beer bits

[J2jurado]

Hotels reject call for alcohol levy
Sunday 12 November, 2000

The Australian Hotel Association (AHA) says enough tax is already being
collected on alcoholic drinks to fund health and treatment programs.

Lobby group Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform and Family Drug Support
wants a one-cent levy on the beverages, which would be used to help fund drug
and alcohol treatment services.

AHA spokesman Simon Birmingham says the Federal Government will receive $400
million from the increase of excise on beer, which was implemented in July.

"There are other taxes on alcoholic beverages as well, certainly there is the
GST, there's the excise that was already pre-existing and the GST funds are
all going direct to State Governments," he said.

"That's hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars that could be spent
on these initiatives.

Mr Birmingham says the tax already collected on the bevrages could be spent
differently.

"Governments already also spend many millions of dollars promoting health and
safety initatives," he said.

"The industry is also very actively involved in the responsible service of
alcohol campaigns, so we believe a lot is already being done and if the lobby
groups believe more needs to be done then they should be asking the
Government to redirect some of these funds."
© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

BBAG's Nine-Month Pretax Increases 13% on Beer Sales

Vienna, Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Oesterreichische Brau- Beteiligungs AG,
Austria's largest drinks maker, said nine-month earnings rose 13 percent after
it sold more beer in Hungary and more fruit juice in Western Europe.

Pretax profit rose to 61.6 million euros ($53.5 million) from 54.7 million
euros in the first nine months of 1999, while sales rose 8.2 percent to 709
million euros, the company said. The shares surged 5.5 percent, while its
Brau-Union AG unit gained 6.2 percent.

``The Hungarian market began to grow again and we improved our position in
restaurants,'' Chief Executive Karl Bueche said.

While the maker of Kaiser and Goesser beers is benefiting from higher
consumption in neighboring Hungary and the Czech Republic, the cost of
expanding this year is crimping profit growth. The company is buying six East
European breweries in a bid to overtake South African Breweries Plc as the
largest brewer in the region.

The company, known as BBAG, reiterated it expects fourth- quarter pretax profit
to fall from the same period a year ago. Bueche said in September the cost of
making acquisitions in Eastern Europe would wipe out second-half earnings
growth.

BBAG purchased three Romanian breweries for an undisclosed sum, as well as
stakes in three Polish brewers earlier this year.

``We hope to complete the acquisitions by the end of the year, though that
depends on the Romanian and Polish antitrust authorities,'' Bueche said at a
press conference.

Shares in BBAG rose 2.49 euros to 47.49, while Brau-Union gained 2.65 euros to
45.60.

Beer & Fruit Juice

Total beer sales in the first nine months rose 7.2 percent, led by a 15 percent
gain in Hungary and a 2.5 percent increase in the Czech Republic. Domestic beer
sales, though, ``remained stagnant'' after a higher beer tax and poor summer
weather curbed demand.

In Western Europe, BBAG sold 51 percent more Pago fruit juice in France, 35
percent in Italy and 19 percent more in Spain during the period. Italy accounts
for 46 percent of all Pago sales, said Walther Sachs, who manages BBAG's soft
drinks division.

The drinks maker is planning to fold family owned stakes in the company into a
new group to help ward off hostile takeover bids and give all shareholders an
equal say in its operations, it said earlier this month.

As many as 700 families hold stakes in Getraenkeholding AG, which owns 69
percent of Schwechater Holding AG, which in turn holds two-thirds of BBAG.
Hopfen & Malz Holding AG will replace Getraenkeholding, Bueche said. BBAG owns
61.5 percent of brewer Brau- Union AG, which is traded separately from its
parent.

Bueche said the company expects shareholders to vote on the ownership changes
on Nov. 20.

The chief executive declined to confirm or deny a report in Austrian daily
WirtschaftBlatt it was seeking an alliance with Germany's Binding-Brauerei AG
to strengthen its position in Europe's largest economy.

``We want to stay in Austrian hands,'' said Bueche. ``We know the whole
industry is going through a consolidation process.''

http://www.post-gazette.com:80/businessnews/20001108jones2.asp

Maker of Stoney's, Esquire beersfiles for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Wednesday, November 08, 2000 By Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Unexpected equipment failures crippled Jones Brewing Co. for nearly two
months this year, forcing the maker of Stoney's and Esquire beers to
file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.
***
A 91-year-old copper brew kettle still dominates one room of the Jones
Brewery in Smithton, where brewmaster David Markle, left, chats with
fermenter Greg Rushton. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)
*****
The brewery, based in the tiny Westmoreland County town of Smithton,
intends to keep making beer while it reorganizes, said Roy Mollomo, vice
president of operations. The filing was made Nov. 2.

Mollomo was upbeat yesterday about the turn of events. He said the court
protection should be good for the company, giving it some breathing room
to recover from lost production and missed revenue.

"We're all determined to make this company successful," he said.

The equipment failures involved a broken soaker machine used to
sterilize bottles and burst tubes in the brewery's chilling system. The
soaker was out of commission for 2 1/2 weeks, and the chiller took
another five weeks to repair.

"It costs us a mint to fix both of them," Mollomo said. "You're never
capitalized enough. It's like a guy living on his paycheck every week.
You miss a couple paychecks, and everybody and his mother comes after
you."

The problems came as the tiny brewery seemed to be making progress. It
had shipped about 47,000 31-gallon barrels of beer in 1999 and was on
track to beat that production level this year.

That may seem like a lot of beer until you compare it with the large
brewers that dominate the industry. Anheuser-Busch, the domestic leader,
sold 95.7 million barrels last year.

***
Jones Brewery President Gabby Podlucky runs the local brewery, which
produces about 45,000 barrels of beer a year. The company filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)
****

Jones makes Stoney's, Esquire, Fort Pitt and other brands.

It also produces contract beers, including bottled Penn Pilsner for the
North Side's Pennsylvania Brewing Co. Its contract customers also
include Capital Beverage, a publicly traded Bronx beer distributor that
once considered merging with Pittsburgh Brewing Co.

Thomas Pastorius of Penn Brewery, the home base of Pennsylvania Brewing,
said he expects to continue using Jones, which was bottling his pilsner
beer yesterday.

"In fact, we've ordered several more brews."

Jones Brewing was founded in 1905 by Welsh immigrant and hotel owner
William "Stoney" Jones, whose descendants included the actress Shirley
Jones. The Jones family sold the business more than a decade ago to
current owner Gabby Podlucky.

Brewing takes place in a five-story building on Smithton's Second Street
along the Youghiogheny River. It's a largely gravity-fed process that
starts at the top with grain and other ingredients and ends downstairs
in a copper brewing kettle engraved with the name Eureka, an old brand.

The bottling house is across the street.

The brewery narrowly escaped being dismantled by creditors in 1997.

National City Bank had foreclosed on a $2.63 million debt, setting in
motion a sheriff's sale for the business and equipment.

That sale was averted at the last minute when a new loan was negotiated
with another lender backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Farmer's Home Administration.

In August, the company signed a three-year contract with the
International Union of Electrical Workers, which represents about 30
production employees.

http://www.journalstar.com:80/nation?story_id=2202&date=20001108&past=

Suit targets 'Crazy Horse' beer
BY BARBARA BAD WOUND Indian Country Today 11-08-00

Injunction sought to block sale of malt liquor

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - For seven years, the estate of revered Lakota
warrior Crazy Horse tried to stop a company from using his name to
promote and sell a malt liquor.

After past attempts at litigation failed, the Crazy Horse estate, headed
by Seth Big Crow of Rosebud, filed a complaint in federal court that
asks for injunctive and compensatory relief.

A previous attempt to stop the sale of the malt liquor failed after the
10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Rosebud Tribal Court had no
standing because the malt liquor was neither sold nor bottled on the
reservation. That was two years ago.

Hornell Brewing Co. of New York, G. Heileman Brewing Co. of Wisconsin,
John Ferolito and Don Vultaggio, individually; and Ferolito and
Vultaggio and Sons of New York, a subsidiary of Hornell Brewing Co., are
named defendants in the lawsuit.

The companies challenged the original suit filed in tribal court. The
appellate court left the door open for the suit to be filed in federal
court, attorneys for the estate said.

"This suit will now be tried on the merits," said Robert Gogh, attorney
for the Crazy Horse estate, adding the original was not. The cause of
action in this newest lawsuit will remain the same as in the original
action.

"We've been waiting for this day for a long time. We will not stop until
they take the name Crazy Horse off the malt liquor bottle," Big Crow
said.

As a result of the attempt to remove Crazy Horse from the label of the
malt liquor and the refusal of the companies to do so, a nationwide
boycott was organized against another product of the Ferolito and
Vultaggio and Sons by the Crazy Horse Defense Project. The company
distributes a tea product under the brand name of Arizona Iced Tea,
focus of the boycott. The defense project's official stand is that the
boycott will continue until Hornell, Heileman, and Ferolito and
Vultaggio either recognize the legal rights of the Crazy Horse family or
when they settle or are ordered to pay compensation to the estate.

Officials of the defense project argue the boycott has had an effect on
the sale of the malt liquor and the iced tea. "Sales of the tea are
slumping and the malt liquor is almost non-existent in Minnesota," said
Phyllis Tousey Frederick, national coordinator for the defense project.

The complaint filed in federal court reiterates the content of Crazy
Horse's character, that he strongly urged his family and followers to
reject the Euro-American use of alcohol. He did not sign a treaty with
the federal government and oral history tells that he asked that his
name not be mentioned among non-Indian people.

Hornell Brewing and the other companies were denied U.S. Patent and
Trademark authorization for the label that reads "The Original Crazy
Horse Malt Liquor," court documents say.

"The derogatory nature of defendants' use of the name of Crazy Horse in
association with the production, promotion and sale of a high-potency
alcoholic beverage, and the devastating effect alcohol has had, and
continues to have, upon Lakota people, compelled plaintiffs to break
their historic silence at this time and to stand up for their honored
relation by ending this unlawful and wholly improper misappropriation,"
the court document states.

New counts incorporated into the latest lawsuit state that under Lakota
law, the ownership of a person's name are personal, familial and
spiritual property rights and are not extinguished when that person
dies. The rights to the name continue with the extended family or
tiospaye and remain in the family's jurisdiction for the next seven
generations. Federal law and some state law guarantee the protection of
intellectual property rights for 100 years. A mathematical formula will
extend the Lakota law of seven generations beyond the 100-year
limitation, attorneys said.

The federal government has recognized legal authority of the Rosebud
Sioux Tribe to impose ordinances that become legal under tribal and
federal jurisdictions. The complaint states that the name of Crazy Horse
in association with the alcoholic beverage disparages his name, spirit
and reputation. And by misappropriation of the name, it further
disparages the family and violates the estate's rights of publicity in
the name, image and persona of Crazy Horse. The rights of publicity,
although included in the tribal court lawsuit, were not included as part
of the case in appeal.

Because Hornell Brewing Co., along with the other companies, chose to
use the name and purported image of Crazy Horse for the purpose of
selling the malt beverage caused disparaging effects on the family, the
most recent effort in federal court asks for punitive damages.

http://www.suntimes.com:80/output/weinstein/wein123.html

Selling beer, technology similar

November 12, 2000 BY BOB WEINSTEIN

James Taylor has proved you don't have to be a techie to market
technology products. But if you hope to hold your job, you better learn
fast. That's exactly what the 42-year-old, Australian-born Taylor is
doing as president of Internet services at eYak Inc., a Boston, Mass.,
company that integrates voice and Internet.

Taylor knew practically nothing about technology when he joined eYak,
other than how to boot up a computer and get on the Internet. But he did
know how to market beer and cigarettes.

Before joining eYak, Taylor bounced around the globe marketing
cigarettes in Australia and Korea and working as category manager for
Miller Brewing Co. in the United States. After only six months at eYak,
he sounds as if he has been marketing technology his entire career.

Ask Taylor what eYak does, and he'll spit back an answer at the speed of
light, sounding like a seasoned tech salesman: "We have built the
world's largest conferencing network that offers an impressive range of
value-added voice and data services."

What's Taylor's secret, and why did eYak's management go out on a limb
on a guy who has been peddling beer and cigarettes his entire career?
Immodestly, he says he was hired for his "ability to run a business
successfully." Convinced? Taylor is, and so were eYak's founders.

So how did Taylor master techspeak so quickly? He worked hard at it.
Understanding what eYak did was Taylor's first priority. Then he had to
master the terminology. "The terms are very important because we all
have to speak the same language," Taylor explains. "The language of a
technology company is very different than the language of a consumer
products company, for example. It doesn't mean I have to be an expert,
but I must understand what the technical terms mean and their impact."

Taylor admits he was overwhelmed when he joined the company. "I didn't
have to know how to write code, but I did have to understand the
challenges of the company in order to market its products," he says.

Yet, once Taylor became comfortable with the vocabulary, he got down to
serious business and developed eYak's sales and marketing strategies.
"Many of the same things I do every day are the same things I did
marketing consumer products," he says. "The language may be different,
but the marketing principles are the same."

It's no secret technology companies are desperate for seasoned marketing
people, yet many of them are reluctant to hire people outside their
niche, according to Taylor.

Even if a company is willing to hire someone like Taylor, the transition
is not easy and not everyone is willing to make it. What does it take?
For starters, driving ambition, guts and a strong tolerance for risk.
"It also takes a sense of adventure," Taylor adds. "And you have to
demonstrate skills identifying your flexibility to move into a new
area."

Finally, like Taylor, you'd better be a fast learner because technology
companies are moving 50 times faster than non-technical ones.

Bob Weinstein's latest book, I Hate My Boss! How to Survive and Get
Ahead When Your Boss Is a Tyrant, Control Freak or Just Plain Nuts, is
published by McGraw-Hill.

http://news.excite.com:80/news/dj/001107/20001107-005948

Molson/Outlook: Seeks 'Select' Areas Of Growth >MOL.A

November 7, 2000

MO 36.88 1.25 (3.51%) John Paul Macdonald, vice-president of
corporate affairs for
Molson Inc. (MOL.A), said the company's focus has returned to what it
has traditionally done best - brewing.

That's why it sold off non-core brewing assets such as Beaver Lumber and
Home Hardware, and expects to sell the Montreal Canadiens National
Hockey League franchise and Molson Centre arena by December.

However, there's very little profitable growth to be had in Canada,
Macdonald said.

"You can only cost-reduce your way to so many savings, and then you have
to go somewhere else for growth," he said.

The strategy is not to be a consolidator of smaller breweries, but to
seek out "select areas of growth," Macdonald said. Hence the decision to
enter Brazil, which is soon to become the world's third-largest beer
market, he added.

When asked about future acquisitions, Macdonald reiterated that "bigger
isn't necessarily better."

"We're still very busy on our Canadian operations, we've renewed our
focus on the U.S., and now we're going to start something new in
Brazil," he said. "We do have an international strategy team that is
always looking at the market, but there's nothing we're in a position to
comment about right now."

Regarding its U.S. strategy, Macdonald said the company aims to return
there as a "major import player" through the repurchase of its brands
from Miller Brewing Co. (X.MBW), announced Oct. 11. Before, Molson had
no say in the marketing, promotion or pricing of its product. Now that
will change.

"To get the growth we require, one has to control one's destiny, which
includes owning your own brands," Macdonald said.

http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/0011/11/text/business17.html

Upbeat Lion Nathan writes off $120m in China

Date: 11/11/2000 By MARK TODD

Lion Nathan has left behind a terrible September full of red ink and
lower volumes to post a solid start to its new financial year,
reinforcing management's confidence that the brewer's annual profits
will increase in the region of 6 to 7 per cent.

The company will also have a fresh canvas to work with in China, after
writing down the value of its assets there by $120 million. The move,
foreshadowed last month, will give Lion greater flexibility as it mulls
how best to deal with the assets, whether by placing the business in a
joint venture with an international brewer or by a sale.

"The writedown improves our options for China," said chief executive Mr
Gordon Cairns. "We have lots of options there and are in serious
discussions."

Lion Nathan shares ended 11c higher yesterday at a six-month peak of
$4.17, shaking off the well-flagged writedown and September, in which it
lost more than $6 million in net profit.

Mr Cairns attributed the decline to a 12 per cent drop in industry
volumes for Australia in the month and about $10 million spent on
advertising and promotions to maintain key brands' profiles during the
Olympic Games. In terms of earnings before interest and tax, the
Australian operations, which account for 62 per cent of sales, roughly
broke even.

Lion said yesterday it earned $3.7 million in the 13 months ended
September, down 96 per cent on a year ago after including the abnormal
charge for China.

Before one-off costs, earnings were 0.9 per cent up at $123.7 million,
on a 12.1 per cent rise in sales to $1.61 billion. Lion, which has
altered its balance date to mesh with 45 per cent shareholder Kirin
Brewery of Japan, declared a fully franked final dividend of 8c a share.

The chief executive described September as a one-off and trading in
October has bounced sufficiently to suggest targeted net profit growth
in 2000/01 of 6 to 7 per cent is not in jeopardy.

New Zealand performed strongly in the three months to October even as
price rises were pushed through, and losses in China have not expanded.

In Australia, Lion's Hahn beer brands and a $66 million investment in
pubs and clubs in Melbourne continue to underpin improvements. "We're
off to a great start for Australia," Mr Cairns said. "We've taken market
share for the quarter and for the 12 months to October. Our share of
premium beer, light, and in Victoria continues to rise."

In future years, growth will come from Lion's broader liquor business,
such as taking a 28 per cent stake in New Zealand wine maker Montana,
and new products.

http://www.msnbc.com:80/news/487780.asp?cp1=1

Lament for Australian lagers

Lion Nathan's XXXX Bitter's, a traditional Australian lager, finds
itself competing with Merlots and Chardonnays as much as with rival
beers.

Merlot sippers elbow their way to the bar

By Aravind Adiga MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR

SYDNEY, Australia, Nov. 12 —  On a sunny morning, Sydney’s Bondi Beach
is crowded with swimmers, bare-chested surfers howling and charging the
waves, rapid games of beach volleyball, and light-footed joggers.
Further back, rows of sunbathers lie topless on cool white sand.
Pot-bellied tourists mill along the edges of the beach, gaping at the
scene in wonder. This is exactly the sort of outdoors paradise they’ve
come to Australia to see. Only one thing is missing from this
picture-perfect Australian vista: a Foster’s.  
 TOURISTS who head across from Bondi beach to the nearby Borbora bar
expecting to find locals guzzling over-sized mugs of lager are likely to
be disappointed. An impressive array of wine bottles is stacked up
behind the bar, and patrons are usually sipping a glass of Merlot or
chilled Chardonnay.
    “I only drink wine these days,” says Melinda, one of the bar’s
customers. “I find it’s much more interesting.”
    It’s a sentiment that her fellow Aussies are echoing in growing
numbers. Beer is an essential life-support for the sort of buff, macho
Aussie played by actor Paul Hogan in “Crocodile Dundee” and reprised in
endless ads for Foster’s Lager. Yet, in a trend that doesn’t quite fit
in with their rugged, outback image, more and more Aussies are indulging
in a sophisticated new passion: oenology — the study (and regular
imbibing) of wine.
    Locally-produced beer — an industry dominated by Foster’s, and rival
brewer Lion Nathan — is still the most popular alcoholic beverage in
Australia. But for the past few decades, sales have gradually been
sliding; annual per capita consumption of beer is down to 95 litres now,
from 135 litres (about one 12 ounce can a day) two decades ago. In the
same period of time, wine consumption has more than doubled. The
Olympics were an exceptionally good time for wine: monthly sales hit a
record 37 million litres in August. Advertisement
    A survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that
wine has already displaced beer as the choice for women over 25. Even
beer makers sadly concede that fundamental changes have occurred. “In
the 1950s and 60s, beer was still commonly seen on the dining room
table. But it’s now been replaced by wine,” laments Bill Taylor, chief
brewer at Lion Nathan.
    Americans are also discovering Australia’s inexpensive and flavorful
Chardonnays and Merlots. Lindeman’s, an Aussie wine maker, is now
America’s largest imported brand.
    Wine, which earns about $550 million overseas each year, has even
become one of Australia’s fastest growing exports.
    The popularity of wine “partly reflects the fact that we are
becoming more sophisticated as a culture,” says Drew Macrae, a
Sydney-based journalist who writes on society and culture.
    Young Australians bristle at the stereotype of the brash and brawny
Aussie popularized in Foster’s ads. They point out that Australia has a
thriving cultural life, centered around its famous Opera House, and has
nurtured fine ballet, film, theatre, and classical music companies. The
wine revolution, they insist, is an indication of just how far their
country has outgrown its stereotypes.
    The cultural changes contributing to wine’s success can be seen far
away from Sydney’s chic beaches and city center. The suburb of
Parramatta, famous for the eels that swarm its central river, is right
along the great dividing line of Sydney. Beyond it lie the Western
suburbs — the traditional heartland of the city’s working classes. For
generations, “Westies,” as the rest of the city derogatorily calls them,
had a reputation for coarseness and cultural imbecility. If Australians
anywhere lived up to their rugby-worshipping, beer-quaffing stereotype,
it had to be here. Yet, even a place such as Parramatta is filled with
wine stores that burst with Merlots, Cabernets and Semillons. At Valore
Cellars, one of the suburb’s most popular wine stores, a sales assistant
points out the reason for his store’s success is the neighborhood’s
restaurants. “People always pop in for a bottle before dining out,” he
says.
    The central mall in Parramatta, Church Street, is lined with elegant
restaurants featuring a bewildering range of cuisine: Indian, Thai,
Lebanese, Turkish, Greek, Italian, American. The variety of cuisines on
offer here is a reflection of the growing diversity of Australia’s
population. Nearly 25 percent of the country’s 19 million citizens were
born overseas, in countries such as Vietnam, India, Greece, or Ireland.
This multicultural population is producing a new culinary culture,
marked by Asian and Mediterranean influences. Australia’s chief red
wine, Shiraz, with its fruity, powerful flavors (which draw comparisons
to California’s zinfandels), is the perfect accompaniment for a wide
range of spicy foods, connoisseurs say.
    The result is that wine, and not beer, has become the common solvent
for Sydney’s new culinary internationalism — a fact that even local
brewers acknowledge.

    “For a long time, when people thought about beer, they thought about
barbecues and sports,” says Bill Taylor, the Lion Nathan brewer.
“Somehow many Australians have forgotten that beer is also about
different tastes to match different foods.”
    Now the progress of wine looks unstoppable, as it becomes enshrined
in Australia’s national mythology. Locals love to recall how visiting
French experts took one look at their arid soil and searing climate and
scoffed at the idea of a successful wine industry. Now, they glow, even
the French have to acknowledge the success of Australia’s wine-makers.
Last year, Britain imported more wine from its former penal colony than
it did from France.
    But there are signs that beer is fighting back to regain its market
share. Taylor notes that a wave of new “premium” beers is hitting Aussie
markets, offering drinkers new varieties of wheat beers, dark ales, and
stouts, modeled on European counterparts, and adapted to the country’s
new cuisines. The new beers also have much higher levels of alcohol,
which may be part of the trick in winning back customers. One late-night
party-goer in Sydney explains his preference for wine this way: “It’s
just a way of getting drunk twice as fast.”
    

http://www.herald.com:80/content/tue/business/latamer/digdocs/075352.htm

Brewery head quits

Bloomberg News

11/08/00- BOGOTA -- The 150-company Bavaria group has named Germán Montoya
Vélez
as acting president of Colombia's largest brewery, Bavaria, after the
announced resignation of Andrés Obregón Santo Domingo. A permanent
president will be named later, El Espectador said Monday.

A former deputy minister of finance, Leonor Montoya Alvarez, was named
president of Valores Bavaria, the brewery's holding company, an office
she will assume in a few days. She is president of Asofondos, a pension
fund management association, and has held several important government
posts, including director of public credit at the Finance Ministry,
superintendent of banks, and president of the Banco de Colombia.

Germán Montoya, 82, has been chairman of the boards of the two companies
and served as the general secretary of former President Virgilio Barco,
1986-1990.

Obregón, the 39-year-old nephew of Julio Mario Santo Domingo, main
shareholder of the Bavaria group, will formally resign today. He has
held the office since February 1999, when he replaced Augusto López
Valencia.

A statement from the Bavaria group said that Obregón is quitting because
his family has decided to not take part in the group's management,
although it will remain active on its companies' boards of directors.

http://www.beer.com/news/bee/new/2000/11/08/973710764588.html

East African Breweries unveils expansion plans

11.8.2000 NAIROBI (Reuters) - Leading regional brewer, East African Breweries
aims
to float its two units in Uganda and Tanzania and move into the
lucrative spirits market, as part of plans to expand, diversify and
rationalise its business, the company said on Tuesday.

Top EABL officials said that the company aimed to buy the shares it does
not yet own in its units in Uganda and Tanzania and then float them on
the two countries' fledgling stock markets.

EABL owns 64 percent of Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL). Its main
shareholder, the Diageo Group , owns another 30 percent through its
subsidiary Guinness and the balance is held by minorities.

In Tanzania's Kibo Breweries, it owns 86 percent and is seeking to buy
out its partner's 14 percent.

While plans to list on the Kampala bourse were on track legal problems
in Tanzania might delay the process there.

Company officials told reporters in Nairobi EABL had offered all UBL
minority shareholders four EABL shares and 79 Kenya shillings ($1) for
every 25 shares.

"In line with our strategy, a decision was made to exchange the Uganda
Breweries shares, not already held by EABL to EABL shares," Chairman
Jeremiah Kiereini said.

EABL closed unchanged at 81.50 shillings on the Nairobi Stock Exchange
on Tuesday.

Diageo, which holds 46.7 percent of EABL, is expected to raise that
shareholding to more than 50 percent if the UBL deal goes through and if
it is allotted new shares under a proposed scrip dividend option,
officials said.

"Diageo has given an undertaking to the Capital Markets Authority in
Nairobi, that it will not make a takeover bid," EABL's Finance Director
Gerald Mahinda said.

EABL TO MARKET JOHNNIE WALKER

Faced with a shrinking beer market in its key Kenyan market, which the
company blames on high taxation and poor economic growth, officials said
EABL intended to move into the lucrative spirits business.

In regional markets EABL faces strong competition from South African
Breweries but it remains dominant in Kenya.

"We will thus strengthen our position in the alcoholic beverages market
by adding spirits to our beer portfolio," Kiereini said.

The plan is to acquire shares in companies that deal in spirits both in
Uganda and Kenya, he said. If the plans work, the company will produce
Smirnoff Vodka and Bond Whisky and also market some of the world's
leading brands like Johnnie Walker Whisky, officials said.

EABL is the fourth largest capitalised firm on the Nairobi bourse and
has been virtually the only share attracting strong interest from
foreign investors looking at the Diageo partnership.

Its earnings per share rose to 12.91 shillings in the financial year
ended June, from 11.49 shillings in 1999.

Brokers said its latest plans were crucial in rekindling investors'
interest.

"The beer market has been flat meaning a company like EABL has to grow
by acquisition," said John Munge a director of leading brokers Shah,
Munge & Partners.

[J2jurado]

Swiss Full-Year Beer Consumption Declines on Cold Weather

Zurich, Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Swiss beer consumption declined in the year to
Sept. 30, held back by health concerns and poor summer weather, the Swiss Beer
Brewer Association said.

Beer sales fell 0.4 percent to 4.2 million hectoliters as beer consumption
declined to 58.3 liters per Swiss person from 58.8 a year earlier, according to
the association. Domestic beer production rose 1 percent to 3.6 million
hectoliters, while imports fell 8 percent to 580,718 hectoliters.

Western European beer consumption is declining as health concerns prompt a move
toward lighter drinks. Switzerland's biggest brewer,
Feldschloesschen-Huerlimann Holding AG, sold its drinks unit after attempts to
improve its beer business failed.

``The main reason for the decline was the bad weather,'' said Konrad Studerns,
director of the Swiss Beer Brewer Association. He said a `` 20 percent
consumption drop in July dragged down full- year results.''

Studerns expects beer consumption to rise ``slightly'' during the current
fiscal year. Swiss beer intake has slipped 2.3 percent since 1998.

Salomon cuts Anheuser Busch

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Salomon Smith Barney said it cut on Wednesday its
rating on Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc. <<A HREF="aol://4785:BUD">BUD.N</A>>, the
world's largest brewer and maker of the top-selling Budweiser beer brand, to
outperform from buy but raised the company's target price to $52 from $47.

Anheuser-Busch's stock price appreciation of more than 25 percent year-to-date
and increased concerns that imported beers will continue to take share from
domestics, helped by a narrowing price gap, led Salomon to cut its rating on
the firm.

"We have, however, raised our price target ... by applying the current 2000 P/E
to our 2001 estimate of $1.88, a number in which we have a high degree of
comfort," Salomon said.

The brewer's shares were off 3.7 percent at $45-11/16 Wednesday morning.

Nigerian Breweries drags Lagos bourse down

LAGOS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Nigerian bourse fell 31.49 points or 0.4 percent
on Wednesday, its 12th straight session in retreat, on losses suffered by
heavy-weight Nigerian Breweries due to poor market sentiment, dealers said.

The All-Share Index dropped to 7107.28 points from 7138.77 on Tuesday.

Nigerian Breweries fell the maximum five percent to 20.05 naira.

Gainers outnumbered losing stocks by 25 to 19. Volume, bolstered by
Co-operative Bank's 63.2 million shares traded in 18 deals, rose to 73.11
million shares worth 196.3 million naira ($1.92 million) that changed hands in
1,118 deals.

Co-operative Bank posted a 78 percent profit rise for the financial year ended
March 31 and doubled the dividend for shareholders to 10 kobo. Its share price
closed unchanged at 1.47 naira.

Brewer Guinness Nigeria rose 4.6 percent to 25.15 naira.

Beck's North America Taps Lennon as President & CEO

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Beck's North America has announced
that John J. Lennon, an experienced brewing industry veteran, will join the
company as President and CEO on January 1, 2001. G. Michael Mueller, the
company's Chairman, made the announcement at the company's annual sales
conference in New York City.

Lennon comes to Beck's North America from Guinness where he was Vice President
and General Manager of the Caribbean and Central American (CARICAM) markets,
one of the company's top performing worldwide regions. In this capacity, he
was responsible for establishing and achieving the company's strategic vision
along with volume, market share and profit objectives in over 34 countries,
including 16 local license-brewing operations situated around the Caribbean
Basin. He has served on the Board of Directors of several leading brewing and
soft drink operations, including Jamaica's D&G (producer of Red Stripe Beer),
Grenada Brewery (where he was named Acting Chairman), St. Vincent Brewery, and
Windward and Leeward Brewery (a Heineken subsidiary, based in St. Lucia).

Prior to that position Lennon was President and CEO of William & Scott Brewing
Company, Inc., the brewer of Rhino Chasers Beer. Mr. Lennon also held
positions of Vice President of Marketing for All Brand Importers, Wisdom Import
Sales Company and was Group Marketing Manager of Guinness America.

In announcing the appointment, Mueller stated that he is delighted to have
someone of Lennon's experience and caliber to be taking the company's helm at
such a critical juncture. "We were attracted to John by his proven track
record of building successful brands both in the United States and
internationally and by his solid marketing credentials, business acumen and his
16-plus years of brewing industry experience. Perhaps most important to us in
selecting him for this role are the leadership capability and interpersonal
skills he exhibits which are so important to leading Beck's North America
forward into the new century."

In commenting on his pending appointment, Lennon, who will be charged with
accelerating the growth of the internationally acclaimed BECK'S Brand Family
stated, "I am thrilled to be given the opportunity of leading such a fine
company as Beck's North America. It has a great team in place representing
brands of incredible heritage and quality. My objective will be to use this
solid foundation as a platform for building a high-performing, consumer-
focused organization, one that inspires our distributors and delights our
consumers with our superior quality malt beverages everywhere, every day."

Lennon holds an MBA from Syracuse University and is married to Gail Workman, a
Management Information Systems and Technology Design Professional. They have
two children, Rachel (15), and Aaron (13).

Beck's North America, a subsidiary of Brauerei Beck & Co, is the U.S. importer
of the Beck's brands and is based in Stamford, Connecticut. Beck's North
America is responsible for sales and marketing of the company's internationally
renowned portfolio of BECK'S, BECK'S LIGHT, BECK'S DARK, BECK'S OKTOBERFEST and
HAAKE BECK non-alcoholic malt beverage in the United States, Canada, Bermuda
and the Caribbean.

Beer Maker Unveils New Energy Drink

Novemebr 14, 200 ST. LOUIS (AP) - Anheuser-Busch Inc., the world's biggest
brewer, plans to introduce a nonalcoholic energy drink packed with vitamins and
guarana, a South American plant that is a natural source of caffeine.

The company behind the top-selling Budweiser beer is calling its
orange-flavored energy drink 180, and said Tuesday it plans to introduce it in
30 major U.S. markets Jan. 15.

The name is supposed to suggest the ``turnaround'' or ``energetic lift'' that
people look for in an energy drink, according to a company statement.

``People go out late at night and want an energy boost,'' said Steve Bagwell,
vice president of the company's premium plus brands. ``They also go out to
mellower places, and these products are being consumed there as well.''

Bagwell said the drink is a good fit for the company because it's marketed to
restaurants, night clubs and stores where Anheuser-Busch has strong
distribution channels.

The brewer is trying to tap into a beverage category that doubled in size last
year. Its previous forays into the nonalcoholic beverage business include
brands like Root 66, Zeltzer Seltzer waters and O'Douls nonalcoholic beer.

In addition to guarana, Anheuser-Busch said the lightly carbonated drink
contains high levels of carbohydrates, complex sugars and all the recommended
daily amounts of vitamins B-6, B-12 ad C. Drinks such as Gatorade contain less
sugar, no caffeine and are intended to rehydrate.

Like other energy drinks, 180 will be sold in slim, 8.2-ounce cans. The drink
will cost about $2 a can at stores and $4 to $16 in restaurants and night
clubs.

Argentina's Quilmes Q3 net $21.4 mln

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 15 (Reuters) - South American beverage maker Quilmes
Industrial (Quinsa) S.A. <QUIN.LU> <<A HREF="aol://4785:LQU">LQU.N</A>> on
Wednesday reported third quarter and nine-month results to Sept. 30.

THREE MONTHS
Net $21.4 mln vs $15.6 mln.
EPS $0.198 vs $0.146

NINE MONTHS
Net $47.4 mln vs $52.4 mln.
EPS $0.438 vs $0.492

NOTE: Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa) S.A. is a Luxembourg-based holding company
which controls 85 percent of Quilmes International Ltd. The remaining 15
percent is owned by Heineken NV <HEIN.AS>, Europe's leading brewer. Quilmes'
beer brands are market leaders in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia and
it is the second-largest brewer in Chile. Quilmes also sells soft drinks and
water in Argentina through a controlling interest in the largest PepsiCo Inc.
<<A HREF="aol://4785:PEP">PEP.N</A>> bottler in the South American country.

DB Group 2nd-Half Profit Declines After Sale of Liquor Assets

Auckland, Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- DB Group Ltd. indicated second-half profit
before one-time costs declined as higher beer sales couldn't offset the sale of
its liquor business.

The nation's second-largest brewer indicated profit for the six months ended
Sept. 30 fell to NZ$15.7 million ($6 million), 15.6 cents a share, from a
year-earlier NZ$15.8 million, or 15.7 cents.

Auckland-based DB, about 77 percent owned by Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd.,
Singapore's biggest brewer, indicated second half sales fell 37 percent to
NZ$182.6 million from NZ$288.4 million. The company sold its New Zealand Liquor
retailing unit at the start of the second half and closed its wholesale liquor
business.

DB has sold or closed its wine and liquor businesses to focus on brewing beer
including its premium Export Gold brand. It also sells Heineken in New Zealand.
DB shares rose 5 cents, or 1.5 percent, to NZ$3.35.

For the fiscal year, profit before one-time costs to NZ$30.9 million, up from
NZ$29.5 million a year ago.

Sales in the year from its brewing unit rose 4.3 percent to NZ$280.1 million
from NZ$268.6 million a year ago. Operating earnings from brewing rose to
NZ$33.6 million from NZ$21.1 million.

DB Group will pay final dividends totalling NZ$8.1 million to shareholders,
unchanged from the previous year. The amount a share will depend on the number
of shares outstanding at the time of payment.

If the proposed one-for-two reverse stock split is approved, the dividend will
be 16 cents a share. If not, the final dividend will be 8 cents a share.
Shareholders are voting on the proposal today.

The company also posted one-time costs of NZ$7.9 million in the year from the
closing of its liquor business and property sales.

As is common with New Zealand companies, DB Group didn't separately disclose
its second-half earnings and the figures don't allow for revisions to
first-half results.

Brown-Forman Names Street President of Corporation

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BF.A
BF.B) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Owsley Brown II announced today the
election of William M. Street to the position of president of Brown-Forman
Corporation. Street's day-to-day activities will remain the same and he
retains his current responsibilities as president and CEO of Brown-Forman
Beverages Worldwide (BFBW), the subsidiary responsible for the company's
beverage business.

"Bill's leadership of BFBW since its formation in 1994 has been truly
exemplary, as our financial and brand building results indicate," stated Brown.
"In addition, he is a superb counselor, not only to me, but to many in our
company. His election as president of the corporation gives fuller recognition
to the pivotal leadership role he plays in the company's continuing growth and
prosperity," said Brown.

Street joined Brown-Forman on a full-time basis in 1963 and rose through the
sales and marketing organization to executive management. He was named vice
president in 1977, appointed president of domestic beverage operations in 1986,
and was selected to lead the company's first global beverage organization in
1994 when he was named chief executive officer of Brown-Forman Beverages
Worldwide. Street has been a member of the Brown-Forman Board of Directors
since 1971, is a member of the Board's executive committee, and in becoming
president relinquishes his title as vice chairman. He is a graduate of
Princeton University and the Harvard Business School.

Street has long been active in civic affairs and currently serves on the boards
of National City Bank of Kentucky, the Metropolitan YMCA of Greater Louisville,
and Louisville Collegiate School.

Brown-Forman Corporation is a diversified producer and marketer of fine quality
consumer products, including Jack Daniel's, Canadian Mist, Southern Comfort,
Fetzer and Bolla Wines, Korbel California Champagnes, Lenox, Dansk, and Gorham
tableware and giftware, and Hartmann Luggage.

For more information, contact Phil Lynch, VP, Director of Corporate
Communications, at 502-774-7928.

Twenty die in Kenya after drinking illegal brew

NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - At least 20 people died and many others have lost
their sight after drinking illegal spirits at a slum in the Kenyan capital
Nairobi, police said on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said 20 people have already died and another 75
people have been hospitalised after consuming the illicit brew known locally as
chang'aa on Tuesday.

"The numbers (of dead people) must rise," Kimanthi told Reuters, adding that
the police have arrested some people behind the business but did not say how
many. Local television showed pictures of shocked slum residents viewing
bodies of at least two men lying in gutters near the illegal drinking den where
they had spent the evening and authorities summoned to the area to collect the
bodies.

Nairobi's slums are packed with so-called shebeens, illegal drinking parlours
mainly run by elderly widows who compete for customers with the intensity of
their brew -- sometimes adding raw ethanol to give it an extra kick. But pure
alcohol is poisonous, leading to blindness -- hence the expression "blind
drunk" -- or even death.

Illegal brews are very popular in Kenya because they are powerful and cheap.

Moderate drinking gives only 'slight' heart help

By Lisa Richwine

NEW ORLEANS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol,
previously reported to help people's hearts, only slightly reduces the odds of
having a deadly heart attack, Finnish researchers reported on Monday.

More noteworthy heart benefits occurred when people had three to seven drinks
per day, but doctors advise against that because heavy drinking is associated
with a host of problems, from liver damage to impaired fertility.

Dr. Pekka Karhunen of the University of Tampere in Finland said previous
reports that one or two alcoholic drinks per day could help fend off heart
disease appeared to have been "overestimated."

His study, released at the American Heart Association's annual meeting, showed
"there is no danger in one or two drinks per day, but the benefit is quite
low," Karhunen said in an interview.

The heart association advises that alcohol, if consumed at all, should be
limited to one drink per day for women and two per day for men. The drinks
included beer, wine or liquor.

Karhunen and his colleagues performed autopsies on 700 Finnish men between the
ages of 33 and 70. The researchers interviewed family members about the
deceased men's drinking habits and then studied alcohol's effects on their
blood vessels.

The scientists found that having fewer than three drinks per day did not reduce
the progress of atherosclerosis, or coronary artery disease, and only
"slightly" minimized the chance of having a fatal heart attack.

But the more people drank, the less likely they were to have suffered a fatal
heart attack.

Heart disease was the cause of death for 56 percent of people who had consumed
an average of fewer than seven drinks per day. For people who drank more than
that, death from heart disease was only 30 percent.

Heavy drinkers, however, had high levels of fat in their livers and sperm
disorders. A significant portion, 47 percent, died from "violent" causes such
as accidents that could have been related to alcohol use.

Excessive drinking, therefore, would be a "dangerous way to prevent coronary
heart disease," Karhunen concluded.

Earlier studies touting alcohol's heart benefits may have had different results
because patients in those studies likely underreported their alcohol intake,
Karhunen said. His researchers were able to confirm families' reports of
drinking habits through blood-alcohol tests during autopsies, he said.

Patients looking to reduce heart disease risk may want to choose another
beverage, tea. A study by researchers at Boston University showed that drinking
four, 8 ounce (236 ml) cups of tea per day appeared to reverse a blood
abnormality seen in patients with coronary artery disease.

Scientists said further study was needed before they would recommend tea as a
way to protect against heart disease and stroke.

Brunei provides a little something for APEC dinner

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - What do you feed hungry world leaders
after they've had a hard day negotiating over lowering trade barriers,
spreading the Information Technology revolution, and making the globe a safer
place?

Well, if you're the Sultan of Brunei, one of the world's richest men, you start
with cream of quail soup with mushroom dumplings, followed by trio of fish on
fiddlehead fern in coriander and sweet pepper sauce.

Then comes the stewed beef with mild chili and coconut sauce, roast rack of
lamb on candlenut and spices with coconut gravy.

After which are sauteed chicken with hot and sour turmeric sauce, shellfish
braised in green masala, braised garden vegetables with abalone and bean curd
sticks, biryani rice and fresh fruit chutney.

Still have room for dessert? That's brulee of fresh berries on raspberry and
carmel sauce, assorted fresh cut fruit and Malay kulfi.

So read the menu at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's banquet for the leaders of the 21
economies in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum on Wednesday.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime
Minister Yoshiro Mori and Chinese President Jiang Zemin were among the leaders
in the audience, along with assorted spouses and partners -- daughter Chelsea
in Clinton's case.

They were in Brunei, a tiny but oil-rich country on thee island of Borneo, for
APEC's annual summit, which ends on Thursday.

Though a fair amount of the summit agenda is devoted to sharing the wealth,
some of the leaders were not above showing it.

Ludmilla Putin was the most extravagantly dressed, wearing an ivory silk gown
with matching stole, piped with white fur.

Chelsea Clinton looked more demure in simple black long-sleeved cocktail dress.

Forty young children bearing baskets of gifts and dressed in colourful
traditional costume accompanied the leaders into the banquet room, where
hundreds of delegates and guests awaited their entrance.

While they were dining, the leaders were treated to a spectacle of traditional
music and dance celebrating Brunei's youth, womenfolk and tropical rainforest
environment.

Oh yes, there was a downside. In Islamic Brunei, where alcohol is banned, the
only drinks mentioned on the menu shown to journalists were tea and coffee with
dessert.

Heart meeting picks heart attack capital

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent, 11-15-00

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Two cups of heavy cream. Three tablespoons of butter.
One pint of shucked oysters.

Chef Paul Prudhomme's recipe for Oysters Florentine calls for anything but
restraint. And how about five eggs and two 12-ounce cans of evaporated milk
that go into his bread pudding, another Louisiana favorite?

"Certainly the foods that are served here are anything but consistent with the
guidelines of the American Heart Association," said Dr. Robert Eckel, a Denver
cardiologist and member of the heart group's nutrition committee.

More than 35,000 members of the nonprofit association, which includes doctors
and other health professionals and keeps tabs on America's No. 1 killer, are
meeting this week in New Orleans. Their message to the rest of us is clear: Eat
a low-fat diet, drink moderately if at all, exercise daily and stop smoking.

But somehow the message seems a bit swamped in the Big Easy, where a poor boy
sandwich starts out with deep-fried shrimp or oysters, bars are open 24 hours a
day and provide "go-cups" so drinkers can enjoy their beverages as they wander
along the streets, and a jogger is as rare as a moonshiner in Utah.

In fact, excess is downright applauded in New Orleans, where Mardi Gras
trinkets are sold year-round, deep-fried dough treats known as beignets are
served not just for breakfast but all day long, and cholesterol-rich shellfish
is rarely dished up without at least a little butter.

Louisiana has the fifth-highest rate of heart disease in the country with an
annual incidence rate of 421 per 100,000 people. Mississippi is the worst, with
a rate of 480 per 100,000, and Utah is best with 300. The average for the
United States, where 41 percent of deaths are due to heart disease, is 382.2.

HEALTHFUL FOOD 'FOREIGN' TO LOUISIANS

"I have to admit that the idea of a healthful food was totally foreign to our
way of thinking," Prudhomme writes in his cookbook "Louisiana Tastes," where
the vegetarian food section includes a recipe for stuffed squash for four that
calls for a full cup of heavy cream.

But while red meat abounds in New Orleans cuisine, so does fat-free food such
as raw oysters, grilled fish and ... well, maybe it is hard to find much
fat-free food here.

So did the Heart Association choose to have its annual meeting here to bring
home its message to people who obviously are badly in need of it? Not really,
says Eckel.

"New Orleans is one of the few cities that can house this many people," he told
Reuters in an interview. "One issue is simply whether there is room for the
meeting."

Does he worry that the cardiologists will misbehave?

"I think that you can eat in a way that is heart-healthy in New Orleans. You
can have a bowl of gumbo -- just have a small cup," Eckel said. Fatty food is
not the only thing that is good to eat here. "You can eat decently and still
enjoy the food."

Munching a banana between scientific sessions, he said he was practicing what
he preached. "I've had a little bit of gumbo two out of three nights," he said,
adding that seven members of the nutrition committee had enjoyed a break at
Mulate's, a local Cajun restaurant, while keeping a wary eye on each other.

WATCHFUL GAZE OF THE NUTRITION POLICE

"It was kind of like the nutrition police," he said. They shared two portions
of bread and a serving of lime pie among them. "Although some were busier with
their forks than others."

The cardiologists are certainly enjoying the food. The convention has filled
the city and every night its restaurants are bursting with doctors, drug
company representatives and other convention delegates easily identified by the
name tags they neglect to remove in the off hours.

"I think there is a lot of good-tasting, heart-healthy food," said Dr. Alice
Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Massachusetts and
a member of the AHA's nutrition committee. "The issue is how you make the
choices."

She said she had not been depriving herself of New Orleans' famous restaurant
offerings. "At one restaurant I was at two days ago, you could get strawberries
for dessert embalmed in wine, which sounded pretty good to me, or a creme
brulee."

Was Lichtenstein suggesting that the creme brulee, a custard-like sweet made
with eggs, cream and sugar, might not be the preferred choice? "You can't have
your cake and eat it too and everyone needs to accept that," she said.

That is, unless you are Prudhomme, who is proud of his door-filling girth and
who says he likes nothing better than watching people eat. His Cupcakes with
Papaya Sauce include half a cup of heavy cream, four ounces of cream cheese, a
stick of butter and three large eggs.

[J2jurado]

34 Dead After Drinking Home Brew

By ANDREW ENGLAND 11-15-00
.c The Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - An illegal, home brew popular among poor Kenyans is being
blamed for at least 34 deaths in two Nairobi slums, police said Wednesday.
Another 112 people have been hospitalized.

``They started dying this morning, and it has risen ever since,'' said police
spokesman Peter Kimanthi, adding the death toll would probably rise much
higher.

All the victims died Wednesday in two Nairobi slums where a consignment of the
illicit brew is believed to have been brought in from western Kenya, Kimanthi
said.

Illegal home brew is popular among poor Kenyans because it is cheap and
extremely strong, but the ingredients can range from high-octane fuel to
metholated spirits.

A glass of the illegal brew, known locally as ``changaa,'' costs 12 cents
compared to 40 cents for a bottle of beer.

Poverty is widespread in Kenya, which is going through its worst economic
crisis since independence from Britain in 1963. More than half its 29 million
people live on less than a dollar a day.

``This was distilled spirits, but the ingredients are unknown,'' Kimanthi told
The Associated Press. ``They can use aviation fuel or something similar. The
brewers compete with each other to see who can create the most potent brew. We
expect this number (death toll) to grow. Some people are claiming they are
blinded.''

An undetermined number of people were arrested in connection with the incident,
Kimanthi said, adding that police had taken samples of the brew to be tested.

Television news footage showed the bodies of some of the men who died after
drinking the brew lying unattended on the streets of Sinai and Mukuru, two of
Nairobi's many sprawling, desolate slums.

``They are making this beer to be too strong ... right now I can hear you but
cannot see you,'' a visibly drunk woman told the private Kenya Television
Network.

In 1998, 90 people died and three others were blinded in Naivasha in central
Kenya after drinking a similar concoction.

``These (drinkers) do not seem to be listening to what the government has
warned,'' Kimanthi said. ``We have had cases of this nature before but never as
serious as this one.

Argentina's Quilmes posts higher Q3 net income

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Argentine beverage maker Quilmes Industrial
(Quinsa) S.A. <QUIN.LU><<A HREF="aol://4785:LQU">LQU.N</A>> on Wednesday posted
quarterly net income higher than last year but said that Argentina's stagnant
economy cut into operating income.

Quilmes reported in a statement $21.4 million in net income for the quarter
ending Sept. 30, up from $15.6 million during the same period a year ago.

A one-time gain from the $63.9 million sale of a Quilmes unit in Paraguay to
Coca-Cola Interamerican Corporation, a unit of Coca-Cola Co. <<A
HREF="aol://4785:KO">KO.N</A>>, accounted for the year-on-year increase in the
third quarter, a company official said.

"Among other things our Paraguayan soft drink operation was sold, which
produced a significant cash gain. At the operating level, our results were
down," Francis Cressal, Quilmes' corporate finance chief, told Reuters.

Quilmes' operating income during the quarter dropped to $17.7 million from
$22.0 million.

The company said its net income for the first nine months of the year totaled
$47.4 million vs. $52.4 million during the same period in 1999.

Quilmes representatives in a telephone conference call attributed lower
earnings so far in 2000 to Argentina's economic doldrums and heavy rains that
spoiled cereal crops needed to make beer.

Quilmes also cited costs from the acquisition of 60 percent of Bolivian
National Brewery (CBN), which it says is Bolivia's largest brewery and will be
"one of the company's pillars of growth in the coming year."

Quilmes sells 15 brands of beer as well as soft drinks and water in Argentina,
Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. The company also owns a controlling

interest in the largest PepsiCo Inc. <<A HREF="aol://4785:PEP">PEP.N</A>>

bottler in Argentina.

Quilmes Industrial controls 85 percent of Quilmes International Ltd. The

remaining 15 percent is owned by Heineken NV <HEIN.AS>, Europe's leading
brewer.

Diageo Focused on Acquisitions Including Seagram Unit, CFO Says

New York, Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Diageo Plc, the world's largest liquor
company, said it wants to use $4.5 billion in cash raised from the sale of its
Pillsbury food unit to expand in sales of alcoholic beverages and remains
interested in Seagram Co.'s liquor unit.

Diageo also wants to make purchases to expand its Burger King restaurant chain
outside the U.S., which is home to 85 percent of its business, Chief Financial
Officer Nick Rose said.

London-based Diageo has agreed to sell Pillsbury to General Mills Inc. and set
plans to sell shares in Burger King to the public.

``Our preference is to use that cash flow (from Pillsbury) to grow the
business,'' Rose said at an investment conference sponsored by UBS Warburg.
``If we are unsuccessful in that process, we will be left with a substantial
amount of cash. Share repurchases would be a high priority.''

Diageo, maker of Guinness beer and Smirnoff vodka, and Pernod Ricard SA agreed
in August to bid together for Seagram Co.'s Chivas Regal and other liquor
brands.

Seagram is one of the last prizes available to liquor companies, which are
consolidating to cut costs and to focus on top-shelf liquors amid slowing
demand. Montreal-based Seagram's liquor-and-wine unit generated $4.8 billion in
1999 sales and $684 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization.

Rose said acquisitions could ''kick start a critical mass'' for Burger King in
Europe. One attractive area is the Netherlands, he said.

Diageo also plans to introduce at the end of this year a ready-to-drink
alcoholic beverage in the U.S., called Smirnoff Ice, which the company plans to
advertise more broadly than its liquors, which face restrictions on television
advertising.

Smirnoff Ice, with about 5 percent alcohol, has generated greater than expected
sales in the U.K. and Australia, and could likely be advertised on U.S.
television networks, he said.

Peru Stocks Lower Led by Backus Brewer and Miner Buenaventura

Lima, Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Peruvian stocks were lower today, led by brewer
Union de Cervecerias Peruanas Backus & Johnston SA.

A increase by zinc miner Volcan Cia. Minera SA partially offset losses in the
index.

Lima's general index fell 0.1 percent to 1195.41. The 15- share selective index
fell 0.5 percent to 2056.60, its lowest level since Jan. 29, 1999.

Trading volume was 7.7 million soles ($2.2 million), compared with an average
daily volume of $6.5 million over the last year as concern about politics
curbed investment activity. Opposition legislators ousted an ally of President
Alberto Fujimori from the leadership of Congress on Monday and a replacement
has not been selected yet. New elections are scheduled for next year.

UCP Backus & Johnston SA (BJ PE) fell 2.1 percent to 0.92 soles, its lowest
price since Jan. 19, 1999. The company shares have been dropping on concern
higher taxes on beer consumption will affect its profitability and delay a
long-awaited recovery from a four-year sales slump.

Anheuser-Busch Pricey After Gain, Analysts Say: Call of the Day

New York, Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- In the U.S. these days, when someone cracks
open a beer, it's more likely to be an import -- such as a Heineken or a Corona
-- than it was a few years ago.

That doesn't bode well for the No. 1 U.S. brewer, Anheuser- Busch Cos., and its
Budweiser beer, according to Salomon Smith Barney Inc. analyst Jennifer
Solomon, who cut her ratings on Anheuser Busch and Adolph Coors Co.

A sales slowdown is especially a problem for Anheuser-Busch, said Credit Suisse
First Boston analyst Skip Carpenter, who also lowered his opinion on the stock.
Anheuser-Busch sells for 28 times this year's expected profit, 18 percent
higher than market overall and near the highest level at which the stock
usually trades, he said.

``Consumers like the import products, they like the image, and imports are
spending a lot on marketing to draw people in,'' said Solomon. Anheuser-Busch
``will still have pretty healthy growth, but not enough to give it a
historically high'' share price.

U.S. brewers face difficulty on a few fronts, according to Solomon. Brewers
outside the U.S., such Grupo Modelo SA of Mexico, which markets Corona, and
Heineken NV in the Netherlands are spending more draw U.S. consumers to their
brands.

The marketing is paying off -- imported beers now account for about 10 percent
of industry volume, up from 6 percent in 1995, according to Salomon Smith
Barney's data. Import volumes this year have grown more than 10 percent,
compared with a less than 1 percent increase for domestic beers.

Outperforming the Market

``There are still a lot of people drinking (Anheuser-Busch's) Bud Lite; it's
just the level of growth may slow somewhat,'' said Solomon, who cut
Anheuser-Busch to ``outperform'' from ``buy'' and Coors to ``neutral'' from
``outperform.''

At the same time, Carpenter said, Anheuser-Busch's stock had gained 34 percent
this year through yesterday, while the S&P 500 has lost 5.9 percent.
Anheuser-Busch and Coors' stock prices have each surged more than 70 percent
since their lows in March.

Anheuser-Busch fell $1 to $46.44, and Coors gained 88 cents to $67.56.

U.S. brewers are preparing to increase beer prices, while Solomon said her
contacts in the beer industry indicate that prices for imports, typically more
expensive, probably aren't headed higher. That will narrow the price gap
between imported and domestic beers, making imported beers more attractive, she
said.

Anheuser-Busch and No. 3 U.S. brewer Coors also must contend with other
domestic brewers attempting to gain market share, Solomon said. Philip Morris
Cos.' Miller Brewing unit is the No. 2 brewer and has been struggling with
slower sales.

That could turn around, Solomon said, as Miller reorganizes its sales force and
advertising campaigns. The ``new, rather racy ads for (Miller's) Genuine Draft
could inject new life into the brand (if they actually get aired,)'' she wrote
in her report.

Solomon remains bullish on Anheuser-Busch's earnings outlook, and even as she
downgraded the stock she raised her 12-month price forecast to $52 from $47.
She's not as optimistic about Coors' prospects.

Coors ``openly admits that it is vulnerable to quarterly earnings swings,'' she
said, and the company has spent more over the past two quarters to meet demand.
``The whole issue of effectively meeting demand without adding unnecessary
capacity is an important risk which continues to hang over the stock,'' she
wrote.

More Downgrades

Credit Suisse First Boston's Carpenter, who cut Anheuser- Busch to ``hold''
from ``buy,'' said in a report that the company probably won't be able to
sustain a high enough growth rate to justify its price-earnings ratio. He kept
his price forecast at $50.

Carpenter also expects ``a lack of catalysts for the shares in the near term
due to the seasonality of business,'' he wrote, raising the question of whether
Anheuser-Busch's price increases will succeed.

A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. analyst Timothy Swanson also cut his rating on
Anheuser-Busch today, citing the stock's runup. He expects the stock to post
earnings growth of 12 percent next year and said in a report that the shares
are fairly priced, given that outlook.

Carpenter and Swanson didn't return calls seeking comment.

``When stocks hit your price targets, you have to evaluate what you think'' of
a company's outlook, Solomon said.

Constellation to Present at UBS Warburg Conference

FAIRPORT, N.Y., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ,
STZ.B) today announced that Tom Summer, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, will present at UBS Warburg's Food, Beverage and Household
Products Conference on November 16, 2000 at 4:15 PM Eastern Time.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000918/NYM167LOGO )

UBS Warburg will provide listen-only telephone conference lines for public
access to hear the presentation. The public can call (800) 817-4887 or (913)
981-4913 to listen to the presentation live or (888) 566-0785 or (402) 220-0102
for a recording of the presentation. A copy of the presentation will be
available on Constellation's website at http://www.cbrands.com.

Constellation Brands, Inc., headquartered in Fairport, New York, is a leader in
the production, marketing, and distribution of beverage alcohol products in
North America and the United Kingdom. The Company markets leading brands of
imported beers, wines, spirits, cider and bottled water, and is a leading
drinks wholesaler in the United Kingdom.

E-Commerce Explosion of Beaujolais Nouveau Expected This Week; French
Traditionalists Are Up In Arms

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2000--Parlo (www.parlo.com) the leading
global destination for language and cultural elearning, today announced the
"cyber-arrival" of the much anticipated worldwide shipment of this year's
Beaujolais Nouveau. America, actually Dallas, Texas has the largest Beaujolais
Nouveau party in the world and now, online wine retailers are celebrating too.
They are anticipating reaping profits never before seen from this year's
vintage, which is expected to be an exceptional one.

The annual arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau every third Thursday in November falls
on November 16th this year with all bottles opening at 6:00 p.m. eastern.

Online wine retailers' enthusiasm has some traditionalists furious, believing
that selling this particular wine will destroy the long valued French
tradition.

"The online sales are killing the spirit of Beaujolais Nouveau, which is all
about conviviality. The wine alone separated from the party is of no interest,"
said Delphine Levantal, of the National Federation of Cafes and Bistros in
France.

The Beaujolais Nouveau tradition has been one of celebration and socializing,
and some wine lovers feel that sales online will undermine the very essence of
what the wine is all about - and that is the party, not the purchase online.

"A growing number of French traditionalists believe online sales are the very
antithesis of the Beaujolais Nouveau spirit," said Kathleen Talbert, a
Representative of the Leading Beaujolais Nouveau Importer, Georges Duboeuf.

From 1995 to 1999 the importation of Beaujolais Nouveau to the US has
consistently increased and "the King of Beaujolais Nouveau", Georges Duboeuf,
is importing over 2.2 million bottles here and 45,000 cases to the east-coast
alone. The importer even dedicates this year's vintage to the US and will
release the Beaujolais Nouveau live via a webcam event, Thursday, November
16th.

From around the world people will be giving their opinions on this year's
vintage at Parlo.com. In addition, Parlo has great articles on "everything you
always wanted to know about Beaujolais Nouveau," as well as courses to help you
pronounce Beaujolais Nouveau correctly, whether you are in the US bragging at a
cocktail party or trying to order in a bistro in Paris. Coinciding with the
release of Beaujolais Nouveau, Parlo is launching its latest language and
culture course, French for Food and Wine Lovers. The interactive online course
will focus on wonderful wines and gourmet delights of the many regions of
France. All Beaujolais Nouveau 2000 coverage and French for Food and Wine
Lovers will be available online at www.parlo.com.

Tea executive killed by rebels in India's Assam

GUWAHATI, India, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Separatist tribal guerrillas shot dead a
tea estate executive in India's troubled northeastern state of Assam on
Thursday, police said.

"The assistant manager of the Fatema tea garden near Barpeta Road was shot dead
by suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland militants while he was
supervising the plantation workers," a police spokesman said.

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which was formed in 1987, has
been fighting for a separate country for the tribal Bodo people.

Bodos, who constitute 13 per cent of Assam's 25 million people, accuse the
majority non-tribal population of exploiting them.

Assam is the leading producer of tea in India, producing around 54 percent of
the country's favourite beverage.

Police officials said they suspected the executive was killed because he failed
to meet a cash demand from the tribal guerrillas.

The guerrillas often serve tea gardens with extortion notices and executives
are kidnapped for huge ransom. The guerrillas target estate managers and
officials if their demands for money are not met.

India's remote northeast region is home to dozens of ethnic groups fighting for
greater autonomy or self-rule.

[J2jurado]

Kenyans still drinking brew, death toll reaches 62

By Simon Denyer

NAIROBI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Befuddled victims of an illegal brew that has
killed 62 Kenyans streamed into hospitals on Thursday, with more likely as
officials said the fatal concoction was still being consumed.

"I started vomiting in the morning and then I realised I could not see -- and
then I heard the guy we were drinking with was dead," one victim said.

Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said that at least 62 people had died and 245
had been admitted to hospital after consuming the drink, a toll that continued
to rise nearly two days after the deadly consignment first hit the streets.

Hospital staff said people were still drinking the illicit brew -- a local
drink called chang'aa that was probably laced with deadly methanol -- and they
feared yet more would die.

"We do know from the histories that there are some people who are still
continuing to drink, either unknowingly or with a 'just don't care' attitude,"
said Callisto Omondi, acting director of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in
Nairobi.

Most victims come from Nairobi's slums, where AIDS is rife and shebeens, or
illegal drinking parlours, are one of few escapes from atrocious conditions.
Others come from as far away as Kajiado, 60 km (40 miles) south.

The government said it was sending health teams "to get people to stop
drinking."

"There are those who are addicted to this stuff and they are not prepared to
give it up," Kimanthi said. "But others who are scared may be giving it a
second thought."

A young man and a 33-year-old woman died in front of reporters on Thursday as
Kenyan Minister for Medical Services Amukowa Anangwe toured the packed wards at
KNH. Patients lay two to a bed, many blind, some sweating and writhing in pain,
others groaning softly and clutching their stomachs and chests.

LACED FOR AN ADDED KICK

Twelve women have been arrested for selling the spirit, although Kimanthi said
police had not yet located its source.

Many shebeens are run by elderly widows who compete for customers with the
intensity of their brew. Problems arise when pure alcohol or other chemicals
provide the extra kick.

A glass of chang'aa sells for around ten shillings ($0.15), a sixth of the
price of a bottle of beer.

"We think it (the fatal brew) contained methanol, which is outlawed in this
country -- it is a poison," said Dr Richard Muga, director of medical services
in Kenya's health ministry.

"If you take it, the first thing that happens is it compromises your
respiratory system...you go blind, and then you die in six to eight hours."

There have been several other mass deaths from consumption of laced chang'aa in
recent years. Newspapers urged the government to clamp down, or legalise and
monitor the industry.

But traditional spirits, officially banned in the 1970s, are very popular in

Kenya because they are powerful and cheap.

Japan brewers call time on govt low-malt tax plan

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Japan's four top makers of cheap, low-malt brews gave
a flat reception on Thursday to a government plan to raise the tax on such
drinks to the same rate as that imposed on beer.

The government said in July the tax, tiered depending on the percentage of malt
contents, was unfair because there was little difference in quality to beer,
which attracts a higher rate.

But the big four said tax should instead be lifted on other low-alcohol drinks
such as cocktails containing whisky or Japanese distilled spirits.

The four -- Kirin Brewery Co Ltd, Sapporo Breweries Ltd, Suntory Ltd and Orion
Breweries Ltd -- told a news conference they would hand a petition to the
Ministry of Finance later this month.

A group of leading ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers will make a final
decision on the issue after taking soundings from the ministry.

If they go ahead with the plan, the measure would be included when Parliament
next approves changes in taxation on a number of issues, perhaps at the end of
the year, a Kirin spokesman said.

Currently, low-malts containing less than 25 percent malt are taxed at 105,000
yen per kilolitre (kl) and at 152,700 yen if they have less than 50 percent.
Beer is taxed at 222,000 yen per kl.

Shipments of low-malt brews have shown bubbly year-on-year growth each month
since June 1996. Last month saw an 11.9 percent surge to 129,337 kl against
October 1999.

Asahi Breweries Ltd, the only leading Japanese brewer not to have entered the
market, said last month it would now do so next year.

Kirin shares closed Thursday trade in Tokyo down 20 yen or 1.88 percent at
1,042 yen, Asahi dipped eight yen or 0.71 percent to 1,112 yen and Sapporo fell
two yen or 0.6 percent to 332 yen.

The benchmark Nikkei average, of which all three are members, shed 1.43
percent.

Sun Interbrew to control Ukraine's leading brewery

KIEV, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Sun Interbrew, a joint venture of Belgian brewing
giant Interbrew and Sun Group, bought an about 80 percent stake in Ukraine's
Rohan brewery, Rohan president Hennady Bilokur said on Thursday.

"Sun Interbrew has purchased a stake of around 80 percent from portfolio
investors," Bilokur told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Yesterday, an
(extraordinary) shareholders meeting approved the deal." He declined to
disclose the terms.

Analysts estimate the deal at $30 million.

Rohan, located in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, is one of the leading
domestic beer producers, accounting for 14 percent of Ukraine's market.

Bilokur said Sun Interbrew, which operates in Russia, Ukraine and other
countries of the former Soviet Union, pledged to invest millions of dollars in
Rohan to build a local malt to reduce costly imports and upgrade production to
boost output.

Sun Interbrew has previously said it will invest some $120 million in Russian
and Ukrainian breweries in 2000. The company said $100 million would go to the
Russian operations with the remainder invested in Ukraine.

Rohan plans to boost output by 50 percent this year and by another 20 percent
next year, Bilokur said.

Rohan produced 11.6 million decalitres of beer in 1999, up from 7.9 million
decalitres in the previous year boosting net profits to 27 million hryvnias
($5.0 million) from 15 million hryvnias in 1998.

The 1999 figures are adjusted for inflation, but calculated to the Ukrainian
accounting standards, which differ significantly from those in used the West.

Young sees further double-digit growth

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - London-based Young & Co's Brewery Plc said on
Thursday it expected double-digit first-half profit growth would extend over
the full year.

"We continue to win valuable new brewing contracts, which underlines the logic
of our strategy of remaining a vertically integrated brewery," chairman John
Young said in a statement.

Young was posting interim results including a 14 percent rise in its pre-tax
profit, adjusted for property sales, on turnover up 8.3 percent to 49 million
pounds.

Adjusted earnings per share rose 12 percent to 22.5 pence, out of which an
interim dividend of 9.25 pence, six percent higher, will be paid.

At 0900 GMT Young's share price was 2.7 percent higher at 675 pence, valuing
the company at 45 million pounds.

Carlsberg to Make Coke in Finland, Sell Iceland Unit

Copenhagen, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Carlsberg A/S, the No. 6 brewer, said it
plans to take over the distribution and sale of Coca-Cola in Finland from
Coca-Cola Co. At the same time, it's in talks to sell the Coke producer in
Finland to management.

The companies said in a statement these are the first steps in resolving a
conflict of interest over Carlsberg's stake in a Norwegian brewer that's in
partnership with PepsiCo Inc., Coca- Cola's biggest rival. Coke doesn't want
Carlsberg bottling both its and Pepsi's products in the same country, analysts
have said.

In June, Carlsberg, owner of 51 percent of Coca-Cola Nordic Beverages, agreed
to buy the breweries of Norway's Orkla ASA, which bottles Pepsi soft drinks in
Norway, Sweden and the Baltic states.

``The deal in Finland is dependent on how negotiations go in Sweden, Norway and
Denmark,'' said Margrethe Skov, spokeswoman for Carlsberg, in an interview.

In Finland, Carlsberg's brewery Sinebrychoff plans to take over production,
sale and distribution of Coke products from Coca- Cola Juomat. Orkla doesn't
distribute Pepsi in Finland.

In Iceland, Coca-Cola Nordic Beverages is negotiating with managers and private
investors to sell Coca-Cola Vifilfell.

Coca-Cola Nordic Beverages currently produces and distributes Coca-Cola brands
in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

Carlsberg expects negotiations in all countries to be settled by the end of the
year. The venture with Coca-Cola generated 9.6 percent of Carlsberg's sales
last year.

Shares in Carlsberg rose 10 kroner, or 2.6 percent, to 380 in Copenhagen.

Holsten Is Close to Selling Juice Unit for DM168 Million

Hamburg, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Holsten Brauerei AG, Germany's largest brewer,
is close to completing an agreement to sell its Saft juices unit for at least
168 million deutsche marks ($74 million) to focus on beer, Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung said.

At an extraordinary meeting on Dec. 22, shareholders will vote on plans to
separate the juices unit from Emig AG, in which Holsten owns a 65.1 percent
stake, into Erpel mbH & Co KG, a newly created production and distribution
company, FAZ said, citing from the invite to the meeting.

The unit, which will then be sold off to a third party, produced about 7
million hectoliters of juice last year. It posted annual sales of 543 million
marks and has 550 employees, the newspaper said.

UK Equity Preview: Dairy Crest, Glenmorangie, Telewest

London, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may make significant gains
or losses in U.K. markets. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company
names and prices are from yesterday's close. The benchmark FT-SE 100 Index
rose 19.4, or 0.3 percent, to 6432.30. About four stocks advanced for every
three that declined in the FT-SE All-Share Index, which climbed 9.31, or 0.3
percent, to 3082.89.

BP Amoco Plc (BP/ LN): The world's No. 3 publicly traded oil company said it
plans to sell oil refineries in Utah, North Dakota and Virginia as part of a
plan to reduce its refining business and focus on more profitable oil and
natural-gas exploration.

Dairy Crest Group Plc (DCG LN): The U.K.'s largest maker of Stilton cheese said
first-half profit fell 13 percent on the cost of acquiring Unigate Plc's dairy
and cheese unit. Net income fell to 11 pence a share, from 13.3p in the same
period last year. The shares rose 1.5p to 188.5.

Glenmorangie Plc (GMGA LN): The Scotch whisky distiller said first-half profit
rose 39 percent, to 2.1 million pounds ($3 million) from 1.5 million pounds, in
the year-earlier period as its concentration on higher-margin premium brands,
such as Glenmorangie, Glen Moray and Ardbeg, yielded increased sales. The
shares were unchanged 487.5.

ChemBridge Corporation Enters Combinatorial Chemistry AgreementWith Kirin
Brewery Co.Ltd. of Japan

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- ChemBridge Corporation announced today that
it has entered into an agreement to provide Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. access to
ChemBridge's PHARMACore(TM) combinatorial lead discovery library. Under the
terms of this agreement, the library will be provided on a non-exclusive basis.

The PHARMACore(TM) library represents the most advanced new generation of
combinatorial libraries available. This high-value-added library has been
designed using a unique pharmacophore-based approach, and with its built-in
hit-to-lead capabilities, is intended to streamline the entire process of
screening-based drug discovery. The library is based on ChemBridge's
chemistry-focused technology, which enables the parallel synthesis of
double-digit milligram amounts of diverse, novel, chemically complex, highly
pure and quality controlled 'drug-like' small molecules. These compounds,
derived from the assembly of multiple small sub-libraries, possess the
characteristics that are the most desirable from the perspective of medicinal
chemistry.

Among the cornerstones of ChemBridge's proprietary chemistry platform are their
exclusive in-house custom templates and their intermediate collections, as well
as its extensive and growing PHARMABlock(TM) collection of custom combinatorial
building blocks. ChemBridge's proprietary building block collection is one of
the largest in the pharmaceutical industry. It has been co-developed with
several major partners including eight out of the top ten world's largest
pharmaceutical companies. Access to these diverse building blocks, which are
not available from any commercial source, makes the PHARMACore(TM) lead
discovery library uniquely valuable. The PHARMACore(TM) library offers
distinct opportunities to explore novel areas of chemical and pharmacophore
space and accelerates hit follow-up and lead optimization projects, leading to
the efficient discovery of new chemical entities of therapeutic importance.
ChemBridge also uses fundamental pharmacophore target-based design criteria in
both the design of their templates and in the selection of the final compounds
from virtual libraries.

"ChemBridge's drug-like compound libraries (PHARMACore(TM)) will increase
Kirin's pool of compounds in quality and will enhance its drug discovery
programs," said Dr. Tadashi Sudo, General Manager of Kirin Pharmaceutical
Research Laboratory.

Eugene Vaisberg, President & CEO of ChemBridge Corporation and Chairman & CEO
of ChemBridge Research Laboratories (CRL) said: "I am very pleased that our
flagship lead discovery tool PHARMACore(TM) combinatorial library, which has
gained within the first year broad recognition by major US and European
pharmaceutical and biotech companies (such as Roche, Pharmacia, Tularik,
Astra-Zeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb) has now successfully entered the
Japanese market. I am delighted that access to this unique screening library
as well as to hit-to-lead and lead optimization follow-up services offered by
ChemBridge and its recently formed San Diego based affiliate, ChemBridge
Research Laboratories (CRL) may help Kirin in reaching the goals of their drug
discovery program."

Dr. Thomas R. Webb, Director of Chemistry at both ChemBridge and ChemBridge
Research Laboratories (CRL) commented: "This represents the first PharmaCore
agreement with a Japanese company doing pharmaceutical research. We are very
happy to expand our business relationship with Kirin, which we especially
value. Kirin has rightly recognized the advantages of the diversity, novelty
and built-in hit-to-lead facility of our library."

ChemBridge Corporation (www.chembridge.com) headquartered in San Diego, CA is a
leading global provider of advanced chemical tools for high-throughput drug
discovery, serving over 200 pharmaceutical, biotech and life science companies
and research centers worldwide.

ChemBridge Research Laboratories (CRL, www.chembridgeresearch.com), is a new
San Diego based discovery chemistry research company. Started as a spin-off of
ChemBridge Corporation, it is leveraging its resources and technologies to
build a world-class research organization geared to address the major chemistry
bottlenecks of high-throughput drug discovery in the post-genomic era.

Kirin (www.kirin.co.jp) is Japan's foremost beer producer and ranks seventh
largest in the world by sales volume. Its pharmaceutical division is applying
its knowledge of biotechnology to the development of advanced pharmaceutical
products in the field of renal, immune systems and allergy-related diseases,
cancer and blood cell production. Kirin's ESPO (erythropoietin) and GRAN
(G-CSF), co-developed with Amgen, have annual sales exceeding $300 million in
Asia.

Chugai to Develop, Sell Suntory's Osteoporosis Drug

Tokyo, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg)-- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., the maker of Epogin
anemia treatment, said it won the right to develop and sell worldwide Suntory
Ltd.'s experimental drug to treat thinning bones.

The drug, a genetically engineered parathyroid hormone that's inhaled, is in
early stages of clinical trials on human beings. The hormone acts to keep a
constant level of calcium in body tissues, and Suntory's recombinant version
sped up bone formation in human beings and animals, the companies said in a
statement.

The agreement would strengthen Chugai's line of treatments for osteoporosis.
Alfarol, a vitamin D3 preparation for the bone- thinning disease, is currently
the drugmaker's second best- selling drug, accounting for about 10 percent of
sales. It's currently developing Eli Lilly & Co.'s Evista, another osteoporosis
drug, for the Japanese market.

Osteoporosis is expected to affect about 10 million Japanese this year and is
the second biggest cause of elderly Japanese becoming bed-ridden. Japan's
health-care spending on the disease was 1.5 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) in
1992, accounting for 6 percent of the total, the companies said. The biggest
cause of people becoming bed-ridden was stroke.

The parathyroid hormone product currently developed for osteoporosis by other
drugmakers is injected under the skin, Suntory and Chugai said.

Chugai shares rose 20 yen, or 1.1 percent, to 1,880. Suntory, best known for
making and distributing beer and distilled spirits, is a privately held
company.

Tasmania Repeals Law Banning Men Wearing Dresses, AFP Reports

Sydney, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian state of Tasmania has repealed a
65-year old law that bans men from wearing dresses between sunset and sunrise,
Agence France-Presse reported.

The change came as a series of outdated laws were repealed in the state's
parliament Tuesday under the Police Offenses Amendment Act of 2000, the news
agency said.

``Tasmanian anti-cross-dressing laws have been used in the past, including the
recent past, as a justification for harassment of transgender people,'' the AFP
quoted Rodney Croome, a gay activist, as saying.

Other antiquated laws removed from the books mean Tasmanians will be able to
sleep in a barn or shed even if they have no ``visible means of subsistence''
and island residents will be able to legally provide lodging for ``idle rogues
and vagabonds,'' the report said. Additionally, they can now go back to
drinking beeer while upside-down and not have concerns that they are violating
the law.

Tasmania, which lies 240 kilometers (145 miles) off the mainland is Australia's
smallest state, has a population of some 470,000 and has traditionally suffered
the nation's highest unemployment rate.

For the more refined tobacco chewer: a spitless wad

By Jonathan Landreth

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Chew on this. UST Inc. <<A
HREF="aol://4785:UST">UST.N</A>> announced plans on Wednesday to appeal to the
more refined U.S. consumer of chewing tobacco by test marketing a new
"non-spit" product late next year.

Acknowledging that those who chew tobacco and then spit out the juice can
sometimes have an image problem, the leading U.S. chewing tobacco maker's head
of investor relations Mark Rozelle said the new product is meant to increase
social acceptability of the habit.

"Some people have a problem with spitting," he said.

The new teabag-style pouches are also intended to boost UST's share of the
smokeless tobacco market and build sales among smokers who are looking for a
nicotine alternative.

"There are 40 to 50 million adult smokers in this country who might be looking
for an alternative," said Rozelle, whose firm holds about 79 percent of the
smokeless tobacco market in the U.S., dwarfing the 13 percent held by its
leading competitor, Memphis, Tennessee-based Conwood Co.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based UST, which also said its principal subsidiary,
United States Tobacco Co., is changing its name to U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co.
during the first quarter of 2001, declined to discuss the product's design or
marketing plan.

UST, which makes the Skoal and Copenhagen chewing tobacco brands, is in part
taking its cue from a similar product's growth in Sweden.

"Look at Sweden where 24 percent of the adult male population uses moist
smokeless tobacco," said Rozelle.

UST MAKES NO HEALTH CLAIMS FOR NEW CHEW

Nearly half of tobacco dipping Swedes use what Rozelle called a "moist
smokeless tobacco pouch" produced by a company called Swedish Match, which has
U.S. operations based in Richmond, Virginia.

"If it's anything like Snus, the Swedish product with low-levels of
tobacco-specific nitrosamines, the chemical that is highly carcinogenic in
humans, then they have a fascinating problem on their hands," said Professor
Kenneth Warner, director of the Tobacco Research Network at the University of
Michigan.

"If it's in fact less dangerous, then they're going to have to advertise that
fact. The the question is: 'What happens to the rest of their products? It's a
very delicate line."

Still, UST's Rozelle said it makes no health claims for its product.

And anti-tobacco advocates point out that there will be health risks.

"If this it to indicate it's safer because you don't spit it, or it's not as
dirty a habit, that still doesn't take away from the fact that it's tobacco and
there's going to be some health consequences," said Paul Turner, the national
coordinator of the National Smokeless Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP), a
nonprofit organization.

"Tobacco is tobacco, addiction is addiction, and a health consequence is a
health consequence. It don't matter whether you smoke it, chew it, inject it,
freebase it, dip it or snort it," Turner said from his office in Cumming,
Georgia.

One recreational user of chewing tobacco said a "non-spit" product would not
replace traditional chewing tobacco for him.

"I never fell for the gross-out factor," said Greg Clark, a New York City
resident. "Most of the time you're chewing it's outside on construction sites
and you just spit on the ground," said Clark.

"It makes the day go quicker, and it's a nice feeling. It's part of the
culture," he said.

Five million plus adults chew tobacco and at least half of them have some
college education, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.

"Tobacco normally has carcinogens in it and I'm sure this product does, too,
even if it's called spitless," said Turner.

"Twenty percent of white male high school students in the U.S. use smokeless
tobacco," said Turner citing a 1999 risk behavior survey released by the Center
for Disease Control, noting that there were several states that did not report,
making the study's results hard to weigh.

Shares of UST rose 3/16 to $23-11/16 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange
on Wednesday, at the higher end of its 52-week range between $13-7/8 and
$27-3/4.

[J2jurado]

http://www.bergen.com:80/food/beer15200011158.htm

A little malt, a little smoke

Wednesday, November 15, 2000

By TONY FORDER

I recently attended Whiskeyfest in New York City. While I am something of a
novice when it comes to whiskey, the smoky, peated aromas of the whiskeys from
the highlands and islands of Scotland put me in mind of some smoked beers that
have passed my palate.

The Unibroue brewery in Quebec displays a pleasant and subtle use of whiskey
malt in its easily quaffable Raftman beer. Peat-smoked malt is just one of the
many ingredients in the spicy, hefty Immortale, a cornucopia of a beer, from
the Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. One of the more heavy-handed uses of
peat-smoked malt can be found in
Adelscott, made by the French brewer Fischer, although this beer may be hard to
find in these parts. A little easier, although I haven't seen it around lately,
is Nessie, a delicious malty and subtly smoky amber beer made by Austria's
Eggenberg brewery.

Not all smoked beers are made with peat-smoked malt; many are brewed with
wood-smoked malt. The classic example is Schlenkerla, brewed in Bamberg, the
German capital of smoked beer. It is dark, silky-smooth, and, yes, smoky. One
of the best-known American smoked beers (one of beer guru Michael Jackson's
world classics) is Alaskan Smoked Porter. Brewed with alder-smoked malt, this
seasonal beer is rumored to be making its first showing in the Garden State
next month. A perennial winner at the Great American Beer Festival, the Alaskan
brew has recently had some serious competition. The intensely smoky and
aptly-named Smoke from Oregon's Rogue Brewery edged it out for this year's
silver medal in the smoke-flavored category, while Baltimore Brewing Co. took
the gold with DeGroen's Rauchbock.

Many brewers keep a little smoked malt handy just to use as a hidden ingredient
for a touch of added flavor. Gregg Zaccardi, at High Point Wheat Beer Co. in
Butler, uses just a
hint of smoked malt in his Ramstein Classic.

Smoke-flavored beers are not for everyone, but if you're willing to try, it's a
taste that can easily be acquired.

http://www.sltrib.com:80/11162000/utah/44026.htm

Oly Booze Flap Driving Beehive State to Drink


Thursday, November 16, 2000BY ROBERT KIRBY

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games draw ever nearer. It is the
news media's job to remind you of this fact every single minute of the day.
That we do it well is evident inthe number of you who are drunk right now.
That wasn't exactly fair. The news media are certainly part
of Utah's liquor problem. Specifically, many reporters are so sick of the
Olympics that the only way we can find afresh angle on it is to get completely
hammered before lunch.
This may explain why alcohol is such a volatile factor in
the coming Olympic Games. Utahns are polarized/paralyzed by demon rum. Some
think there will be too much (any) booze, others not enough (intravenous vodka
feeds for everyone).
For example, a spokesman for Citizens Representing Alcohol
Prohibition possiblymade the following recent statement: "We need to stop the
madness. CRAP is therefore demanding that the medical profession immediately
cease all use of the notorious alcohol swab."
Meanwhile, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson wants to revamp
state liquor laws so tequila shooters become a part of the school lunch
program.
"Schoolchildren need to understand the important part that
booze plays in the political process," Rocky said. "Specifically, how much it
takes to get a police union drunk
enough to endorse someone like me."
These are points of view from left and right. For a more
objective look at liquor, there's talk radio host Tom Barberi's position:
"Who's buying?"
Please keep in mind that we will verify the accuracy of
these quotes just as soon as we sober up.
Right now, what we do know for sure is that of the 6.3
billion people who plan on attending the 2002 Games, an estimated 19 billion of
them will want to have at least
one beer while they are here. (Fuzzy math statistic courtesy of
Anheuser-Busch.)
To accommodate this level of hospitality/immorality, Utah's
liquor laws require a bit
of tinkering, if not a complete overhaul. Any way you look at it, it's at least
a two six-pack job.
As I understand it, the wet crowd would like to see the laws
changed so that it's possible to get a shot and a beer at all Automated Teller
Machines.
Conversely, the dry crowd wants the wets to come to Jesus,
who, ironically, would get arrested if he tried that water-into-wine miracle
here.
I believe in compromise. Granted, not everyone ends up happy
in a compromise. But that is why we have alcohol in the first place. A
perfectly good way to solve the Olympic booze question is the same way we
solved or didn't) the ticket problem. First, we give half of all the alcohol
away to sponsors.
Then we jack the price of the remaining stock through the roof,
and make everyone buy it on the Internet.
SLOC boss Mitt Romney: "Surely even low-income people can
afford $850 for a beer."

We could go to a lottery system the way we have with some of
the big game hunts. For example, if you want to drink, you have to apply for a
permit. Then, if your name
gets drawn, you could legally go get drunk in certain areas of the state. Then
again, maybe we should re- arrange the laws along religious lines. People with
amoral objection to alcohol will have to drink.
Or we could simply look the other way, just like we do with
polygamy.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com:80/national/001115/4872949.html

Tone down the sex, eh? minister tells brewers

Tom Blackwell The Ottawa Citizen Wednesday 15 November 2000

TORONTO -- Ontario's consumer minister urged beer and
liquor companies yesterday to tone down the sexual content
of their advertising, accusing them of overstepping the limits
of good taste.

Meanwhile, a government agency is looking at a possible
crackdown on steamy commercials, despite a lengthy history
of trying to sell suds with sex. "I like beer and I like sex, but
... ," a smiling Bob Runciman, the consumer minister, said
after raising the issue in the legislature.

"There's a concern about pulling people in and saying the
more beer you consume, the more alcohol you consume,
there's a relationship to performance. That's clearly what
they're trying to say. Is that appropriate?"

Mr. Runciman acknowledged that sex in liquor advertising is
nothing new, but said he's afraid companies have been
pushing the envelope lately. He also noted that children are
easily exposed to the material and that advertisers should
keep that in mind.

The minister said he was specifically worried about a TV ad for Labatt's
Carlsberg beer that features a woman discussing her boyfriend with some female
friends in a bar.

Using hand movements and suggestive language, the commercial suggests the
boyfriend enjoys performing oral sex on the woman.

Mr. Runciman said other recent ads have also exploited sex. They include:

- The so-called "premature-pour" commercial for Heineken beer that shows a man
trying to look nonchalant as he pours a beer, but nonetheless manages to spill
head over the side of his glass. The woman he's trying to impress coolly
dispenses her beer without problem; and

- Molson Export ads featuring groups of men and women talking about how they've
had "too
much sex."

Brewing industry representatives could not be reached for comment.

Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission must approve all advertising for beer,
wine and liquor based on rules chiefly aimed at encouraging responsible use of
alcohol.

A committee at the regulatory agency recently began looking at whether it
should change the guidelines to restrict the use of sex in ads.

Although the commission has not received any complaints, it too was concerned
about what it saw as a trend in marketing of the products, commission spokesman
Ab Campion said yesterday.

"It seems to be more explicit than in the past," he said in an interview.
"There's just a little bit of a feeling that they may be pushing the outer
edges of this."

The agency has no deadline for deciding when it will make a decision on the
issue, Mr. Campion said.

Experts say a proliferation of liquor and beer brands in recent years has
prompted companies to use increasingly provocative marketing to set their
products apart from the pack.

HTTP://WWW.BREWORLD.COM/NEWS/COMPANYNEWS/STORIES/12942.htm

Brakspear’s Do The Double At Organic Beer Competition

Date: 09 Nov 2000

UK’s first ever organic beer competition a huge success

Henley on Thames Brewers WH Brakspear and Son walked off with first and second
prizes and the
Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Organic Beer Competition 2000 yesterday.

Held at the Crown, Victoria Park, London - one of the capital’s two fully
organic pubs - no fewer than 22
of the UK’s growing range of organically certified beers, were presented to a
panel ox expert judges.

Judges reported that the standard of the 12 bottled and ten cask ales entered
was very high indeed and
separating the final short listed six was an exceptionally tough job.

The winning beers were as follows:-

First Place – Brakspear’s Organic – bottled
Second Place – Brakspear’s Ted and Bens – cask
Third Place – St Peter’s Bitter –cask
Highly Commended – Pitfield Christmas Ale – bottled

The competition was sponsored by Safeway who will be stocking the winning beer,
and Safeway beer
buyer Glen Payne presented the prizes, saying he was delighted to support the
competition, the day
after having unveiled their new winter range of beers, as part of its policy of
supporting Britain’s brewers
and positioning Safeway as the UK’s most adventurous supermarket for beer
brands.

SIBA general secretary and competition organiser – Peter Haydon - said, "When
we first conceived of
the competition we figured we may have been able to get around a dozen entries.
In fact with 22 entries
we have tasted over 80% of the organic brands available in the UK today. With
beers entered from firms
as large as Fullers and Greene King and as small as Pitfield, it demonstrates
just how fast this new niche
market is expanding and the interest it is generating in the trade."

He added. "This competition is a new opportunity to showcase quality beers from
British brewers of
whatever size, and if it encourages supermarkets and off licenses to stock
beers other than the usual
market leaders then it will have exceeded all expectations."
The Crown is now holding Britain’s first ever organic beer festival.

http://www.beer.com/news/bee/new/2000/11/08/973714717128.html

What is a brewpub? Two variations on a
theme

by ROBERT HUGHEY beer.com

So, what is a brewpub, anyway?

Originally a brewpub was a combination of a brewery, bar and restaurant where
draft beers made on the premises could only be sold on-site. Production levels
were usually limited to an upward limit of 2,000 hectoliters of beer brewed and
sold a year.

In some jurisdictions, off-site sales were permitted in the form of glass jugs,
or growlers, while in others brewpubs began bottling and thus became more like
a microbrewery with an attached tap room or restaurant and bar combination.

Brewpubs come in many different configurations and sizes with great
individuality shown in decorative schemes, menus, brewery equipment and the
range of beers offered, usually quite extensive, most often with a set of core
brands with additional seasonal offerings.

Two brewpubs, Crescent City Brewhouse,
New Orleans, Louisiana, and Yaletown Brewing Co in Vancouver, British Columbia,
provide insight into what a brewpub ought to be as they both are welcoming and
serve only their own beers on tap.

Pilsner in hand, I was sitting on the second floor balcony of the Crescent City
Brewhouse, a New Orleans brewpub in the lively French Quarter of the city. I
was busy transforming a mess of spicy crayfish mounded up on a cafeteria style
plastic tray into a growing pile of transparent, red-hued shells. Occasionally,
I glanced over at the shifting currents of the Mississippi River, which seemed
to be surging in several directions at once, as a freighter pressed on toward
the Crescent City Connection bridge.

I followed the crayfish with several more steins of the
outstanding house Pilsner, which did nothing to shake my belief that this was
one of the best Pilsners I have tasted. Crescent City's Pilsner has a golden
color, a pleasant hop aroma, an engaging middle with hop and malt flavors
surfacing, and a crisp, bitter finish well supported with malt.

The main beers at Crescent City, a malty, copper colored ale with an
underpinning of hops called Red Stallion, a malt accented Munich-style Black
Forest and a spicy, banana and cloves flavored Weiss Beer, are equally well
crafted but none equals the Pilsner. I returned to on several occasions, giving
it its well merited due.

While the changing currents of the Mississippi are mesmerizing, nothing was
more arresting than sitting with a stein of perfect Pilsner in front of the
great copper kettles on the main floor of the Crescent City Brewhouse. Here you
may also dine on fresh seafood, including freshly shucked oysters, as well as
bouillabaisse, enchanting crabcakes Tchoupitoulas and beer-basted southern
style ribs among the delectable offerings on the menu.

The Crescent City Brewhouse is located in an historical property in the heart
of the French Quarter at 527 Decatur Street in a two-story building, which
originally dates from 1722. Crescent City Brewhouse opened in 1990 and was the
first brewpub in both New Orleans and, not surprisingly, the state of
Louisiana. Diagonally across from the brewpub sits the defunct Jax Brewery,
which, sadly, is now home to shops and fashion outlets.

Another interpretation of the brewpub, thousands of miles away, is Yaletown
Brewing Company in Vancouver, Canada.

The Yaletown Brewing Company, Vancouver's first brewpub, is located in a red
brick warehouse, dating from 1910, in trendy Yaletown. Formerly home to a
cluster of rundown warehouses, the area has reinvented itself as a collection
of condominiums, high-end shops, cafes and restaurants.

Most of the building materials used in the construction of
Yaletown Brewing Company are reclaimed. Yaletown Brewing Co. oozes warmth with
its red brick walls, handmade wooden bars, hardwood flooring with wood recycled
from the Sussex Hotel in Victoria, BC, black painted cast iron railings which
come from Catalan, Spain, and a brick/cobblestone walkway around the perimeter
of the building.

The brewery system is visible through a glass partition at the
back of the 65-seat brewpub. Yaletown also has a full-service
restaurant with seating for 120 patrons and an 80-seat patio.
Patrons ordering beer or alcoholic beverages in the restaurant must order food
too.

Head brewer Iain Hill brews Frank's Nut Brown Ale, Double
Dome Stout, Indian Arm Pale Ale and Red Brick Bitter, plus
seasonal specialties such as Hill's Special Wheat. The use of
English malts and a deft hand by brewer Iain Hill has resulted in well-rounded
ales full of character and very much in harmony with the beer engines in use at
the bar.

Indian Arm Pale Ale, with its distinct hop bitterness, matched up well with the
Cajun scallops, edam, green chilies, cilantro and sour cream wood oven pizza.
The softer Red Brick Bitter with its grapefruit notes was in perfect step with
the curried chicken salad with cashews and grapes on homemade bread.

All beers are unfiltered at Yaletown, as beers tend to be at
Vancouver brewpubs. The resulting beers do not suffer from the longer aging
period required to achieve clarity. The beers are, in fact, more rounded and
fuller in flavor than their thinner, filtered cousins.

Brewpubs in Vancouver use the American 16 ounce glass in lieu of the more
conventional Imperial 20 ounce pint usually used in Canada.

Whatever your choice in brewpubs, you wouldn't go wrong in
choosing either the Crescent City Brewhouse or the Yaletown
Brewing Company, for the dcor, food or the great beers.

Crescent City Brewhouse
527 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-522-0571

Yaletown Brewing Company
1111 Mainland St.
Vancouver, BC V6B 2T9
604-681-BREW

http://www.sltrib.com:80/11152000/nation_w/43784.htm

Alcohol No. 1 Date-Rape Drug
November 15, 2000 THE BALTIMORE SUN

BALTIMORE -- The Towson University student had turned 21 that day and was outto
celebrate. She went to a bar with friends and with their encouragement, she
said, drank eight
shots of liquor in a little more than an hour.

Police said later that night, the woman became the victim of a type of assault
that is often not reported and difficult to prosecute. A 29-year-old
acquaintance returned with the woman to her apartment the night of Oct. 11,
1999, then assaulted her after she passed out, according to Baltimore County
Circuit Court records. He was charged with second-degree rape but pleaded
guilty to a lesser charge.

While "date-rape drugs" -- pills slipped into a woman's drink to incapacitate
her --have gained widespread publicity, experts say that alcohol is still the
most common substance used in such incidents.

"Alcohol is definitely the No. 1 date-rape drug," said Jessica Cavey, education
coordinator at Turn Around Inc., a rape counseling center that works with
sexual assault victims at Towson-area hospitals. Experts emphasize that victims
of acquaintance rape are not to blame for the attack-- whether they've been
drinking or not.

"It doesn't matter what you wear and it doesn't matter how much you drink. If a
guy's going to rape you, he's made that decision and you didn't choose to be a
victim," Cavey
said.

But prosecutors say when charges are filed, the cases can be difficult to
prosecute. For a conviction, jurors must decide that they believe a victim --
whose memory might be clouded by alcohol -- over the word of a defendant who
knows the victim and can claim the sex was consensual.

"They're probably the hardest cases we have, and the flip side is that they're
really traumatic for the victim," said assistant state's attorney Jill Savage,
who is assigned to
Baltimore County's sexual assault unit. In the case of the Towson University
student, prosecutors accepted the defendant's plea to second-degree assault
Oct. 26, cutting short a four-day jury trial in Baltimore Circuit Court.

He was sentenced to 2000 hours of community service as part of the plea
agreement. "I just wanted him held accountable," said assistant state's
attorney James Gentry,
who prosecuted the acquaintance.

http://www.beer.com/ent/weirdandwacky.html

SNEEZE ENTHUSIASTS FIND FLU SEASON SEXY

MANCHESTER, U.K. (Wireless Flash) -- If you hate how you look when you have a
cold, this should make you breathe easier: Some folks are turned on by
sneezing.

That's according to a 23-year-old "sneeze fetishist" from England who goes by
the name "Cath U.K."

Cath runs serotica.com, a website for folks who find sneezing
sexy.

She estimates there are about 600 admitted sneeze fetishists
worldwide and each has his or her own reason for getting hot and bothered by
sneezing. Some of them have orgasms after sneezing, while others get a kick
watching an attractive man or woman sneeze.

Cath claims it adds a "...thrilling new dimension to sexuality" that can help
folks get more joy out of the cold and flu season.

http://news.excite.com/news/r/001116/07/odd-reindeer-dc

Come Donner, Come Blitzen -- Into the Frying Pan

November 16, 2000

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Food connoisseurs looking for a new Nordic dish will be
tasting reindeer
tongue this winter, although fans of Santa Claus may find the delicacy hard to
swallow.

Finland's game chef of the year Jyri Hanninen Thursday recommended that
enthusiasts of the meat
cook up his latest recipe for reindeer tongue toast.

"When the tongue is cooked right, the skin slides off like you were pulling off
a sock," he told
Reuters.

"It's a very soft and fatty meat and needs to be seasoned well, but at its best
it tastes even better
than steak."

Reindeer, herded by the Sami people in northern Europe, is a popular dish in
Finland and Sweden.

But for many children, reindeer pull Santa's sled bearing Christmas gifts
fabricated by his elves
somewhere in the Arctic Circle, and is not something they'd like to see on a
plate.

[J2jurado]

Police Arrest 22 in Alcohol Deaths

By GEORGE MWANGI 11-18-00

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Police have arrested 22 people suspected of brewing a
lethal home-brewed alcohol laced with methanol that has killed at least 114
people, a police spokesman said Saturday.

Among the suspects is a director of a small chemical company that local news
reports say could be the source of the brew. The East African Standard said
Samuel Njoroge Karanja was arrested Friday outside his Oleo Chemical Industry
premises in Kariobangi, a Nairobi suburb.

Kenyan police are combing Nairobi and an area north of the capital where they
suspect the brew is still being sold, according to spokesman Peter Kimanthi. He
confirmed that Karanja was one of many suspects.

``A lot of these people are taking it for granted, they say you die when your
time comes,'' Kimanthi said. ``But we are not going to tire from telling them
to stop. Those with ears will hear.''

The private Kenya Television Network put the death toll at 128, but Kimanthi
said he could not confirm the figure, adding people are still being admitted to
hospital suffering from the effects of the drink.

The brew has also permanently blinded at least 80 of the 400 hospitalized,
according to news reports.

The deaths occurred in Nairobi and in Kiambu district, 20 miles north of the
capital, Kimanthi said.

The home brew, known as chang'aa or ``kill me quick'' is popular among Kenyans
because it is cheap and extremely strong. Ingredients range from fermented corn
and sorghum meal to juice from coconut and sugarcane.

In recent years, however, and mostly in urban areas, high-octane fuel and
mentholated spirit have been added to enhance potency. A glass of chang'aa
costs the equivalent of about 12 cents compared to a bottle of beer, which
costs at least 40 cents.

Anheuser-Busch Favorably Settles Cybersquatting Lawsuit

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2000--Beer or Michelob Light? A
cybersquatter quickly learned it was an easy decision for Anheuser-Busch to go
to the courts to bring about an immediate transfer of ownership of the
Micheloblight.com domain name.

Anheuser-Busch Companies (NYSE: <A HREF="aol://4785:BUD">BUD</A>) announced
today it has favorably settled a cybersquatting lawsuit involving its Michelob
Light brand against Gulf South Limited, based in Roswell, GA.

Specifically, Gulf South agreed to immediately transfer ownership rights in the
Micheloblight.com domain name to Anheuser-Busch. No additional settlement terms
were disclosed.

"As it should have been, this lawsuit was quickly settled in our favor," said
Stephen K. Lambright, group vice president and general counsel, Anheuser-Busch
Companies. "There is no question that Anheuser-Busch owns the Michelob Light
trademark. We've used it for over 20 years, and have obtained a trademark
registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

"Furthermore," he adds, "we won't hesitate to pursue such action again should
it become necessary to protect the rights associated with our many trademarks."

In July, Anheuser-Busch joined with Disney, Harley-Davidson, adidas and AMC,
Inc., an Atlanta-based organizer of trade shows and exhibitions, in filing a
lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, Georgia against Gulf South Limited.
Gulf South registered domain names using trademarks owned by Anheuser-Busch and
its co-plaintiffs, and was trying to sell several of the domain names for
profit.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the world's largest
brewer and one of the largest theme park operators in the U.S. The Company also
is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and the world's largest recycler of
aluminum beverage containers.

Gov't still undecided on tax increase on 'happoshu': Miyazawa

.c Kyodo News Service

TOKYO, Nov. 17 (Kyodo) - Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Friday no
decision has been made on whether to raise taxes on ''happoshu,'' a low-malt,
beer-like beverage, and that the government's Tax Commission will further
discuss the issue.

''I have not said I am for or against the tax increases,'' Miyazawa told a
regular press conference.

The issue ''will be discussed at the Tax Commission,'' he said.

The Finance Ministry is considering raising the tax rate on happoshu to the
same level as that on ordinary beers and putting both beverages under the same
tax category as ''malt liquor.''

Industry officials said the ministry on Monday notified the makers of happoshu
of the plan.

The presidents of Kirin Brewery Co., Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Suntory Ltd.,
three major brewers that produce happoshu, on Thursday voiced strong opposition
to such a plan.

The presidents told reporters a tax hike would not only run counter to the
interests of consumers but also undermine efforts by companies to develop new
products.

Happoshu has enjoyed booming sales due to its lower price than ordinary beer
stemming from the lower tax rates, capturing about 25% of the overall beer
market.

Foster's Kunkel on Beringer, Asia, Australian Dollar: Comment

Melbourne, Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Foster's Brewing Group Ltd. Chief Executive
Ted Kunkel comment on its recent A$2.6 billion ($1.4 billion) purchase of the
California-based wine maker Beringer Wine Estates Holdings Inc., its Asian
assets and the fall in the Australian dollar. Kunkel was speaking at a UBS
Warburg conference in New York.

On Beringer:

``The debt purchase completely redefined the investment profile of Foster's.
More than 60 percent of the capital employed in our group is now represented in
the wine business. Beringer offers strong organic growth prospects and as such
lessens the capital intensity required over the next three years.

(Beringer) management has invested very well in the future with more than 30
percent of new planting of premium varietals yet to start yielding. This means
that the capital requirements of Beringer are modest over the next three years.

(Beringer's management team) do have an excellent reputation in managing wine
and packaged consumer goods. I'm absolutely delighted to say that all of them
are continuing with the new group.

``The acquisition of Beringer by Foster's fulfils many of our company's
priority strategic needs. There is now a more even split between Foster's beer
wine and leisure businesses. There is a lesser dependence on Australia and its
economy. The income sources are broadened across continents and currencies.

``If I had a crystal ball and looked out five years given the growth prospects
of premium wine, you would expect that our profit and geographic spread to
increase even further during that period. The end result being that Foster's
will achieve an excellent balance of Australian and global income streams,
providing a significantly better risk profile for investors.''

On debt-equity ratio:

``In the last five years gearing (leverage) has been generally low unlike the
early nineties. However, following the acquisition of Beringer that jumps to
about 105 percent. Our modelling shows the group's cash flow plus the expected
bond conversion in three years time that will reduce gearing well below that
level and that will give us the flexibility to look at ongoing acquisitions.
Overall we at Foster's consider that about 70 percent gearing is a very
comfortable level for a company with cash flows such as our own.''

On Asia investment:

``We had a chequered start. This is a blue-sky emerging beer market for
Foster's and it has to be treated like that. We have brewing operations in
China, Vietnam and India and we are positioning ourselves to supply beer to and
to grow with a region that contains almost half the world's population.

``Although those operations are small today, selling only about 1.1 million
hectolitres, the rewards of getting Asia right will be substantial in the
future.''

On weak Australian dollar:

``It won't impact our Beringer purchase in the sense the debt was U.S.
denominated, the bonds were U.S. denominated. The capital we raised in
Australia we hedged immediately so that we didn't have any exposure. In the
Beringer sense we're not exposed.

``In the export sense out of Australia, the falling Australian dollar obviously
creates opportunities. The prospects for selling Australian wine
internationally probably have been enhanced.''

Young & Co 1st-Half Profit Falls 3% on Refurbishment

London, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg)-- Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc, a pub owner and brewer
of beers such as Waggle Dance and Ram Rod, said first-half profit fell 3
percent as it made less money from the sale of properties and refurbished some
of its sites.

Net income for the 26 weeks to Sept. 30 fell to 3.7 million pounds ($5.2
million), or 29.4 pence a share, from 3.8 million, or 29.76p in the same period
a year ago. Income from disposals fell 31 percent to 854,000 pounds.

The brewer, 60 percent owned by the Young family, operates pubs and hotels in
and around London. Young is expanding in the west of England, where it bought
17 pubs last week.

``We will continue to buy high quality properties when they become available,''
said Finance Director Peter Whitehead in an interview. He expects expenditure
on acquisitions and refurbishment to reach 15 million pounds in the full year.

The shares rose 2.7 percent, or 17.5p, to 675. They have fallen 18 percent this
year.

The southwest London-based company, which has been brewing on the same site in
Wandsworth since 1531, spent 4.4 million pounds on refurbishment in the
first-half. It bought 17 pubs from Smiles Holdings Plc for 5.8 million pounds
last week, as part of the expansion of its 180-strong estate.

The company said total revenue rose 8.3 percent to 48.7 million pounds.
Whitehead declined to give figures for sales in the current period, saying they
had been ``struggling'' with the weather.

Young's beer sales rose 6.7 percent, as brewing increased by more than 10
percent. It said the cost of production per barrel fell in the period as
staffing levels were reduced and it received more contracts to brew for other
retailers.

The company will pay a 29.4p dividend, down from 29.76p in the first-half last
year.

Give a Gift That Keeps on Giving: The Rock Bottom Restaurants Gift Card

LOUISVILLE, Colo., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- It looks like a credit card, acts
like a gift certificate and is redeemable at over 70 restaurants across the
country. It's the Rock Bottom Restaurants electronic Gift Card, an innovative,
sleek-looking plastic card that makes a perfect stocking stuffer or holiday
gift.

Available in any dollar amount, Rock Bottom Gift Cards are a great alternative
to traditional paper certificates or the always-dreaded fruitcake. Lucky
recipients can use them as many times as it takes to eat up the balance on
food, drinks or merchandise. Rock Bottom Gift Cards are "rechargeable" as
well, by purchasing any additional dollar amount. Best of all, they come
already wrapped, in a festive card carrier and matching envelope -- no waiting
in line for wrapping paper!

Rock Bottom Gift Cards are good at any of the company's 72 restaurants
nationwide, including Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Old Chicago, the Walnut
Brewery and the Denver, District or Cleveland ChopHouse & Brewery. The Gift
Cards are available at any Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. location across the
country, or by calling 1-888-238-BREW (2739).

Based in Louisville, CO, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. owns and operates 73
restaurants -- 46 Old Chicago restaurants and 27 brewery restaurants operating
under the names Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, ChopHouse & Brewery, and
Walnut Brewery. All of the Company's restaurants are casual dining
establishments featuring attentive customer service, high-quality, moderately
priced food, and a distinctive selection of handcrafted specialty beers served
in a comfortable and entertaining atmosphere.

Brau und Brunnen, Deutsche Bank, SAP

Frankfurt, Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may make significant
gains or losses in Germany today. The stock symbols are in parentheses after
the company names. Prices are from yesterday's close.

The benchmark DAX Index of 30 stocks dropped 118.98 points, or 1.7 percent, to
6842.11. Twenty-one stocks fell and nine rose.

The Neuer Markt Performance Index dropped 157.83 points, or 4.2 percent, to
3574.85. In the index, 246 stocks fell, 58 rose and 24 were unchanged.
Forty-five shares fell, four rose and one was unchanged.

Babcock Borsig AG (BBX GR): The engineering company at least doubled operating
profit in the year to Sept. 30, German daily Handelsblatt reported in a
release of tomorrow's edition, citing Chief Executive Klaus Lederer. The
shares fell 1.05 euros, or 2.1 percent, to 48.10.

Brau und Brunnen AG (BBA GR): The brewer plans to release nine-month earnings
today. Brau und Brunnen said it plans to cut as many as 400 jobs in its beer
unit within three years to reduce costs. The shares rose 0.70 euro, or 3.5
percent, to 21 euros.

DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX GY): The automaker's U.S.-traded shares fell $1.38, or
3.1 percent, to $43.56 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut DaimlerChrysler's
recommendation to ``market perform.'' The German shares fell 0.69 euro, or 1.3
percent, to 51.75.

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY): The bank said it aims to gain 5,000 medium-sized
companies as customers for its new Internet banking portal by the end of 2001.
The shares fell 1.70 euros, or 1.7 percent, to 97.40.

Dresdner Bank (DRB GY): The bank's chief executive, Bernd Fahrholz, is
suspected of fraud, German news magazine Spiegel said in its Internet edition,
without citing sources. The shares rose 0.50 euro, or 1 percent, to 50.20.

Fielmann AG (FIE GR): The eyeglass store chain is scheduled to release
nine-month earnings. Fielmann's stock has risen 56 percent this year. The
shares rose 0.55 euro, or 1.2 percent, to 47.05.

Infomatec Intergrated Information Systems AG (IFO NM): The German software
maker said board members and founders, Gerhard Harlos and Alexander Haefele,
resigned and Chief Financial Officer Karl Gruns will serve as acting director
until Infomatec's supervisory board chooses a new CEO in the next week. The
shares fell 0.40 euro, or 14 percent, to 2.50.

SAP AG (SAP3 GY): The software maker's U.S.-traded shares fell $4.50, or 10
percent, to $40.56 on concern earnings growth at technology-related companies
may slow. One U.S. share represents 0.25 of a SAP German preferred share. The
German shares fell 13.82 euros, or 6.5 percent, to 199.38.

Arizona Scorched in SoBe Lawsuit

NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- South Beach Beverages, LLC., ("SoBe")
maker of SoBe beverages announced today that Judge Lawrence M. McKenna of the
Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a
decision dismissing all claims pending against SoBe and CEO John Bello, in the
suit by the makers of AriZona beverages (Beverage Marketing USA, Inc.). The
lawsuit, which has been pending since 1997, alleged that SoBe's bottle design
violated AriZona's copyright and trademark rights and that SoBe had otherwise
engaged in unfair business practices.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001116/NYTH177 )

In a ten-page opinion, Judge McKenna granted SoBe's motion for summary judgment
on all federal law counts and dismissed all state law claims, for lack of
jurisdiction. In addressing the federal law claims Judge McKenna found that as
a matter of law there was no substantial similarity between SoBe's bottle and
that of AriZona's, and that there was no actual or likelihood of confusion
between the bottles. The judge further found that AriZona's bottle was not
sufficiently famous to support a dilution claim, that no dilution had occurred
and that SoBe had not engaged in any deceptive commercial practice.

"We have maintained all along that this suit was nothing more than AriZona's
desperate attempt to use the courts as a sword to scare off legitimate
competition in the market place" said John Bello, co-founder and CEO of SoBe.
"We are obviously very pleased that Judge McKenna has recognized that these
claims are baseless."

The opinion is on file in the Southern District of New York in the matter of
Beverage Marketing, USA, Inc. vs. South Beach Beverage LLC., docket number
97CIV4137(LMM)

Established in 1995, South Beach Beverage Company, Norwalk, Conn., is a
privately held company which produces and markets a line of ready-to-drink,
non-carbonated juice blends and teas under the brand name "SoBe(TM)." All SoBe
Beverages combine great taste with herbs, minerals, vitamins and other
nutrient-enhancers which make them unique in the beverage business.

Carlsberg, Coca-Cola splitting Nordic j/v

COPENHAGEN, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Danish brewer Carlsberg <CARCb.CO> said on
Thursday it expected to reach agreement in the next few weeks on splitting up
its Nordic soft drinks joint venture with U.S. giant Coca-Cola Co. <<A
HREF="aol://4785:KO">KO.N</A>>.

"Carlsberg and The Coca-Cola Company have been in negotiations since June this
year over their future cooperation on prodction, distribution and sale of
Coca-Cola products in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, and the
partners have now taken the first two steps towards a final agreement,"
Carlsberg said in a statement.

"The final agreement is expected to be in place around the end of the year," it
said.

Talks on restructuring cooperation between Carlsberg and Coca-Cola began as a
result of Carlsberg's agreement in May to include Norwegian Orkla's <ORK.OL>
beverage operations in a new company, Carlsberg Breweries, 60-40-owned by
Carlsberg and Orkla respectively.

Orkla has an agreement with Coca-Cola rival PepsiCo Inc. <<A
HREF="aol://4785:PEP">PEP.N</A>>.

Analysts have said it would be cheaper for Carlsberg to drop its Coca-Cola
Nordic Beverages (CCNB) cooperation with Coca-Cola than for Orkla to break up
with PepsiCo.

The CCNB venture is 51-percent owned by Carlsberg and 49-percent by Coca-Cola.
It's responsible for bottling, distribution and sales of Coca-Cola products in
the Nordic region.

Nils Smedegaard Andersen, Carlsberg group managing director, Nordic, said
Carlsberg and Coca-Cola planned to split up CCNB with Coca-Cola taking care of
Sweden and Norway while Carlsberg would handle the smaller Finnish and
Icelandic markets.

On Thursday, Carlsberg said the two steps so far taken towards a Nordic
restructuring deal covered Finland and Iceland.

Carlsberg's 100-percent-owned Finnish brewer Sinebrychoff and local Coca-Cola
Juomat had "signed a letter of intent regarding Sinebrychoff's assumption of
production, sale and distribution of Coca-Cola products in Finland," it said.

Carlsberg said the deal will require approval by the Finnish competition
watchdog, which is already investigating the spillover effects on the Finnish
beverages market from the Danish brewer's deal with Orkla.

In Iceland, Carlsberg said negotiations had begun regarding a management
buy-out of local Coca-Cola Vilifell. A group of local investors were interested
in continuing the production and sale of Coca-Cola products as a local company,
it said.

At 1500 GMT, Carlsberg's share price was 0.3 percent up at 381 crowns, keeping
pace with the EuroStoxx food and beverages sector index.

Mich. City in State of Emergency

By LISA M. COLLINS AP-NY-11-18-00

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) - Often, rats are the ones who wind up taking care of
alleyway garbage in this small working-class city, residents say.

But that could change soon. Michigan has declared the city in a state of
emergency and has appointed civic leader Louis H. Schimmel to be the pied piper
who takes the rats and garbage away.

Schimmel said Friday he plans to overhaul the system by sucking out fat,
greasing wheels and probably firing people and selling off government services
to private companies. Residents gave a resounding thumbs up to the news.

``It's the best thing that ever happened,'' said Ben Jaroslawski, 83, a retired
Teamster. ``The old machine won't accept the new machine around here, and vice
versa. They're spending without a budget. That's not politics, that's crazy.''

``We're broke,'' said Hamtramck Detective David Koehler, spokesman for the
local police union. ``And we're understaffed. I'd like to see the state come
audit, and see where the money's being spend.''

Schimmel, a banker, agreed. The city's new boss said it's hardly garbage and
rats alone that plague Hamtramck, an ethnic enclave surrounded by the city of
Detroit known for a bar per block and heavy union influence.

``Everything's on the table,'' said Schimmel, who recently completed a total
overhaul of the government of Ecorse, a Detroit suburb. ``I replace the mayor
and the city council. I'm totally going to run the city now.

``They can't get paychecks out on time. The records are atrocious,'' said
Schimmel, executive director of the Municipal Advisory Council of Michigan. ``I
don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to get a plan together that's
going to straighten this out.''

Gov. John Engler declared the city in receivership Thursday and appointed
Schimmel. Mayor Gary Zych said Friday he welcomes the move.

``I inherited a city ridden with abuses,'' Zych said. ``The work force is
larger than the city could afford'' and union contracts have sucked the budget
dry.

Political fighting between the mayor's supporters and opponents in City Hall
has also stymied progress. Leaders failed to meet several deadlines by the
state to remedy a $2 million deficit. Last year, the city did not adopt a
budget.

Since Zych's election, there have been two attempts to recall him. He faces a
third recall vote Dec. 13.

Meanwhile, garbage in the city often did not get removed because of battles
between the mayor and the public works department. As a result, residents
complained about rampant rats and some courageous souls took to killing the
rodents themselves.

``The mayor's not doing a good job. He's cutting the police department and not
spending elsewhere. If something bad happens, what are we going to do?'' asked
Helen Bojanic, 66, as she smoked cigarettes and drank tea at a local coffee
shop. ``Let's see what the state can do with this poor, dilapidated city.''

Auto designer Rich Kowalewski, 41, had more drastic ideas.

``City Council should be locked up in an insane asylum,'' Kowalewski said as he
drank beer with buddies in the Paychecks Lounge. ``It's time to clean house.''

On the Net: http://www.cityofhamtramck.net/

[J2jurado]

Tsingtao Brewery to Offer Cheaper Beer in Shanghai, Paper Says

Shanghai, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd., China's best-known
brewer, will introduce a cheaper beer in Shanghai to compete with its main
local rival, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing an unidentified marketing
official.

The brewery, now the No. 3 provider of beer to Shanghai, will launch the new
beer, called Huadong, later this month at a price of about 1.7 yuan (20 U.S.
cents) a bottle. Suntory, its biggest rival in the city, costs 2.5 yuan.

Tsingtao plans to begin making 30,000 tons of Huadong a year at the plant in
Songjiang district that it bought from Carlsberg A/S in August. Tsingtao also
plans to sell Huadong in eastern China after a six-month promotional period in
Shanghai.

Shanghai's beer sales this year are forecast to rise to more than 500,000 tons,
compared with 300,000 tons last year. Suntory supplies about 50 percent of the
city's beer, followed by Reeb beer, made by Shanghai Mila, the paper said.

Suntory is a joint venture between closely held Japanese brewer and distiller
Suntory Ltd. and a Shanghai brewery. Mila is a unit of Asia Pacific Breweries
Ltd., a Singapore based joint venture between Heineken NV and Singapore's
Fraser & Neave.

(Shanghai Daily, Nov. 20, page 4.)

http://www.montrealgazette.com:80/business/pages/001117/4886705.html

Friday 17 November 2000

McAuslan brews pact:
Sale of 45-per-cent stake to Moosehead part of expansion plans

JAN RAVENSBERGEN, The Gazette

McAuslan: "a great fit."

Moosehead Breweries Ltd. of Saint John, N.B., has picked up a
45-per-cent stake in Montreal-based McAuslan Brewing Inc. - part of a
deal allowing the local firm to build itself a new Montreal-area brewery
designed for lager and double its production capacity, the two firms
announced yesterday.

Until now, McAuslan had been strictly an ale house.

The new brewhouse, to cost between $5 million and $7 million, is to
enter production next year, beginning with Moosehead Lager.

That will permit Moosehead to break into the Quebec market for the first
time. The brewery is not permitted to import lager brewed in New
Brunswick because of a complex set of restrictions on interprovincial
trade.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The list of possible locations for the new brewery has been narrowed to
a handful of prospects, said Peter McAuslan, the brewery's founder,
chairman and president. He refused to elaborate, except to say that
zoning restrictions prevent the new brewhouse from being built in St.
Henri, McAuslan's current location.

The pact allows McAuslan to double its annual production capacity from
more than 20,000 hectolitres, McAuslan said. A hectoliter is 100 litres,
or 12.2 cases of 24.

McAuslan generates annual revenues of almost $6 million. Profits are not
disclosed, but McAuslan said "we just had our most profitable year since
we began in business."

The private firm remains under the voting control of founders McAuslan
and his wife, Ellen Bounsall, who is vice-president (production and
inventory). The couple now hold about 40 per cent; other investors hold
15 per cent.

McAuslan Brewing was founded in 1989, and its product list includes
St-Ambroise Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout, Griffon Extra Pale Ale and Brown
Ale, Frontenac Extra Special Pale Ale, McAuslan Cream Ale, Scotch Ale
and seasonal beers Apricot Wheat Ale and Spiced Pumpkin Ale.

Much of the brewer's output is sold in other provinces and in the U.S.

Moosehead, which belongs to the Oland family, is Canada's oldest
independently held private brewery and has an annual capacity of one
million hectolitres and revenues exceeding $100 million, a company
official said.

"A lot of our ways of seeing the universe were similar," McAuslan said
of the decision to ally his micro-brewery with the Oland family.

"The cultural fit was sort of primordial; it was key for them and it was
key for us. ...

"I think Moosehead is just a great fit with us."

http://www.latimes.com:80/news/nation/20001119/t000111114.html

Sunday, November 19, 2000

22 Held in Kenya as Toll From Home Brew Rises to at Least 114

     NAIROBI, Kenya--Police have arrested 22 people suspected of making
an illegal home brew laced with methanol that has killed at least 114
people, a Kenyan police spokesman said Saturday.

     Among the suspects is a director of a small chemical company that
local news reports say could be the source of the brew. The East African

Standard newspaper reported that Samuel Njoroge Karanja was arrested
Friday outside his Oleo Chemical Industry premises in Nairobi's
Kariobangi slum.

     Kenyan police are combing Nairobi and an area north of the capital

where they suspect the brew is still being sold despite widespread
publicity about its dangers, according to spokesman Peter Kimanthi. He

confirmed that Karanja was one of many suspects.

     "A lot of these people are taking it for granted--they say you die

when your time comes," Kimanthi said. "But we are not going to tire from
telling them to stop. Those with ears will hear."

     The private Kenya Television Network put the death toll at 128, but

Kimanthi said he could not confirm the figure, adding that people are
still being hospitalized.

     The brew, which first hit the streets Tuesday, has permanently

blinded at least 80 of the 400 hospitalized, according to news reports.

     The deaths occurred in Nairobi and in Kiambu district, 20 miles
north of the capital, Kimanthi said.

     The home brew, known as changaa, is popular among Kenya's poor

because it is cheap and extremely strong. Ingredients range from
fermented corn and sorghum meal to juice from coconut and sugar cane.

     In recent years, however, and mostly in urban areas, high-octane
fuel and mentholated spirit have been added to enhance potency.

     A glass of changaa costs the equivalent of about 12 cents compared
with 40 cents for a beer.

http://starbulletin.com:80/2000/11/16/business/story3.html

November 16, 2000

Brew Moon Restaurant put up for sale

It will remain open during the process that was forced by its Boston-based
parent's bankruptcy

The Brew Moon Restaurant & Micro Brewery, opened at Ward Centre two
years ago on $3 million of venture capital, is up for sale following the
recent bankruptcy of its Boston-based parent.

The 8,000-square-foot, 280-seat outlet will remain open and not lay off
any of its 85 employees during the sale process, the company said today.

A local partnership including general manager Shawn Rubert is seeking to
buy the restaurant from Brew Moon Enterprises Inc., which filed Chapter
11 reorganization bankruptcy two weeks ago.

Brew Moon is also selling all four of its restaurants in Boston after
failing to secure several million dollars in additional venture capital
to expand, owner Elliot Feiner said today. Brew Moon had originally
planned to go public this year.

The announcement follows the closing of Ward Centre's A Pacific Cafe
earlier this month. Opened in 1996, the restaurant was reportedly having
financial trouble.

Meanwhile, across Auahi Street from Ward Centre, Dallas-based restaurant
chain Dave & Buster's Inc. is scheduled to open a 40,000-square-foot
restaurant and entertainment establishment next year.

http://dailynews.philly.com:80/content/daily_news/2000/11/17/features/FJOE
17.htm

You call this stuff brew? Ha!

By Don Russell, Joe Sixpack

Have you taken a good, close gander at the beer cooler at your local
deli lately?

It's almost impossible to find an honest beer in there.

It was bad enough when that watery bile known as light beer started
masquerading as the real thing. Now the shelf space is being chewed up
by beers that really aren't beers at all.

Hard lemonade and cider, twisted ice tea and berry coolers. Boone's
Farm, known better for its magnum-force wine punches, now makes
strawberry daiquiri beer.

All of them have about 5 percent alcohol - a little more buzz than your
typical lager - but you wouldn't know it. The citrus and fizzy sugar
waters are meant to mask the taste of alcohol. You may as well be
drinking soda, which I guess is the point.

Known as beer coolers or alcopops, the beverages are largely intended
for young - maybe too young - drinkers. Critics say the sweet taste is
designed to lure the teen-age set, who haven't yet had their taste buds
fine-tuned by a mouthful of straight bourbon. In England, the nannies
went ballistic when someone actually marketed something called Power
Rangers Freeze Pops, with 4.5 percent alcohol. Imagine the li'l Brit
tykes bouncing off the walls, flunking the Breathalyzer at the day care.

The trend apparently got its start in the mid-'90s, when an Australian
brewer - looking to dispose of an extra batch of lemons - dumped a
bushel into his malt kettle and came up with Two Dogs lemon brew. Within
two years, lemon beers and other alcopops accounted for 10 percent of
Britain's booze market.

It's taken a little longer to catch on here, but in the last 18 months
I've noticed the surge in these flavored beers at area distributors.
Just as the industrial brewers glommed onto the microbrew trend a few
years ago, they're now brewing flavored beers, like Tequiza and Doc Otis
from Anheuser-Busch.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board lists about 100 different brews
that could be called alcopops - everything from fuzzy navel to spiced
apple.

All of them are brewed with a malt base, which is why they're classified
as beers, not liquor (which is distilled) or wine (which is fermented
fruit). But the malt beverage designation is purely a technicality, as
shown by the latest to hit the market.

Namely, alcoholic spring water.

That's right. Perrier with a punch.

It's called DNA, and it's so clear, it makes Coors Light look like
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.

What's in it? According to DNA's Web site, the original Australian
version contains carbonated water, fruit wine, sugar, natural lime and
thyme extract.

Sure sounds like a wine, not a beer, to me.

The version brewed at F.X. Matt in New York, though, apparently contains
malt, according to the LCB.

Like I said, it's a purely technical classification. They can call it
beer.

I say it's kid stuff.

Nonetheless, I sacrificed my palate for an afternoon taste test. The
results:

Zima - The original, from Coors. It smells like 7-Up but is actually closer to
water than DNA.
Mike's Hard Lemonade - It sure looks like lemonade but lacks the
tartness. It's about as hard as a day-old lemon rind.

Doc Otis - Brewed by Anheuser-Busch, its fizzy, soda pop head is
balanced by a sharp aroma of Ivory soap.

Tormolino Spumante & Peach - From Italy, it comes with a twist-off
plastic cap that's supposed to look like a cork. It looks exactly like a
sparkling wine, but the peach aroma takes away your breath - reminiscent
of 89-octane Exxon.

MacGillivray's Australian Original Two Dogs Apple Brew - From the
inventors of alcopops, it has the taste of an overripe apple. Bottle
says "serve over ice." Joe Sixpack sez: "Serve over my dead body."

Old Yardley's Green Mamba - Served in a green bottle, the brew has the
color of Berliner Weiss with a shot of woodruff. . .or possibly
anti-freeze.

Bodean's Twisted Tea - It claims it's "handcrafted according to the
original Southern recipe," which I would believe if the plantation
kitchen pantry was stocked with aspartame and chalk. Hands down, this is
the worst of the bunch.

Melbourn Bros. Strawberry - At $7 a bottle and a fancy label, I'd expect
this Merchant du Vin import to stomp the competition. It does, mostly
because it's not overwhelmed by fruit; instead, its yeast gives this a
drinkable lambic-like tang. Still, strawberry?

Boone's Strawberry Daiquiri - Now we're getting to the rotgut. This one
describes itself as a malt beverage with natural flavors, caramel and
"certified colors." I'd guess that would be Crayola. Without a hint of
alcohol taste, it's closer to Kool-Aid than Coors.

Bartles & James Berry Flavored Cooler - Remember when Ottens Flavors on
North Broad Street used to stink up the neighborhood with some
sickening, god-awful, gut-wrenching smell that you could never quite
identify? This is it.

http://www.usatoday.com:80/usatonline/20001117/2848301s.htm

Page 3D

10 great places for holiday cheers

''Making a unique beer for Christmas is a tradition that dates back to
medieval times, when most European brewers were monks who saved their
finest ingredients for a special brew to honor the birth of Christ,''
says Stan Hieronymus, author of The Beer Lover's Guide to the USA. A
growing number of U.S. microbreweries have revived the tradition in
recent years. Here, Hieronymus (with an assist from co-author Daria
Labinsky) tells USA TODAY's Jayne Clark some great spots to quaff a
holiday brew.Cork & Kerry

Chicago

The bar is renowned for its lavish holiday décor: ''A visit here during
the holidays is as exciting as going to see the decorated windows in
midtown Manhattan. If ever there was a bar you should take your children
to, this is it.'' 773-445-2675.

North Star Pub

New York

On Dec. 26, the Rev. Larry McCormick conducts a Catholic St. Stephen's
Day Mass, using the bar as an altar. ''Bring clothing or food for the
poor, and you get a free pint of beer, bangers and mash, and party
favors.'' 212-509-6757.

Eccentric Cafe

Kalamazoo, Mich.

Beer lovers show up annually at the Kalamazoo Brewing Co.'s taproom for
Eccentric Day (Dec. 8 this year), ''when Eccentric Ale, a spicy,
high-octane beer, is brewed for next year and the Eccentric Ale brewed a
year ago goes on tap for one day only. Patrons dress outlandishly --
Halloween meets Christmas.'' 616-382-2332.

Great Lost Bear

Portland, Maine

''The Christmas lights never come down here, but plenty of holiday
decorations are added to the flea market motif.'' The bar's 12 Beers of
Christmas event actually includes many more holiday beers from the
50-plus taps. ''No bar in the country does a better job of showcasing
regional breweries.'' 207-772-0300.

Green Leafe Cafe

Williamsburg, Va.

''Like the rest of Williamsburg, the Green Leafe dresses up for a
Colonial Christmas. The 30 beers on tap emphasize regional products, and
the hand-pumped ale is a throwback to less carbonated times.''
757-220-3405.

http://www.usatoday.com:80/usatonline/20001117/2847614s.htm

Page 1D

Easy-drinking hard cider spills across the nation Looks like beer.
Tastes like pear, apple or cranberry. Sells like crazy.

By Maria Montoya USA TODAY

Katie Duncan has always loved cider. Each Thanksgiving, she would wait
for her grandmother Lizzie's batch to come out of the family kitchen.

''We'd all sit around the kids' table with our little cups, waiting for
a sip,'' says Duncan, 31, a native of New York City. ''It was so sugary,
our parents would only allow us two cups of it.''

Dumping the Dixie cups that homemade mix was served in, Duncan has moved
on to bottled hard ciders with a grown-up alcoholic kick. ''Every time I
sit back and drink one with a friend, it reminds me of home,'' she says.
''But now I can have as much as I want.''

Duncan is one of a growing number of drinkers driving alcoholic cider
sales up this year, says Alan Dikty, a contributing editor for the
beverage review site Tastings.com. Since January, sales of bottled cider
have doubled in the USA, he says.

''The drinks are part of a complementary drinking trend. They can easily
go along with an evening of beer drinking or be drunk on their own.''

Domestic cider sales took off this summer when several brands graduated
from small corner markets to larger mainstream grocers and trendy city
restaurants. Two of the most successful: Boston Beer's HardCore Cider
and Hornsby's Pub Draft Cider.

Cranberry and pear ciders are selling alongside apple versions for $5.99
to $6.99 a six-pack. Hard ciders are doing particularly well among
younger drinkers, ages 21 to 35, looking for bottled alternatives to
flowery alcoholic beverages.

''It's light like a wine cooler but has a lot more kick to it,'' says
Chad Carter, 26, of San Francisco, who says cider's alcohol content of
2% to 5% is just enough for him. ''Plus, I feel more comfortable
carrying around a cider bottle that looks like beer than I do carrying
around a glass with fruity-looking punch in it.''

Smaller cider makers like Jeffrey House, who owns Ace Cider and the Ace
in the Hole cider pub in Sebastopol, Calif., are interested in taking
their products national but won't move too fast, fearing the traditional
crisp apple flavor would be lost in mass production.

''Even though cider may be selling like a beer, it is still closer to a
wine in quality,'' House says.

''And who would ever want to drink a poorly made wine?''

http://www.bergen.com:80/food/beer15200011158.htm

http://www.ireland.com:80/newspaper/finance/2000/1117/fin36.htm

Friday, November 17, 2000

Nash continues to sparkle

Drinks firm has successfully changed its emphasis from minerals to
mineral water and continues to be a leading player. Éibhir Mulqueen
reports

Before boarding a flight in Shannon to attend a christening, Richard
Nash squeezes in an interview on that most perplexing of Irish success
stories: the bottling of water to sell to a rain-jaded public in
exchange for sizeable amounts of cash.

In one form or another, he has had associations with big drinks
companies such as Pepsi Cola, Anheuser-Busch and Heineken, and even had
a fling with the most famous of Irish waters, Ballygowan, which is now a
neighbour in Newcastle West.

Nash's has remained as a big fish in the small Irish pond, content to
continue with the old red lemonade reliable, target the restaurant niche
for its mineral water and develop new soft drinks with exotic fruit
flavours. Orange and passion fruit is the best seller of the new
high-juice-content produces but red lemonade, "to which there is no
equal", he declares, now sells well in Britain as a nostalgia product.

The company, of which he is chief executive, produces 750,000 cases
across all brands annually but Nash's has re-positioned itself firmly as
a mineral water company since 1984, despite its long association with
soft drinks.

"In Ireland, most of our sales on a volume basis are in bottled water
and we see ourselves as being primarily a mineral water company - but
mineral water with accents and attributes.

"Our target market would be affluent, educated, young adults, who like
to discover for themselves rather than feel things are being pushed on
them."

He is firmly a Newcastle West man, saying that while "technically born
in Dublin", the family has been in the west Limerick town "for
generations and generations". The family, in fact, moved from a farm
outside the town into its square in 1832, establishing what a Limerick
Leader advertisement described as a hotel. It was more of a pub and
shop, he says, and in 1875 his great grandmother began learning how to
carbonate water.

"There was a spring there. In the pub business in those days, you
packaged beer or whiskey in some form or other, so it was a short step
to bottling soft drinks."

In case people with shorter memories believe that mineral water was a
1980s phenomenon, he says that, for more than a century, spring waters
were "the fashion in Europe".

"The technology was available to do this in Ireland. That is how the
business began," he says.

It developed into soft drinks and he says that when Ballygowan started
in 1983, "we just came full circle". Contrary to popular belief,
bottling water was on everybody's lips in the late 1970s and early
1980s. He remembers being told Irish water was the most sought after
export in the Middle East at the time, although early attempts by other
companies mistakenly focused on still water.

"The market started almost as a fashion or a social drink, not as an
alternative to tap water.

"Perrier developed the market in sparkling water. We launched sparkling
water directly to attack Perrier.

"A key element of the entrepreneurial success was that we were lucky to
be first. We were lucky somebody serious did not attempt it before.
People outside the industry really had no chance of breaking in. They
did not have the technology or the distribution systems and, by and
large, they did not know what to do."

But he says Ballygowan suffered from the Perrier setback in the early
1990s, when the French brand lost market share due to a contamination
scare. "We were nicely positioned to knock them out of the British
market. Suddenly our market disappeared. The scare took away the whole
emphasis on brands and just made it an issue of availability. Ballygowan
just became one of 50 choices."

The Ballygowan partnership also included co-founder Geoff Read and
Anheuser-Busch for a time. But there was squabbling, he says, when the
US brewery giant was on board and, after they left, there was not enough
confidence among the shareholders to make a long-term commitment. The
water brand was sold to the C&C Group.

"It was obvious that there was a lot of value attached to Ballygowan. A
major company could exact synergies from the turnover and convert the
business into one that was very profitable.

"At the time, we sold the source to Ballygowan and we retained maybe
half the source area. Thus, we had an opportunity to re-enter the water
market when the various covenants had expired."

Since then, luck has favoured the bottlers in the Irish market, with the
loss of faith in the quality of tap water and an unwillingness to
tolerate alterations in its taste due to treatment.

Mr Nash fought back into the market with his own brand of mineral water
and a distinctive blue bottle. "We did not want to be a `me too' for
Ballygowan. We felt that market was already saturated with Ballygowan
lookalikes."

A lightly sparkling brand and a still water variant have been aimed at
the restaurant business.

"I think, in general, people eat too much and drink too much. People are
dehydrated and over fed. As they become more health conscious, they
realise the need for rehydration. The half litre bottle of water is
ideal, it is a simple thirst quencher."

The young Richard Nash boarded at Castleknock College in Dublin and went
to university in the US, studying marketing and philosophy at Fordham
University. "It was unusual in those days. There were two reasons. I was
raised with the idea that I would join the family business. It was seen
as an opportunity to see some of the world before settling down in
Newcastle West.

"And Irish universities did not offer business and liberal arts as a
degree course. You either had to choose commerce or arts and I was keen
to do both."

He also gained some experience with international drinks companies,
working for Pepsi Cola in Canada in the mid-1960s after completing his
studies.

With all of his three children living in New York, Mr Nash may have some
fears about continuing the family business. He says none of them has "an
inclination to take up the cause".

The core company now has a turnover of more than £4 million (euro 5.1
million) but Nash Beverages, a distribution company operated in
partnership with Heineken Murphy for the past four years, has an £18
million turnover. "It is one of my pleasures that I brought the world's
two biggest breweries to the company, Anheuser-Busch and Heineken."

This alliance-forming strategy is how he has kept going as a small
player, a role he is happy to continue. "We have to recognise our
limitations. We position our soft drink and mineral water activities
more in the entrepreneurial end of the market and avoid competing head
on with the Coca-Colas and 7Ups of this world. We look to market
segments that are not of interest to the multinational companies."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com:80/national/001115/4872949.html

Tone down the sex, eh? minister tells brewers

Tom Blackwell The Ottawa Citizen 11/15/00

TORONTO -- Ontario's consumer minister urged beer and liquor companies
yesterday to tone down the sexual content of their advertising, accusing
them of overstepping the limits of good taste.

Meanwhile, a government agency is looking at a possible crackdown on
steamy commercials, despite a lengthy history of trying to sell suds
with sex. "I like beer and I like sex, but ... ," a smiling Bob
Runciman, the consumer minister, said after raising the issue in the
legislature.

"There's a concern about pulling people in and saying the more beer you
consume, the more alcohol you consume, there's a relationship to
performance. That's clearly what they're trying to say. Is that
appropriate?"

Mr. Runciman acknowledged that sex in liquor advertising is nothing new,
but said he's afraid companies have been pushing the envelope lately. He
also noted that children are easily exposed to the material and that
advertisers should keep that in mind.

The minister said he was specifically worried about a TV ad for Labatt's
Carlsberg beer that features a woman discussing her boyfriend with some
female friends in a bar.

Using hand movements and suggestive language, the commercial suggests
the boyfriend enjoys performing oral sex on the woman.

Mr. Runciman said other recent ads have also exploited sex. They
include:

- The so-called "premature-pour" commercial for Heineken beer that shows

a man trying to look nonchalant as he pours a beer, but nonetheless

manages to spill head over the side of his glass. The woman he's trying
to impress coolly dispenses her beer without problem; and

- Molson Export ads featuring groups of men and women talking about how
they've had "too much sex."

Brewing industry representatives could not be reached for comment.

Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission must approve all advertising for
beer, wine and liquor based on rules chiefly aimed at encouraging
responsible use of alcohol.

A committee at the regulatory agency recently began looking at whether
it should change the guidelines to restrict the use of sex in ads.

Although the commission has not received any complaints, it too was
concerned about what it saw as a trend in marketing of the products,
commission spokesman Ab Campion said yesterday.

"It seems to be more explicit than in the past," he said in an
interview. "There's just a little bit of a feeling that they may be
pushing the outer edges of this."

The agency has no deadline for deciding when it will make a decision on
the issue, Mr. Campion said.

Experts say a proliferation of liquor and beer brands in recent years
has prompted companies to use increasingly provocative marketing to set
their products apart from the pack.

http://news.excite.com/news/r/001117/08/odd-beauty-dc

Beauty Queen Abdicates, Admits She Is Male

November 17, 2000BANGKOK (Reuters) - Kesaraporn Duangsawan captured the
hearts of
the judges and walked away with 6,000 baht ($138) as first runner-up in
a Thai beauty contest this month -- until organizers discovered the
beauty queen was a man.

A police officer told reporters some of the contestants had complained
of unfair competition saying Kesaraporn was actually male.

The disgraced 22-year-old beauty queen handed back the prize money
through a friend on Thursday, five days after the annual Loy Krathong
festival beauty pageant in the central Thai province of Ratchaburi.

Kesaraporn had asked only to keep the Miss Media runner-up sash as a
momento, the police officer told reporters.

[J2jurado]

Statement of Paul Clinton, President CEO, UDV North America Regarding
RussianGovernment Actions Calling Russian Company's Ownership of
StolichnayaIllegal'

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Clinton, President and CEO of UDV
North America, made the following statement today:

"An influential Russian government agency has reportedly determined that
ownership of the Stolichnaya vodka trademark was illegally transferred to the
Russian company Soyuzplodimport. 'The fact of illegal privatization was
established in course of the Audit Chamber's inquiry into the transforming of
the All-Union External Trade Company Soyuzplodimport in a Joint-Stock Company.'

"According to the ITAR-TASS news organization, the Russian Federation Audit
Chamber has recommended that the Russian government "reclaim the trademarks
that belong to the state from illegal ownership of the closed Joint-Stock
Company Soyuzplodimport."

"This development casts further doubt over the future of the Stolichnaya brand
in light of earlier reports of widespread conflict in Russia over the
Stolichnaya trademark and production facilities, including the armed invasion
of a Mocow distillery where Stolichnaya is produced, the "arrest" of the
trademark by Russian authorities, and the declaration of Stolichnaya as a
compliance trademark, possibly opening the way for the export of competing
"Stolichnaya" vodkas.

"According to ITAR-TASS, "The Audit Chamber's decision jeopardizes the results
of an international tender for the right to distribute Stolichnaya in the U.S."
made by Allied Domecq. Until this uncertainty is resolved, UDV North America
will continue to work closely and cooperatively with U.S. distributors to
minimize any supply disruption in the U.S. market as events unfold in Russia.

"The effect of the Russian government actions on the current distribution
arrangements in the United States remains unclear. UDV will continue to follow
these events within the Russian government and work closely with Russian
government officials and teh United States Department of State to explore every
available option for distribution of the brand."

UDV North America, Inc., and Guinness Bass Import Company are the spirits, wine
and beer divisions of Diageo plc in the USA and Canada (NYSE: <A
HREF="aol://4785:DEO">DEO</A>), one of the world's leading consumer brand
companies. Key brands include Burger King, Johnnie Walker and J&B Scotch
whiskies, Smirnoff vodka, Gordon's gin, Baileys cream liqueur and Guinness
stout. The Diageo group operates in over 200 markets worldwide and has
international sales of $17.3 billion. The company is also listed on the London
(DGE) and Paris Stock Exchanges. Additional information on the Diageo group and
its brands is available at http://www.diageo.com.

Tsingtao Denies Starting Cheap Beer Brand in Shanghai

Shanghai, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd., China's best-known

brewer, said it had no plans to start making a cheaper beer in Shanghai top
help it increase its domestic market share, a company spokesman said.

The company denied a Shanghai Daily report that it would this month roll out
Huadong beer, to sell for about 1.7 yuan (20 U.S. cents) a bottle, compared
with 3.6 yuan for its Tsingtao brand, the city's No. 3 seller. Suntory, the
most popular Shanghai brand, costs 2.5 yuan.

``We vehemently deny the reports in Shanghai Daily as we have no plans to
introduce a new beer,'' said Zhang Ruixiang, a spokesman for Tsingtao. ``No one
from Shanghai Daily has contacted us and the information is incorrect.''

Tsingtao -- the only Chinese brand sold overseas -- has been buying
money-losing rivals to expand. It purchased 15 breweries last year and six
breweries this year in a drive to double its share of China's domestic market
to 10 percent.

The newspaper report, citing an unidentified company official, said Tsingtao
would produce 30,000 tons of Huadong beer from its plant in Songjiang district
which it acquired from Carlsberg in August.

``That is not true as we will only officially take over the Carlsberg plant by
first quarter of next year,'' said Zhang. Tsingtao expects to produce 160,000
tons of beer by end of this year, Zhang said.

Zhang said that the company has no plans to consolidate the local brands it now
has after the acquisition of breweries in the in eastern China, into a cheaper
beer brand. Tsingtao now owns 30 brands across the country.

Still, Gilbert Chu, an executive director at Sun Hung Kai Securities Ltd. in
Hong Kong said he expects Tsingtao to introduce a discount brand to absorb the
extra capacity it gained from recent acquisitions.

``They can keep Tsingtao as a premium brand while going after the mass market
with a cheaper brand,'' Chu said.

Cheaper Than Cola

A bigger share of the mass market won't mean an equal jump in profit. ``Beer is
cheaper to drink than Coca-cola,'' Chu said. A bottle of Coke costs about 3.5
yuan while a bottle of beer can cost less than 3 yuan.

The beer market in China has also been difficult for Tsingtao and for foreign
brewers because consumers are loyal to local brands, and city governments often
bar imports -- even from elsewhere in China.

Foreign brewers such as Denmark's Carlsberg A/S, the world's sixth-biggest
brewer, Foster's Brewing Group Ltd. of Australia and San Miguel Corp., the
Philippines largest food and beverage company, account for only 10 percent of
China's domestic market, and some are reducing their presence.

In August, Tsingtao bought 63 percent of Asia Shuanghesheng Five Star Brewery
Co. from Asimco, a U.S.-owned, Beijing-based investment company, for $10
million, a fifth of what Asimco paid in 1995. Two weeks earlier, Tsingtao
agreed to buy an unprofitable Shanghai brewery from Carlsberg for $19 million.

Still, the Shanghai market is growing, with beer sales this year forecast at
more than 500,000 tons, compared with 300,000 tons last year, and foreign
brewers have succeeded with low-priced brands.

Suntory made by a joint venture between closely held Japanese brewer and
distiller Suntory Ltd. and a Shanghai brewery has half the Shanghai market. The
No. 2 beer, Reeb, costs 2.6 yuan and is made by a unit of Asia Pacific
Breweries Ltd., a joint venture between Heineken NV and Singapore's Fraser &
Neave.

Tsingtao's shares closed at unchanged at HK$1.94. The shares have fallen 18.3
percent since the beginning of the year, compared with an 7.2 percent drop in
the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index that tracks Chinese state companies
listed in Hong Kong.

Nigeria Breweries bumps bourse to end a little lower

LAGOS, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's bourse closed marginally lower on Monday
after profit takers hit the share price of giant brewer Nigerian Breweries,
countering substantial gains made in rival Guinness Nigeria, dealers said.

The All-Share Index dropped 10.46 points or 0.1 percent to 7,118.99 points.

Investors cashing in on the recent rally in market heavyweight Nigerian
Breweries, knocked its price 4.6 percent to finish at 20.50 naira.

But Guinness Nigeria rose 4.8 percent to 26.30 naira to lead the gainer's
chart. It peaked at 38.20 naira on September 1.

Overall, 18.6 million shares valued 92 million naira ($897,561) were traded in
1,439 deals against 22.5 million shares worth 93.5 million naira ($912,195)
that changed hands in 1,516 deals on Friday.

Burtonwood 1st-Half Net Rises as Pub Profits Grow

Warrington, England, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Burtonwood Brewery Plc said its
first-half profit rose 20 percent as the U.K. brewer and pub operator squeezed
more profit from its pub operations.

Profit after tax excluding a tax credit from earlier years rose to 2.6 million
pounds ($3.7 million), or 12.2 pence a share, compared with 2.2 million, or
10.2p, in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement
released by the U.K.'s Regulatory News Service. Burton said it recovered
640,000 pounds in overpaid taxes from previous years.

Burtonwood said average profit per unit from its managed pubs rose 12 percent a
week in the six months to Sept. 30, although competition remained strong,
compounded by a disappointing summer.

``Competition for the `leisure pound' is ferocious,'' Burtonwood Chairman J.G.
Dutton-Forshaw said in the statement.

Shares in Burtonwood rose 2 percent, or 3.5 pence, to 175, leaving them little
changed for the year. In the same period, the FT-SE All-Share Beverages Index
has risen 25 percent.

Burtonwood, which owns or leases 480 pubs, said it is confident it can maintain
its market share through what it calls ``community locals,'' or its
neighborhood pubs.

The company also said that it was actively seeking ``substantial acquisitions''
to increase profitability. No further details were given. Burtonwood said it
will pay a dividend of 2.65 pence a share compared with 2.35 pence in the same
period a year earlier.

European Union Calendar of Pending Merger Cases, Latest Rulings

Brussels, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a calendar of proposed
mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures of which the European Commission's
competition authorities have been notified, and a record of the commission's
latest rulings. The commission has one month after receiving notification of
proposed mergers and acquisitions to conduct an initial review and determine
whether the transactions create or enhance a dominant position. Third parties
have 10 days after notification to submit their comments to the commission.
Companies may resubmit proposed mergers and acquisitions to the commission
under adjusted terms, resetting the initial investigation's one-month clock.

The commission clears more than 90 percent of mergers and acquisitions after
the initial review. If companies offer concessions to address EU antitrust
concerns during the first three weeks of a probe, the one-month deadline is
postponed two weeks. If the concessions aren't sufficient the commission opens
a second-stage investigation, which can take four more months.

SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE/VTR SGPS/CENTRALCER: Scottish & Newcastle Plc, the U.K.
brewer of Kronenbourg and Foster's beer, purchase of 49 percent of a venture
that runs Central de Cervejas SA, Portugal's No. 2 brewery. The other owners of
the brewery, also known as Centralcer, are Banco Espirito Santo SA and Parfil.
Date notified: Oct. 18. Ruling due: Nov. 22. Tickers: SCTN LN (Scottish &
Newcastle) CCER PL (Centralcer) BESNN PL (Banco Espirito Santo)

BOMBARDIER/DAIMLERCHRYSLER: Bombardier Inc., the world's No. 1 maker of
passenger rail cars, purchase of DaimlerChrysler AG's Adtranz trainmaking unit.
Date notified: Oct. 20. Ruling due: Nov. 27. Tickers: BBD/B CN (Bombardier) DCX
GR (DaimlerChrysler)

NEWS CORP/WALT DISNEY/GLOBOSAT: Formation of joint venture between News Corp.,
the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch; Walt Disney Co., the world's
No. 2 media company; and Brazil's Globosat Programadora Ltd. Date notified:
Oct. 30. Ruling due: Nov. 29. Tickers: NCP AU (News Corp.) DIS US (Walt Disney)

ANDERSEN CONSULTING/LIVERPOOL VICTORIA: Andersen Consulting partners acquires
joint control of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Ltd's Ownhome Property
Limited, an estate agency. Date notified: Nov. 3. Ruling due: Dec. 6. Tickers:
3674Z LN (Liverpool Victoria) 5155z US (Andersen)

DEUTSCHE BANK/VARTA: Deutsche Bank AG's DB Investor unit won European Union
approval to buy all of Varta AG, the leading battery maker in Latin America.
Date notified: Nov. 6. Ruling due: Dec. 7. Tickers: VAR GR (Varta) DBK GR
(Deutsche Bank)

MAXTOR/QUANTUM: Maxtor Corp. won European Union purchase of Quantum Corp.'s
Hard Disk Drive Group, creating the world's biggest maker of computer hard
drives. Date notified: Nov. 8. Ruling due: Dec. 11. Tickers: HDD US (HDD) MXTR
US (Maxtor)

LA POSTE/MAYNES: La Poste, France's state postal service purchase of Mayne
Nickless Ltd.'s freight transport business in the U.K. and Ireland as it moves
to offset reduced profit from its European postal business. Date notified: Nov.
10. Ruling due: Dec. 13. Tickers: MAY AU (Maynes) 1725Z FP (La Poste)

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS UNDER SECOND-STAGE REVIEW

FRAMATOME/SIEMENS: France's state-controlled Framatome SA, the world's largest
maker of nuclear power-generation equipment, plan to merge the business with
that of Germany's Siemens AG ahead of an initial public offering as early as
this year. Date notified: July 10. Date to second stage: Aug. 11. Ruling due:
Dec. 19. Tickers: SOUR FP (Framatome), SIE GR (Siemens)

British TV director scoops record poker prize

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A British television director scooped the one
million pound ($1.4 million) first prize in the world's richest poker
tournament, organisers said on Monday. Londoner John Duthie emerged the victor
on Sunday night at a casino on the Isle of Man, a tax haven off the west coast
of Britain, after defeating six other finalists -- four Britons, an American
and an Israeli.

Duthie, who started playing in 1991, won the final hand of the Texas Hold'em
poker game with a full house of aces and eights beating "Sugar" Teddy Tuil from
Tel Aviv.

Duthie, who never drinks alcohol, beat veteran U.S. champion "Amarillo Slim"
Preston and other stars like Johnny Chan and Phil Helmuth.

His day job in British television is directing the Channel 4 soap "Hollyoaks."

The jackpot beats the million-dollar prizes paid out at the annual World Series
of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Leslie McGibbon, spokesman for the tournament organisers, Ladbroke Casinos,
said the event attracted worldwide television interest and was played on a
glass table so that cameras could reveal the cards. He promised the tournament
would return with bigger prizes next year.

Duthie, a 42-year-old rank outsider, told reporters after the tournament that
even his wife, who opposed him attending the event, did not think he could win.

"Well, I did," he added, saying he was so surprised to have won that he did not
know what he would do with the money.

US law enforcers launch crackdown on drunk driving

WASHINGTON Nov. 20 (Reuters) - Law enforcers throughout the United States
launched a coordinated campaign Monday, their biggest yet, to stop drunk
driving and make sure youthful riders are buckled up.

The two-pronged crackdown will last through the Thanksgiving weekend, the
year's most heaviest traveled in terms of trips of 100 miles or more away from
home, officials and private groups said.

"As a nation, we should have zero tolerance for adults who risk children's
lives by driving drunk or by failing to buckle up the children in their car,"
Jim Hall, chair of the National Highway Transportation Safety Board, said in a
statement.

Tens of thousands of officers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
will staff checkpoints as part of so-called Operation ABC mobilization, short
for America Buckles Up Children, said the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign,
the program coordinator.

Traffic crashes are the leading killer of children, with more than 2,000
children dying each year. Nearly a quarter of these deaths are alcohol-related.
Six out of 10 children who die in crashes are completely unrestrained, the
Transportation Department said.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said this year's ABC mobilization would
be the biggest ever, with more than 10,000 law enforcement agencies taking part
in the 50 states and District of Columbia, up from 1,000 in 1997.

Since the twice-yearly mobilizations began, the number of child fatalities from
traffic crashes has dropped 17 percent, Sue Bailey, administrator of the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said.

CoorsTek Elects New Member to Its Board of Directors

GOLDEN, Colo., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- CoorsTek, Inc. (Nasdaq: <A
HREF="aol://4785:CRTK">CRTK</A>) announced today the election of W.J. Kitchen,
Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Including Dr. Kitchen, CoorsTek's Board
consists of six outside members and one company representative. Dr. Kitchen
currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ameranth Wireless,
Inc., a San Diego, California-based provider of software products that enable
real-time data communication between wireless handheld computers, PCs, and the
Internet. Prior to this role, he held senior executive positions with Nanogen,
a biotech company, and with Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector as well as
its Automotive, Energy and Component Sector. Dr. Kitchen began his career at
the National Security Agency where he designed, implemented, and evaluated
secure communication systems.

"We are delighted to welcome W.J. as the newest member of the CoorsTek Board of
Directors. He brings with him invaluable experience in the semiconductor,
telecommunications, and medical electronics industries. With his extensive
knowledge in these businesses, which are of strategic importance to us, W.J.
will offer excellent insight and guidance as we continue to expand these
markets," said John K. Coors, CoorsTek's Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer.

CoorsTek is a leading designer and manufacturer of critical components and
integrated assemblies for the semiconductor capital equipment market and other
high tech applications. For additional information on CoorsTek, visit the
Company's website: www.coorstek.com.

Swede appeals to Noah as floods swamp graveyard

STOCKHOLM, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Rising floodwater disrupted road and rail travel
in western Sweden on Monday, submerging a graveyard in the town of Arvika and
prompting one local to say that only Noah could now save the day.

Rivers flowing south from the Norwegian mountains through western Sweden have
risen to record levels, undermining railway embankments and roads in many
places and disrupting some train commuter services around Gothenburg.

In Arvika, a graveyard dating from the 16th century at St.Michael's Church was
flooded for the first time -- despite prayers for the rain to stop. "The water
is three metres (10 feet) above normal. We had floods in 1904 and 1951 but
nothing like this," said sacristan Ragnar Jalkenas.

Vanern, Sweden's largest lake, is so full that state-controlled utility
Vattenfall has been forced to release an unprecedented 1,000 cubic metres of
water per second into the Gota canal system leading towards Gothenburg.

The SMHI weather office said the warm, wet weather would continue for five
days, and one Arvika inhabitant erected a board to measure the rising
floodwaters.

"Have a beer," was the advice if the water rose another 80 centimetres, "have
another beer" at 90 cms and "ring Noah" if the floods reached the one metre
mark.

Lake Wobegon's 'Location' Revealed

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID 11-20-00

WASHINGTON (AP) - A few months ago Garrison Keillor went looking for Lake
Wobegon, the fictional village he created. And he found it - sort of. Right
where he left it.

The Minnesota Public Radio storyteller reports on his search in the December
issue of National Geographic magazine.

For years, Keillor says, people have asked the location of the village where
his weekly stories are set, and seem disappointed when he tells them it is
fictional.

Lake Wobegon is based on Keillor's memories of living in Stearns County, in
central Minnesota.

When the county designated a bike path Lake Wobegon Trail, Keillor writes, ``I
decided I had better spend a few days driving around the area, to see if it was
there or not.''

``The eastern approach to Lake Wobegon is Division Street, St. Cloud, a
four-mile strip of free enterprise in full riot,'' Keillor reports.

But, ``Holdingford (pop. 638) is the town that looks most Wobegonic to me,''
Keillor adds. ``It has a fine little downtown of elderly brick buildings.''

Keillor visited New Munich's dramatic brick church and was overwhelmed by the
``high columns with figured capitals, the rose windows in the transepts, the
lovely statues with the compassionate faces.''

He admits that he had tried to base Lake Wobegon's Catholic church, Our Lady of
Perpetual Responsibility, on the one in New Munich. But, returning there, ``I
could see I didn't get the baroque feel at all. ... If I'd put it in Lake
Wobegon nobody would have believed it.''

In Freeport, ``I saw a man walk out of the post office who reminded me of
Florian Krebsbach (Lake Wobegon's Chevrolet dealer), a man a brown porkpie hat
and pale blue polyester suit and green plaid shirt with a string tie with an
agate clasp and wearing white shoes.''

The Sidetrak Tap in Lake Wobegon was modeled after Freeport's Pioneer Inn,
Keillor reports, ``a gloomy smoke-filled sour-smelling tavern, cluttered with
neon beer signs and deer heads and mottoes (Don't Sleep in Our Bar, We Don't
Drink in Your Bed), except the Pioneer Inn has been cleaned up and remodeled
and the sourness expunged.''

And it was in the Pioneer Inn that Keillor found Lake Wobegon.

For it was there, he recalls, that he often sat at the end of the bar listening
to the locals.

``As I sat in the Pioneer Inn and recalled the years I spent in Stearns County,
it dawned on me where Lake Wobegon had come from. All those omniscient narrator
stories about small-town people came from a guy sitting at the end of a bar,
drinking a beer, who didn't know anything about anything going on around him.''

American Airlines Crew Member Sucked Out of Plane

.c The Associated Press AP-NY-11-20-00

MIAMI (AP) - An American Airlines crew member opened a jetliner door during an
emergency evacuation at the airport and fell to his death on the tarmac Monday,
police said.

Four other people were injured during the evacuation of Flight 1291, which had
been en route to Port au Prince, Haiti.

The plane, an Airbus A300 with 130 people aboard, had returned to the Miami
airport after a cockpit warning light came on indicating an engine fire, said
airport spokeswoman Inson Kim.

After it landed, a crew member opened a cabin door before the fuselage was
depressurized and ''was basically sucked out of the plane onto the tarmac,''
said Nelda Fonticiella, a Miami-Dade County police spokeswoman.

No evidence of fire was found.