Drunken Crayfish

Do you know that?
Eerwaarde Pater is a fully malted Belgian strong ale produced by Het Alternatief brewery.

The brew has a 9% alcohol content and is matured in oak.

Eerwaarde Pater is distinguished by port and wood notes and a well-balanced sourness. It is a very complex and unusual beer.

Enjoy!

Japan: Kirin-Suntory merger talks terminated over clash of opinions

Japanese brewers Kirin and Suntory announced on February, 8 that they had terminated their merger negotiations.

Despite months of talks, Japan?s second- and third-largest brewers failed to resolve deep-rooted differences over who would own and manage the future company.

Suntory said it acknowledged discrepancy of understandings of two companies including integration ratio and considered that it would be difficult to realize a desirable new integrated company which Suntory had been seeking for.

Kirin claimed it had been negotiating on the premise that the new entity would be managed as a listed company in order to ensure appropriate management independence and transparency. However, it became apparent that Suntory held a different view on this matter, and Kirin determined that even if negotiations were to continue, they were unlikely to result in the establishment of a company that would fulfil Kirin’s aim of developing as a leading global company and earn the understanding and approval of Kirin’s domestic and overseas customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders. Kirin therefore resolved to terminate the negotiations.

The merger plan, first unveiled last July, would have created a company with annual revenue of about 3.8 trillion yen ($43 billion) rivaling the world’s leading brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. in terms of sales. But while Kirin, with a market capitalization of over 1.3 trillion yen, outweighs privately held Suntory in terms of size, the Suntory family’s near-90% stake in its company meant it could have ended up with a controlling stake of over one third of the merged firm.

When the deal was first announced, catching industry watchers by surprise, the pair said they hoped to reach accord on merger details by the end of last year. But Japanese media reports suggesting trouble in hammering out a deal seeped out toward the end of last year, and the pair subsequently said the talks could take longer.

Kirin, best known as the maker of such beer brands as Kirin Lager and Kirin Ichiban, was established in 1907. The Tokyo-based company operates beer maker Kirin Brewery, soft-drink maker Kirin Beverage and pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kirin. It generated sales of 2.3 trillion yen for the business year ended Dec. 31, 2008, and is due to report earnings for 2009 on Feb. 10.

Established in 1899, Suntory produces whisky brands such as Yamazaki but has diversified into soft drinks, food and health-related fields. While domestic consolidation has been difficult, both companies have independently been active in trying to expand in faster-growing overseas markets. At the same time that it was pursuing the tie-up with Kirin, Suntory also agreed last year to acquire privately held European beverage maker Orangina Schweppes Group for about $3.3 billion, the largest purchase by a Japanese company in 2009 of a foreign firm.

Drink beer to keep your bones healthy

A new study suggests that beers containing plenty of hops or pale barley malts could promote better bone health thanks to their dietary silicon content, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture posted on February, 8.

Previous studies have established that beer is an important source of bioavailable silicon but little research has been done to find out which beers to contain the most silicon.

Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California sought to plug this scientific gap because dietary silicon appears to support bone development and fight off osteoporosis ? a common disease that increases the risk of fractures.

The Californian researchers said beer contains silicon in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA), which yields 50 per cent bioavailability, making it a major contributor to silicon intake in the Western diet.

Beers full of hops were found to be particularly good sources of silicon. Some were found to contain as much as four times more silicon than is found in malt.

But malt may be ultimately more important overall because hops are used in much smaller quantities than grain in the brewing process.

Looking more closely at malt, the researchers said barley is a better source than wheat. As for the malting process itself, pale colored barley malts were found to contain higher levels of silicon than darker varieties because they face less heat stress.

But generally, the malt process did not cause any major changes in silicon content of barley as most of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting.

So making an overall comment on the best silicon option, lead author Charles Bamforth said: ?Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon.?

Bamforth and his colleagues also tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and categorized the data according to beer style and source. The average silicon content of the beers sampled was 6.4 to 56.5 mg/L.

Beer is perfect when skilfully poured

Having the proper glassware to best accentuate the flavors, aromas and appearance of a particular beer is only the first step in serving the ideal Belgian beer. For the full experience, it must be properly poured from the tap, Sir Marc Stroobandt from Stella Artois advises.

The Belgians have mastered the art of the perfect pour, which not only ensures the utmost enjoyment of the beer, but also showcases the pouring process itself.

This art, known as The Belgian Pouring Ritual, is a nine-step, time-honored tradition that contributes to the country’s legendary gold standard of beer service. Each of the nine steps serves a specific purpose, optimizing serving consistency, drinking enjoyment and the romance of the beer itself.

Step One: THE PURIFICATION
The bartender selects the signature glass for the beer being poured. The glass is scrubbed in a cool-water bath, preferably with a mild detergent. It’s then rinsed with cold water to chill the glass.

Step Two: THE SACRIFICE
The tap is opened in one swift motion to let the first burst of foam flow away. It must never enter the glass, thus ensuring every drop of beer is fresh.

Step Three: THE LIQUID ALCHEMY
The glass is held at a 45-degree angle to create the perfect balance of liquid to foam.

Step Four: THE HEAD
The head is created by straightening and lowering the glass. The foam is visually appealing and releases the beer’s aroma.

Step Five: THE REMOVAL
The bartender closes the tap in one quick action and moves the glass away from the faucet to ensure no drops spoil the perfect head.

Step Six: THE BEHEADING
While the beer is flowing over the edge of the glass, the bartender cuts the head gently with a head cutter at a 45-degree angle. This eliminates the larger bubbles that burst easily and accelerate the dissipation of the head.

Step Seven: THE JUDGMENT
The bartender now stands in judgment. The beer’s head should be two fingers thick.

Step Eight: THE CLEANSING
The bartender then rinses the bottom and sides of the glass. This keeps the glass clean and cool and makes it comfortable to hold.

Step Nine: THE BESTOWAL
A perfectly poured pint of Belgian beer is presented with the logos of the coaster and glass facing the customer.

Marc Stroobandt is a Master Beer Sommelier and Belgian Beer Ambassador with The F&B Partnership in the United Kingdom. Recently, Stroobandt began working with Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe to promote Belgian beers, brewing history and pouring rituals as well as educate consumers on the art of beer and food pairings.

United States: Craft brewers grow in difficult times

Last year was horrible for the brewing giants of the US but craft brewers saw shipments leap almost nine percent, St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted on February, 5.

The nation?s total beer shipments were down 2.2 percent from 2008, the worst single-year decline since the mid-1950s, according to trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights.

Anheuser-Busch was off 2.1 percent nationwide. MillerCoors was down 1.9 percent. Both companies combined represent almost 80 percent of the U.S. market.

At the same time, craft brewers added capacity, tapped new markets, some of them even hired people – notable in an industry that has been making headlines with layoffs.

Two craft brewers, Boston Beer Co. and Yuengling of Pottsville, Pa., managed to do so well in 2009 that they are now too big to be called craft brewers (defined as producing fewer than 2 million barrels a year).

“The trend is toward flavor, innovation and localness, which craft is playing on,” said Benj Steinman, president of Beer Marketer’s Insights.

Craft brewers – made up of regional brewers, micro-brewers and brew-pubs – still occupy a small niche, hundreds of brewers who together add up to about 4.7 percent of the U.S. beer market.

But the stouts, porters and ales that once found the fancy of just beer snobs have discovered a broader audience in recent years. And 2009 might prove to be the breakout year.

Despite the struggles of big beer, the megacompanies are still posting healthy profits, thanks to price increases and cost cuts.

Many of the trends playing out for craft brewers can be seen in the growth of St. Louis Brewing Inc., maker of Schlafly. The brewer saw shipments increase 28 percent last year.

“We’ve never been up that much,” co-owner Dan Kopman said of the 18-year-old company.

Make Valentine?s Day even more special by enjoying Guylian chocolate

Love and chocolate share the same sensational feeling: passion. To make Valentine?s Day a memorable occasion, the renowned Belgian chocolatier Guylian offers a selection of seductive chocolate gifts.

Why not treat your special person to a box of Guylian ‘I love you’ hearts?

You will both fall in love with the individually wrapped, delightfully sculptured Belgian chocolate hearts filled with exquisite roasted hazelnut praliné. For the Sea Shells lovers, there is also a tempting Sea Shell Valentine box.

Enjoy love in combination with the incomparable Belgian chocolate!