Interesting times: Changes for brewing

Abstract

"May you live in interesting times" may have no authentic Chinese heritage, despite it being referred to as the Chinese Curse. Nonetheless it is a very apposite descriptor of the current state of the world’s brewing industry. At one extreme we have the mergers of major brewing concerns to become truly global operators, led by Anheuser-Busch InBev and SAB-Miller. At the other pole there is a multiplicity of small brewing companies springing up, almost daily in some countries, rejoicing in the umbrella terms "craft" or micro-breweries.