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You Think We Have A Lot Of Breweries?

January 9, 2016 By Jay Brooks

europe
There’s been a fair amount of talk lately about the number of U.S. breweries hitting a milestone number, and that there are now more breweries in America that at anytime in our history. And that’s great and all, but as Jeff Alworth recently suggested, we should Quit Counting Breweries. And although he meant as the only way to measure growth and improvement in the state of beer, it’s a fair point, although it does, I believe, offer some idea of the bigger picture. Plus, I think we’re all just a little bit fascinated with numbers — things we can quantify — so I doubt anyone will ditch the metric of number of breweries anytime soon.

But if you think we have a lot of breweries, Europe is even more on fire. Sure, they had a head start, and didn’t have that pesky prohibition to slow them down (except in a few places). And while they may have been slower to the movement, or whatever it should be called, of new, usually smaller, breweries opening it’s well and truly now a global phenomenon. As of 2015, according to The Brewers of Europe Beer Statistics, there are over 7,000 breweries in Europe.

The comparison to the U.S. number is helped along by the fact that they’re pretty close in area: 3.931 million square miles for Europe and the U.S. with 3.806 million square miles. Though in terms of people, Europe has more than twice the population of America, 742.5 million vs. 318.9 million in the U.S. But here’s the number of breweries in Europe, broken down by country.

Number of Active Breweries (2009-2014)

Number_of_breweries_in_Europe_2009_2014-color

Most of the countries have seen big growth, although a few are close to static, meaning they either stayed exactly the same or have shown only modest growth. Very few have dropped below their 2009 number. Really, it’s only Turkey although Poland was rising steadily, only to dip a little in 2014 over 2013.

Last week, Ron Pattinson at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins looked at this data (h/t to him for bringing it to my attention) and noticed a few other patterns.

The one exception? Germany. The number of breweries hasn’t changed significantly in the last few years. Which has left it lagging far behind. For the first time since the 19th century, it doesn’t have the most breweries in Europe. The UK caught up in 2012 and has since powered ahead. If you’d told me 10 years ago that there would be over 1,500 breweries in the UK, I’d have felt your bumps.

The effect has been to drastically reduce Germany’s share of the breweries in Europe. From over a third in 2009 it fell to less than a quarter in 2014. While the UK’s share has risen for just under 20% to almost 25%.

Paricularly striking is the growth in countries that aren’t traditionally beer drinking. In Italy, France and Greece the number of breweries doubled. While in Portugal the increase is fivefold. In Spain almost sevenfold.

Earlier today, Ron posted a new analysis that he put together, assembling another table that showed the changes in the number of European breweries by nation from 1956-2014. He used a dozen sources, plus his own, to compile it. Here’s what he found:

Only four countries had fewer breweries in 2014 than in 1956: Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Luxemburg. For Denmark it’s a tiny difference – just five breweries – and Luxemburg is an odd case, being so small. Which leaves just Belgium and Germany, both of which have about a third of the breweries they did 60 years ago. I have to admit, it makes the situation in Germany look much worse than the 2009 to 2014 figures.

And here’s that list:

Number_of_breweries_in_Europe_1956_2014

I can’t help but come back to the population vs. brewery number ratio. It’s seems that per capita may have to more to do with how many breweries can be supported by a population after all. I’m sure it’s more complicated, of course, with history, culture and other factors playing a role, as well. Looking at the ratios, there’s a European brewery for every 104,710 people whereas in the U.S. there’s a brewery for every 77,171 people. So currently, we’re slightly more concentrated in these terms. Who’s got numbers on the rest of the world?

Filed Under: Breweries, Just For Fun, News, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Europe, Statistics

The Big Brewers: Global Spread

November 19, 2015 By Jay Brooks

earth-flag
Looking for something else this morning, I found this map created by Reuters from 2013, showing the dominant beer company for each country, effectively showing “the global reach” of each of the four biggest companies at that time. This was created the last time rumors were circulating about an ABI takeover of SABMiller, in October of 2013.

big-4-global-spread

So I took the map and quickly replaced the teal of SABMiller with ABI blue to show what the global reach might look like post-buyout.

big-3-global-spread-post-sale

And here’s a side-by-side comparison. There will be a lot more blue.

big3-vs-big4

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Business, Europe, Infographics

The Three Europes: Beer, Wine & Vodka

January 26, 2015 By Jay Brooks

atlas-brain-2
I love maps, I does, and especially the more interesting graphic ones that go beyond just showing you point a, b and so on, especially the kind often referred to as pictorial maps. So I was excited to find out about this collection, called The Atlas of Prejudice, by Yanko Tsvetkov, a Bulgarian graphic designer living in Spain. From what I can gather, it’s an amazing, sometimes hilarious, collection of maps and charts showing how different groups view themselves and the world around them. He’s recently published a second volume of the atlas, and in promoting the new volume put out this clever poster of 20 ways of “Tearing Europe Apart,” as an example of the kinds of charts to be found in Atlas 2.

tearing-europe-apart
Click here to see this chart full size.

Number 6, in the second row, shows how Europe can be divide into beer, wine or vodka loving/preferring regions.

europe-w-beer-v

Take a look at that yellow sliver of a triangle in continental Europe. I suspect that the whole project is meant to be more thought-provoking and/or funny as opposed to being a completely accurate rendering of data, more using stereotypes or the author’s (and perhaps many other people’s) sense of these differences that are highlighted by the charts. But still, the slice of beer seems a bit too small to me, cutting through Belgium, obviously, the Netherlands, but only a portion of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, and also ignoring most of the Balkans and many far eastern European nations. I had always thought that those areas heavily favored beer, but maybe that’s outdated or was simply wrong. So I ask my Europeans friends and colleagues. Does that look right? Is vodka more popular than beer in most of those areas shown in in blue?

I don’t think he did a similar chart for the U.S. But I think it would look something like this:

us-w-beer-v

Filed Under: Beers, Editorial, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Europe, Infographics, Statistics

EU Negotiating For Protected Beer Names

April 6, 2014 By Jay Brooks

european_union
Apparently in Washington, our Congress is hard at work negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU. Not surprisingly, the EU is asking for protective status of European products that are traditionally from Europe. You can’t really blame them. For instance they’re asking for the names “feta” and “parmesan” only for cheese made in Europe. I don’t know the history of those cheeses, but I’m guessing Greece and Italy do, and believe their cheeses to be the true expressions of them. They’re also asking that “‘bratwurst’ be allowed on only European-produced sausages.” Again, I don’t know the history but given that German and other European immigrants came to America and started businesses making bratwursts a hundred years ago, or more, it seems a tough sell. I likewise assume it was Italians in the U.S. who began marketing parmesan cheese here long before Kraft got in the game.

But according to an article in the USA Today, Senators: Back off our brats, beer, they’re not stopping there. I might have expected that Belgian beer might be part of the negotiations, since Belgian brewers aren’t thrilled about American beers labeled as “Belgian” instead of “Belgian-style.” But it’s “Oktoberfest” they object to. According to the story, “[i]f U.S. negotiators agree to European demands, U.S. manufacturers would have to change product names to “Oktoberfest-like ale.”

But since an “Oktoberfest” beer has certain style parameters that just about any brewer worth his salt could replicate, I can’t see how that one makes sense. I’ve never known German brewers to complain about that the way that I’ve heard Belgian brewers, but maybe I’ve missed that. Can a beer style, once created in a geographic area, sometimes because of the locally available ingredients or water source, only be made in that same place to be considered authentic? I think we can say yes for lambics, but others? What do you think?

There’s also countless local American Oktoberfest events throughout September and October each year, some have been taking place for decades or longer. Does Germany object to those, too?

oktoberfest2012-kettenkarusselldigitalcathttpflic.krpdedcru

Filed Under: Beers, News, Politics & Law Tagged With: Europe, Government, Politics, United States

Beer In Europe Infographic

December 21, 2013 By Jay Brooks

european_union
Today’s infographic, entitled Beer in Europe, showing data on the price of beer and other factoids about European beer, as of October of this year. It was created by Flights.idealo.co.uk, a British travel website.

infographic_beerUK
Click here to see the infographic full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun Tagged With: Europe, Infographics

Relative Prevalence Of The Word For Beer In Europe’s Ten Most Spoken Languages

August 13, 2013 By Jay Brooks

europe
Today’s infographic graphs is similar to yesterday’s one showing “the relative prevalence of the word for beer in the world’s ten most spoken languages (by # of native speakers),” but instead shows the same metric for Europe. The map was also created by http://www.floatingsheep.org/2011/10/wherever-you-are-just-ask-for-beer.html”>Floating Sheep, and was a follow up to yesterdays.

Because simply mapping references to beer in the world’s most spoken languages yielded a relatively homogeneous result due to the significant number of references to “beer” and “ale” in English, we thought a more locally specific analysis would be appropriate. So we instead mapped references to beer in twelve languages spoken primarily in Europe that were not included in our earlier map. And while this map obviously doesn’t include all of the many languages spoken on the continent, these languages were chosen because of their relative prominence within a larger sample of languages.

world_beer_euro_110723
Click here to see the map full size.

Despite the usefulness of this particular grouping, it remains useful to consider how some of the most spoken languages in the world stack up to these more country-specific languages, so in the map below we reintroduce references in English, as well as references in German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, to some of Europe’s more widely spoken tongues.

While this graphic complicates the picture provided by our first map — there continues to be a significant amount of content in the expected, native languages of each country — English remains prominent throughout Europe, especially in reference to beer.

world_beer_euromajor_110724
Click here to see the map full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun Tagged With: Europe, Infographics, Language, Statistics

The Essential Map Of Europe & Environs

July 9, 2013 By Jay Brooks

european_union
Today’s infographic was sent to me last night by my good friend Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew, and the soon-to-be-published In Meat We Trust. She knows of my love of language and especially beer words. I have my own growing collection of the word Beer in Other Languages, but Feòrag NicBhrìde of Scotland created the Essential Map of Europe and Environs, which is essentially a map showing the various ways in which Europeans refer to beer, helpfully divided by language types or origins.

essential-map-europe
Click here to see the map full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun Tagged With: Europe, Infographics, Language, Words

Finland Beer

December 6, 2012 By Jay Brooks

finland
Today in 1917, Finland gained their Independence from Russia.

Finland
finland-color

Finland Breweries

  • Diamond Beer Brewing Company
  • Finlandia Sahti Ky
  • Jacobstads Breweries
  • Karhu
  • Kaskenmäen Panimo
  • Koff
  • Koskipanimo Plevna
  • Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
  • Mallaskosken Oy
  • Olvi Oyj
  • Olutravintola Naapuri
  • Oy Hartwall
  • Oy Hartwall Lahden Panimo
  • Oy Sinebrychoff AB
  • Panimoravintola Beer Hunter’s
  • Panimoravintola Herman
  • Panimoravintola Huvila
  • Panimoravintola Koulu
  • Panimoravintola Sahtikrouvi
  • Panimoravintola Teerenpeli
  • Pirkanmaan Uusi Panimo
  • Pirkanmaan Uusi Panimo
  • Stadin Panimo Oy
  • Suomenlinnan Panimo

Finland Brewery Guides

  • Beer Advocate
  • Beer Me
  • Rate Beer

Other Guides

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Official Website
  • U.S. Embassy
  • Wikipedia

Guild: Panimoliitto

National Regulatory Agency: National Product Control Agency for Welfare and Health

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Follows Eu Regulations

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05% [Note: 0.12% (aggravated). The penalty is a fine or jail up to 6 months plus license suspension from 1 month to 5 years. For aggravated, also a prison sentence (60 days to 2 years) is possible, usually as a suspended sentence. Routine breath testing without a probable cause is permitted and often practiced. Penalties vary by level of intoxication.]

finland

  • Full Name: Republic of Finland
  • Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia
  • Government Type: Republic
  • Language: Finnish (official) 91.2%, Swedish (official) 5.5%, other (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) 3.3%
  • Religion(s): Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 15.1%
  • Capital: Helsinki (Helsingfors)
  • Population: 5,262,930; 116th
  • Area: 338,145 sq km, 65th
  • Comparative Area: Slightly smaller than Montana
  • National Food: Mämmi
  • National Symbol: Lion, Whooper Swan, Brown Bear, European perch, Ladybird; Lily of the Valley; Birch, Silver Birch; Finland’s Lion, Nordic Cross
  • Affiliations: UN, EU
  • Independence: From Russia, December 6, 1917

finland-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18 (for possession and purchase of <22% a.b.v.) 20 (for possession and purchase of ≥22% a.b.v.) (18 for all in bars and restaurants) [Note: Age limits apply to purchase and possession. Police may search minors in public places and confiscate or destroy alcoholic beverages. Adults are responsible for alcohol use by minors in private; offering alcohol to a minor is a punishable offense if it results in drunkenness and is inappropriate with regard to the minor's age, maturity and other circumstances.]
  • BAC: 0.05%
  • Number of Breweries: 36

finland-money-2

  • How to Say “Beer”: olut, kalja, pikkutekijä / slang: olvi
  • How to Order a Beer: O-loot moolek kee-tos
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Kippis / Kippis Terveydeksi (“to your health”) / Maljanne (“a toast to you sir”)
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

finland-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 46%
  • Wine: 23%
  • Spirits: 28%
  • Other: 3%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 9.72
  • Unrecorded: 2.80
  • Total: 12.52
  • Beer: 4.59

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 9.7 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Increase
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Time, location, specific locations, intoxicated persons
  • Advertising Restrictions: Yes
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: Yes

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: 1919 to 1932 in Finland (called kieltolaki, “ban law”) [In 1919, Finland enacted prohibition, as one of the first acts after independence from the Russian Empire. Four previous attempts to institute prohibition in the early 20th century had failed due to opposition from the tsar. After a development similar to the one in the United States during its prohibition, with large-scale smuggling and increasing violence and crime rates, public opinion turned against the prohibition, and after a national referendum where 70% voted for a repeal of the law, prohibition was ended in early 1932.]

finland-eu

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries Tagged With: Europe, Finland

Ireland Beer

December 6, 2012 By Jay Brooks

ireland
Today in 1921, Ireland gained their Independence by treaty with the United Kingdom.

Ireland
ireland-color

Ireland Breweries

  • Acton’s Country Pub and Microbrewery
  • Árainn Mhór Brewing Company
  • Barrelhead Brewery
  • Beamish & Crawford
  • Bo Bristle
  • BrewEyed Beers
  • Burren Brewery
  • Carlow Brewing
  • Carrig Craft Brewing Company
  • Dingle Brewing
  • Dungarvan Brewing
  • Eight Degrees Brewing
  • Franciscan Well Micro Brewery
  • Galway Bay Brewery
  • Guinness
  • Guinness: St. James’s Gate (Diageo)
  • Harp Ireland
  • Heineken Ireland (Murphy’s)
  • Hooker Brewery
  • Inishowen Brewery
  • Kinnegar Brewery
  • Messrs Maguire
  • Metalman Brewing
  • Murray’s Bar
  • O’Malley’s
  • Oslo Microbrewery
  • Porterhouse Brewing
  • Shelta Beer
  • E. Smithwick and Sons Ltd.
  • Trouble Brewing
  • West Kerry Brewery/Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne

Ireland Brewery Guides

  • Beer Advocate
  • Beer Me
  • Rate Beer

Other Guides

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Official Website
  • U.S. Embassy
  • Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia’s Beer in Ireland

Guild: Irish Brewers Association; Beoir (consumer group)

National Regulatory Agency: Food Safety Authority of Ireland

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Follows Eu Regulations

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05% [Note: 0.05% generally or 0.02% for learner drivers, newly qualified drivers (those who have their license for less than two years) and professional drivers, and those who do not have their driving license on them when stopped by the Gardaí (police). Police do not need a reason to request a breath sample. Being convicted of drunk driving usually carries a 2 year ban as well as a €1500 fine.]

ireland

  • Full Name: Ireland (Eire)
  • Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
  • Government Type: Republic, parliamentary democracy
  • Language: English (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken mainly in areas along the western coast)
  • Religion(s): Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2%
  • Capital: Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)
  • Population: 4,722,028; 119th
  • Area: 70,273 sq km, 120th
  • Comparative Area: Slightly larger than West Virginia
  • National Food: Colcannon, Irish Stew
  • National Symbol: Irish Wolfhound, Irish Setter, Irish Elk; Shamrock; Sessile Oak; Celtic harp called a cláirseach (official), harp on coat of arms etc. (official), Celtic Cross; Harp
  • Affiliations: UN, EU
  • Independence: By treaty from the UK, December 6, 1921 / Declared, April 24, 1916 / Ratified, January 21, 1919

ireland-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18 [Note: It is illegal for minors to buy alcohol, to attempt to buy it for minors or to consume alcohol in a public space in Ireland. Those under 18 may consume alcohol in a private residence when permission is given from a parent or guardian. It is illegal to purchase alcohol for anybody under the age of consent without permission from their guardians. Alcohol can be sold in stores only between 10:30 and 22:00 on weekdays and Saturdays or 12:30 and 22:00 on Sundays.]
  • BAC: 0.08%
  • Number of Breweries: 20

ireland-money-2

  • How to Say “Beer”: beoir / leann (lionn)
  • How to Order a Beer: Byohr awoyn, lyeh doh hull
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Sláinte / Guid forder! (“good luck”) [Ulster-Scots]
  • Toasting Etiquette: Common Toasts

ireland-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 53%
  • Wine: 20%
  • Spirits: 19%
  • Other: 8%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 13.39
  • Unrecorded: 1.00
  • Total: 14.39
  • Beer: 7.04

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 13.4 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Places, intoxicated persons
  • Advertising Restrictions: Some
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: Some (sales promotions)

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: None

ireland-eu

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries Tagged With: Europe, Ireland

Albania Beer

November 28, 2012 By Jay Brooks

albania
Today in 1912, Albania gained their Independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Albania
albania-color

Albania Breweries

  • A&B Grup.
  • A&B Grup (Norga)
  • Birra Kaon
  • Birra Korça
  • Birra Malto
  • Norga
  • Stefani & Co.

Albania Brewery Guides

  • Beer Advocate
  • Beer Me
  • Rate Beer

Other Guides

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Official Website
  • U.S. Embassy
  • Wikipedia

Guild: None Known

National Regulatory Agency: None

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.01%

albania

  • Full Name: Republic of Albania
  • Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece in the south and Montenegro and Kosovo to the north
  • Government Type: Parliamentary democracy
  • Language: Albanian (official: derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects
  • Religion(s): Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%
  • Capital: Tirana
  • Population: 3,002,859; 137th
  • Area: 28,748 sq km, 145th
  • Comparative Area: Slightly smaller than Maryland
  • National Food: Tavë Kosi
  • National Symbols: Double-headed eagle; Red Poppy; Olive; castle of Kruja, Crown of Skanderbeg
  • Affiliations: UN, NATO
  • Independence: From the Ottoman Empire, November 28, 1912

albania-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: None
  • BAC: 0.05%
  • Number of Breweries: 14

albania-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: birrë
  • How to Order a Beer: Një birrë, ju lutem
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Gëzuar / Shëndeti tuaj
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

albania-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 33%
  • Wine: 19%
  • Spirits: 47%
  • Other: 1%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 4.58
  • Unrecorded: 2.10
  • Total: 6.68
  • Beer: 1.61

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 4.6 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Increase
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: No
  • Advertising Restrictions: Product placement
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: Sales promotions

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: None

albania-eu

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries Tagged With: Albania, Europe

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