Booze Newz Will Cure What Ales You

Cheers to the Royal Honeymoon

The UK’s BrewDog (the geniuses behind the world’s strongest ale, packaged in taxidermied animal bottles) is jumping on the royal wedding beer bandwagon with a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the royal wedding night: Royal Virility Performance, an India Pale Ale that the brewer says contains herbal viagra (whatever that is; many outlets have breathlessly, and erroneously, reported that the beer contains the drug Viagra, which is not available without a prescription). Other ingredients include chocolate, horny goat weed and “a healthy dose of sarcasm.”

The beer is anything but a reverent wedding gift. As the brewer explains on its website, “A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day.” The beer is available for sale online (in the UK only) for £10 a bottle, to be shipped April 28.

Beer Sales on the Up and Up

Speaking of performance, Heineken NV, the world’s largest brewer, reported that its sales grew 22% in the first quarter over a year ago, to €3.59 billion, largely due to its acquisition of Dos Equis and other brands from Mexico’s FEMSA. In comparing like for like, Heineken said its sales were up 3.6%. Its Q1 operating profit grew approximately 20% to €151 million, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Meanwhile, SABMiller, the world’s second-largest brewer, said that beer volume sales grew by 3% in the fourth quarter, led by emerging markets in Africa and Asia, excluding the impact of acquisitions and disposals.

Simpsons Get Slapped Down in Lithuania Due to Duff

In a development that fits right in to the absurd world of The Simpsons, the company that publishes the comic in Lithuania has gotten in trouble for advertising Duff beer, the fictional favorite quaff of Homer Simpson, after the Lithuanian advertising regulator determined that Duff beer is actually sold in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and Germany. The regulator fined the company, leading the company to suspend publication of the comic. Apparently the Duff beer that is being sold is not licensed by FOX or The Simpsons creator Matt Groening.

Say Goodbye to Bitter Beer Face?

Researchers in Germany have discovered previously unknown compounds that contribute to beer becoming unpleasantly bitter with time and they are working with brewers on ways to give beer a longer shelf life, Discovery News reported. The development could be especially useful to big brands that make mass quantities of beer and ship them long distances.

"There are several possibilities and the brewers now are testing them," said Andreas Dunkel, a food chemist at the Technical University of Munich who worked on the project. "I think there will be some new things, not in the next month but in the next years, so that beer can be stored much longer."