Victory will install a photovoltaic system on its roof that month because "it's just part of being a modern, responsible business," co-owner Ron Barchet told the Philadelphia Inquirer today. The project is being done under Pennsylvania's $100 million Pennsylvania Sunshine Rebate Program. The $415,000, 66.6-kilowatt system is expected to offset 5 percent of the brew pub's electricity use, reduce Victory's monthly electric costs by $1,000 - nearly 10 percent - and pay for itself in five years, Barchet explained.

Victory also announced last week that, for the fourth straight year, its brewers will once again collaborate with with Brewmaster Eric Toft of Schönrammer Brauerei in Germany and the German Hops Growers Association to produce five special beers to be poured at the annual Craft Brewers Conference, which will be held in Chicago, also in April.

This year's beers:

Saphir Tripel Ale – Belgian-style Tripel
Belgian Pale Ale brewed with Smaragd Hops
Belgian Pale Ale brewed with Hallertau Hops
Belgian Pale Ale brewed with Hersbrucker Hops
Bavarian Pale Ale – details still being formed

A new strengthened beer glass appears to be the answer, according to health authorities who claim that roughly 87,000 "glass attacks" in Britain cost the nation an estimated 2.7 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) annually.

The traditional British pint glass has been redesigned so it is harder to smash, said Design Bridge, the company behind two prototypes. "And even if the new models are smashed, the dangerous shards of glass are held together by a layer of resin," according to a spokesperson.

Talks are currently under way with pub chains about trying out the glasses and a pilot scheme will be launched within a year as things now stand.--JACK CURTIN