This is when you know things are getting really bad...

SABMiller, the second-biggest brewer in the world, reported a surprise 1 percent drop in volume shipments in the last three months of 2008, compared with a year earlier. Its lager volumes in Europe fell 1 percent, led by a 22 percent drop in Russia. In the United States, volume sales of its MillerCoors joint venture with Canada’s Molson dropped 2.3 percent.

The Danish brewer Carlsberg announced it was cutting about 275 jobs in Europe. Diageo, which makes everything from Cuervo tequila to Guinness, put on hold an $840 million expansion of beer production in Ireland. The British Beer and Pub Association reported that pubs were struggling across the country as beer sales fell to their lowest in 70 years. (article)

It's time for us to get real serious and tackle this together. If there is one thing we can do to directly contribute to the rescue of ecomony, apparently getting a beer after work (or at work) is the right thing to do now!