Interview with Anat Baron, director of BeerWars
US News & World Report has a good interview with Anat Baron about the process of making the film, BeerWars. (Showing tonight at Carolina Cinemas on Hendersonville Road. Get your tix.) Interesting stuff that the “big guys” from MillerCoors and A-B denied participating in the film. This quote from Baron is pretty funny, when she was asked about her style of directing:  “The film is a “hybrid” of styles. Some have compared me to Michael Moore but I’m better dressed, less angry and use humor instead of confrontation.”

The Brewers Association Top 50 List
It’s that time of year again when the Brewers Association reports on the Top 50 Craft Brewers and the Top 50 Overall Brewers. All numbers are based on sales volume from 2008.

Life after Anheuser-Busch
The St. Louis Business Journal sheds some light on the happenings on some former top execs at A-B. Since InBev took over, many have left and moved on to other things while some are planning their next moves. “Other former brewery employees are taking more time before making their next move. Nearly all of Anheuser-Busch’s 17 former strategy committee members have left the company. Roughly 2,400 salaried employees, or about 40 percent of Anheuser-Busch’s local workforce, took early retirement buyouts or pink slips in December and January.” The report claims that the departure of these folks are spurring “a wave of entrepreneurship” in St. Louis. Maybe there is gold at the end of the rainbow? In other news at AB-InBev, the Rolling Rock brand is being shopped around and could possibly end-up right where it started: Latrobe, Pa. Production of the beer has dropped by nearly 50% since 2003. [via Appellation Beer]

“Does my butt look big in this beer?”
One of the things that’s been on the horizon in the beer industry is nutritional information like those found on nearly every food product bought in your local supermarket. Since beer is food, this only makes sense. Joe Sixpack writes a great article about calories in beer, highlighting a new book by beer writer Bob Skilnik, “Does My Butt Look Big In This Beer?” Check these (somewhat alarming) stats: “Pull a bottle of Victory Prima Pils from the fridge, and you’re enjoying a hoppy, full-flavored lager for just 171 calories. Reach for Victory Golden Monkey instead, and you’re looking at 281. Care for a stout? A bottle of Guinness is just 125 calories. You could drink three of them before you reach the 400 calories in a single bottle of Bell’s Expedition Stout.” Ack! 400 calories in Expedition Stout? The book itself catalogs over 2,000 different beers worldwide and their caloric content.

In related news of the anterior…
The UK is riled-up over an “advert” for Courage beer (above), which portrays a man sitting on a couch and a woman standing in a too-tight purple dress, presumably asking the above mentioned question “Does my butt look big?” And the statement, “Take courage, my friend.”  THREE people complained and the ad was pulled. Do you find this funny? Offensive? We file this one in the “Who Cares?” drawer. After all, the dude isn’t much to look at either. Hell, the couch is sagging! [via blogs.news.com.au]