BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The maker of the King of Beers has agreed to go to work for the Belgian brewer InBev SA. Anheuser Busch Cos. said early Monday it had agreed to a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from InBev, creating the world's largest brewer and heading off what was shaping up as an acrimonious fight for the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beers. Inbev brands include Stella Artois, Beck's and Bass.

The deal, which would also create the third-largest consumer product company, will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The Anheuser-Busch board accepted the higher takeover offer Sunday night from Belgian-based brewer InBev SA, according to a joint press release. The deal is expected to close by year-end. Read more...

Shares of Anheuser-Busch and the Belgian brewer InBev climbed sharply on Friday as the two began friendly talks to create the world’s largest brewer in a deal for about $50 billion.

Anheuser, the maker of Budweiser and a stalwart of American pop culture, agreed to talk with its unwanted suitor after InBev raised its offer to $70 a share in cash, from $65 a share, people briefed on the matter said. The two companies are expected to hold negotiations over the weekend, and a deal could be announced as soon as Monday, these people said. Read more...

It's not exactly a fountain of youth, but a substance found in red wine, grapes and nuts can prevent many age-related problems in mice, an intriguing new study reveals.

The substance, resveratrol, led to healthier hearts, better bone density, fewer cataracts and greater motor coordination in the animals.

The findings, published online Thursday in Cell Metabolism, may increase interest in resveratrol as scientists seek to ward off the inevitable deterioration that comes with growing older. Read more...

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (AP) — To Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell, the piercing sounds of a warehouse rising in the Kentucky countryside are the sounds of prosperity.

"As long as you see work going on — and the construction, and increasing your size — you know your business is doing well," said Russell, who started working for the bourbon maker in 1954.

Distillers are expanding their bourbon production and storage and dispatching sales teams around the world, bullish for a traditionally Southern beverage gaining popularity worldwide.  Read more...

BROTHERS and sisters, I am feeling the heat. I am feeling the sweat on the back of my neck and the hot, wet air pressing against my chest like a rock on my heart.

My collar is open, my sleeves are pushed up, and when I look out into the glare of the sun I ask you this:

Do I want something hot to drink? No, I do not.

Do I want something served to me at what the ill-informed call room temperature? No, I do not.

Do I want something cool and refreshing, something that will revive my spirit, stir my soul and go hand-in-hand with outdoor grilling? Yes, indeed.  Read more...

If Robin Ottaway, sales manager and co-owner of the Brooklyn Brewery, wants to know how popular his company's beer is, he need only check his e-mail. In his inbox last month were requests from interested parties in Costa Rica, Panama and India asking how to get Brooklyn's brews (already sold in China, Turkey and Finland, among other countries).

"Just people inquiring about our beer," he says. "We have a pretty well-established international market."

Indie "craft" beer makers such as Brooklyn Brewery are where the action is these days. American craft brewers are small (producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually), independent (not controlled by an industrial brewery such as Anheuser-Busch) and traditional (using at least 50% all-malt ingredients in their beers). And their success is striking fear into the mass-market brewers who dominate the $97 billion U.S. beer industry. Read more...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Food critics, beware. One of the hottest young chefs and entrepreneurs around also is a terror on the ice. Sang Yoon, a South Korea-born chef whose beer-and-burger joint, Father's Office, has helped launched a casual-food craze in the fine-dining industry, is a fast-skating forward in an amateur hockey league here.

During one recent game, Yoon — who briefly played goalie in college — sped across the rink and slammed his short, muscular frame into a 6-foot-5 enforcer on another team. The stunned enforcer banged hard into the boards, and Yoon got his respect. Read more...

His friends may call him a snob, and waitresses may give him odd looks, but David Turley isn't about to drink a beer with chunks of ice floating in it.

But that's what can happen in restaurants that insist on serving his favorite beverage in icy mugs. So Turley has no qualms about insisting upon another glass, unfrosted.

"I'm pretty passionate about it," says Turley, a 50-year-old information technology worker from Fredericksburg, Va. "The first thing I look at in a restaurant is the beer menu. I consider it a food."  Read more...

They call him The Fourth.

Turns out, it's still possible to build a better bottle cap – and, maybe, get rich doing it.

This week, the winners of the annual Big Bang business plan competition at the University of California, Davis, took home $15,000 in start-up funding for a newfangled cap they say combines the breathability of cork with the reliability and convenience of a screw cap.

"We will end the screw-cap debate," said Tim Keller, 33, a winemaker and business school student who led the winning team. Read more...