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Beck’s is a brand of the brewery Brauerei Beck & Co KG in the north German city of Bremen. Owned by local families until February 2002, it was then sold to Interbrew (now InBev) for 3.5 billion DM (1.8 billion euros, 2.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Beck’s has for many years also been brewed under license in Namibia, which prior to World War I was a German colony. It is also today brewed in Bulgaria, Australia, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, China, Nigeria, Romania and Turkey.

The brewery was formed under the name Kaiserbrauerei Beck & May o.H.G. on 27 June 1873 by Lüder Rutenberg (8 February 1816—14 June 1890), Heinrich Beck, and Thomas May. On 1 October 1875, Thomas May left the brewery which then became known as Kaiserbrauerei Beck & Co.

Beck & Co. has always been a strong exporter, and the beer thus has a taste more akin to other internationally marketed brands than to mainstream German beers. After 1842, the way beer was brewed changed drastically with the advent of the brewing style perfected in the Bohemian city of Pilsen. Beck’s birthplace is Bremen, lying on the North German plain connected to the sea by the Weser river.

The brewery in Bremen

Beck’s label, a key, is the mirror image of the coat of arms of Bremen. Since Beck’s is located on the river of a port city, it was easy to ship out its beer to the world at large and become an international beer powerhouse. Beck’s is most famous for its Pilsener lager beer consisting of the following ingredients: two row spring barley from the south of England, a special strain of yeast, ice-age glacier water from the “Rotenburger Rinne,” plus hops from the famous “Hallertau Hop Gardens” in southern Germany. Beck’s beer follows the strict Reinheitsgebot, the German Purity Law of 1516. Of particular note is that Beck’s was the first German beer company to use green bottles.

Also of note is that the St. Pauli Girl Brewery is housed within the Brewery in Bremen. Consequently, Beck’s and St. Pauli Girl beers are very similar in nature. St. Pauli Girl is not consumed in Germany and is only exported to the United States where it is marketed as an exotic and prestigious German beer. In the past three years, Beck’s has introduced new flavored beers into its selection such Beck’s Green Lemon, Beck’s Level 7, and Beck’s Chilled Orange. This mixture of beer with other beverages is something that many German beer brands have introduced to reach a wider range of customers.

Beck’s beer sponsors the Beck’s Futures British art prize given to contemporary artists.

In the UK, Scottish and Newcastle own the licence to market and distribute Beck’s. However, they have recently allowed InBev to do it themselves instead, in exchange for royalties lasting until 2012 .

In the 2006 movie Beerfest, Beck’s is erroneously referred to as the third best beer in Bavaria, probably due to its international recognizability, although it isn’t from Bavaria at all.

Becks is one of the most recognisable german beers as it has utilized film and television placement. It has been shown in Two and a half men and The Ruairidh Macgregor Show. – Wikipedia

History

When Michelob was introduced, it accounted for less than one percent of the brewery’s production, and was only distributed in kegs, unpasteurized. There was a limited, two-barrel bottling in 1908.

Production of Michelob was, as with all beer in the United States, ceased during the Prohibition period. Even after Prohibition however, the production of Michelob by the brewery remained around four percent or less of its total output.

In 1961, a method was devised by the Anheuser-Busch brewmasters to produce a pasteurized version of Michelob which did not diminish flavor beyond acceptable levels. This allowed legal shipment of the beer across state lines. Bottled beer began to be shipped soon after, and the brand was introduced in cans as well in 1966.

History

Killian’s Irish Red is a traditional lager with an Irish heritage, based on the recipe created at Lett’s Brewery in Enniscorthy, Ireland, in 1864. It was originally an Irish red ale. Coors acquired the rights to brew and market the product in America from France’s Pelforth Beer Company who currently owns the rights to George Killian’s Irish Red. Coors reformulated the Killian’s from an ale to a lager and introduced it to the U.S. in 1981.

Properties

Killian’s derives its color and taste from a special caramel malted barley (malts) that is roasted at a high temperature longer and more slowly than most malts. There are no coloring agents or artificial additives used in the brewing process. It is amber in color and produces a thick head on pouring, that goes away fairly quickly. It has a fruity yet hoppy aroma which seems to accurately describe the taste as well. It leaves a clean mouth feeling upon swallow and has an easy finish, with maybe a slight hops taste. In Europe the original formula served for George Killian’s Irish red is maltier and has a less pronounced reddish color than its American counter part.

Killian’s is available in bottles, cans and kegs. A 12-ounce serving of Killian’s has 163 calories and 4.9 percent alcohol by volume.

Killian’s was once available as Killian’s Irish Brown Ale. The bottle was identical, except it had a green label. This was before the newer label design. – Wikipedia

History

Miller Brewing Company was founded in 1855 by German-born Frederick Miller when he purchased the small Plank-Road Brewery. The brewery’s location in the Miller Valley provided easy access to raw materials produced on nearby farms.

On September 19, 1966, the conglomerate W.R. Grace & Co. agreed to buy 53% of Miller from Mrs. Lorraine John Mulberger (a granddaughter of Fred Miller who objected to alcohol) and her family.

On June 12, 1969 Philip Morris (now Altria) bought Miller from W.R. Grace for $130 million, outbidding PepsiCo.

On 30 May 2002, it was acquired by South African Breweries from Philip Morris for $3.6 billion worth of stock and $2 billion in debt, to form SABMiller; with Philip Morris retaining a 36% share at that time, with voting rights of 24.99%.

On August 14, 2006, Miller Brewing announced it had completed the purchase of Sparks and Steel Reserve brands from McKenzie River Corporation for $215 million cash.[2] Miller had been producing both products prior to this purchase.[3]

In 2005, the Chicago Tribune reported that Miller gave $30,000 in order to support an illegal alien amnesty march. Immediately, a boycott of Miller began and remains active as of 2007. The website, http://www.millerboycott.com/ explains that Miller originally wanted illegal aliens to remain in the United States, but Miller has since backtracked saying in a letter that Miller “will closely review all requests for support from community and charitable organizations to ensure that we are not indirectly funding or associating our name with advocacy efforts on the immigration issue.”

Miller Genuine Draft was introduced in 1986 as the original cold filtered packaged draft beer, which means that the beer is not heat pasteurized. Miller uses an exclusive cold-filtered process that prevents some of the beer’s flavor from being heated away. MGD received the gold medal in the American-style Premium Lager category at the 1999 World Beer Cup. It also received the silver medal at the 2003 American Beer Festival. The concept for Cold-filtered Miller Genuine Draft was developed by new product consultant Calle & Company. Martin Calle, a long-time neighbor of the W.R. Grace family, original owners of Miller Brewing, evolved the concept from Miller’s New Ventures effort to launch a new dry beer at a time Miller Brewing was in danger of becoming a much-cloned Lite Beer manufacturer. Originally introduced as “Miller High Life Genuine Draft”, the “High Life” part of the name was soon dropped. MGD is actually made from the same recipe as Miller High Life, with a different treatment. High Life is heat pasteurized after packaging and MGD is filtered before packaging.^{[citation needed]} It was developed to give High Life drinkers the same taste in a can or bottle as they found in non-pasteurized kegs. It has 4.7% ABV. – Wikipedia

Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico. It maintains a large part of the Mexican beer export market and produces top-selling imported beer in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Its six export brands include Corona Extra, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial, Model Light, and Pacífico.^[1] Grupo Modelo also brews brands intended solely for the domestic Mexican market, including Victoria (a recent advertising campaign for this brand was centered on the fact that it is unavailable abroad); Estrella (a local beer found only in western Mexico); and León and Montejo (originally local to Yucatán but now available nationwide). Grupo Modelo has marketshare of 56% in Mexico^[1] Grupo Modelo is 50 percent owned by Anheuser-Busch(as of July 2006) but control of the company remains with the Mexican Partners (direct descendants of the founders of the company) of Grupo Modelo. Grupo Modelo has exclusive rights in Mexico for the import and distribution of beer produced by Anheuser-Busch.^[1]

Corona

Corona (labeled Corona Extra, but seldom referred to as such) is the top-selling beer in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide. Available in over 150 countries, it is also Mexico’s leading export brand. It was first brewed in 1925 by Cerveceria Modelo on the tenth anniversary of the brewery, and is a pilsner. In 1926 the brewery decided to bottle the beer in quarter bottles and decided to go with clear instead of dark bottles. In 1997, Corona Extra became the top-selling imported beer in the United States, surpassing Heineken. Corona Extra and Corona Light are both popular in the United States with younger college aged students, most likely due to the “Spring Break” image associated with the beer. [1]

Corona beer is available in a variety of bottled presentations, ranging from the 250-mL ampolleta (labeled Coronita and just referred as the cuartito) up to the 940-mL Corona Familiar (known as the caguama or ballena). A draught version also exists, as does canned Corona in some markets. According to the Gambrinus Company (the current importer of Grupo Modelo products in the Eastern United States), Corona Light is the top-selling, imported “light” beer in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike many beers, Corona is bottled in a clear bottle, increasing the opportunity for spoilage. Exposure to sunlight significantly damages the taste of beer, yielding a taste that is often described as “skunky”. This is the result of the essential hop oils spoiling due to UV exposure. However, during distribution, Corona is not typically stored in direct sunlight. Grupo Modelo, brewers of Corona, have most available quality certifications including ISO 9001 and 14001.

Corona beers are straw colored and have a very mild flavor with little if any hop bitterness. Corona contains 4.6% alcohol by volume, 148 calories, while Corona Light has 3.7% alcohol by volume, 105 calories.

The lime

It is common in Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada for Corona to be served with a slice of lime in the neck. This practice is less common in Mexico itself, outside of areas frequented by tourists^{[citation needed]}. Corona’s heavy media presence in the United States may be the reason for the disparity in the two beer cultures. Beer-lime combinations such as the Chelada and the Michelada are however, popular in Mexico^{[citation needed]}.

The reason for the lime is that hop compounds degrade when they come into contact with light. This causes beer in clear bottles to turn ’skunky.’ The lime is used to mask this aroma. [2]

Common myths surrounding the origin of the lime include:
1. The lime was originally to plug the neck of the bottle up to keep flies and other insects out of the beer.
2. The lime was used to clean the top of the bottle to ensure it was sanitary before drinkers would put their lips to the glass. The acidity of the lime juice was believed to kill anything that could be harmful to tourists (actually, not very likely). Over time tourists began to push the lime into the bottle, which brings us to today’s common occurrence of adding lime to Corona.
3. The lime was used to clean the neck of the bottle from the rusty remains of the bottle cap. In the early days the bottle caps where made very simply and often left rust stains on the bottle neck, leading to a rather bad taste.

In Korea, slices of lemon are widely used in place of lime slices because limes are not widely available and are quite expensive in East Asia ^{[citation needed]}.

In the Philippines, half a calamansi is used in place of lime. The calamansi is a citrus fruit native to the Philippines that is closely related to the lime. The calamansi looks and tastes like a lime.

In Australia, either a slice of lemon or a slice of lime is used, and, depending on what the bar has, patrons are often given a choice of either lemon or lime with lemon being more popular in most bars.^{[citation needed]}.

In 1998, Eurocermex began trying to register the image of a clear bottle with a slice of lime in the neck as a community trade mark, but on June 30, 2005, the European Court of Justice rejected it as indistinctive.

The outline of a bottle with a slice of lime can be seen in Corona POS Merchandise, as well as the European Corona website. Interestingly, there are no images of bottles with limes on the Mexican Corona website.

The traditional lime is being replaced with a shot of grenadine among the hip-hop community. – Wikipedia

Newcastle Brown Ale is a brand of dark brown ale. It has been brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, since April 1927 by Newcastle Breweries (now a part of Scottish and Newcastle).

In August 2005, Scottish and Newcastle closed the Tyne Brewery. The last Brown Ale was brewed at Tyne in April;^[1] production was moved across the river to the Federation Brewery in Dunston, Gateshead, where it is brewed by Newcastle Federation Breweries Ltd.

Newcastle Brown Ale had been granted Protected Geographical Indication status by the EU. Since Scottish and Newcastle moved production outside of the city, the future of its PGI status is uncertain. As of December 2006, an application to cancel its PGI status is being considered. ^[2]

In Newcastle, the beer is often called ‘Dog’ (or simply ‘Broon’). The ‘Dog’ name comes from the euphemism “I’m going to walk the dog” or “I’m going to see a man about a dog” – meaning “I’m going to the pub” – and was further popularised by a 1980s advertising campaign. In southern parts of the country it is often referred to as “Newkie Brown”.

Newcastle Brown Ale is traditionally sold in pint (more recently 550ml) bottles, and consumed from a 12oz ‘Wellington’ glass. This allows the drinker to regularly top-up the beer and thereby maintain a frothy ‘head’.

Labelling

Newcastle Brown Ale was originally created by Colonel J. Porter in 1925, the recipe, however, was adapted over a period of three years to create the remarkably smooth and rich flavor that is distinct to the beer today. When first exhibited, Newcastle Brown Ale swept the board at the prestigious 1928 International Brewery Awards. Proud of this achievement, the gold medals from these awards are still featured on the label to this day.

The blue star logo was introduced to the Newcastle Brown Ale bottle in 1928, the year after the beer was launched. The five points of the star represent the five founding breweries of Newcastle, the site of Britain’s first commercial breweries. One of these, John Barras, is now commemorated in the pub chain of the same name.

In 2000, the beer was renamed “Newcastle Brown” with the “Ale” being removed from the front label. This change, only in the UK, was due to market research claiming that the term “ale” was outdated and costing the company sales in the youth drinking markets. The older name was reinstated with no fanfare in 2004, when it was realised that the change had made no difference to sales. ^[3]

In 2006, a special “Shearer” edition with a black and white label was made in honour of the retiring Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer.

Distribution and export

The beer was largely unavailable in South East England and the Midlands until a successful promotional campaign in the late 1980s, but is now one of the country’s leading bottled ales. The beer has been available in keg in these areas since late 2003 (although it was available in keg in the Newcastle area before that) and can also be purchased in cans.

Widely distributed around the world, at times, over half of the brewery’s output is directed overseas to the U.S.^[4] In the United States the beer is available in bottles and in keg.

The beer is also available in British-themed pubs as a draught beer in Australia and New Zealand, where it is brewed by Foster’s Group as part of the reciprocal deal, pursuant to which Foster’s Lager is brewed by Scottish & Newcastle in the UK. It is also available in the British Pub in Ashgabat, Tukmenistan.The UK brewed bottled version is widely available in Australian liquor outlets as part of their international range. – Wikipedia

The Heineken company was founded in 1864 when the 22-year-old Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a brewery known as De Hooiberg (the haystack) in Amsterdam. In 1874 the brewery’s name changed to Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij, and opened a second brewery in Rotterdam in 1874. In 1886 Dr. H. Elion, a pupil of the French chemist Louis Pasteur, developed the “Heineken A-yeast” in the Heineken laboratory. This yeast is still the key ingredient of Heineken beer. In 1887 Heineken switched to the use of bottom-fermenting yeast.

The founder’s son, Henry Pierre Heineken, managed the company from 1917 to 1940, and continued involvement with the company until 1951. During his tenure, Heineken developed techniques to maintain consistent beer quality during large-scale production. Henry Pierre’s son, Alfred Henry “Freddy” Heineken, started working at the company in 1940, and 1971 was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board. He was a powerful force behind Heineken’s continued global expansion, and while he retired from the Executive Board in 1989, he maintained involvement with the company until his death in 2002.

After World War I, the company aimed more and more on export. Three days after Prohibition ended in the United States, the first Heineken shipment landed as the first legal shipment of beer. From that day on, Heineken has remained one of the most successful imported beer brands in the United States.

Birra Peroni, or simply Peroni, is an Italian brewing company, founded in Vigevano in Lombardia in 1846 although now headquartered in Rome.

Its most famous product is Nastro Azzurro, a pilsner-style beer which is marketed worldwide.

Red Dog

Combining two malts and five varieties of hops, Red Dog is a premium, full-flavored beer that is bold, yet uncommonly smooth.

Samuel Adams 

The Samuel Adams brand originated with only one variety, Samuel Adams Boston Lager. The recipe for this beer was originally developed in 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri by Louis Koch. It was sold under the name Louis Koch Lager until Prohibition, and again until the early 1950s.

In 1985, Louis Koch’s great-great grandson, Jim Koch, with the help of Dr. Joseph Owades (the man credited with the invention of light beer in the 1970s), reformulated the recipe, and in April of that year re-introduced the beer under the Samuel Adams name. Samuel Adams Boston Lager debuted at the re-creation of the first battle of the American Revolution, Patriot’s Day 1985. Three months later, it was voted best beer in the United States at the Great American Beer Festival, in which 93 national and regional beers competed. The publicity that followed helped the Boston Beer Company grow to 7,393,000 liters (63,000 barrels) a year by 1989.

Boilers at the Samuel Adams brewery

The company’s success occurred as the craft brewery movement was exploding in the US. The company was forced to fend off copycats and imitators, such as Boston Beer Works, in what is now an oft-cited trademark case [1]. By 1995, some 600 craft breweries were producing specialty beers in the United States, and the industry as a whole enjoyed significant annual growth between 1990 and 1995. That same year The Boston Beer Company, Inc. went public selling shares of Class A Common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under SAM. Increasing competition appeared to have little effect, and Boston Beer remained the largest craft brewer in the United States with nearly 141 million liters (1.2 million barrels) sold in 1996. Sales leveled off after that, and Boston Beer tried to continue its growth momentum by offering alternative beverages, such as Hardcore Cider (1997), and Twisted Tea (2000).

Initially, the brand was produced under contract by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company (best known for their Iron City brand of beer). Over the years, the brand has been produced under contract at various brewing facilities with excess capacity, ranging from Stroh breweries, Portland’s original Blitz-Weinhard brewery (shuttered in 1999), Cincinnati’s Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery (eventually purchased by the Boston Beer Company in early 1997), and industry giant SABMiller. Today, more than 60% of its beer is produced at its very own, newly renovated, Cincinnati brewery. One third of Samuel Adams beer is still produced under contract at breweries in Rochester, NY and Eden, NC. The company claims to bring its own employees, ingredients and brewing processes to these contract sites. The Boston Beer Company also has a small R&D brewery located in Boston (Jamaica Plain), Massachusetts, where public tours and beer tastings are offered.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager was voted “Best Beer in America” by fest-goers at the Association of Brewers‘ “Great American Beer Festival” several times in the mid to late 1980s, although that award was mired in controversies surrounding accusations of ballot-stuffing. The award was later cut from the Great American Beer Festival as a result of the controversy. – Wikipedia