TAKING A BYTE OUT OF CRIME

A small New Zealand brewer wants his stolen laptop back in a big way. In exchange for the computer's return, Croucher Brewing Co. co-owner Paul Croucher is offering a lifetime supply of free beer.




The laptop contains financial records and label designs for new beers along with business contacts. It is essential for the small business in its "critical stage," Croucher said.

But what exactly is the offer on the table?

Bring back the computer and get "a dozen bottles of beer a month for the rest of their life." The total value of the reward is estimated to be around $19,500.

The microbrewery ships 160 gallons of its three beers ... an English-style pale ale, Czech-style pilsner and a cloudy German wheat beer ... each week.

While there have been many people who have called to say they are looking for the computer since the offer was made, it sounds like cheesy deal.

Maybe brewery owners need to have their beer heads examined.

Then again, because beer makes people do this ...

maybe not.

Photo by
la vaca vegetariana

REAL MEN (& WOMEN) OF GENIUS

Just how light is "light" beer?

A new rule has been proposed that would require nutritional information be put on all alcoholic drink packaging, including alcoholic content, number of calories, carbohydrates, fat and protein for a standard serving size.


Currently, labels on liquor and wine with more than 14 percent alcohol must disclose at least the alcohol content, but it is not required on beer labels in most states.

Under the new proposal, if a brewer wants its beer to be labeled as light, it must show the caloric and alcohol content.

But don't fret.


It may be some time before companies are forced to comply with the proposed regulation since the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau first must gather comments on the proposed rule and then review them. It could take up to three years before the rule is official.

In the meantime beer bellies, chugalug without guilt.

HEAD'S UP!

Besides the paid mosquito counter who allows hundreds of the biting bugs to land on him in order to calculate where insect controllers need to spray, here's a job you'd love to hate.

A beer taster in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was awarded $49,000 after he alleged that the brewer he worked for did not provide health measures to keep him from becoming an alcoholic.

It seems his job was to drink up to 25 glasses of beer a day during his 8-hour shift. OK, so they were small glasses.


But here's the kicker: At the end of each shift, he received a bottle of beer for a job well done.

Talk about perks!