‘Healthy’ beer, $190-a-bottle Sam Adams and other booze news
Disregard, for now, the popular pre-election question of which candidate you’d rather have a beer with. The real sudsy issue at hand is whether the alcoholic brew is healthful.
That’s the claim being made by Alexis Nasard, chief commercial officer for Heineken, who told CNBC on Monday that “there is everything healthy about beer.†A cold one, he said, is all natural – just water, hops, barley and yeast – and “fewer calories than a glass of milk.â€
The Dutch brand is partnering with the 007 franchise to pitch “Skyfall,†the latest film in the series. In recent ads, actor Daniel Craig – whose abs are so lickably svelte they were once turned into a popsicle mold – is shown looking suave while clutching a Heineken beer.
The supposition that beer is good for you has also been raised by the European Journal of Epidemiology, the department of food science and technology at UC Davis and other research organizations. Findings suggest that the brew could keep osteoporosis at bay and protect against cardiovascular disease – in moderation.
A new offering from Sam Adams, however, is more likely to cause a heart attack. Or, at least, its price will.
The brand is suggesting that retailers price the 10th anniversary release of Samuel Adams Utopias beer at $190 a bottle. The costly beverage – with a whopping 29% average ABV, or alcohol content – is available in stores this month.
But fewer than 15,000 bottles of the limited edition brew are in circulation because of the beer’s long aging process. And 13 states prohibit sales of the booze due to its high alcohol content.
The craft beers being tested by some Chipotle restaurants will burn a far smaller hole in customer wallets.
Fifteen Chicago stores are trying out beers from tiny local brewery 5 Rabbit in addition to the standard Miller Lite-style beers already served throughout the Mexican-style chain, according to the Chicago Tribune.
As of August, 2,126 breweries were operating nationwide, up 350 since June 2011, according to Brewers Assn. trade group. The growth rate – about one new brewery opening each day of the year – is the fastest since the end of Prohibition.
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