When Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) decided to cut jobs last week, the outcry was clearly going to be heard loud and clear around Europe. And now, the announcement that up to 800 jobs would be lost is starting to not only have a real impact the workers, but also regular overseas beer drinkers

Supermarkets in Belgium are running out of beer produced by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer, national media reported on Tuesday.

AB InBev employees are striking against job cuts and are picketing two brewing plants in Louvain and Jupille-sur-Meuse, Belgium.

The breweries have not been operating at full capacity for six days and can no longer supply beer to supermarkets.

I have to hand it to the workers for making an impact that is being felt not just by the suits up in corporate, but by the everyday drinker. It will be interesting to see what comes of all this. We’ll continue tracking the story as it unfolds.

RIA Novosti — Belgian stores run low on beer as brewery strike hits

Yesterday I reported that AB InBev in Belgium was set to cut around 250 jobs in Belgium. Today, we wish that news had been all the news to report.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is to cut 800 jobs across western Europe, 10% of its 8,000 workforce in the region.

The firm said the move was a response to falling beer sales, with the layoffs spread across Belgium, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The news trigged protests at the firm’s brewery in the Belgium town of Leuven, where it also has its headquarters.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s brands include Becks, Budweiser and Stella Artois.

Definitely not the most cheery news on a Friday. Again, we have to wonder how the American beer climate is holding up. Will we see the same drop in sales, thus leading to firings in America? Only time will tell, but we’ll all hope for the best.

BBC News — Beer Giant Anheuser-Busch InBev Cutting European Jobs

Though certainly not a microbrewery by any means, AB In-Bev in Belgium has decided to cut 263 jobs due to the lack of beer sales.

The average Belgian drank about 20% less beer in 2008 than in 2000, and volumes sold fell another 1.7% in the first nine months of 2009, the brewer said.

“Beer has traditionally proved resistant to weak economic conditions, but our industry is not immune to the general economic climate,” the company said in its statement.

Hopefully this is just isolated to Europe and has no effect on the US beer climate, but you have to wonder how long breweries in America can go without feeling some of the strains of the economy. The big brewers might be already feeling the competition from microbreweries in terms of sales but if you’re an average beer drinker, can your spring for an $11 six-pack of great beer, or is it better to save a few bucks and go with Rolling Rock?

The Wall Street Journal — AB InBev: May Cut 263 Jobs in Belgium as Sales Suffer

We're counting down to Christmas with 12 beers that resonate with the feel of the holiday. Some beers were nice; some beers were naughty. This is The 12 Beers of Christmas. Enjoy!

Brouwerij Slaapmutske in Melle, Belgium

So here we are at our final beer of Christmas. We wanted to make today’s review something special. We wanted to get a very fancy, very tasteful, very unique beer for our final day. Sadly, it turns out there’s a lot to do outside of blogging and writing about beers when December 25 starts to get close, so we had to settle for a beer from a brewery that we can’t even spell without copy-and-paste. Despite the fact that we can’t spell the Kerstmutske Christmas Nightcap name correctly, or even begin to get the Brouwerij Slaapmutske Brewery name right, the KCN brew was a nice, slow, and reserved finish to what has been a wonderful, tasty, and unexpected 12 Beers of Christmas.

The bottle says this is a Christmas nightcap of a beer. Now whether they’re referring to an actual nightcap, or the fact that this is a nightcap, or a play on both is unclear. However, with the flavors we encountered, this beer isn’t a night-ender, but is a smooth and enjoyable Belgian ale. The beer had a nice roasted applesauce, hazlenutty chocolate look to it, and the smell tickled the nose with the sweeter, boozy fruit scent we’re so accustomed to with these Christmas brews. The flavor was a little sharper and cleaner than some of the other Belgians we sampled, with a knife of burnt malty goodness cutting into the taste buds. The final notes hinted at some muted coffee moments, and further sips revealed a nice and light vanilla undertone. Nothing was dull or rough, just a smooth and silent take on a Belgian ale.

We’ve had a lot of fun going through these beers over the past week and a half. No, we didn’t love all that we came in contact with, but I really do encourage everyone to try something like The 12 Beers of Christmas on their own. We got a chance to try some beers outside our comfort zone and to learn about some breweries we never could have found before. We hope that your Christmas will be filled with great brews and warm memories. Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas. We hope Santa leaves some great beers underneath your tree.

We're counting down to Christmas with 12 beers that resonate with the feel of the holiday. Some beers were nice; some beers were naughty. This is The 12 Beers of Christmas. Enjoy!

Kerkom Brewery in Belgium

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you all have your shopping done, and if you don’t check out all the beers of Christmas (except that Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale) and jet down to the local beer store to get yourself those final stocking stuffers, or just a few more gifts to fill out under the tree. The delightful beer treat for today is the Winter King, more commonly known as Winterkoninkske. The brewers over at Kerkom Brewery are trying to bring hops back to Belgian brewing with this tasty winter ale.

he Kerkom brewery is a family operation built into a rambling farmhouse surrounded by Belgium’s best cherry orchards. Brewer Marc Limet, saddened by the gradually decreasing interest in hoppy traditional beers among Belgian breweries, has determined single-handedly to bring hops back into Belgian brewing.

Sounds pretty good huh? A fairly high octane (8.3 ABV) winter beer that departs from the typical malty sweetness and delves into the wonderful world of hops. The Winterkoninkske was clearly an unfiltered beer (if its been on the shelf for a while, you may consider leaving the last ounce in the bottom of the bottle) and poured a hazy, watered down coffee color. Steffen described it as the color of “light mud-water from the Red Rocks .” The dark brew gave off a “sniffy” of primarily alcohol, but with sweet vanilla notes as well as some hints of pear.

What a gorgeous place for a brewery!

This Belgian brew tasted about like you would expect from the nose. Strong enough to keep you warm at night with full tones of sweet fruit (i’m thinking pear or apple, definitely not citrus) and a small finish of bitter hops that lingers for a few seconds. Overall, the Winterkoninkske was a tasty enough beer, but as for bringing the hops back to Belgium? I think it fell a little short. After reading the description, I expected a fair punch of hops, nothing like an IPA or APA, but at least something to pucker up my lips for under that mistletoe. No such luck here guys! Would I drink it again? Yes, I could drink some more of this, but not at the five bucks a bottle it goes for in Helena.

We're counting down to Christmas with 12 beers that resonate with the feel of the holiday. Some beers were nice; some beers were naughty. This is The 12 Beers of Christmas. Enjoy!

Brouwerij De Ranke in Wevelgem, Belgium

Well, folks, we’re in the second half of the beers of Christmas. Most of them have been sweet, darker winter beers; the Brewery De Ranke, however, has provided us with a little change of pace: the Père Noël, a hoppy Christmas ale. This brew is a treat for anyone who wishes Christmas beers were a pinch more bitter. While not as sweet as many of the other ales we’ve tried for Christmas, the Père Noël doesn’t sacrifice the warmth of alcohol with its 7% ABV.

Before even pouring the beer, we could clearly tell it was unfiltered. Even in the bottle, the liquid was quite hazy, and I would suggest pouring it out of the bottle and leaving a layer on the bottom if your bottle is aged. The Strong Belgian Ale poured a cloudy amber and emitted a fruity (perhaps apricot) nose with notes of alcohol. The Père Noël was one of the most complex beers I’ve tasted. Alan described it as “absolutely lovely.” It begins with a touch sweet that turns into a bitter grapefruit citrus, has a slight booze finish, and leaves you with a bitter aftertaste on the tongue.

As far as Christmas beers go, this one is a winner! It is not your typical sweet boozy Christmas beer like a barleywine; however, it is completely delightful. It would be great as an apertif before dinner, or just sitting around with a few people getting the night started. Regardless, the Père Noël is a great way to celebrate Christmas and my hat is off to the Brewery De Ranke and all the others in Belgium who are brewing such great Christmas ales.

De La Senne Brewery in Brussels, Belgium

So we’ve encountered some good ones, and we’ve run across some bad ones over the first week of The 12 Beers of Christmas, and today’s De La Senne X-Mas Zinnebir is a brew that hovers around the top end of the beers we’ve tasted thus far. Certainly one of the more cryptic labels we’ve seen, the X-Mas Zinnebir caught our eye right away (seriously, what the hell are we looking at?). Plus, Belgium certainly has the Christmas beer market on lockdown, and have produced some varied beers that are hard to find coming out of American craft breweries. The name “Zinnebir” loosely translates to “little bastards” in Belgian, and has previously been a term used to describe stray dogs and now often refers to children with mixed-language speaking parents. All right, so maybe little bastards and Christmas aren’t exactly connected, but we thought we’d give Zinnebir a go anyway.

De La Senne X-Mas Zinnebir poured much like you’d expect a barley wine to: a crisp, amber-red color with a little head. The smell made the hints of a barley wine even more pronounced, with a slight fruity smell, maybe apple, showing through. When we went in for the taste, the sweet scent trickled lightly into a softer and more pillowy hop-sweetness. The subtle apple flavor was hanging around again but only for a brief time. The X-Mas Zinnebir had some alcoholic weight to it, but nothing more than you’d expect out of a standard Belgian-style ale. I was surprised to find some much hop flavor and subtle sweetness out of a beer that felt so thin. The purity and crispness of the hops was also something worth mentioning, almost in the same realm as something from Bayern Brewing Company. If you like the flavors and taste of a barley wine but don’t want to be run over to the Alcoholic Express, this would be a very good match. Enjoying this one with some light, flavorful desserts would be a good choice.

A name like “little bastard” might be a touch too strong for this rather tame and kind brew. It’s definitely a sipping beer, but only because enjoying the subtle flavors and uncovering the fruity flourishes make this a beer worth savoring. It might not scream Christmas, but it also doesn’t scream racial and cultural tensions in the homes of Belgium, nor does it attack you like a stray dog. Maybe we’re missing some more back story on this one but for the time being, we’ll just sit back on a calm night and enjoy this delightful concoction.