Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 51/52, 2016.

A bi-weekly, non-comprehensive roundup
of news of beer and other things.

Weeks 51/52
18 - 31 December 2016

• 31 December 2016
  To keep 'atomic' clocks synchronized with Earth's orbit, one 'leap' second was added to the last day of 2016, at 23:59:60 Coordinated Universal Time (CUT).
  —Via AFP.


• 31 December 2016
  Scientists have measure gravitational waves for the first time. That, and other findings of science in 2016.
  —Via Daily Kos.


• 27 December 2016
  Seventy-five years after Imperial Japanese warplanes destroyed the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and drew the United States into World War II, a Japanese leader —Prime Minister Shinzo Abe— visited the site of the attack and offered condolences.
  —Via New York Times.


• 26 December 2016
  Anheuser-Busch InBev, MillerCoors, Ulysses Management, Fireman Capital: the business of U.S. big beer and big 'craft' in 2016.

  [Anheuser-Busch InBev], the other existing U.S. brewer that did multiple deals in 2016 was Lagunitas Brewing Co. It formed “partnerships” with Petaluma, California, neighbor Moonlight Brewing, Texas-based Independence Brewing Co. and Southend Brewery & Smokehouse in South Carolina. Compared with deals announced in prior years, most of these were for relatively small companies. The largest brewery to sell all or part of itself was Brooklyn Brewery, in which Japanese giant Kirin bought a 24.5 percent stake. Many foreign brewers, like Kirin, remain interested in expanding their businesses and investing in the U.S. craft segment. There could be many similar deals where this one came from.
  
  Financial entities also expanded their ownership of U.S. brewers in 2016. Early in the year, Ulysses Management added to its prior purchase of Southern Tier Brewing Co. by acquiring a majority of Victory Brewing Co., forming a company it’s calling Artisanal Brewing Ventures. And the group backed by Fireman Capital Partners and led by Oskar Blues Brewery added Cigar City Brewing Co. to its arsenal of commonly owned craft brands. A number of other smaller breweries also completed transactions this year, with buyers varying from local media and restaurant companies to even-smaller breweries. An average of two deals per month hit industry headlines during the first 10 months of 2016. No single deal shifted much more than 0.05 percent market share between U.S. brewers. But taken together, this one massive deal and many smaller ones contributed to ongoing fundamental shifts in the U.S. beer industry.

  —Via All About Beer.


• 25 December 2016
  Vera Rubin, who transformed modern physics and astronomy with her observations showing that galaxies and stars are immersed in the gravitational grip of vast clouds of dark matter, has died at 88. Dark matter, which hasn't been directly observed, is now known to make up 27 percent of universe — as opposed to 5 percent of the universe being normal matter. Dr. Rubin's scientific achievements earned her numerous awards and honors, including a National Medal of Science. Having suffered gender discrimination in her field, she was a lifelong champion advocate of women in science.
  —Via New York Times.


• 25 December 2016
  George Michael, the English songwriter who was one of pop's reigning stars, dies at age 53.
  —Via New York Times.



• 24 December 2016
  A casual observation by Albert Einstein would lead, years later, to the innovation of the wort clarification whirlpool at Molson Brewery, in 1960.
  —Via Ed's Beer Site.


• 24 December 2016
  Gold, frankincense, and myrrh? The Earth's last wild frankincense forests, in Somalia, are threatened with extinction.
  —Via Associated Press.


• 24 December 2016
  

  Lost among details of [Japanese brewery and soft drink corporation] Asahi buying Pilsner Urquell [from SABMiller] is the fact that the parent company now effectively has cornered the market on Saaz hops.

  —Tweet via Bryan D. Roth.


• 23 December 2016
  The U.S. abstains from a United Nations Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. The abstention from the U.S. was a rare occasion where the U.S. did not protect Israel from criticism on the international stage. The U.S. has previously vetoed thirty resolutions regarding Israel and Palestinians.
  —Via The Atlantic.



• 23 December 2016
  Ending a run of more than thirty years on the air, Peabody-award-winning talk show host Diane Rehm ends her news and public affairs program broadcast over National Public Radio.
  —Via NPR.


• 22 December 2016
  Glühwein: Mulled red wine, Austria, during the Christmas season. Warming and festive.
  —Via Dave McIntyre, at Washington Post.


• 21 December 2016
  Mumme: the original winter warmer? A German beer "to be eaten with a knife and fork,” dating back to the late 1400s.
  —Via George Rivers, at Beer Strength Matters.


• 20 December 2016
  Ken Grossman —owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing— and his wife, Katie Gonser, give UC Davis Brewing Program at the University of California Davis a two-million endowment, providing for an endowed Brewer position dedicated to mentoring and managing students and teaching assistants, maintaining the campus brewery and its equipment, and assisting in teaching brewing classes.
  —Via UC Davis.


• 20 December 2016
  A Los Angeles, California, bar is selling Colt 45 40-ounce bottles, in brown paper bags, for $15 a bottle. And people are buying.
  —Via Food and Wine.


• 20 December 2016
  Obama permanently bans offshore oil and gas drilling for large swaths of Alaska's Arctic and East Coast's Atlantic seaboards.
  —Via New York Times.


• 18 December 2016
  A bubbly effect of global warming? Southern England is now producing critically acclaimed sparkling wines.
  —Via Dave McIntyre,at Washington Post.


• 17 December 2016
  Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, inventor of lifesaving technique for choking victims, dies at 96.
  —Via Washington Post.

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• Clamps and Gaskets is a bi-weekly wrap-up of stories about beer (or wine, or whisky) and other things.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created for YFGF by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.


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