It can get a bit dreary going through the Google news items every few days looking for a story that catches the eye. There are two classes of "beer news" that depress. First, the over regulation by a small committee of a simple consumable in a small town. Second, the petty crime that involves beer. Whether they are thefts, underage parties or beatings they make for grim reading - but today beer got one back on the hooligan and the thug:

A shopkeeper from Greater Manchester fought off armed raiders - by hurling cans of beer at them. Three masked men, armed with a gun, entered an off-licence in Lord Street, Radcliffe, at 1230 BST on Thursday. They threatened the 53-year-old shopkeeper with the gun but he threw the cans at them, a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said... Det Con Peter Graham, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "What this man did was courageous - in sharp contrast to the cowardly actions of the robbers themselves. "With no thought to his own safety he fought them off and they fled with their tails between their legs.

Fabulous! A small victory for the righteous place of beer in a civilized world. We need fewer stories like this but, of course, a few stories like this as well.