Thanks to Jason at the Brew Basement for pointing this one out, it’s too good not to share. The New York Times did a fun article on beer cellars and there’s even a photo of Danny Williams’ legendary beer cave. If you’ve been around GABF judging you’ve no doubt seen Danny Williams, who’s been involved for many years. I’d heard about his beer cave — actually an abandoned gold mine — from Marin Brewing’s head brewer, Arne Johnson, who visited it a couple of years ago. The article also highlights Dr. Bill and Matt VandenBerghe from Brouwers Cafe/Bottleworks in Seattle.

The ultimate beer cellar, a Colorado gold mine, liquid gold that is.

Not surprisingly, things are moving quickly in the brouhaha — er, make that brewhaha — surrounding InBev‘s attempt to buy Anheuser-Busch. Frankly, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been about two weeks since InBev tendered their $65 per share offer. Within hours of the bid, the whining began that we shouldn’t allow such an “American” company to be bought by foreigners, despite the fact that A-B’s own record of ruthless business behavior is legendary. As a result, I have a hard time mustering much sympathy. I just don’t find the jingoistic rhetoric very convincing. I can’t say the idea of a beer company that would be as large as a combined A-B/InBev (InBusch is still my favorite suggested name for the newly merged entity) sounds like a good idea. I certainly don’t think it would do the beer world any favors. It would likely screw up distribution for years, and make it even harder for small breweries to get access to market.

So what’s been happening lately? Last Friday, Anheuser Busch’s board met for the first time to discuss the offer on the table. Their initial response? No comment. Then, after rumors of a merger between A-B and Grupo Modelo (in which Bud owns a 50% non-controlling interest) designed to strengthen A-B’s position went south, Modelo president Carlos Fernandez resigned from the A-B board. Shortly thereafter, rumors surfaced that SABMiller was also in talks with Modelo about a possible merger. And if that wasn’t crazy enough, Modelo also reportedly has met with InBev, too!

Then yesterday, InBev sent a third letter to Anheuser-Busch restating their $65 cash offer and urging A-B to make a decision quickly. Later the same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the board had quickly met and decided to reject InBev’s offer, surprising no one. The next step for InBev, they said, was to “increase its bid, or take it straight to shareholders.” But that’s not what InBev did. Instead, this morning they filed suit against A-B in Delaware (where they’re incorporated) seeking to remove all thirteen directors on A-B’s board. Essentially signaling that the gloves are off, the takeover bid is definitely turning hostile. Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that A-B is working on their own plan to boost share value, though they speculate that it’s still won’t be as attractive as the InBev offer.

Curiously, that’s the “official” reason A-B gave in rejecting InBev’s offer; that it undervalued the company (despite the offer being higher than A-B stock has ever been). A-B is claiming that “the InBev proposal fails to be competitive with alternative plans the company has developed in recent months to generate significant top-line and bottom-line growth, which will increase value for the company’s shareholders.” Yeah, right. That and $5 will buy you a decent pint somewhere. They’re obviously trying to convince shareholders not to support InBev’s offer with pie-in-the-sky promises. But if A-B had a plan that could really get the share price up to where the offer is at, wouldn’t they already have done so?

It’s been a busy couple of days, filled with deadlines and the stomach flu. Finally on the mend and with at least one article filed, it’s time to catch up with what’s going in the beer world. And one article on MS Money was sent to me more than any other in recent memory, entitled “Will Microbrews Kill the King of Beers.” It makes some interesting points, though dwells a bit too much on Blue Moon’s success. But I think it’s a little too early to start predicting A-B’s demise. They still hold a commanding lead, which isn’t going away overnight. Even if the InBev takeover bid is successful, not much will change concerning Bud’s market dominance. And even if the big breweries did disappear, I don’t think it’s entirely fair to blame the good beer segment. The reasons for flat sales of the big beers is more complicated than that. And let’s not forget that the big breweries very easily could make all-malt, well-hopped flavorful beers. They just choose not to for economic reasons. So perhaps they are as much to blame as anyone else, acting like old dinosaurs unwilling to change with the times and provide their customers with the products they really want. Can you really blame craft brewers because they do just that?

Coming soon to a bar in California: more crap you don’t need trying to buy customer loyalty for beer you don’t like! Today, the California state senate GO committee passed AB 1245 (a.k.a. the Trash & Trinkets bill) by a vote of 7-1. It will now move forward toward a rendezvous with the appropriations committee sometime in the next 4-5 weeks. If approved there, it will then move on to the Senate floor, the Assembly Go committee, the Assembly appropriations committee, the Assembly floor and then finally to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto.

The bill, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, will without question confer yet another economic advantage on large corporations and again make it harder for small breweries to compete. How out-of-touch do our state senators have to be, to think that’s a good idea? Or is it simply a matter of looking where their campaign financing came from to figure out why they’d vote so obviously against small businesses?

A big thanks to my good friend, John Bryant, from Odell Brewing, who flew out from Colorado to testify on behalf of small brewers, and also to Susan Little, who owns St. Stan’s in Modesto (and where one of the senators on the committee also hails from). Also, thanks to those of you who contacted your senators to help the cause. It’s not over yet, though this is obviously a setback.

Consider this a friendly Monday morning reminder that California bill AB 1245, the “trash and trinkets bill,” will be heard in committee tomorrow June 24, so there’s not much time to let your state Senator know how you feel. To read the full action alert with details about what’s going on how you can help, see my earlier post. Thanks for helping, if you can.

Last night, the beers of Schooner’s of Antioch, California — and brewer Craig Cauwels — were featured at a Beer Chef’s Dinner with the Brewmaster held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel. It was another terrific beer dinner with good food, good company, and, of course, great beer.

Schooner’s brewmaster Craig Cauwels, Brian Yaeger (author of the soon-to-be-published Red, White & Brew), the Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, and me at the Schooner’s beer dinner.

Our dessert of butterscotch bread pudding, with “I Had Dinner With the Beer Chef” written in chocolate around the plate.

For more photos from the Schooner’s Beer Dinner, visit the photo gallery.
 

You know the tide must be finally turning when Time magazine does a long, thorough article on the issues surrounding the drinking age and it’s virtually void of neo-prohibitionist propaganda. I imagine the anti-alcohol lobby must be beside themselves. It’s tempting to believe that the tide may finally be turning against their all-or-nothing approach, but I doubt that. Of course, I can have a dream, too, can’t I? My favorite big galoot, and good friend, Lew Bryson suggested spreading it around on his blog, Seen Through A Glass, and, after reading it, I heartily agree. See what you think.

The first thing you notice about the logo for Seattle’s Brouwer’s Cafe is how cool it is. It’s the rampant lion from Belgium’s coat of arms, The Leo Belgicus, but with the colors’ reversed; black on gold instead of gold on black. And if you think it might make a great tattoo, you’re not alone. On Sunday, May 18, they hosted an Employee Appreciation Day for their three-dozen or so staff. Co-owner Matt Bonney invited his friend, and renowned Tattoo Artist with Seattle’s Anchor Tattoo, John Howel, to the party. He also offered to pay for any Brouwer’s lion tattoo that any of his employees might be interested on getting, figuring at most perhaps a handful would take him up on the offer. But he was wrong, and his employees were far more loyal than even he imagined. Howel began doing Brouwer’s tattoos at eleven in the morning and didn’t finish until just after midnight, doing a total of twelve tattoos in all on employees and friends of the Belgian cafe.

Pastry chef David Albright was among those who went under the needle.

The results on Director of Brewing Operations at Skagit River Brewing, Mike Armstrong’s chest.

For more photos from the Brouwer’s tattoo session, visit the photo gallery.
 

It’s nice to get some good news for a change. I got an e-mail this morning from Mike Altman, owner of Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax, California. You may recall that their landlord was trying to raise their rent by 53%, an unreasonable amount in this economy that would have closed down the brewery on August 15, which is when the current lease runs out. There was a scheduled arbitration, but no one was expecting much from it, given the seemingly intractable position of the landlords. But a more modest amount was agreed upon and I’m happy to report that Iron Springs will remain open after August 15, and most likely for at least the next five years. The Marin IJ has the story in today’s paper. According to the article, the Fairfax Town Council also honored Iron Springs on Wednesday, declaring them “one of the town’s top 10 businesses.” Way to go Mike and Anne, that’s fantastic news!