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With all the mergers of big companies, it’s important to remember ones that are…closer to our hearts, that’s right, beer. Today, Anheuser-Busch buys Rolling Rock beer brand, solidifying their stand as the biggest brewer in the world. ”Anheuser-Busch, the largest U.S. brewer, said Friday that it has purchased the Rolling Rock beer brand from Belgium’s InBev for $82 million to expand its portfolio of products. Anheuser-Busch acquired Rolling Rock’s global brand rights and recipes and will begin brewing Rolling Rock and Rock Green Light in August. … Anheuser-Busch’s press release says: “Introduced in 1939 by Latrobe Brewing Co. and acquired by InBev’s Labatt U.S.A. in 1987, Rolling Rock is an historic American lager that is well-known for its distinctive, full-bodied taste and painted green bottle. Rolling Rock has established itself as an authentic, iconic American lager with a loyal following.” … “We have an ideal opportunity to grow this historic brand,” said August Busch IV, president of Anheuser-Busch. “This beer is not like others, and its consumer following is equally distinctive. We live in a diverse world where consumers are hungry for variety. Acquiring Rolling Rock enables us to reach a new audience.” Uh huh, whatever you say. As for this diverse world, know that the major choices are pointing more and more to the Saint Louis brewer, ”Anheuser-Busch’s main brands are Budweiser and Bud Light. The company also owns owns a 50% share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer and a 27% share in Tsingtao, the No. 1 brewer in China.” When I was younger I liked Rolling Rock, used to think the green bottle was pretty cool with the ‘painted on’ label, but it’s actually pretty bad when compared to micro-brews and good European beers.

I’m always seeing reports that basically state the same thing; moderate drinking is good for you, but now we also learn that it can may lower risk of becoming obese! So while past reports have touted decreased chance of heart disease and high blood pressure, today’s report states that, “…new research suggests it may also help you stay svelte. Regular drinkers who consume one or two drinks a few times a week are less likely to be obese compared with people who do not drink” with the obvious disclaimer, “However, having four or more drinks per day increases the risk of being obese by 46 percent, researchers report.” So there’s another reason that it’s not only OK, but perhaps benificial in many ways for you to have a few beers at night after a (boring) day at work. So in the words of James Rohrer, from the department of family medicine at the Mayo Clinic, “Moderation is the best policy,” he says. “Moderate drinking is probably a reasonably healthy behavior. We cannot show any benefits from the complete abstention from alcohol.” Bottoms up.

A nursing home in Ireland has hit on a cheering way to keep up the spirits of its elderly patients — by providing its own pub. St Mary’s Hospital in County Monaghan, near the Irish border with Northern Ireland, believes ready access to a good pint may help its patients — average age 85 — actually live longer. “We would say the whole social aspect of life does extend the years — it means the patients aren’t bored to death,” Rose Mooney, assistant director of nursing told Reuters. The pub, which opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. and charges normal bar prices, had also led to an increase in the number of visitors, she said. Having its own bar made the hospital, which has around 140 patients, unique in Ireland, she added. The benefits are twofold; moderate beer consumption is good for you (”beer drinking has equal or perhaps more benefit than wine or spirits“), as is socializing (”Social engagement was as strong as anything we found in determining longevity. “It was stronger than things like blood pressure, cholesterol, or other measures of health”) So, either having pubs in nursing homes is going to catch on here, or I’m going to retire to Ireland.