This thread is AWESOME!!!
Zamail, watched a program (history/discovery channel type) that was all about brewing, from home to the big guys. Showed exactly what AB does to 'beechwood age' their beer. Basically, the short time it's in the bright tanks, it's on beechwood shavings (like really large shavings). They say that it gives the yeast a bed to floc into and helps the brew mature more quickly. I'm not sure if the idea is to actually impart a beechwood character into the beer (if it is, they fail), but more to aid in maturation. Pretty cool actually, they even do it w/ Bud Light...