Since last March there hasn’t been much good news to celebrate, so I can understand why many people have been happily trumpeting the success of brewers during the coronavirus pandemic. The only problem with that story is that it’s just not true. Believe me, I’d love for the drinks industry to be booming, except, sadly, it’s not. Think about it: how can beer sales be up when almost every place that sells beer by the pint is closed or only running at 25 percent capacity? No packed bars. No packed stadiums. No packed concert arenas. No packed race tracks. Given all […]
Beer
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After a hellish summer, when Florida became a major hot spot for COVID-19, Governor Ron DeSantis has decided it’s time for everyone to grab a beer. And experts are already worried what the public health fallout could be. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation announced in a statement Thursday that “at the direction” of the Republican governor an earlier order that had cut off bars from selling alcohol to be consumed on site was being thrown out, and instead, a new order will be in place that by Monday lets bars “operate at 50 percent of the facility’s indoor […]
On Friday, Democratic presidential nominee and former US vice president, Joe Biden, along with his wife Jill, paid a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, as the country commemorates the 19th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday surprised firefighters at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Co. Station 627, in the US state of Pennsylvania, delivering two six-packs of beer, a promise he made to the workers during a 2012 visit to the facility. The former vice president, on the campaign trail, showed up at the Shanksville […]
The folks at Constellation Brands surely had a premonition that this was going to be a very tough year. “Seriously?” they must have thought, “there’s a virus that’s become a deadly pandemic, and it’s got the same name as our bestselling beer Corona? You have got to be kidding.” Unfortunately, this was no joke. Constellation is the sole U.S. importer of the Grupo Modelo beer brands, including the super-popular Corona Extra, along with brands like Modelo Especial, Pacifico and the new Corona Hard Seltzer. (Grupo Modelo was wholly acquired in 2012 by AB InBev, but export rights in the U.S. went […]
Rising sentiment in opposition to racist and insensitive artwork has quickly seen companies pull their products at risk of being “canceled”. However, this phenomenon has now begun to affect progressive and anti-racist products, which can be misconstrued as the opposite. A Connecticut bar has removed a product from its beer selection after pressure from a customer complaining that the bottle resembled a Ku Klux Klan hood, despite the beer’s brewer claiming that the design is a denunciation of racism. “We have pulled this beer from further sale. Please accept our apologies for the lapse in judgment in serving. While we can’t […]
As the UK begins to ease its lockdown restrictions, the Scottish government has cautiously followed England’s example. But as scenes from London and elsewhere show limited adherence to social distancing measures, Scotland appears increasingly reticent to follow suit. Beer gardens and outdoor cafes will be open from Monday, as Scotland begins to loosen its 15-week lockdown of all non-essential workplaces. However, eager customers are being cautioned that the experience will not be quite the same as it was prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Alongside strict hygiene rules, visitors to outdoor establishments will have to provide their name and contact […]
Of the many things we’ve (temporarily) lost thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, late nights at the local bar are one of the most dearly missed—unless, of course, you’re a knucklehead in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia or California who continues to visit watering holes without wearing a mask or practicing social distancing, personal and public safety be damned. For those responsible Americans pining for the beloved and time-honored ritual of staying out until the wee hours of the morning downing beers or cocktails, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets has arrived to provide a vicarious approximation of that experience—and, in the process, to pay […]
I’ve been watching the craft beer industry collapse over the past few months. After 20 years of writing about how upstart craft brewers have steadily taken customers from mainstream brands, it’s a shock to see this whole world shatter under the hammer of the coronavirus pandemic. Given that everything is now upside down maybe I shouldn’t be shocked, but overall, things are pretty grim. The disease has broken the long growth curve of craft beer, which had outperformed the overall category for more than a decade—and it only took a month. In April, according to the latest numbers from industry watcher […]