The GuestOfAGuest blog just came across some of the best investment advice I've heard in a while. It's called the 401-Keg Plan and it really puts a lot of things in perspective:

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of AIG stock one year ago you would have $44.34 left.

With Wachovia, you would have had $54.74 left of the original $1,000.00.

With Lehman, you would have had $0.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago…drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.

HELL YES!

GuestOfAGuest: Rome Is Burning So Invest In The 401-Keg, September 30, 2008

The alcohol business is one of the few industries that improves sales during times of economic hardship. We even postulated that liquor and beer might be recession-proof, but now some hard evidence has emerged showing that Wall Street is really reaching for that bottle after last week's mess. And who can blame them?

Crain's New York quoted some Manhattan liquor stores talking about their increased sales reports last week:

1.) “Vodka and scotch sales are up, there’s no question about that,” said Chris Adams, executive vice president of Sherry-Lehmann Wines & Spirits, on 59th Street. He says that traffic in his store has increased this month—over the counter sales are up 23%, and delivery volume is up about 18%, compared to last year. But, he added, revenues have remained flat. “We have more people coming in, and people are buying more wine and liquor, but they’re trading down,” he said.

2.) Red White & Bubbly in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is noticing a similar trend. “People who normally buy a $22 bottle of wine are now buying a $16 or $17 bottle,” said Darrin Siegfried, owner of the store. He also noticed another slight change in his customers’ behavior. Usually, about 10% of his business is spirits sales, but that’s jumped up to about 15% over the past two months.

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It appears that despite layoffs, foreclosures, and all the other depressing things our economy is throwing up, people are still willing to spend what little hard-earned cash they still have on alcohol - the cause and solution to all of life's problems.

Could it also be one of the only true recession-proof industries? (Even the porn industry is suffering)

A recent report by the AP boils it down to a few simple rules:

• 1.) When people are under financial stress, they’re more likely to frequent bars.
  
• 2.) When economic times are tough, people drink more alcohol.
  
• 3.) In a downturn, folks will cut back first on other purchases before they give up booze.
  
• 4.) Maybe we’re more complicated creatures than conventional wisdom suggests.

When faced with big financial burdens, most people will cut back to single-ply toilet paper and generic cereal brands (Lieutenant Crunch, is just as good, right?), but they'll hang on tight to their booze.

In the immortal words of those white guys from Brooklyn - "You've gotta fight!. . . for your right! . . . to drink liiiiight beer!"

Or at least that's what the beer industry is hoping you'll do this weekend.

Say what you want about Light Beer (it's just watered down regular beer, isn't it?), but you can't deny the market for it in the United States, for whatever reason, is huge.

In the past 5 years Bud Light has easily surpassed Budweiser in sheer volume to become the country's #1 selling beer. Beating all other beers, both domestic and imported by a mile. I have a feeling those countless SuperBowl ads, funny commercials, sponsorships of every major sporting event, and one of the cheapest price tags have a lot to do with it. 

But with the recent mergers and takeovers that have created our modern American beer industry (Anheuser-Busch taken over by Belgium's InBev and SABMiller / MolsonCoors teaming up), this could be the time to crown a new king. 

Check out this interesting Guinness commercial that recently surfaced. Apparently Guinness denies making it and had nothing to do with it. Maybe they were just drunk? Further analysis after the jump.

Sexy Guinness Ad - Watch more free videos

Guinness is becoming a forgotten drink in its own homeland. Turns out a third of all Guinness sales now come from Africa.

When you're in Ireland, all you have to say is 'Pour me a pint' and you'll receive a well-executed two-part pouring of a settled foamy pint of Guinness. The initial pour and its ensuing 'top up' are an art that seems to be dying. (Official standards say it takes 119.5 seconds for the perfect Guinness pour. Can you wait that long?)

Guinness is Ireland's best selling beer and many 50 and 60 year-old Irishmen would consider it a sin to drink some wimpy lager rather than a hearty and filling pint of 'the black stuff'.

In case you're not familiar with the current Emerald Isle - for a few years now, Ireland has been known as the 'Celtic Tiger' for its unprecedented economic boom. Its capital of Dublin serves as the European headquarters for many tech companies including Google and HP. But with this massive expansion of industry, there has also come the need for imported cheap labor from Eastern Europe and other global points. (+ more after the jump)

The deal is done. The Budweiser Kings have abdicated the crown and admitted defeat to the InBev takeover.

It required a little bit of coaxing and some threats of a hostile takeover, but in the end all it really took was an increased offer. The final offer went from a previous $65 a share ($46.3 billion total) to the deal-sealing $70 a share, creating a $52 billion takeover price tag.

The new company, to be called "Anheuser-Busch InBev" is easily the largest beer producer and brewer in the world, surpassing SABMiller (which is in itself a combined combined company consisting of South African Brewers, America's Miller Brewing Company and recently America's Coors Company and Molson of Canada).

All the lawsuits and political reaction to removing the American brand (including vocal opposition to the takeover coming from Barack Obama) will be for naught, as it turns out this deal was bound to happen as long as the right price was met.

The new company plans to leave St. Louis as the head of its American operations and will place August Busch IV, the former CEO, as one of two A-B members on the board of directors of the merged company. (+ more after jump)

Things don't get much better than a nice cold six-pack of beer to start off the weekend. Looks like AOL Canada has a taste for the good stuff though. Nerds!

InBev, the Belgian brewers of Stella Artois, have been in the news a lot recently for their attempts to takeover Anheuser-Busch and "destroy the American dream" somehow.

These drunken captains of industry aren't all bad though, they created a six-pack of 1.5 liter magnum-sized Stella Artois Nobilis bottles that was auctioned for charity. That's something we can all feel good about, right?

When AOL Canada, the highest bidder, bought the pricey brews, they became the owners of the world's most expensive six-pack - valued at $14,851 ($15k Canadian). I didn't think I could imagine something lamer than AOL in this high-speed internet world, but apparently AOL Canada takes the cake. (click on article title for more details in full post)

Quite possibly the scariest report I've seen recently. Someone fix the economy now! Don't you see what it's doing to us?

Jesse Williams of the New Albanian Brewing Co. looks exactly how I pictured a micro-brewmaster would. In spite of the looks of this small-time operation, the gritty feel of being a real, live brewmaster still has that dream job appeal to me. But while these increases might not seem like a lot, you can see it's hurting these small breweries.

With all the talk of the big Anheuser-Busch/InBev merger, it seems like the plight of the small breweries are being overlooked.

Solutions anyone? Drink more is all I can come up with right now.
CNN: Local Beer Prices Rise July 6, 2008

In recent years the price of a cold one at the ballpark has grown astronomically. It's almost as if I can't afford to get drunk enough to like my crappy team anymore.

But which MLB fields are the most conducive to getting plastered without breaking the bank?

The chart to the left and these statistics, care of Darren Rovell over at CNBC, explain that the Phillies offer the cheapest beer. You can get a 21-ounce beer for a very reasonable $5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philly. Yet another reason Philly rocks.

Even though the Phillies are competitively priced at 24 cents an ounce, that is still quite a mark-up from the approx. 8 cents an ounce you would pay for a 6-pack of 'decent' domestic beer at your local store.

Surprisingly, the Yankees don't crack the top 5 most expensive ballparks to get a beer. I could have sworn last time I was there I paid something like 9 or 10 bucks for a bottle of Bud. And what are the Toronto Blue Jays doing up there? Is this some sort of weird currency exchange pricing scheme?