Miller Brewing has delayed its plans to begin national distribution of the Miller Lite Brewers Collection.

In a memo to distributors, president Tom Long wrote that recent test-market results “indicate a need for some additional and refined marketing elements with greater clarity about the brand’s promise of light beer refreshment combined with craft-style taste.”

“We’re trying to create a new category here,” spokesman Pete Marino said. “And when you do that, you need just a little bit more time.”

The three new craft versions of Miller Lite will target mainstream drinkers and seek to exploit trends that favor light beer, a greater variety of beer styles and a willingness to pay more for higher-quality beers.

More about the beers themselves.

F.X. Matt Brewing Co.will resume bottling beer by the end of the month, “an important step in the brewery’s recovery from a $10 million fire last month.”

“We are well insured and we expect to rebuild the facility as it was or better than that, and probably in the end we’ll end up with a better, newer state-of-the-art packaging facility,” brewery president Nicholas Matt said.

Anheuser-Busch confirmed Wednesday that InBev has made a a $46.3-billion bid to take over the American brewery.

InBev, whose brands include Stella Artois and Beck’s, is offering $65 per share for Anheuser, the leading U.S. brewer with 48.5% of the market.

A-B said its board of directors “will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch’s long-term strategic plan,” and make a determination regarding the proposal “in due course.”

Wachovia analyst Jonathan Feeney said InBev, known for aggressive cost-cutting, could find about $1.2 billion a year in savings.

“InBev would focus its efforts on streamlining the U.S. beer giant, a possibility which might not sit well with Anheuser distributors.”

Not surprising, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a complete rundown.

New York’s F.X. Matt Brewing Co. resumed production Tuesday, just five days after a fire that caused more than $10 million in damage and destroyed the brewery’s canning operation. Its bottling line will be down for an undetermined amount of time.

The brewery will have to temporarily outsource to other breweries for canning and bottling, an arrangement that would require approval from federal regulators, president Nick Matt said. Matt said he has been in touch with other beer companies but wanted to select just one, rather than sending the beer out to several different locations. The beer would then be brewed and aged in Utica before being tanked elsewhere, he said.

The fire started accidentally when two employees working on a welding projected inadvertently melted a plastic conveyor belt, fire officials said Tuesday.

Foster’s has created a limited edition beer that will sell for $60 dollars ($57 US for a 750ml bottle).

Foster’s master brewer John Cozens calls Crown Ambassador Reserve lager “luxury beer.”

“It’s expensive to make and it’s expensive to package but it’s Australian, it’s luxury and let’s hope there’s more to come,” he said.

The launch emulates a similar move in 1954, when the premium beer market was pioneered with the announcement Crown Lager would be made available to the public upon the Queen’s first visit to the country.

Previously Crown Lager had been reserved for aristocracy and visiting dignitaries since its inception in 1919.

The advertiser points out that puts Crown Ambassador in the range of Moet & Chandon champagne.

A massive fire has ravaged the F.X. Matt brewery in Utica, New York.

The fire broke out in the canning and packaging area of the brewery Thursday afternoon.

By the end of the night, fire crews had managed to get about half of the fire under control, but were still battling the other half, including various hot spots.

Fire officials say they could very well be here for days. And brewery officials say they won’t know how much of an impact this could have on future business until they have more time to assess the damage fully.

“We will rebuild,” said Fred Matt, vice-president of the brewery. “We’ve been in business 120 years. We went through prohibition when we couldn’t produce beer … and we will be a force to be reckoned with as we go forward.”

Read more.

A search of Google News brings up more than 900 links to stories about a possible joining of the InBev and Anheuser-Busch.

For instance, the International Herald-Tribune writes about the possible fallout in Mexico.

Historian Maureen Ogle has interesting insights, leaning mostly on the rather complete coverage in the Wall Street Journal.

“Brew Blog” summarizes the skinny from the Financial Times that it looks InBev had plans for an outright takeover of Anheuser-Busch.

And the big question if InBev pulls the trigger on its bid is whether it will go hostile — and whether fifth-generation brewer August Busch IV will be willing to sell the company that bears the family name.

A highly detailed report in the Financial Times — which laid out the terms of the putative offer ($65 per share) as well as names of banks and advisers involved — notes that InBev approached August Busch IV in October about a deal.

An offer of $65 a share for A-B is a nearly 24% premium over Thursday’s closing price of $52.58.

InBev is looking pretty serious about this.