The gloves are off in Washington DC as the big (and the not so big) brewers tussle with small brewers over tax.

In the red corner, are the likes of Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, who are backing the 'Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act of 2013', otherwise known as the BEER Act.

Under the Act, introduced in the House of Representatives last week, the federal excise tax on beer for all brewers and beer importers would be cut.

This is the proposal: 

·  Small brewers would pay no federal excise tax on the first 15,000 barrels; US$3.50 on 15,001 to 60,000 barrels and $9 per barrel for every barrel over 60,000 and up to 2m barrels

· Brewers producing more than 2m barrels annually, and for all beer importers regardless of size, the federal excise tax rate would be $9 per barrel for every barrel

The Beer Institute, the US trade body which represents the big brewers, claims this a "fair, equitable tax policy". 

However, in the blue corner representing smaller, craft brewers, the Brewers Association (BA) is not impressed. An alternative act, the Small BREW Act, which reached the Senate last week, seeks cuts only for smaller scale producers. 

But it is a tangled web, as Jason Notte explains, writing on The Street website. For one, Brooklyn Brewery is among those supporting the BEER Act. Meanwhile, he suggests that the levels proposed in the Act would imply that Boston Beer Company is not a craft brewer, which is part of the reason the BA changed its defintion two years ago. 

Meanwhile, Deschutes Brewery founder Gary Fish also found himself caught between the two. 

Who'll be left standing?

When you're one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, with nearly 9m Facebook fans, you can probably cope with the odd setback.

Last week, Iron Maiden launched their own ale - Trooper - brewed by Cheshire-based family brewer Robinsons. According to beer writer Marverine Cole, the brewery has secured pre-orders from a whopping 184 countries, while Robinsons has been forced to move to a six-day week to meet demand.

But, the brew (4.8% abv in cask, 4.7% in bottled format) has hit a stumbling block in Sweden. The country's state-run liquor store monopoly, Systembolaget, has aborted the launch of Trooper in its outlets over fears the skull and crossbones on the label does not adhere to the country's alcohol laws, it has been reported. 

Will the private-jet travelling hellraisers be forced to change the label? Or, will they abandon selling the beer in Sweden? 

Strangely, I don't remember this kind of kerfuffle when indie epic-balladeers Elbow launched their beer, Build a Rocket Boys, with Robinsons in 2011.

Funny that.

Craft distillers are getting evermore serious and getting together. 

Trade groups exclusively representing craft producers' interests exist both sides of the Atlantic, with a new body having just popped up. 

The American Craft Distillers Association has been formed this month to "promote and protect craft distilling in the United States", Modern Distillery Age reported in its latest issue. This is in addition to the American Distilling Institute, which has already existed for ten years, and claims to be the voice of "artisan distilling". 

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Craft Distillers' Alliance has just appointed a chairman - Stephen Davies, MD of Welsh whisky distillery Penderyn. The group was set-up last year by whisk(e)y writer Dominic Roskrow and already numbers around 30 members. 

We'll just have to see if any finger-pointing crops up over what constitutes a "craft" product, as is the case in the brewing world right now. 

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Listeners to BBC Radio 4's Today programme may have choked on their cornflakes this morning as presenter Simon Jack compared Fuller's to the Murdoch empire. 

Jack was referring to the similiarity in ownership structure between the two. 

Michael Turner, who is taking a back seat as head of the London-based brewer and pub company from July, also discussed the win for beer in last month's UK Budget and the thorny issue of minimum pricing. 

The interview can be heard here.

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A drinks gathering in a London pub this week will have done little to quell the fury of wine and spirits producers, following last week's UK Budget. 

None other than the Chancellor himself rocked-up for a pint to help the UK's pub and brewing fraternity celebrate his (or may be David Cameron's?) decision to scrap the duty escalator on beer and offer an extra tax cut. 

Photographic evidence here. 

With the Wine & Spirit Trade Association still pondering legal action over George Osborne's singling out of beer, and the Scotch Whisky Association branding it an “unfair and incomprehensible blow”, I'm sure this gathering will have gone down like the proverbial metal inflatable with this section of the industry.

Cue bottles of Pinot and single malt Scotch being sent to 11 Downing Street? Possibly. 

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It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. I'll be among the wine and spirits trade fraternity at ProWein, in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Monday. 

If you're a publicity-hungry producer, or want to find out more about the wonderful world of just-drinks, feel free to collar me for a chat. 

Alternatively, email: james.wilmore@just-drinks.com 

Cheers. 

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Could this be the end of an era? The founders of UK smoothie maker Innocent revealed on Friday that they are effectively giving up ownership of the firm to the Coca-Cola Co.

Richard Reed confirmed that he and his fellow Innocent co-founders will step down from running the company on a "day-to-day basis". But, the smoothie maker will still be run by "Innocent people", he said. 

The UK group first sold a stake to Coca-Cola in 2009. 

Reed has recorded a video message about the deal, which can be viewed below.

Does Graham Mackay, SABMiller's outgoing top man, have a secret penchant for the late American jazz-rock musician and producer Frank Zappa?

This may seem an odd question to pose. But, the reason I ask is that Mackay treated his (I'm guessing slightly bemused) audience at the CAGNY conference this week to some wisdom from the 60's avant-gardist.

At one point in his presentation, the CEO produced a slide with this Zappa-attributed quote: “You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”

Mackay's point was that SABMiller aims to take a local approach in its overseas ventures.

As the slide appeared, Mackay said: “Of course we all feel deeply what the sage on the screen expressed.”

And then, with a wistful air, he added: “There was a man not troubled by self-doubt: You can tell by looking at his moustache.”

Perhaps, then, when Mackay finally hangs up his pinstripes, he'll spend his days nodding along to the likes of Freak Out! And Sheikh Yerbouti. 

There's an image for you.

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The links between Napoleon Bonaparte and Beam-owned Cognac brand Courvoisier may be questioned by some, but this hasn't stopped the company launching a limited-edition of the brand for travel retail.

First unveiled in October, Courvoisier Le Voyage de Napoleon will officially hit the shelves at the World Duty Free store exclusively at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 from tomorrow (20 February). It will roll-out across the rest of Europe from April.

Apparently, Napoleon looked for only one quality in his generals: to be lucky. You can discover other such historical nuggets in this official Courvoisier video below:  

Carlsberg has today revealed its hand in the battle over low-abv beers in the UK. 

The Danish brewer's first new launch into the 2.8% and below category is a citrus version of its namesake lager called, imaginatively, Carlsberg Citrus. I guess it does what it say on the tin. (Incidentally, the brewer lowered the abv of its Skol brand to 2.8% in 2011, but Citrus is its first new launch in the category).  

This trend in the UK towards new low-strength beers, Molson Coors has Carling Zest (2.8%), A-B InBev has Rolling Rock (2.8%), is for three main reasons.

Partly to offer health-conscious consumers more choice. 

Partly to fulfil a pledge to remove a a billion units of alcohol from products per year by December 2015, as part of the government's responsibility deal. 

But also, and perhaps as tellingly, it makes business sense. The goverment cut duty rates on beers at 2.8% and below back in 2011, as a way to "tackle problem drinking by encouraging industry to produce, and drinkers to consume, lower-strength beers". 

Carlsberg points to Nielsen figures in its press blurb today showing that the lower- strength beer category is growing 50% year-on-year. 

A government policy that's boosting profits and helping public health? Well fancy that.  

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