Beer News from Around the World

<editor's note>
From RealBeer.com
</editor's note>

At least 6 in India killed after elephants get into rice beer

DEC 17, 2002 - At least six persons were crushed to death by wild elephants 
that went amok after getting drunk on rice beer near Guwahati, India. A forest 
official said the herd went on the rampage Monday in Tinsukia district. "They 
smashed huts and plundered granaries and broke open casks to drink rice beer. 
The herd then went berserk killing six persons," according to a Reuters report. 

Wild elephants have been targeting areas where people brew large volumes of 
rice beer. "We have come across devastating drunken bouts by herds that have 
developed a liking for country liquor," Kushal Sharma, a noted elephant expert, 
said. 

In the last two years, elephants have killed at least 150 people. Villagers, 
in turn, have killed up to 200 of the animals.

A-B triumphs in Hungary

Patent office limits ways Czech brewery can used Budweiser-like names

DEC 16, 2002 - The Hungarian Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that 
Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar cannot use the word "Bud," the nickname of 
Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser beer, in Hungary. Anheuser-Busch reported that 
the patent office said "Bud" does not refer to the city where the brewery is 
located, Ceske Budejovice. The Czech brewer also cannot claim that its place 
of origin allows it to use "Budweiser Bier-Budvar" or "Budweiser Budvar" in 
Hungary. However, the Czech brewer can still use "Budweiser Bier" in Hungary. 

Budvar uses names such as Budweiser Budvar, Budweiser, Budvar and Bud for 
its products in other countries. The American and Czech breweries have been 
involved in a long running series of legal battles over rights to the name 
"Budweiser" and various derivitives. 

The Czech company claims its trademarks "prevent Anheuser-Busch from making 
a significant impact" on the European market and "gradually taking control 
of it." 

Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser is known as "American Bud" in Hungary. The St. 
Louis-based brewing giant has rights to the "Budweiser" and "Bud" names in 
most of the world. It sells its beer in more than 80 countries. 

"Anheuser-Busch started using the Budweiser trademark in 1876, 19 years before 
Budejovicky Budvar was established," Stephen Burrows, president and chief 
executive officer of Anheuser-Busch International Inc., said in a statement. 

Budejovicky Budvar is sold under the name of "Czechvar" in the United States. 

Beer and bubbles

German brewery suggests trying its beer in the bath

NOV 26, 2002 - Klosterbrauerei, or A German monastic brewery, is promoting its 
dark brown beer as a bath supplement. The brewery, in Neuzelle, near Leipzig, 
eastern Germany, says the dark brown brew has restorative powers for both the 
mind and body, improving the skin as well as spirits. Klosterbrauerei showed 
off its "new" product to shoppers in Leipzig last week. 

"It opens up the pores, the yeast penetrates the skin and after 15 minutes 
your skin feels softer everywhere," company spokesman Dirk Vock said. "It is 
also a good remedy for people with skin problems." 

"The beer cloaks bathers in a delicate aroma of malt," Vock said. The brewery 
recommendeds adding about three liters of beer per bath. 

Back to January 2003 front page