Beer is good business. This according to a new study, commissioned by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Beer Institute. Do your part and tip one back.
The study found that America’s beer industry, including brewers, importers, distributors, brewer suppliers, and retailers, directly and indirectly contributes over $198 billion annually to the U.S. economy and provides nearly 1.9 million jobs — generating nearly $62 billion in wages and benefits. The industry also paid $41 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes in 2008. Consumption taxes included $3.8 billion in federal excise taxes, $1.7 billion in state excise taxes and …read more

My wife found out today that Häagen Dazs is not in fact a foreign brand of ice cream. In fact, it was started in New York over 50 years ago and given a name intended “to convey an aura of the old-world traditions and craftsmanship” the owner hoped to emulate. Now, whatever the merits of that particular ice cream, foreign-sounding names are a popular strategy here in the US. In fact, it’s so popular that Wikipedia has an entire entry dedicated to it.
For anyone with a passing knowledge of languages in which the umlaut appears, the name seems unlikely …read more

Ok, now these fuel prices are really getting on my nerves. According to this article, the price of beer is increasing in Germany now too. I’ve already seen a 30% increase in the price of a case of beer here, I don’t really need higher prices combined with the current exchange rate for my next trip.
Unfortunately, the combination of fuel prices, the housing crisis in the US and UK, and the slumping dollar appear to be finally taking their toll on other economies. Stock markets have been reeling, a number of other currencies are vulnerable, and growth appears likely to …read more

My mother is one of those people who likes to chat on airplanes. I am not, so those of you who sit down next to me on a long-haul flight are likely to be disappointed.
In any event, my mother has spoken with all sorts of people on airplanes, from Joey Bishop to the manager of a then-unknown Australian band named INXS. One of her most interesting chats, though, was with an exporter of sand. More peculiar, the gentleman in question was exporting sand to Saudi Arabia. It would seem to me that there’s more than enough sand in Saudi …read more

Frequent flyers and fans of good beer might be interested in this post (yes, I write a beer blog), which provides guidance on locating a good beer in airports across the world. Even better, you can submit your own tips (and God knows the Munich tip could use some improvement).