The Flying Barrel is a homebrew and winemaking supply shop as well as a Brew-on-Premise located in Frederick, Maryland. On July 26, 2008 they are having an open house of sorts.

Plan to be Here
Saturday, July 26, 2008
10:30-3 PM
3 Great Reasons

BEER: Brian Gruner, the Best of Show winner at the Great Frederick Fair will be here doing an all-grain batch of beer demonstration! Bring all your brewing questions.

WINE: MDCrush’s Rob will be here to take orders for this year’s Californian grapes and giving samples of his wine, made from the grapes he imports.

MEAD: Dave Pugh and Buck Reed, two long-time mead makers will be here with samples of their mead and related honey beverages. National Mead Day is August 2nd. We’re a week early.

Directions

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$50 billion and you can become the world’s largest beer manufacturer.

Anheuser-Busch Agrees to Be Sold to InBev

The combined company is expected to be named Anheuser-Busch InBev, fulfilling a promise by the Belgian company to include the Anheuser name in the new brewer’s title, people briefed on the matter said. Anheuser will be given two seats on the board, including one for August A. Busch IV, the company’s chief executive and a scion of its controlling family.

When this deal is consummated, the three largest brewers in the U.S. will not be American-owned at all.

Job Cuts Inevitable For InBev-Anheuser

Gerard Rijk, an analyst with ING Financial Markets, said job cuts would happen particularly at the corporate level, as well as in the marketing and administrative departments. “The companies can merge their businesses in the UK, China and North America,” he said.

In response to concerns of job cuts, InBev, whose mostly Brazilian management team has a reputation for ruthless cost-cutting, promised to keep the headquarters of the North American division of the company in St. Louis and pledged that it wouldn’t close any of Anheuser’s breweries.

That $50 billion purchase price will require $45 billion in debt. Gotta pay off those loans somehow.

I guess if you want to drink an American light lager that’s truly American, Pabst is your beer. Or Yuengling. They’re #4 and #6 respectively of the top beer brands in 2007. Samuel Adams is #5.

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It is being widely reported this weekend that InBev has increased their offer to $70 per share for Anheuser-Busch, and that the A-B Board of Directors is prepared to accept the offer.

InBev had recently begun a campaign to unseat the current Board. But, apparently confident the deal will go through, InBev has already begun setting up the loans it will need to finance the deal.

Belgian brewer would pay $70 a share

An official announcement will probably be made Monday.

There are still plenty of folks opposed to the deal. Some, however, haven’t completely thought things through.

This Bud Might Not Be for Them

Jordan Moore took the news that his beloved Budweiser could soon fall into foreign hands very personally: He decided he would scrap his plan to get the logo of the King of Beers tattooed on his right rib cage.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” said the 21-year-old concrete worker during his lunch break at The Brick of St. Louis bar, in the shadow of this city’s storied Anheuser-Busch Cos. brewery, “if Budweiser is made by a different country, I don’t drink Budweiser anymore. I’ll go back to Wild Turkey.” (Wild Turkey, a Kentucky bourbon, is owned by French drinks giant Pernod Ricard SA.)

I’ll bet he also shops at Wal-Mart, where just about everything in there is manufactured in China. (Except for some of the display racks. I know they’re made in the U.S. because my brother makes them.)

Expect there to be continuing resistance from political corners as well.

InBev Raises Its Offer for Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser’s about-face risks raising the hackles of Missouri politicians and customers who rallied to the brewer’s side as it sought to fight off the unwanted advances. InBev sought to head off criticism by promising to keep the combined company’s headquarters in St. Louis and to maintain “the Anheuser-Busch heritage” in the new entity’s name.

That did little to assuage Matthew R. Blunt, the governor of Missouri, who said he was “strongly opposed” to an InBev takeover of Anheuser. Last month, he requested a review of the offer by the Federal Trade Commission.

“I am concerned that this sale would have destabilizing impacts on our nation and state’s long-term economic interests,” Mr. Blunt wrote in a letter to the regulator. “I am opposed to this buyout and am asking you to conduct this review as quickly as possible.”

Anheuser’s political support crossed party lines. Mr. Blunt and Christopher S. Bond, Missouri’s Republican senator, were joined by two of the state’s top Democrats: the state’s other United States senator, Claire McCaskill, and Mayor Francis G. Slay of St. Louis.

Mr. Bond said, “InBev buying Anheuser-Busch is as popular in St. Louis as $4 gas.”

And perhaps just as inevitable.

Once again, it looks like the only winners in this deal are shareholders.

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If there’s anything I like as much as a good beer, it’s a good book. Better, then, would be a good book about beer.

Thus, the Hop Talk Store.

Observant visitors would have noticed a widget for the store in our sidebar for the last few months, but we’d not mentioned it until now. The store is stocked with every beer book we could find, not to mention a few related magazines, music, clothing, glasses, and accessories. We’ll keep adding more as we find them.

In the interests of full disclosure, yes, this is an Amazon.com aStore. We earn a commission on every sale through the store. It’s not about the money, though, but about offering a resource to our fellow beer lovers. What little money we make gets plowed back into the website to defray hosting costs, etc.

Anyway, check out the store. If you think something should be added to our inventory be sure to let us know.

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(From Flying Dog’s regular newsletter)

Mike Freeman, a member of the Flying Dog Family (in fact, our longest standing employee) has recently been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme or GBM, a very rare and aggressive form of brain cancer - similar to what Ted Kennedy has. Seeing as we have this newsletter list and you are loyal citizens of the People’s Republic of Flying Dog, I’m am definitely not above begging for support in Mike’s fight. There are several ways you can help if you are so inclined.

• Purchase one of these nifty “Fuck Cancer” shirts at MikeSupport.com
• Make a donation to help cover Mike’s medical expenses at MikeSupport.com
• Follow Mike’s progress and give him support at CaringBridge.com
• Attend Rock the Mike: The Freeman Brainefit on August 23rd, details at MikeSupport.com

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