In search of a no-alcohol beer you'd actually want to drink

Australians may be at the forefront of the NOLO movement, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them.

The no and low alcohol trend has grown in popularity exponentially, but I have always found an issue with these increasingly popular beverages: the fact that that they usually do not taste anything like beer or wine.

Another problem is that I am against paying $30-$40 for a bottle of no alcohol spirits. I'd rather have a glass of water (maybe with some cordial). Thanks very much.

So when I was offered the chance to sample low-calorie and no-alcohol beers from Son Of A Nun I was not exactly optimistic.

But I took my "mindful drinking” moment and was pleasantly surprised.

I'm not going to be swapping my Peroni or Asahi Dry anytime soon, But the no-alcohol beer actually tasted beer-like, tangy and refreshing, and the low-carb option was actually very decent. I wouldn't have picked it. 

I could certainly see myself having a couple of these if was the dedicated driver - or on a serious diet.




Maybe I could be sold on "moderate consumption without sacrificing on flavour".

The Son Of A Nun Low Carb Lager (4.2% ABV, 90 calories) comes in a six pack for $22 and Zero Alcohol (81 calories) in a four-pack for $11.

They are available at independent retailers with local stockists listed here https://www.sonofanun.com.au/stockists.

So who, exactly, are Australian Beer Company, who make Son Of  A Nun?

The clue is in the address: Yenda, NSW.

Which is the home town of Australia's biggest wine label: [yellowtail].

It turns out that both brands are owned and operated by some of the smartest operators in the drinks business: the Casella family.

Casella Family Brands (CFB) took full ownership of Australian Beer Co. after Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia (CCEP) decided to sell its interest in the business two years ago.

“ABCo is an exciting business led by a state-of-the-art brewery, and we welcomed the opportunity to acquire full ownership,” said John Casella.

They are certainly doing a good job with Son of Nun, which might be well worth a try for anyone doing Dry July.

Accor revs up its presence across Asia

The travel industry is back at full throttle - as evidenced by new signings across Asia from the Accor group.

Accor announced the signing of six significant projects (new builds and acquisitions) in the first quarter of 2024, reinforcing its commitment to growth and innovation in key markets across the continent. 

Garth Simmons, Chief Operating Officer, Premium, Midscale and Economy Division for Accor in Asia, said: "Each signing highlights our ongoing commitment to providing exceptional hospitality experiences and expanding our presence in key markets regionally.

"These new signings encompass a diverse range of properties, including hotels and serviced apartments, as well as the world's largest Pullman property, marking a momentous stride in our effort to innovate and diversify our offerings. These projects reflect our dedication to pioneering the future of hospitality."

Which is some serious hype. 

The recent signings include:

Mövenpick Vung Tau (Vietnam) (top image) will open its doors in 2027 and is an hour's drive on the new highway from Long Thanh international Airport. It will offer 433 guest rooms

Pullman Living Bangkok Sukhumvit 16 and Pullman Residences Bangkok Sukhumvit 16 (Thailand), which comprises a 200-key hotel and 225-apartnemt residential complex.

Novotel Living Bangkok Don Muang (Thailand), with a combination of an 80-key hotel and 112-key serviced apartments, spread across 19 floors just five minutes away from Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport.

Novotel Tangerang BSD City (Indonesia) in the heart of the Bumi Serpong Damai City Central Business District in Greater Jakarta with 285 rooms.

ibis Styles Ambassador Jeonju City Center (South Korea), which is Accor's first hotel in Jeonju. The 81-key property will undergo a soft refurbishment during the first half of 2024 with a plan to re-open its doors to guests later this year.

Pullman Mactan Cebu Hotel & Residences (Philippines) is set to become the world's largest Pullman property when it opens in 2028. It will have 200 guest rooms and suites alongside 900 branded residences.

In Japan, meanwhile, the Accor Juggernaut has announces the opening of 22 hotels with over 6,000 rooms, doubling the group's footprint in Japan.

The hotels, comprising 12 Grand Mercure and 10 Mercure hotels, range in location from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido to the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

Flyers "at risk" when they fly in and out of Australian airports

If you are flying to and from major Australian airports you'd hope that your safety would be a paramount concern. 

Not so, according to the teams that are responsible for aviation firefighting. 

Leaked documents show air travellers at 13 major Australian airports are at "extreme risk" due

to insufficient staffing and passengers at Australia’s 14 remaining airports are at ‘high risk.’

Airservices Australia, a Federal Government-owned corporation, is responsible for the provision of aviation firefighting services at Australia’s airports but stands accused of hiding key information about airport firefighting services. 

In response, aviation firefighters will undertake a four-hour work stoppage on April 15. 

Airports deemed at "extreme risk" due to a lack of aviation firefighting resources include Brisbane,

Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, while travellers at the remaining 14 airports, including Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, are at "high risk".

The internal documents, called the Task Resource Analysis (TRA), are an internationally recognised methodology used to "establish justification as to the minimum number of qualified/competent personnel required to deliver an effective Airport Rescue Firefighting Service to deal with an aircraft incident/accident" by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The TRA involves an independent analysis of safety risk at each Australian airport and assesses whether the resources, including aviation firefighting trucks, firefighters, equipment, and procedures, are sufficient to mitigate that risk for air travellers. 

In protest under protected industrial action, aviation firefighters have announced that they will be stopping work to draw attention to the safety issues. 

Wes Garrett, the United Firefighters Union-Aviation Branch secretary, said that the leaked documents confirmed the Union's claims over several years about the lack of resources available to protect Australia’s air travellers and the ongoing risk to their safety.

“These leaked documents confirm that Australia’s air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia, should an incident occur," Garrett said.

“The documents found that the safety of air travellers was being threatened should an incident occur due to a range of resource and personnel shortages.

“These resource shortages include a lack of key personnel to operate breathing apparatus, shortages of firefighting agents to suppress multiple incidents, insufficient personnel and vehicles to protect both sides of a crashed aircraft, a lack of personnel for effective fire ground command and control, and a lack of procedural control at Australia’s airports.

“Clearly, this significant and ongoing risk to all Australian air travellers is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.

“Disgracefully, Airservices have known about the dire risk to air travellers should an incident occur since 2022 - and have refused to release the documents to the union or the public."

Image: Michele Valotti, Scop.io

Meet the airline that has just been banned from European skies

The European Union has officially banned Turkish airline Southwind from its airspace, alleging the carrier is controlled from Russia.

The decision follows a recent move to ban the airline by Finnish authorities.

The EU accused the airline of being effectively controlled from Russia and using Turkey as a flag of convenience, travel website Travel Mole reported.

“Our overall assessment indicates that a significant portion of ownership and effective control  does not belong to Turkish individuals or companies,” the EU said in a statement.

Southwind Airlines was established with backing from Russian-based tour operator Pegas Touristik to operate flights to and from Russia.

Southwind has also been operating flights to Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Northern Macedonia, and Italy.

The EU and other Western countries have sanctioned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a full-scale war from February, 2022.

Southwind has a fleet of 12 aircraft.

The EU’s ban is effective immediately.

Global warming looms as a major threat to the wine industry

French scientists have pinpointed several major wine-growing regions that are under threat because of global warning.

The scientists, led by Cornelis van Leeuwen and a team at the University of Bordeaux, said 90% of traditional wine regions in coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California “could be at risk of not being viable by the end of the century because of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves with climate change”.

The report was published in a scientific journal and highlighted the continuing impact of climate change on wine growing regions and how warmth will impact traditional vineyard areas by the end of the century, the Drinks Business website reports.

The study, published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, reported that “the geography of wine production is changing”, and it considered the consequences of changing temperature, precipitation, humidity, radiation and Co2 on global wine production and explore adaptation strategies.

It highlighted how current wine growing regions were mid-latitude due to the warmth for ripening but without excessive heat, and were relatively dry to avoid strong disease pressure.

But it said that warmer temperatures in more northernly regions, such as Washington State, the southern UK, and Tasmania, are “driving the emergence of new wine regions”.

The scientists said that it was possible for current wine producers to mitigate against the worst impacts of warming, by changing plant material, including varieties and rootstocks, training systems and general vineyard management.

But even taking on such strategies, the adaptations “might not be enough” to maintain economically viable wine production. It called on more research to be done to assess the economic impact of such climate change adaptation at a large scale.

Highlighting the scientists’ own country, it said that “a substantial advance” in harvest dates, and alcohol levels, had already been observed in Bordeaux and Alsace, with “the sustainability” of such established wine growing regions “likely to change” in the 21st century.

The extent of the changes “remains unknown” and will depend on “the magnitude of climate change”, the scientists said.

Primary threats were heat and drought, extreme weather events, and unpredictability with regard to changing pest and disease pressure.

Here is the link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00521-5

Image: Stephan Bohm, Scop.io 

When a river cruise goes horribly wrong

River cruising is a delightfully chilled way to explore Europe - with vessels docking in the centre of fascinating destinations.

No waves. No seasickness. No massive crowds waiting to disembark on a tender.

But river cruising can still be dangerous, as some unfortunate travellers discover this weekend.

At least 17 people suffered injuries after a river cruise ship slammed into a wall on the River Danube, Travel Mole reports.

The incident happened at the pretty town of Aschach an der Donau (above) in Upper Austria.

Local media reported that it is thought the vessel lost power and crashed into a wall beside a lock.

The Bulgarian-flagged vessel was carrying around 142 mostly German passengers from Passau in Bavaria to the Austrian city of Linz.

Officials said 11 people were taken to hospital with various injuries, while another six with minor injuries were treated at the scene.

The Kronen Zietung newspaper reported that some objects on board toppled over and were thrown around after the accidents. Many passengers were having dinner in the dining room and some fell off their chairs due to the violent jolts. Others suffered cuts from broken crockery and glasses.

"Sixteen ambulances and an emergency doctor were ordered to the scene of the accident and firfeighters illuminated the terrain," said District Rescue Chief Philipp Wiatschka.

"Fortunately, there was no panic on board. "We separated the passengers on the ship into injured and uninjured and transported them to hospitals in Wels and Linz."

The Plantours ship was later able to continue its journey to Linz.

Image: Upper Austria Tourism