The brewing giant SABMiller flouted corporate governance rules yesterday as it announced a major management shake-up which will see its chief executive, Graham Mackay, 62, move up to become chairman.

Molson Coors, the US brewing giant, is to acquire StarBev, a central and east European brewer, from its private equity owner CVC in a deal worth €2.65bn (£2.2bn).

The British private equity giant CVC Capital Partners is in the final stages of selling the Staropramen Czech lager business to Japan's Asahi for $3bn (£1.87bn).

One year on, the drink is the spirit of a nation's recovery from the tsunami

Diageo, the drinks giant behind Guinness and Smirnoff, has promoted Ivan Menezes to chief operating officer, fuelling speculation that its chief executive Paul Walsh may be edging towards the end of his Diageo career.

An award-winning Cornwall vineyard has become the first in the UK to apply for protected status for one of its wines.

James Joyce will be spinning in his grave – Dublin's historic St James's Gate brewery, home of the author's famously beloved Guinness, is to start brewing fizzy foreign lagers like Budweiser and Carlsberg.

1. Pitfield 1850 London Porter

Appointing a woman to a boardroom job used to be seen as a risk in the male-dominated business world. What a turnaround we have seen in the past 12 months. Now, failing to pick a woman when a vacancy arises is the risk that blue-chip chairmen are faced with.

No Pain, No Gain

Greene King, the pub and brewing group, insisted it has plenty of growth to shoot for in the eating-out market and by making further acquisitions after it toasted a rise in interim profits.

I've finished my expedition to the glorious Okanagan Valley in British Columbia (Canada's California, apparently) investigating Ogopogo, the monster that is supposed to inhabit Lake Okanagan. Don't worry, I haven't gone all David Icke (yet) – this is for my new book, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, and the subject gives me an excuse to visit some pretty interesting parts of the world. Canada was probably a brave choice for a first destination as it is seen as literary Mogadon by publishers. Bill Bryson supposedly wanted to write a book about the country but his publishers recoiled in horror. I love the place – I have a Canadian wife and spend every summer there – and hope to convert as many Brits as possible to the land of the beaver.

Foster's made "misleading and deceptive" statements in its full-year results presentation, according to claims made by the drinks group SABMiller, which turned hostile in its A$9.5bn (£6.3bn) bid to take over the Australian brewer last month.