International news

February 18, 2010: The Twisted Hop brewpub, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is holding its first beer festival this weekend, showcasing its latest seasonal brew, Expat POM Porter.

February 10, 2010: Cathay Pacific pilot Pierre Cadoret has launched the Typhoon Brewery in Hong Kong. The brewing enthusiast has just two beers in his portfolio at the moment — T8, a 4.5% English-style bitter, and a porter called Black Rain.

January 30, 2010: Specialist canned beer brewer Oskar Blues, based in Colorado, has experienced double-digit growth in each of the last seven years, but it's latest reported figures are the best yet. It produced 29,000 barrels of beer in 2009, up from 17,000 barrels in 2008.

The next stage on the Oskar Blues story will be the release of GUBNA Imperial IPA on March 1. Meanwhile, its Imperial Stout in a can was named in the US edition of Maxim Magazine’s February cover feature among the top 25 best new beers In America.

January 14, 2010: The Chef2Chef.net online community has announced Kawk beer, made in Belgium, as its members' favourite of 2009. The rest of the top 10 is as follows:

2. Westveleteren
3. Delirium Tremens
4. De Ranke XX Bitter
5. Westmalle Tripel
6. Chimay Grand Reserve
7. Duvel
8. Rochefort 10
9. Orval
10. Osjecko Pivo

November 23, 2009: The Alaska Brewing Co has launched its own cookbook, with ideas on cooking with beer. Cooking with Alaskan Beer has 101 recipes. Find out more at the Alaska Brewing Co website.

November 19, 2009: Oskar Blues Brewery, Colorado,USA, has added two 200-barrel fermentation tanks. The increased fermentation capacity increases the brewery’s production capacity by up to 30%. The company has also added an additional 200-barrel bright beer tank — providing significantly increased ageing time — and at the same time expanded cooler size in its 35,000 square-foot facility by 35%. 2009 production is anticipated to come in at 30,000 barrels, a 67% increase over 2008.

November 2, 2009: The Alaskan Brewing Co has launched this year's vintage of its Alaskan Smoked Porter. The winter warmer is brewed with alder-smoked malt from the brewery's own smokehouses and is produced in a limited edition vintage each year.

October 29, 2009: Anderson Valley Brewing Company won a gold medal in the pale ale/IPA category of Camfest, Nevada, a festival dedicated to canned beers. The winning beer was its Poleeko Gold Pale Ale.

October 26, 2009: Twisted Hop, in New Zealand, has developed a new beer to support the Long Range Desert Project. The group plans to re-inact a cross-Sahara trip undertaken in the 1940s in Jeeps and army. For every pint of Bagnold's Bitter sold, Twisted Hop will donate $1 to the project. The beer is a 4.5% British-style bitter, having rich malt flavours balanced with good hop bitterness.

October 21, 2009: A new alcohol-free version of Kirin — Kirin Free — has proved so popular in Japan that the makers have had to up production targets twice and place press advertisements apologising for the short supply of the beer. The success is being partly put down to a new crackdown on drink-driving in Japan, while the brew is also proving popular with pregnant women and workers who want to socialise with colleagues after work without wanting to have alcohol.

October 9, 2009: O'Hara's Irish Stout proved a big draw for some 240,000 visitors to this year's 2009 Celtic Classic, celebrating all things Celtic, in Bethlehem, Philadelphia. More

August 22, 2009: Lhasa Beer, an all-malt European style lager imported from Tibet, has launched in Texas, USA. Ingredients include Himalayan spring water, barley, Saaz hops and yeast. It is specially formulated with 30% of the malt content coming from the huskless native Tibetan barley which gives the beer a crisp clean taste without any harsh or astringent flavours that can come from the husk, and supports the Tibetan farmers. Lhasa Beer has been specially re-formulated for export by renowned master brewer Alan Kornhauser, who has more than 35 years of brewing experience and who is a repeat multiple gold medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival.

July 14, 2009: Gritty McDuff’s Brewing Company, in Maine, aims to have its popular Halloween Ale in shops in August, and available until the end of October. The full-bodied beer is a deep amber colour, with a bold, malty palate and well-rounded hop finish.

July 3, 2009: The European Court of Justice has upheld the right for Dutch brewer, Bavaria NV, to produce and market its Bavaria beer despite the fact that Bavarian beer enjoys geographical protection as to where it is made. The Dutch brewer has been at the centre of an eight-year trademark dispute with Bayerischer Brauerbund, a German association of Bavarian brewers. Its Bayerisches Bier (Bavarian beer) has been granted geographical protection, yet this latest ruling determines that these later rights could not be used to stop the Dutch brewers’ use of the Bavaria name, which it has been doing since 1925, and under trademark protection since 1947.

July 2, 2009: Flying Fish, of New Jersey, USA, is continuing its roll-out of special beers named after local road interchanges with Exit 11, a wheat beer with English ale yeast, half and half Belgian pale malt and white wheat, and Columbus, Palisade and Amarillo hops. The limited edition beer is being distributed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

May 25, 2009: The Illinois State Senate has passed a spending package that includes a 90% increase in the state excise tax on alcohol, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which blasted the proposal as a job-killing tax on the hospitality industry at a time when the state is trying to attract global tourists.

“Hamstringing the hospitality industry with increased alcohol taxes will cost jobs and hurt tourism throughout the state — not to mention punish the very same businesses the state must lean on for a serious Olympic bid,” said council vice-president, Dale Szyndrowski. “This tax will actually make Chicago’s spirits tax rate 78% higher even than the rate in New York City,” he said, noting that such an increase will drive tourists and business travelers into nearby Wisconsin and Indiana.

May 23, 2009: In Canada, Labatt Brewing is seeking an injunction against Brick Brewing, claiming infringement of its Brava beer trademarks, and that drinkers could confuse Brick's Red Baron beer with Brava. Brick has relaunched Red Baron with billboard and print advertising, as well a a radio campaign, but Labatt says the Red Baron bottles depicted on the ads are too similar to Brava's promotional style and colour scheme. Brick's chief executive, George Croft, said Labatt's claim was "without merit" — he didn't think consumers would confuse the two brands.

April 2, 2009: Brix 42 Gastropub, Old Town Pasadena's first and only full service restaurant and brewery, opened this weekend.The brewery uses fresh, all natural ingredients, with no preservatives. German malts are combined with American hops and brewed in a steam kettle for better flavour than direct flame. Beers stay in tanks for a maximum of two to three months for optimum freshness. Brix's brew master has more than 15 years experience working at brewing manufacturers, microbreweries and brewpubs.