Can you stand long months without a sun, with the temperature dipping below minus 30, with every vista out there laminated by an unnatural sheen thrown in by auroras, those fluorescent solar waves peculiar to polar skies, followed by long months without any hope of a pitch dark night when we could slough off our worries and bitterness gathered over a day, leap into cozy beds, and gravitate slowly down into the cushy bosom of slumber? In short, can you live in Finland? … Continue reading
“Weel Done. Cutty-Sark. And in an instant all was dark.” Tam’ Shanter was on his way home from an inn all drunk. He stopped midway. His curiosity was evoked when Tam heard strange noises trickling out from a nearby church. Nosy guy he was. Now drunken too. He entered the holy premises only to find a bare-breasted witch dancing in a voluptuous cutty-sark, a short skirt. An excited Tam could not hold out for long. He cried out: “Weel done … Continue reading
Continued from ‘The Battle for Budweiser – Part 1’ When the Czech crossed the ocean with their national beer, they found St. Louis in the American west an interesting place. Built over limestone caves the town was abuzz with Germans who had fled revolution in Europe. They had brought with them their love for beer. George Schneider, an entrepreneur established a Bavarian brewery in 1852 to cater to the Germans who were nostalgic about the beer they had drunk in … Continue reading
What’s in a name? Shakespeare asked in the 16th century, and digressed to the smell of a rose. But for two legendary brewers based on the opposite shores of the Atlantic, a name is everything for which they must exist and fight for. Hundreds of years of legal battles. Millions spent on lawsuits over different countries. Every time a company wins an exclusive right to sell its product in a country, Lady Luck changes sides dramatically. The world is divided … Continue reading
