Beer drinkers turn to less heady brews
A movement is afoot in the United Kingdom where beer drinkers are demanding lower alcohol “session” beers. The idea is that with lower alcohol one can spend more time socializing in the pub without getting drunk. Brewers are also looking to market to more women as well. Some of the larger American brewers are experimenting with the idea, but it doesn’t look like it’s catching on here on this side of the pond.

Foster’s Says Profit Rises 90% on Beer, Asset Sales
With a 55% market share of beer in Australia, Fosters’ profits nearly doubles from raising some beer prices. They also managed to cut costs in their wine business, prompted by a glut in that market, and also by selling their breweries in Vietnam. We Americans did our part, as their sales here were up 17 percent.

No sex please…
A new study shows that middle-aged British women have lower sex drives than their European counterparts. One participant in the study suggests that due to the drinking culture British men just don’t take care of themselves, resulting in beer bellies and being less desirable to women.

Free beer. Free, as in speech
You’ve heard of open source software, but open source beer? A group of Danish students are doing it. “The only requirements for using Free Beer’s recipe and branding are that you have to credit Free Beer and that any improvements to the recipe or branding have to be published and openly licensed for others to use.” freebeer.org

Beer price war brews
Australia, where until recently beer was universally light and bland, now finds itself in the midst of a pricing war for premium brands. Our Ozzie friends’ palates are increasingly looking for more flavorful options.

Craft Beer Growth an American Success Story
This has been all over the beer blogosphere lately, but just in case you missed it: Craft brewers in the United States enjoyed double-digit growth again, increasing sales by nearly 12% in 2006.