We blame the industry for this… It used to be that when we wrapped up our Weekend Picks on Friday, we could coast through the weekend. There was little need to check in for updates – things were pretty much done. But clearly all that’s changed.

So here’s some of what’s happened in the world of craft beer while you were off enjoying yourselves.

This Bud’s Not For You (Russia) – Anheuser-Busch InBev released their third quarter earnings report last Friday and reported a 2.6% decline in overall beer volume for that period. Fortune.com writes that AB InBev’s beer volume slumped a concerning 20% and speculates that the government’s campaign to reduce Russian alcohol consumption might be a factor.

More Sobering News For Big Beer (Everywhere, USA) – AB InBev’s beer volume also took a hit in the states, where it slid another 3.7% in the third quarter. Big Beer continues to lose market share to craft beer and is also facing pressure from the wine and spirit sectors.

Boston Beer’s Stock Reaches New High (Boston, MA) – On the other hand, things are looking sweet at the publically traded Boston Beer Company. Shares of Boston Beer (which trades on the NYSE under the obvious ticker name: SAM) hit a record 52-week high Friday, on the heels of a stronger than expected earnings report, according to American Banking News. The stock traded as high as $250.00 and ended the day at $246.54, with a volume of 160,821 shares traded.

Craft Beer Crime Strikes Again in The Land of a Thousand Lakes (Minneapolis, MN) – What is it with craft beer robberies up in Minnesota? Isn’t everybody supposed to be super-nice up that way? Just this summer, the Minnesota State Fair’s Craft Brewers Exhibit got hit by two robbers who ran off with a cool $104,000 in cash. And now the beloved beer emporium, The Four Firkins, has fallen victim to the region’s craft beer crime spree! The Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal that three robbers recently broke into The Four Firkins Oakdale location and got away with a “substantial amount of property.”

ACB Beer Week Alerts (Everywhere, USA) – In our ongoing effort to help you plan where you need to be at any given time – we run regular beer week alerts.^. The North Texas Beer Week kicked off over the weekend and will run through November 9^th. Portland’s Beer Week began on November 1^st and runs through the 7^th .Houston Beer Week kicks off this Friday November 7^th and run through the 14^th, and San Diego Beer Week runs November 7^th through the 16^th.

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