As of July 1, two of the country’s biggest beer companies, SABMiller and Molson Coors have now officially merged into one company called MillerCoors. They are expected to save $500 million annually through consolidated operations. Apparently they want to start saving money right away and therefore decided not to spend any money to come up with a creative name or logo. That’s a glass of beer as seen from above, in case you were wondering.

The new company has not decided where its base of operations will be but it will not be in Miller’s hometown of Milwaukee or Golden, Colorado, which is the current home of Coors. The company’s website is MillerCoors.com.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Miller Lite has spent a great deal of money telling you, the consumer, how important it is to win the Beer World Cup. I would agree with this. The winners of the Cup can confidently say their beer is the best in the world. There’s just one problem: Miller didn’t win this year!

Miller was beat by Pabst Brewing Co.’s Old Milwaukee Light, Pabst’s Lone Star Light, and Anheuser-Busch’s Natural Light. Ouch. After wiping the egg off his face, a Miller spokesman put a little spin on it:

Four Gold Cup awards is a very significant achievement. Our positioning as the ‘ultimate light beer’ will not change.

He does have a point. It is a very impressive achievement to win 4 Gold Cups (1996, 1998, 2002, 2006) but still, that’s gotta hurt.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Following on the heels of Budweiser, Miller Brewing Co. announced that it is launching 3 new beers in an effort to tap into the exploding craft beer market. The “Miller Lite Brewing Collection” are all ales: wheat, amber and blonde ale. They should be available nationwide by September.

So why are the macro brewers suddenly so interested in the craft beer movement?

…craft beers continue to outpace domestic ones, growing 12 percent the past two years compared with domestics’ growth of about 2 percent. That means brewers are looking for a niche and new flavors, plus craft styles command higher prices, which means more money for brewers.

The new brews will be “Lite,” meaning fewer calories than normal beer, though they will have a few more calories than regular Lite beer. Most analysts don’t think the new beers will succeed. I agree and here’s why: Making “light” craft beer is like making a 4-cylinder Porsche. The big breweries don’t get it. We drink craft beer for the flavor. We don’t care about the calories. We would rather drink one full-calorie, great-tasting beer than two watered down, tastes-like-beer-flavored-dish-water light beers. This is obviously nothing but marketing.

I’ll give the Miller beers a try when they come out but I’m willing to bet a case of Sam Adams that they will fail to satisfy true craft beer lovers.

Popularity: 8% [?]