region would contain only barley, hops and water.

By 1852 the monastery had become a brewing school for Bavarians.  It became an academy in 1895 and then in 1919 it became the University of Agriculture of Brewing attached to the Technical University of Munich.  Two years later it was named as the Bavarian State Brewery.  This 1000 year process of brewing and innovation has enabled the Weihenstephan Brewery to retain its place as one of the world’s great breweries and has contributed significantly to the quality and reputation of Bavarian (and German) beer.

As for its beer, Weihenstephan is best known for its simply titled Weizenbier, or Wheatbeer.weihenstephan wheatbeer Several varieties are available including Dark (5.3%), Light (3.2%) and Crystal (5.4%), all great tasting beers.  Surprisingly for a German brewery, they also offer a non-alcoholic version.

 

So if you’re on holiday in Bavaria, make sure you stop in at the brewery – it offers several guided tours which all include a beer tasting session at the end – the product of 1000 years of brewing history.

Breweries    , , , , , , ,

Brewing News 8/6/11

Jun7th
2011 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Russia’s Growing Beer Industry Held Back by Massive Tax Increases

Any visitor to Moscow in the summer will not be surprised by the emergence in Russia of a generation of beer drinkers.  Commuters strolling home from work or towards the underground system can regularly be seen enjoying a large bottle of Baltika or Ochakovo, despite the technical illegality of drinking alcohol on the street.

Beer in Russia is more popular now than it has ever been.  It appears that a new generation of young Russians are turning away from the more traditional vodka and towards the amber nectar, making it the fourth largest market for beer in the world.  So what are the reasons for this?

It has been promoted as a sort of healthy alternative to vodka, something you can drink outdoors without the stigma of looking like an alcoholic.  The beer industry have also used their marketing opportunities to portray vodka as the drink of the older generation and a reference to the past.  It’s also not classified as an alcoholic drink, meaning that under 18s have no problem buying it.

Beer has also been extremely cheap – this was until the end of 2010 when tax on beer was increased by 200%.  There are also plans in the pipeline to increase it by another 80% sooner rather then later.  This rise didn’t make beer expensive as such, but it did dent the revenues of the breweries.

For their part, the breweries see the hand of the vodka industry behind the tax increases – using their historically influential political power to reign in the newcomers.  The vodka industry denies this, saying that beer is still cheap compared to vodka and that they too are facing a tax increase of 120%, probably this year.

It should also be noted that while the beer and vodka producers still look to exploit the Russian market to a greater extent, Russians in general drink on average twice the amount the World Health Organisation regard as critical.

 

News    , , , , , ,

The Best Beer Commercials – South Africa

Apr10th
2011 Written by admin

I bet you can’t name many South African beers – maybe you can name a couple of you’ve been there on holiday.  If you went to the 2010 World Cup, perhaps you had a few to drown out the drone of the vuvuzelas. I would’ve done, after smashing the nearest horn into a million pieces. Anyway I digress and this post is dedicated to the advertising industry of South Africa and its quest to market beers to the local populace.

It’s a hot climate so lager is generally the drink of choice and the market is dominated by South African Breweries (SAB) which produces some well-known brews such as Castle Lager, Castle Milk Stout and Black Label.  SAB is actually the world’s second largest brewery and owns several international brands such as Miller’s Genuine Draft and Peroni.

So let’s check out some ads – this first one is just funny, short, straight to the point and a but painful.  It doesn’t feature any girls unfortunately but you can’t have everything.  It’s for Hunter’s Dry.

No girls in this one either but it’s here just to prove that all countries can produce near identical ads when sporting occasions appear over the horizon.  The rugby and cricket teams are good – the footballers not so much.

This next one is not funny but is does seem to be a feature of some countries that they produce ads like this – sort of awe inspiring films that for some reason feel the need to inject some good feeling into it’s citizenry.  Canada is another country which seems fond of ads such as this.

…and lastly back to basics with a nice simple one – SA boy meets girl, girl turns out to be Australian, boy walks off in mock disappointment – the usual story.

Top Tens, Video
← Older Entries

Sponsors

Categories