The Brewers Journal November~December 2022, iss 6 vol 8

THE THIRSTY AND THE FESTIVE

Hello, and welcome to new edition of The Brewers Journal!

For countless breweries, the months of November and December mark another busy stint in the calendar. The festival season that envelopes many summer months has been expertly navigated and in its place, it’s the turn of the festive season. In the trade, new beers and returning favourites have been brewed and pack aged, ready to satiate drinkers during the cold winter period. And here at The Brewers Journal, we’ve been a different kind of busy - putting together the final touches to the latest iteration of our Brewers Congress event.

Some of you might be reading these words at that very show. In which case, a warm welcome and we hope you have a great few days. And as I say every year, if you’re reading this elsewhere then get a move on! You still have a few weeks to sort your tickets and we’ll take it person ally if we don’t see you there.

Now in its fifth year, it remains a real point of pride that so many figures and busi nesses from across the world of beer and brewing take part and attend The Brew ers Congress. Each time, it’s our aim to play a part in bringing everyone together to entertain, educate and celebrate the very best of brewing.

For more information on this year’s event, which is taking place in London across the 8th and the 9th December, please turn to page 69. You can also check online for full up-to-date information on the schedule,

So I want to say a huge thank you to everyone planning to attend this year, the wealth of best-in-class exhibitors showcasing their products and services and also our sponsors. In 2022, they are AEB Brewing, Lallemand Brewing, Micro Can Canning Machines, QCL and Yakima Chief Hops.

These last 12 months have no doubt been a time where countless breweries, as well as those businesses in wider hospitality had anticipated a return to a semblance to normality. It almost doesn’t need to be said that it has been a period, like the years that came before it, in which countless hurdles and challenges have needed to be overcome.

But as we’ve said previously we will con tinue to champion the fantastic brewing industry, and all related to it, at every corner. And our eyes and ears are always open for how we can better serve this indomitable sector.

I hope you all have a fantastic end to 2022 and here is to a great new year ahead. Thanks again and best of luck in all that you do.

Tim Sheahan Editor

CONTENTS

Talking Point | Hop Security

A changing climate impacts us all. In his latest Talking Point, Tim O’Rourke looks at how climate change affects the supply and availability of brewing ingredients such as hops.

Ingredients | Malt

For Robin Appel, who leads the team at Warminster Maltings, Maris Otter is simply the brewers’ favourite. In this article he outlines its qualities and why, when it comes to flavour, you can’t beat ‘floor made’ malt.

Meet The Brewer | Alpha Delta Brewing

After being crowned one of the best new breweries in the world, Ross Holland and the team at Alpha Delta Brewing showed that hard work and talent pays off. And if you’re into rock and metal music, make sure to head to their bar in Newcastle. You are all invited.

Science | Yeast Hybrids

Following the launch of LalBrew NovaLager, its modern hybrid lager yeast, Lallemand Brewing explain how modern yeast breeding methods will surely continue to provide novel, non-GMO yeast strains with commercially important characteristics.

Science | Yeast Nutrients

Brewing yeast nutrients can further minimise the risk of any problematic fermentations by providing the essential nutrients yeast needs to stay in peak condition. But what if the yeast nutrients also enhance the aroma profile of the beer and boost flavour? AEB Group explains all.

Homebrew Corner

We launch this new section of the magazine with the recipe for Phil Sisson’s Peated Pale.

Dear John

John Keeling and partner Symone Coleman recently visited the USA. Here’s how they got on.

CONTACTS

Tim Sheahan Editor tim@reby.media

+44 (0)1442 780 592

Velo Mitrovich Deputy Editor velo@reby.media +44 (0)1442 780 591

Tim O’Rourke Technical Editor tim.orourke@reby.media

Josh Henderson Head of Sales josh@reby.media +44 (0)1442 780 594

Jon Young Publisher jon@reby.media

Reby Media 6 Grove Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1 1NG

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LOUGHRAN BUYS BREWERS SELECT

Loughran Brewing Stores has announced the acquisition of Brewers Se lect from Bairds Malt. Brewers Select was established by Bairds Malt in 2013 to serve as “one stop shop” supplying ingredients and equipment to meet the growing needs of the burgeoning microbrewery and craft beer industry in the UK.

Having been a malt supplier to British breweries for many years, Bairds Malt were well positioned to assess the unique demands of UK brewers and build a service to meet their needs by creating Brewers Select. With a state of the art warehouse facility in Peterborough, an experienced and tal ented team of staff, and a superb distribution network, Brewers Select has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of brewing materials in the UK.

Loughran Brewing Stores is a family owned company based in Dundalk, Ireland, supplying brewing ingredients to customers in Ireland, the UK and Europe. James Loughran (Managing Director) is the seventh generation of his family to have been farming barley on the land at Clermont Farms since the first crop was planted 1908. In 2014, Mr Loughran saw the values of the then nascent craft beer industry – those of people, authenticity, and sustainability – reflected in everything he and his family held most dear, which drove him to create Loughran Brewing Stores.

DOGFISH HEAD AND SIGNATURE BREW LAUNCH COLLAB

US-based Dogfish Head has collaborated with the UK’s Signature Brew on a debut collaboration. Piercing Pils is a crisp, refreshing 5.7% ABV Pear-Infused Czech Pilsner. It is brewed with a White Pear Tea and Pear juice. Both the juice and the tea were added in the kettle during the whirlpool, after the boil, for maximum fla vour and aroma contribution. The pear’s fruity complexity pierces right through the spicy Czech Saaz hops beautifully, adding a gentle acidity to this pale lager that makes for a crisp refreshing sipper. Amarillo hops add nuanced citrus notes that meld perfectly with the fruit.

Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione said: “I got to know Sam McGregor when he visited Dogfish Brewery in the states this spring and at a concert Dogfish spon sored in NYC celebrating the overlapping love of great indie music and great indie craft beer, shared by so many people all around the world. Over multi-pints that week, the two of us Sam-wiched some ideas for a unique beer and a unique event we could put on together with our teams in London, celebrating this joint love of music and beer.”

James Loughran (Managing

had this to say on

growth

Brewing Stores: “From sales, to admin, to the warehouse, our team has helped fuel our growth and supported our vision of bringing the best ingredients to the best brewers.

“And it is here that our customers have been crucial. Without their support and loyalty of these brewers we would not have been able to grow and be able to take this new exciting step in our journey and bring Brewers Select into our family.”

On the acquisition of Brewers Select: “We’re incredibly excited to be welcoming Brewers Select into the Loughran family. When we started this journey back in 2014 we had a vision – bringing the best ingredients to the best brewers so that they can make incredible beer.

“Through the singularly hard work of our fantastic team we’ve been able to carry that out, and to do it in the right way, by consistently delivering what our customers expect, with an eye on the future and sustainability.”

“Brewers Select has a superb warehouse facility in Peterborough and a great dis tribution network. We know that the all the amazing things about Brewers Select, along with its success, has been because of the hard work and skills of the amaz ing staff in Peterborough as well as the loyalty of its customers. Brewers Select is a market leader in the UK and a key supplier to a vibrant and progressive industry.”

Signature Brew co-founder, Sam McGre gor added: “When you start a brewery, you read Sam’s book. I did. It’s Dogfish Head’s off-centred approach to beer and their special relationship with music that has meant that they have always been one of my favourite breweries. So, when I got the chance to visit the brewery, try the beer at the source, and meet the man himself, I did not hesitate. The ideas came quickly and the concept for this beer and collaboration was born. I was very excited to get as many legends in the room as possible, drink some incred ible beers, watch an unforgettable gig, and examine how the worlds of punk and craft beer are forever connected..

Director)

the

of Loughran

KONVOY KEGS TO “SHAKE UP” BREWING AND HOSPITALITY WITH UK & EUROPE LAUNCH

HUDDERSFIELDBASED ZAPATO TAPS INTO GROWTH

Yorkshire-headquartered brewery Zapato is anticipating its highest performing year to date – having invested a £30,000 sum across the business, growing its workforce, and carrying out an exten sive refurbishment of its headquarters in Marsden. Boasting its very own tap room, beer garden and ‘Zottleshop’ at the Huddersfield HQ – along with a wealth of exclusive experiences – Zapato has been complementing the community’s bud ding craft ale scene since its transition to the area in 2017.

Zapato’s riverside space within a former textile mill has undergone a huge trans formation in a bid to provide a tranquil environment for the expanding workforce — as well as the growing population of visiting beer fanatics.

The renovation work was undertaken by Zapato’s own team and local tradespeo ple, with company founder Matt Gorecki

spearheading the operation from initial design through to physical build. Speaking on the refurbishment, he said “A tap room is essential to the modern brewery – we needed a change so that we could produce our beer on site and foster a memorable experience for the hundreds of customers that cross our threshold each week.

“The location is great for us because it’s situated between Leeds and Manches ter with great transport links and has a community that’s really engaged and growing. We have a flowing river in our beer garden, and acres more land com plete with a flourishing vegetable patch and grazing ponies — it’s such a beautiful spot.”

DEVELOPMENT IN CO2 MEASUREMENT

Equipment manufacturer Anton Paar is encouraging breweries to think again when it comes to CO2 measurement According to the business, the solu

Konvoy Kegs, a keg rental firm in Australia and New Zealand, said is plans to shake up the brewing and hospitality industries by launching operations across the UK & Europe. The company, which will enter the UK & Europe market in early 2023, said it is the world’s only stainless-steel keg pooling provider that is promising a fully cutting-edge smart keg manage ment solution.

The new business, headed up by former Kegstar CEO Christian Barden, will lead with its sharable keg rental offering at its core, with long-term rentals, also referred to as leasing, and its proprietary IoT track ing technology.

Even if brewers choose to remain keg owners, Konvoy said it can help them track their assets and become a better business as a result.

tion comes in the form of the CarboQC and CBoxQC. These measure the true dissolved carbon dioxide content in beverages without the influence of other dissolved gases such as nitrogen.

The amount of CO2 gas in a beverage is a critical quality parameter in production. Many different test methods have been developed over the years including both chemical and physical test methods.

Over time the physical methods of meas urement have become the preferred methods for beverage testing.

In their basic form these rely on the measurement of the temperature and pressure of gas in the headspace of the can/bottle, and use the ideal gas laws to convert this into a CO2 content.

That is fine when the only gas present is CO2, but when other gases such as air, or nitrogen are present then these methods will give false readings.

The total pressure reading obtained is a sum of the partial pressures of each different dissolved gas, but these simple instruments treat the total pressure as if it all comes from CO2, leading to errone ously high results, and potentially to out of specification product.

ANSPACH & HOBDAY COMPLETES EXPANSION BREWERS ON THE ROAD TO NET ZERO

Independent London-based craft brewery Anspach & Hobday have an nounced the completion of their expansion following their hugely successful 2021 crowdfunding campaign.

The raise was to deliver for a sky-rocketing demand for London Black, their independent Nitro Porter and local answer to Guinness. The final investment figure of £661k achieved more than double their target of £300k. Sales of London Black have exploded in line with the expansion growing to 66% of the total brew ery’s current production.

The new kit brings Anspach & Hobday from a 1400L batch kit to a 4000L batch kit, bringing their yearly capacity from 333,000 litres to 1,000,000 litres, equating to up to 1.76m pints a year. The new brew kit sets the foundations to even grow far beyond that into the future with additional tank space.

Anspach & Hobday are proud to have worked with an all star team of British manu facturers in the construction of their new kit, with Fabdec’s Britanx from Ellesmere creating the five new 8000L fermentation vessels and 6ix Process Design from Templecombe designing and building the brewing house. The kettle on the brew house is fired by Nuneaton’s Lanemark Combustion Engi

The Zero Carbon Forum and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) have launched an expanded, targeted roadm ap for UK brewers to help the sector decarbonise at pace to reach net zero. The bespoke roadmap, launched at the beginning of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, is designed specifically for the brewing sector and provides guidance to sup port brewers on a pathway to net zero emissions.

Industry specialists Carbon Architecture, as lead consultant, have provided a deep dive into brewing emissions within the roadmap and quantified the sec tor’s environmental impact. The actions needed are detailed, from optimising hot liquor systems to the decarbonisation of ingredients and transportation fleets, as well as highlighting the support needed from Government to help the sector on its net zero journey.

An evolution of the version first published in 2021, this refreshed roadmap reflects the positive action taken by the sector since COP26 and the unique challenges and opportunities to decarbonise held by the brewing sector directly and across supply chains.

neering bringing together a full house of British industry for the purpose of growing local and independent beer.

Anspach & Hobday’s award-winning London Black provides drinkers and publicans with a true craft alternative to macro stouts, such as Diageo’s Guinness, in London, across the UK and Europe. Now pouring in over 140 venues from Newton Abbot to Glasgow, and even Luxembourg, London Black continues to prove itself as the true craft alternative to big beer macro stouts.

Of the expansion co-founder & chairman Jack Hobday said: “We are incredibly proud of the British success story that this expansion represents and I would like to thank each of the manufacturers for their great work. Driven by the popularity of London Black this fantastic new installation may mean we soon become London’s biggest independent Porter brewery.”

London Black is the brewery’s session strength Nitro Porter that takes inspiration from its flagship beer, The Porter. Creamy, smooth and truly sessionable. “What better way to create an effortlessly drinkable dark beer than to brew it with nitro. The resulting creaminess and smooth mouthfeel balance perfectly with the subtle roasted notes of coffee and chocolate,” he said. The beer brings together the rich history and heritage of London Porters, with the modern techniques of ni tro beers. The result is a beer that is easy drinking, without sacrificing its character.

BIG DROP IN NEW US PUSH

Big Drop, has partnered with Destihl Brewery to scale-up production and to handle sales for Big Drop to meet the in creasing demand for its beers in the USA. This move presents a large growth op portunity for Big Drop as Destihl distrib utes to almost 40 States from its 47,000 sq. ft. brewery facility in Normal, Illinois.

With Big Drop approaching its second birthday in the U.S. market, this new partnership is one of the most significant developments in the NA-only brewer’s six-year history.

Iwas going to call this article travels with my aunt, but she wouldn’t come. I know! An old joke. Well, I am old.

With a little trepidation we set off for the United States. Why the trepidation and why the United States, I nearly hear you say? Well, the US is the spiritual home of craft beer and a jolly interesting place to visit. But it was at the height of all the flight problems and British Airways was not immune to them, hence the trepidation. Even I, a seasoned traveller was not immune to that.

We were to firstly visit Boston and then onto Seattle. Symone loves whales and both cities advertise whale watching tours so she would be happy, and I was just there for the beer. Both of these cities are famous for their bars and breweries.

First stop was Boston. Now I had not planned any visits to breweries because I wanted to just do normal touristy things. However, I could not resist a little visit to the Red Hook taproom and brewery. The reason behind this was the beer ESB. Now, people know that ESB was first brewed by Fuller’s in 1971 and then was exported to the USA from about 1978. The craft brewers in America not only enjoyed this beer but thought that ESB was a style of beer and not just a name, and they wanted to brew their own versions. One of the first was Red Hook and their version brought them great success.

So, I popped in the brewery and talked to the bar staff about ESB and asked if any one of their brewers was available for a brief chat. But sadly, none were.

I managed to get a picture of me with bottles of their ESB which I tweeted which also went under their radar. Nevermind…

We went whale watching the next day which was out of this world. It was the best tour I have ever been on, and Symone was so delighted she gave me a kiss. We had a great time in Boston with the only downside being the heat which made walking around difficult.

We then flew on to Seattle where I did have one big beer function at Foggy

Noggin Brewery. The plan was to do a ‘taste off’ between Foggy Noggin and Fuller’s. The Fuller’s beers were to be Vintage Ale, ESB, 1845 and London Porter. Foggy Noggin would supply a beer to taste against it and we would then have a vote to find out what the audience preferred. Unfortunately, Foggy had great difficulty finding these beers so Asahi jumped in and supplied four cases of each.

Now, Foggy had already had two tastings from Ron Pattinson so I knew I had to be on my mettle. Luckily, I did know quite a bit about Fuller’s and the beers having been present for the first brew of three of the beers and brewing the other one for 38 years. The day arrived and I started

JOHNTRAVELS WITH SYMONE

by doing a short introduction on Fuller’s (short by my standard anyway) and then we moved onto the tasting. There were quite a few questions from the audience which contained several home brewers, but I managed to bluff my way through. Who won? Well, let’s just say I still had a smile on my face in the taxi on my way home. It was really fun and I’m glad I still get asked to do these events.

We also enjoyed travelling around Seattle too, it is another great American city. Plenty of things to do (including whale watching). Like all good holidays it was over to soon and we were on the flight back to London. To cap things off my bag was first off the carousel after a mere 10 minutes of waiting. Well I have always been a lucky person...

IN HIS RECENT TRIP TO THE US WITH PARTNER SYMONE, JOHN TOOK IN WHALE WATCHING, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAMPLE SOME ESB AND HE EVEN GOT TO EXTOL THE VIRTUE OF FULLER’S BEERS TO THE GREAT AND GOOD OF WASHINGTON STATE.

Who won? Well, let’s just say I still had a smile on my face in the taxi on my way home.”

™ is a true bottom fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus hybrid from the novel Group III lineage that has been selected to produce a robust lager strain with ideal characteristics for clean lager beer with distinct avor characteristics and superior fermentation performance. ™ was selected using classical and non-GMO breeding methods and inhibits the production of hydrogen sul de (H2S) o - avors.

A CHANGING CLIMATE IMPACTS US ALL. IN HIS LATEST TALKING POINT, TIM O’ROURKE LOOKS AT HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS THE SUPPLY AND AVAILABILITY

BREWING INGREDIENTS SUCH AS HOPS.

If nothing else the climate related incidents over this year will have convinced even the most sceptical amongst us that we are in the middle of a climate emergency, and going forward we can expect to face annual climate events such as heat waves, drought, forest fires and flash floods.

It is incumbent on all of us to try and mitigate these events by reducing carbon emissions which im-pact on the climate, as well as affecting our lives it will also have a profound effect on the natural world around us.

Climate change also effects the supply and availability of brewing materials. This article will look at the effects on hop availability and costs.

Hops are a perennial plant widely distributed in temperate areas and grow in many hedgerows. Hops for brewing are principally grown in the Pacific North West of America and South Central Europe, Bavaria and the Czech Republic, they also grow in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand, southern tip of South Africa and Patagonia.

Although the UK represents the 10th largest hop growing region, it provides most of the varieties required for brewing British beers and these hops have been

affected by the hot dry spell. There are three principal effects anticipated as a result of the change in climate.

Warmer wetter winters (less snow and frost) which results in waterlogged soils. Hops have a requirement for large volumes of water, but hops don’t like wet roots and should be grown in well drained soil. Cold winters are required to vernalise (frost) certain varieties such as Bramling Cross to achieve good yield. Cold weather is also required to kill off some pests and diseases which can over winter under mild conditions.

2022 GLOBAL HOP CROP

England English hops – Hereford & Kent

Most native English hop varieties are adapted to moderate summer temperatures of between 20 – 250C. this year has seen two very hot spells with temperatures exceeding 300C which has stressed certain hop varieties such as Fuggles. By contrast other varieties such as Chinook and Cascade which traditionally grows in the Pacific Northwest of America have grown particularly well and is predicted to yield 1.5 to 2 times above their average. The good news is that some of the recently developed hop varieties

TALKING POINTHOP SECURITY

OF

Image credit: LuckyStarr, CC BY-SA 3.0

are showing good heat and drought resistance, helping us to secure a future for UK hops.

Most English hops are now grown in Hereford and Worcester where yields were normal but yields for traditional landrace varieties were slightly lower. Kent endured hotter weather and since they mainly grow traditional English hop varieties which experienced stress which resulted in lower yields but quality in terms of bitterness and aroma were good. English hop farmers may have to consider installing local water supplies for irrigation to combat drought.

United States, Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest has a plentiful supply of water from the snow melt off the Cascade mountains but this year there was an unusually cold Spring and a late summer with the crop harvest a few days late with around 5% decrease in yields. With certain varieties such as Centennial and Willamette yielding well below average. The cold weather reduced the incidence of mildew, but the dry weather encourage the proliferation of spider mite. Both aroma and bitterness quality is good.

Germany – Hallertau

Few hop farms in Europe have an independent irrigation system and hops require high volumes of water normally provided by rainfall.

In Germany hop growers are prohibited from watering and with higher temperatures the hops were severely stressed giving anticipated yields down by 15 – 30%. The quality of the crop is good but may have a slightly lower average alpha acid content.

Czech Republic

A similar decrease in hop crop is expected in Czech Republic town water supplies are not suitable irrigation (assuming the farmer could afford it) because most has been treated with chlorine and this can raise the chlorates concentration on the cone above the permitted standards

Slovenia

Slovenia experienced drought in previous years so most hop farmers have introduced irrigation and in spite of unusually high summer temperatures they had a normal crop.

Climate is not the only concern for hop growers. Hops are greedy feeders and require high levels of fertiliser. The prices of which have increased fourfold in cost mainly because of the Ukraine war.

The other major demand is for energy required for hop drying and refrigerating hop bales in the warehouse with energy costs increasing by 3 to 4 times. Hops have never been a particularly profitable crop, requiring major investment and high labour demand and it is inevitable that there will be a substantial increase in hop costs.

Hop growers have made great efforts to reduce their energy dependence with solar power to power cold storage and have reduced the use of fertilisers using spray along with ideas such as mulching and intercropping to reduce moisture loss and pest control. The future is likely to depend on newer varieties, new hop products and inevitably higher costs.

CONCLUSION

u DON’T PANIC – although this year’s harvest may be below average worldwide there are still plenty of hops available from previous years and so there should not be any shortage in the

2023 brewing year.

u There may be some carry over of the stress effect on the plant into next year’s growth which could affect availability of some varieties.

u To make sure you get the supply of hops you require all brewers should agree a contract with their hop supplier for several years in advance.

u Availability of hop varieties may be limited and more expensive so brewers may have to look for alternative bittering and aroma varieties.

u The higher temperatures and low rainfall in Central Europe may result in a shortage of Noble hops for lager brewing.

u The increased use of hop products for bittering and aroma is generally more efficient requiring lower quantities of raw hops for their production.

u Longer term, it is possible that if climate change continues, hop cultivation may need to move north from the traditional areas of the Hallertau and Washington State as temperatures in these regions rise. Late June 2020 saw temperatures in Yakima exceed 40 degrees centigrade. Fortunately, the crop was largely unaffected, but if these temperatures had occurred when the plants were at a more vulnerable physiological stage then certain varieties might have been short.

u If nothing is done to ameliorate the effects of climate change hop will continue to be stressed with poorer yields and a scarcity in the future.

Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Andy Garbett and Will Kirby from Brook House Hops, Will Rogers from Charles Faram and Ali Capper hop farmer and Director of British Hop Association for information used to produce this article.

Downy mildew, Spider mite and Damson Hop Aphids

BEER CUP

LOTTE PEPLOW, BREWERS ASSOCIATION AMERICAN CRAFT BEER AMBASSADOR FOR EUROPE, UNCOVERS THE LOWDOWN ON THE NOW ANNUAL WORLD BEER CUP FROM NEWLY APPOINTED COMPETITION

CHRIS WILLIAMS.

The World Beer Cup, organised by the Brewers Association, the not-forprofit trade association that represents small and independent American craft brewers, is often called the ‘Olympics of Beer’ and is the largest, most competitive beer competition in the world.

It has celebrated international brewing excellence since its inception in 1996 and the last competition attracted 10,542 entries from 2,493 breweries representing 57 different countries. As from this year the competition is moving from bi-annual to annual with registration for 2023 having taken place in November 2022 while a new competition director, Chris Williams, has been appointed. I sat down with him in an exclusive interview to explore what makes the competition so special:

Lotte Peplow: Why is World Beer Cup moving to an annual competition?

Chris Williams: It’s all about answering demand. We were getting a myriad of enquires from breweries all around the world asking when does registration open for the World Beer Cup and we would have to tell them it’s only every other year.

By moving to annual we’re looking to meet this demand and we’re excited to see how it can grow and move forward. Organising a bi-annual competition was easier from an operational perspective but going annual helps keep the competition at the forefront of people’s minds and they’re less inclined to forget or miss deadlines. It’s exciting to see where it will go from here.

LP: There are many beer competitions around the world. What’s so special about World Beer Cup and why should brewers enter?

CW: By being the largest competition in the world it’s also the most competitive which means taking home a medal or an award shows that, globally, your brewery is doing something right and you’re making world class beer. Yes, it’s difficult to win because it is so competitive, but success shows how amazing your brewery is at making beer and that’s highly valuable. It’s interesting to see breweries from all around the world competing with international or regionally focused styles which may lead to a brewery from a far-flung corner of the world winning an unexpected category, for example, in 2022 a Columbian

DIRECTOR,

brewery won gold in the speciality saison category and a Mexican brewery medalled in English Ale.

LP: Brewers often say the quality of the feedback is reason alone to enter the World Beer Cup. Please explain how feedback works?

CW: Comprehensive feedback is another highly valuable aspect of the World Beer Cup. Every beer goes through multiple rounds of judging and in the first round every judge (usually 2-4 of them) fills out an evaluation card focusing on aroma, appearance, flavour, balance etc and gives comments, stylistic descriptions and a summary of how the beer stood up to other beers in the flight. This means that in a category with 100s of entries every brewer will know how their beer performed and this is highly valuable feedback for the brewer. In addition to feedback cards, brewers also get a summary of how far their beer advanced through the rounds. For example, in a large category with five rounds a brewer will be told how far their beer progressed and brewers find this very worthwhile information.

LP: How do you choose the judges?

CW: We have a very large judging panel of about 800 names and we rotate through every few years between World

autumn). We aim for 12-15% of new judges every year to keep the panel fresh and bring in new perspectives, new palates and to ensure we reach the most highly acclaimed judges in the world. Of course, not all the 800 judges are active and we need between 250-300 for every World Beer Cup. In my new role as competition director, I’m responsible for selecting the judges from a list of internationally recognised brewers, sensory experts, suppliers, writers and consultants and they’re selected on the basis of a) formal sensory training b) experience evaluating beers on flavour panels or competitions c) judging demeanour d) knowledge of beer styles and the brewing process and e) industry and peer recognition.

In 2022 judges came from 28 countries, 32% from outside the U.S., down slightly on previous years due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. Pre-pandemic we saw the number of judge countries rising and I’m pushing for that to increase once more to about 50-60% over the next few years because international perspective and palates of our judges is invaluable, especially country judges from where a beer style originated.

My biggest challenge is having the right

number of judges from around the world. For the last two years it has been difficult for people to travel but that is changing now.

LP: How many countries enter the World Beer Cup and how do you reach every corner of the brewing world?

CW: Pre-pandemic we had an impressive number of 65 countries but it dropped a bit in 2022 due to lingering pandemic restrictions or logistics being difficult but we’re hoping to get up to 65 countries and maybe expand into the 70s in due course. We’ve got a great plan for targeting different markets and we’re excited to bring that count up. We’re re-doubling our efforts with marketing campaigns, social media, partnerships with international publications, activities undertaken by our Export Development Programme and more to get the message out there.”

LP: What criteria is used for judging the World Beer Cup?

CW: World Beer Cup is judged according to Brewers Association Style Guidelines. These are beer style descriptions which are used as a reference point for brewers and beer competition organisers. They are reviewed and revised annually and celebrate the diversity of beer around the world. I work with the Brewers Association’s Technical Committee to decide on the competition guidelines. We review after every competition cycle and adjust where necessary, for example, we may have a category with very few entrants and decide to roll it into something else. Some styles make it into the competition guidelines based on interest and popularity and some on industry trends.

LP: Will you be doing anything differently in your new role?

CW: Not right away. I want to ensure we’re operating the best we can and at the moment we have a great competition model in the way it’s been structured and operationally it works superbly. However, I know there are always areas we can improve on and that’s probably my biggest goal over the next one to two cycles of World Beer Cup and GABF. I’ll be keeping an eye on what can be done

Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival (GABF, held in Denver, Colorado every

to improve and enhance the competition. On-line and digital judging is an area we’re looking to progress. We’ve been working towards it but progress slowed during the pandemic and now the intention is to fully convert to digital judging by World Beer Cup 2024. We don’t want to move too fast, especially with the size and scale of the competition – everybody needs to be ready, but it’ll be exciting when we do!

In addition to organising and selecting the judges I also build out the competition schedule which is a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle in terms of what beer is judged by who and when, and I also oversee the operations team.

Our cellar manager Mike Aronson, helps secure a team of volunteers who receive the beers, unpackage and sort them into 103 individual judging categories and the assistant competition manager, Kristine Latham, helps secure our competition team of stewards and table captains responsible for getting the beer to the judges’ tables.

There are between 10-11,000 entries and

over 60,000 individual bottles or cans which must all be sorted by hand and the entire sorting process takes over 6,000 volunteer hours. Organisation at sorting is key to ensuring all entries reach the judges at the competition. The competition has continued to grow by roughly 10% every competition cycle making organisation even more challenging.

LP: What were you doing before your new role?

CW: I’ve been with the Brewers Association for the last 13 years and started as an intern. Within two years I moved into the event manager side and my previous role for the last five years was as senior event manager. This allowed me to interact with breweries by helping them manage their entries into the World Beer Cup and GABF. I have a lot of experience working with breweries so it was an easy transition to step into the competition director role and I felt I was uniquely suited for it.

LP: What would you like to do next?

CW: When I have more time I’d like to judge more beer competitions around the world and complete my Master Cicerone exam. I used to home brew and I’ll pick that up again one day too.” (Note, Chris has his hands full with his new role and two young children at home).

LP: How do you enter the World Beer Cup?

CW: Breweries are invited to submit entries to the World Beer Cup 2023. Registration is open 1-14 November 2022 with awards presented on 10 May 2023 during the next Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, 7-10 May 2023.

British brewers should send entries to the official UK consolidation hub in Hertfordshire, England where beers will be palletised and air-freighted to the USA at the Brewers Association’s expense. The Brewers Association will handle all Customs clearance and paperwork and maintain cold-storage throughout the journey

We’re a Dutch engineering company that designs and builds machines for craft breweries. We are schooled engineers and, above all, craft brewers with 10+ years of experience. In our journey we noticed a lack of easy-to-use in- and outfeed equipment for filling machines which improve the productivity in a cost-efficient way. So we designed our own. Our depalletizers, checkweigher, reflow table & case packer are built with improving productivity and low cost in mind.

We all want visitors to our pubs, bars and taprooms.

For Big Smoke Brew Co, some 18

million of these potential customers pass by their Taphouse & Kitchen at Terminal 2 of London’s Heathrow Airport each year. They’d just need the best part of 180,000 50l kegs to pour everyone a pint.

Not only that, the brewery has another three airport sites to cater for too. And that’s before we’ve taken into account the 14 pubs located across the south of England employing a workforce of 300. Not bad going for an outfit that started in the shed of a pub back in 2014.

“It must have been way back in 2001. James would end up giving me my first pub job at a place called Shillibeer’s on London’s Caledonian Road,” recalls Richard Craig. “One of the first things he asked me was if I had worked behind a bar before. I said ‘yes’, which was a complete lie.”

He smiles: “But then again by that point he had kept me waiting 45 mins while he walked around looking important so I thought we were pretty even.” His interviewer that day was James Morgan. And in the years, and decades, to follow, Morgan would become a friend, colleague and eventually co-founder of Big Smoke Brew Co. A Surrey-based modern brewery and pub company, and one that recently celebrated its eighth birthday as 2022 draws to a close.

For Morgan, working and running pubs runs in his blood. “I lived in pubs until I was eight or nine,” he says. “My dad (Dick Morgan) used to run a lot of pubs in the West End of London so after I left school I went straight to work in these establishments. “We’d go own to manage and run many of these together. And when Big Smoke first started making

beer he would support us by buying it, even when it probably wasn’t very good. But that said, if it didn’t sell then he’d simply stop, He’s far too commerciallyminded to buy any old rubbish!”

But before Big Smoke came to be, Morgan and Craig would work together running other pubs such as The North Pole in Islington, where they got to try beers that would light a creative fire in them. “We were able to get our hands on some American beers that everyone was talking about. But we also stocked beers from breweries such as Harbour in Cornwall, which were just getting going at the time,” explains Craig.

“I remember having their Double IPA on tap, long before many people knew what that type of beer was. It was probably about 8% and we had to sell it for £12 because we bought it from someone that would have to use a distributor who bought it from someone else. You know how it is. But I was blown away by that beer and was my go-to staff drink at the end of the night. We made sure we always had it on!”

SMOKETHE BIG IDEA

It was these formative experiences that only went to increase Craig and Morgan’s interest in the beer side of hospitality. They had a wealth of knowledge in cellaring and selling beer, but now they wanted to know how to make it, too.

Craig says: “It was there in North London where those seeds were planted. We had early dreams of building a brewery downstairs in The North Pole and looking back that would have been a nightmare, a complete disaster! So we decided that we’d like to start a pub together and that’s how The Antelope came about.”

The Antelope is based in Surbiton, a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. “I’ll be honest,

LONDON’S BIG SMOKE BREW CO HAS COME A LONG, LONG WAY SINCE STARTING OUT EIGHT YEARS AGO. THEY CERTAINLY DIDN’T EXPECT TO BE A DOMINANT UK FORCE IN AIRPORT BREWERY TAPROOMS AND BARS, BUT HERE WE ARE. AND FOR THE BUSINESS FOUNDED ON A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE IN HOSPITALITY, THERE’S A LOT MORE TO COME, TOO.

I hadn’t even heard of Surbiton until we visited,” Craig laughs. “But the pub had this amazing space in the back, an old stables, and that’s where Big Smoke would start.” The team approached starting a brewery, as they explain, from a different angle to most other brewing businesses. “Nick (Blake) was the assistant manager of the pub, and he became our head brewer while Danny Roberts, a bar supervisor, would eventually go on to be our lead brewer,” says Morgan.

“It’s safe to say that calling us inexperienced was the biggest understatement ever. But we’ve always worked and grown in an organic way and thankfully it has always seemed to work for us. Well, most of the time!” adds Craig.

The team took over The Antelope in January of 2014. They’d open the doors the following month with brewing starting that September. The first beer produced on their modest brewhouse was Dark Wave, a 5% English-style Porter. These beers were a hit from the off, both at The Antelope and with early customers across the capital. It was all hands to the pump, which would also require team members like Craig to deliver beers personally. “Rich and I would drive about in a pretty old, knackered van visiting the trade,” says Morgan.

Craig adds: “Which was fine. But there was one time where I drove some beer to North London in the back of my old beaten up Mercedes. I was coming around Parliament Square and I was pulled over by the police.

“From the vantage point of their van they could see three casks sat across the backseat and there was another two in the boot. So there I was, stopped in front of all of these tourists taking photos having to explain to the Police that I was only delivering beer and wasn’t planning to be the new Guy Fawkes.”

With The Antelope a success, the opening of other Big Smoke pubs would follow. These include The Albion, featuring one of the biggest beer gardens in Kingston, and over 30 draught beers and ciders on tap, as well as being home of Big Smoke Distilling Co. The Big Smoke pub family was growing, and

with that, so was the demand for the brewery’s beers. It was evident that the facilities at the back of The Antelope could no longer cater for demand so they’d need a new brewery to keep up.

Come 2018, new sites for the brewery were being scoped out. These were in areas such as Battersea in South London and Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey. They ticked some boxes, but not all. “We were looking pretty flat out for about six months,” says Craig. “They had lots of

Systems that Big Smoke Brew Co would be introduced to Jenn Merrick. Merrick, who was working as a consultant at the time, is a leading expert in the UK craft brewing industry, and has a wealth of experience in brand expansion, brewing, brewery operations, and building outstanding businesses; notably leading growth and expansion projects for Beavertown, Dark Star and Meantime.

And come 2022 she would take on the newly-created position of managing director at Big Smoke Brew Co, 15 years since moving to the UK from the USA. “I moved here because my wife got a job at a charity in Yorkshire. We could have ended up anywhere, and we were looking all over the world for the next step. But I knew that when I landed here, that British brewing was something I wanted to learn,” she explains. “I had tried to get a foot in the door in the American industry, but it was really a boy’s club. Nobody was really willing to consider a woman for a brewery role.”

Jenn Merrick

merits but there were also issues with the size or location. But then the facility here in Esher came up and we put an offer in straight away.”

Esher is a mere four miles west of the original location at The Antelope and it’s there that the brewery has been able to realise its ambitions as a production business serving both Big Smoke Brew Co pubs, and other accounts too. They’d secure the keys at the end of 2018, move in the following February and then commence brewing that March. And when it came to choosing a new brewhouse setup, they’d opt for a 30HL operation from UK-based Gravity Systems.

Starting out with six 65HL FVs, they’ve since added another 12 to their cellar alongside a Lambrechts washer/filler, a larger HLT and CLT, whirlpool and a Microcan system to package 330ml and 440ml cans.

And it was through its work with Gravity

In England she’d undertake a course at Brewlab in Sunderland then carry out her IBD qualifications while working at York Brewery. “While in York we had a whiff of the American craft beer revolution,” she says. “I was allowed to design a handful of recipes and you would definitely know if there was something like Cascade in that beer because it would end up with a bloody American flag on the pump clip!” Merrick recalls a strong focus on cask beer production. “People couldn’t fathom the idea of putting unfiltered, unpasteurized beers into keg. Nobody thought there would be a market of these beers as they worried about shelf stability and other such issues. There was lots of territory in the world of craft beer to be uncovered at that point.”

Moving south in 2011, she would work at Dark Star in Sussex alongside Mark Tranter who would go on to found Burning Sky Brewery several years later. Roles at Meantime in Greenwich and Camden Town Brewery in North London followed, as well as at Beavertown in Tottenham Hale. At these breweries Merrick would be part of their growth phases, often helping commission

I knew that when I landed here, that British brewing was something I wanted to learn,”

Top left clockwise: Jenn Merrick, David Tugwell, Richard Craig & James Morgan, Danny Roberts

new brewhouse setups along the way. Expertise she could impart in consulting at Gravity Systems where she would go on to work alongside Big Smoke’s head brewer Nick Blake during the commissioning phase. “Nick has been very loyal to Big Smoke, being the only brewery he has worked at, so it was really rewarding to bring some of my outside experience, coupled with his leadership, to the new setup,” she says. “Together we are a great team.”

One of her early tasks at Big Smoke was to put a brewery-specific financial structure in place. In doing so, working alongside Sarah Elkins, the former head of finance at Beavertown. “Together, we know what a brewery’s financials should look like,” explains Merrick. “Up until then, things have been quite integrated between the brewery and pub companies, so we’ve been able to unpick it all and demonstrate how a brewery’s accounts should look.”

This side of the role runs alongside her first passion of brewing production. At Big Smoke, Merrick has been gratified to be able to enrol team members into an apprenticeship programme with Nottingham University, a steering committee that she had significant input into several years back. “I’m so thrilled to now have staff members who are enrolled in it because I think it’s incredibly fit for purpose and it also generates well qualified people, which to be honest are hard to come by,” she says.

Big Smoke Brew Co produce a range of beers including Solaris Session Pale, Dark Wave Porter, Electric Eye Pale Ale and Cold Spark - a single hop Citra Pale. These complement other releases like Helles, Fruju New England Pale Ale and Mango Moon, a fresh mango Pale Ale. In the trade, many of these are expertly sold across the UK and Europe by sales director David Tugwell. The brewery’s output also obviously has a home across the pub company’s estate, where they are accompanied by beers from other breweries, too. These are chosen by Katie Arabella, the team’s special projects and beer curation manager. “It’s important for us to complement the beers we have on offer, but in a way where it’s with

people that share our passion for the community and culture of craft beer,” she says. “If we have a beer on the bar, it means that brewery shares our values, they are aligned with us and is the type of business we want to support.” And alongside guest beers are Big Smoke collaborations. For head brewer Nick Blake, these is often a real highlight of the role. “Working with breweries such as Siren Craft Brew, Thornbridge and recently Maui Brewing Company, shows how far we have come,” he explains. “To be partnering with businesses like theirs really validates what we are doing.”

having people feel the need to justify why they needed help when they shouldn’t need to.

Blake

It’s not just brewing outfits that the company has worked with though. During early periods of lockdown the business, like many others, had its pub kitchens shuttered. “The former manager of The Antelope went on to work for a charity in Kingston called Voices for Hope, which focuses on feeding people in need,” says Craig. “We identified pubs close enough to Kingston where we had staff on furlough, staff that were kind enough to volunteer their time to come back to work so we could produce about 10,000 meals for them.”

He adds: “We were also very happy to help out with footballer Marcus Rashford’s school meals initiative. So we just set up an email address and said, if you are in need please just ask and we can sort it. We received countless emails from people pouring their hearts out to us. I won’t lie, it was a tough experience

“We are in a fortunate position, being able to buy quality produce at wholesale, that we could do our bit to help those that need it. When are you part of a community, it’s important to give something back.” While lockdown enabled Big Smoke to do their bit for the community, it also presented opportunities of a very different kind. With the global pandemic putting a halt to global travel, most business at airports also came to an abrupt stop. But when one door closes. In May 2021, the company announced it was opening the Big Smoke Taphouse & Kitchen at London Heathrow Airport. The airside destination is a partnership with Airport Retail Enterprises (ARE) and is located at Heathrow Terminal 2. This has been followed by another site at Luton Airport as well as two additional landside bars at Heathrow in the form The Oceanic in Terminal 3 and The Globe in Terminal 5. “The airports were in a position where they had empty sites that they needed filling pretty fast,” says Craig. “We paid them a visit, realised we were on the same wavelength and came in with the right offer. “We’re up to four now and there’s potentially more in the pipeline. But if you had told me we’d have 14 pubs as well as running airport bars and restaurants some years back I would have laughed at you!”

Although Craig acknowledges that the industry is entering an uncertain period, he also says the team’s eyes and ears “are always open”, while eight years into the journey, sales director David Tugwell says he is suitably proud of what the team has achieved.

“We’ve all been along part, or all, of this journey,” he says. “I think I’m most proud of how Big Smoke has constantly scaled up but never at the detriment of the quality of the beer or the service we provide.

“You know, I think it’s important to have the right culture at any business, and to approach things with a smile on your face. And I know 100% that we have that here.”

To be partnering with businesses like Thornbridge and Siren really validates what we are doing, Nick

Leeds-based strategic branding agency Robot Food was contacted by Tuborg’s head of brands in September 2020, winning the project following a three-way pitch and working on it throughout 2021. “I think we were in there because they wanted a new perspective on the brand,” says David Timothy, Robot Food managing director. “Tuborg is a Danish cultural icon — it’s more than just a beer brand.”

The refreshed designs look to emphasise Tuborg as a “proud parent brand,” as Timothy puts it, harmonising the primary packaging around the brand’s ‘clockman’ device — a well-known icon in Denmark.

The agency also introduced a redrawn Tuborg wordmark, which was created with assistance from typographer Rob Clarke.

“By consistently applying these two assets we created headroom to express the individuality and often longstanding personality of each beer, whilst never losing the link to the parent brand,” says Timothy.

Tuborg’s core range comprises four core beers (Grøn, Classic, Guld, and Nul) and two seasonals (Julebryg and Paskebryg) as standard, and Robot Food also worked on designs for three new range extensions: Nul Fruit, Grøn Organic, and Guld Passionfruit. Grøn (or ‘green’, the standard lager) and Classic together equate to around 88% of Tuborg’s sales.

The brief was centred on making category leader Tuborg more relevant to all Danes today — as well as increasing on-shelf standout and recognition. It was also vital that Tuborg retained its existing loyal customer base, while recruiting new consumers into the category.

Like many beer brands, Tuborg had concerns that it was losing relevance — especially among younger consumers.

This chimes with the broader global trend among drinkers aged 18-25 of a more ‘all or nothing’ mentality rather than the ‘little and often’ approach of older generations. “Lots of new drinkers or potential new drinkers are coming to the category and either choosing not to drink at all or looking at alternatives. Tuborg, like other brands, was losing favour with that demographic” says Timothy. “Drinking the beer your dad drinks can feel like the antithesis of cool.”

Prior to this refresh, Tuborg hadn’t undergone a holistic brand refresh for decades, which had led to something of a mishmash of different styles across individual products, packs, touchpoints, sizes, and variants. “There’s a sense of classicism in Denmark: if you look at the fundamentals of things like furniture design, the style and aesthetic doesn’t really change much over time” says Ben Brears, Robot Food Creative Director. “You do it once, do it well, then just polish it a little bit.”

Robot Food’s challenge with Tuborg was in navigating numerous different design elements that had varying degrees of resonance with consumers. Initially, the Robot Food team set about ‘deconstructing’ the incumbent Tuborg designs, looking at everything from shapes to colours, fonts, placement of design elements, and the architecture of individual labels, going on to boil everything down to a ‘kit of parts’. Once deconstructed, Robot Food examined which elements to amplify and which to pare back to create simplicity and ensure that the strongest, most recognisable and iconic elements came to the fore.

Alongside creating the new packaging design system, Robot Food also built a

BRANDINGMORE THAN JUST A BEER BRAND

ROBOT FOOD HAS REFRESHED THE BRANDING FOR DANISH BEER BRAND TUBORG, WORKING TO UNIFY AND STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE BRAND WORLD TO ENSURE ITS RELEVANCE FOR DANES TODAY. THIS IS HOW THEY DID IT .

full brand world for Tuborg that extended across on and off-trade communications, photography, merch, and digital platforms.

The brand world needed to unite the various Tuborg ranges under a prouder Tuborg flag that felt more relevant to modern consumers, while allowing each range to be expressive and distinct to its individual usage occasion.

The brand positioning was based around the idea of “fællesskab”, or community, with the beer shown to play a vital role in uniting people from all walks of life. This was brought to life for the brand world executions through a creative idea that Robot Food dubbed “in the action” – placing the consumer at the heart of the moment through reportagestyle photography with an unfiltered, spontaneous aesthetic that celebrates togetherness in a way that’s unique to Tuborg.

The agency also took the brand’s iconic ‘clockman’ asset off-pack for the first time, putting it at the heart of the Tuborg universe and using it as a lens through which to access that sense

of “fællesskab”With the ‘clockman’ in place as a unifying and consistent brand element on- and off-pack, Robot Food then worked to amplify the personality of each beer, dialling up the nuances in activations and image styles appropriate to each beer variant.

Robot Food was aware that as a British agency approaching a Danish icon, ultimately it was about listening to the brand team and the consumers themselves.

“We were brought in to offer a fresh perspective and not be led by what they had before, but you’ve always got to be respectful” says Brears. “A great client is one who’s really open and listens to what you’re saying and loves to be challenged, but who knows the consumer really well and helps you find that sweet spot. For some, these changes might seem minimal, but it was never about throwing the baby out with the bath water. The assets and system we’ve been able to establish helps set Tuborg up for a really progressive future”.

“A good redesign is often about understanding the assets you’ve already

got and amplifying them in new ways,” Timothy adds. “Our job is to listen, learn, and understand just as much as it is to come up with interesting creative. That’s when the relationship really works, because the client trusts you to know where you can push it, and also where you have to rein it in.”

Louise Dandanell, marketing manager at Tuborg Denmark says, “The past two-ish years have been some of my best at Carlsberg. From the first pitch to where we are today, Robot Food’s understanding of our local needs and vulnerabilities, dedication, craft, and (most importantly) sense of humour have made the process such a joy. It’s very easy for us to be happy clients – every meeting is like spending time with family.”

The new designs began to roll out in Denmark for the core brands from early 2022, and the rest of the packaging designs and brand world elements such as the new photography style, point of sale materials, advertising, and merchandise are currently being rolled out.

A FOCUS ON FLAVOUR

FOR ROBIN APPEL, WHO LEADS THE TEAM AT WARMINSTER MALTINGS, MARIS OTTER IS SIMPLY THE BREWERS’ FAVOURITE.

MALT.

Warminster Maltings is Britain’s oldest working maltings, and the only ‘stand alone’ floor

maltings left in the U.K. industry. It is the smallest member of the Maltsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB), and by some, as far as most of the MAGB membership is concerned.

The point is, it lacks the economies of scale that the high volume pneumatic malting process delivers, and the higher production costs it has to shoulder have to be reflected in its price List.

So our customers need to get more ‘bangs for their bucks’, so to speak. And based on our order book, and feedback, that is exactly what they are getting. What are we talking about? Well, we are talking about higher extracts, and enhanced flavour, within the white malts.

To deal with these points in turn, beginning with ‘extract’, malting is basically a simple process, but a very precise procedure. Individual small batch production at Warminster - 10 tonnes barley/8 tonnes of malt - enables precision. There is no blueprint for our procedures on the floors. Every time our maltsters complete an intervention, before they walk away, they have to ask themselves what do I need to do next, and when do I do it?.

Provided the barley is top quality, then there is absolutely no excuse for Warminster’s scale of production not delivering the optimum extract in the brew house. Feed back from customers confirms this, with one customer even ‘complaining’ on one occasion of having more beer than containers to put the beer into!

But the other attribute which makes

Warminster Malt stand apart is flavour. We call this ‘enhanced flavour’ because all barleys have flavour, with the venerable Maris Otter being the brewers favourite. The ‘enhanced flavour’ can be attributed to two things, firstly the slower, gentler process on the floors, and secondly an interaction between the natural yeasts in the 165 year old malthouse and the ‘green malt’. You might refer to it as Warminster’s DNA. So why is Maris Otter the brewers favourite? The answer is quite simple: no barley variety since, and we are talking since 1965, has come close to replicating the very clean, and malty/biscuity flavours of ‘Otter. Is there a reason for this? “Yes: barley breeders are not selecting new varieties for their flavour, it is not in their remit!”

This all stems from the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act of 1964, which established the rights of barley breeders to claim Royalties from new varieties when they are commercialised. When it was debated who should pay these Royalties, it was deemed that the payment should come from the biggest beneficiary i.e the farmers.

This ultimately completely contradicts basic Adam Smith economics that states “the object of economic activity is not production, it is consumption”! So barley breeders, for the last 60 years, have been breeding, first and foremost, for farmers and production. Understandably, top of their list of improvements from new varieties is always more yield of grain, followed by foliar disease resistance, stiffness of straw, earliness of ripening etc etc with malting and brewing quality almost an attribute by chance. What it all boils down to, the malting and brewing industry has to screen all new barley varieties, setting their

IN THIS ARTICLE HE OUTLINES ITS QUALITIES AND WHY, WHEN IT COMES TO FLAVOUR, YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘FLOOR MADE’

own benchmarks for the quality traits they seek. Despite one or two notable mistakes along the way, maltsters and brewers have performed this task particularly well, at least as far as what they have been looking for is concerned. However, despite the extraordinary success of Maris Otter barley over the last 30 years, what maltsters and brewers have been looking for has not included flavour!

Forever, brewers preferred to believe that all barleys taste the same. That suited them when new varieties came along, and it suited maltsters who need to sometimes blend two or more varieties to achieve brewers specifications. So that was the industry mantra, right up to 2006, when I (whose grain company Robin Appel Ltd, owns the production and marketing rights to Maris Otter) approached the Brewing Research Foundation, at Nutfield in Surrey. We wanted to prove that the flavour of Maris Otter was much more pronounced than other varieties.

A project was launched, jointly funded by Robin Appel Ltd and the Home Grown Cereals Authority. Eight different barley varieties were compared by professional tasting panels, firstly as a porridge made from the malts, then as a standard pale ale. The Brewing Research Foundation had never done this work before, and the results were a revelation.

Maris Otter, as expected, stood out from the rest, but what was astonishing was that the then new Spring barley variety Tipple displayed “bitter and astringent flavours” that came through to the beer. The tasting panel did not like Tipple at all! Yet Tipple was about to dominate malting barley production across the U.K. for the next 5 years.

Without adding flavour profiling to their screening process, the malting and brewing industry could easily repeat the selection of a variety with unsuitable flavour traits. Why would craft brewers want to be presented with a malt that delivers that sort of handicap?

The tasting panel did not like Tipple at all! Yet Tipple was about to dominate malting barley production across the U.K. for the next 5 years,” Robin Appel

But barley flavour is not just about the genetics. We now have peer reviewed research that tells us barley flavour can be influenced by “terroir”! A study has shown that soil, microclimate, and topography can influence barley growth, which in turn can, in this particular case, influence the flavour of whisky. Forever, farmers on the north Norfolk coast have maintained the quality of their barley is enhanced by the “sea frets” (sea mists), presumably by tempering the heat from the sun in high summer. Would this also impact the flavour of the barley? It is more likely the underlying rock and mineral content of the soil which would make the most difference.

Barley is best suited to a soil type described as the Icknield Series, a light loam over chalk. This soil type stretches all the way down from East Yorkshire to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, and every year provides the most reliable bulk of the U.K.‘s annual barley crop. But within those areas, micro climate and topography can obviously vary. But none of this would necessarily be replicated from year to year.

So, when it comes to barley flavour, what we are really talking about is the expression from individual varieties, whether it is positive, as in the case of Maris Otter, mild or benign, or negative as

in the case of Tipple. From the tests that Robin has done - he repeated the 2006 trial again in 2007, and has commissioned further trials since - most barley varieties wallow around the ‘mild or benign’ category, and only a variety named Westminster got anywhere close to Maris Otter, but that has long since come and gone.

If the flavour of barley matters, then selecting for it needs to start with the breeders. But why would breeders respond all the time their paymaster is the farmer? This is a debate that I am keen to stir up. Sitting with my sales managers hat on, flavour is nearly all I talk about with both existing customers and new enquiries.

With nothing new coming from the barley breeders, I have a whole raft of customers who have chosen, instead, to turn back to heritage varieties. At Warminster we have Plumage Archer of course, the first genetically true variety of barley in the world, bred at Warminster, in 1905. That has plenty of flavour. But so do a number of the landrace varieties that preceded it. But none of this sounds progressive, particularly in the light of the challenges currently facing farming. So you need floor malting. We are not the only one, of course, and at least one of the others has done comparisons, you definitely get more flavour out of ‘floor made’ malt! And all the time that includes higher extracts, we calculate our slightly higher malt prices probably deliver the best value for money of any malts on the market!

Warminster Maltings is Britain’s oldest working maltings,

THE BUG HUNTERS

Microbiology is a key quality requirement for any brewery. Fortunately for brewers and their consumers, beer is generally safe and does not support any pathogenic organism which would be hazardous to health. However, there are a range of beer spoilage organisms which can make beer sour, produce off flavours and increase fermentability resulting in over attenuation with thin pallets and exploding packages.

Traditional laboratory techniques involve sampling, plating out and forcing which takes at least seven days before results are available. Results are often obtained after the beer is dispatched and while it is useful for monitoring plant hygiene it cannot be used to measure real time micro for positive release and the brewers peace of mind.

To overcome these limitations QCL can offer rapid methods of analysis where results can be measured in a matter of hours. They supply a range of microbiology tests for brewers including:

u brewPAL - Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (Hop Resistant)

u brewLAP - Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (Lactic Acid)

u brewBRUX - Brettanomyces Bruxellensis

u brewDEK - Dekkera/Brettanomyces

u brewMAP - Megasphaera and Pectinatus

The rapid methods are based on the genetic material found in the specific microorganisms using PCR for genetic amplification and detection using a vertical flow cassette (like the Covid19 lateral flow test). Fortunately, most breweries producing and selling cask conditioned beer face few microbiology issues if they assiduously follow good hygiene practices and a rapid turnover in trade. However, as the brewing process becomes more complex with filtration, yeast re-pitching, extended shelf life and supply lines with complex packaging options microbial risks will increase exponentially. A visit to Electric Bear Brewing Co. gave an opportunity to see the VeriFlow system in action. It is used for routine testing allowing positive release of keg and can beer before release, reducing the risk of diacetyl formation and over attenuation due to microbial contamination, particularly from diastaticus strains of yeast.

Electric Bear also see it as a valuable quality control tool to check repitching yeast are free from infection.

PCR Thermocycler amplifies segments of DNA. Target genes identified for specific organisms of interest

Quality assurance in minutes rather than days

Sysmex is proud to introduce our innovative, rapid solution, specifically developed for use in industrial microbiology testing environments.

Proven for a variety of microbial applications such as yeast viability, total bacteria and viable bacteria

Delivers productivity, standardisation and simplicity on a single platform

Provides accurate enumeration of microorganisms in comparison to traditional assays such as plating and microscopy

The perfect solution for process control in distilling, brewing and beverage-producing industries

For further information or to request a virtual product demonstration, please email flowcytometry@sysmex.co.uk uk.sysmex-flowcytometry.com

Sysmex UK Flow Cytometry

CRITICAL COOLING

When planning temperature control for the brewery, an accurate and comprehensive thermal calculation is imperative in order to determine the size the chiller required for production. Other considerations should include any planned future growth of production, contingency facilities for the avoidance of downtime, location of unit in terms of meeting permitted noise levels, and operation conditions such as ventilation and ambient temperature around the unit.

Cooling units from specialist manufacturers who use leading technology to include energy efficiency features (see below), and thermal calculation by experienced professionals, can facilitate the operation of the brewery, assuring commensurable, energy-efficient cooling capacity and an ample supply of hot water for both brewery and other utilities.

One such manufacturer is WTG QuantorKREYER (Föhren, Germany), specialists in the field refrigeration and beverage

COOLING REQUIREMENTS

The brewery’s cooling requirements will be included in this calculation:

u Wort must be cooled in 60 or even 30 minutes to stop enzymes

u Beer fermenters are under con stant temperature control to assure quality process

u Cold-crashing after fermentation

u Beer conditioning

u Cooling for carbonation

u Cold-rooms & cooled storage

The requirements for heating will also be calculated:

u Tank heating

u Room heating

u Hot-water utilities in the building, bar, restaurant

Schematic of brewery cooling installation, including tank temperature control

process cooling for over 40 years. Their range includes Chiller Units; Heating and Chiller Units; Temperature Control Systems; and Air Conditioning Units. Specific energy efficiency features include reversible chillers with heatrecovery features, high-efficiency refrigerants, low-noise with smart system controls and built-in redundancy for a seamless and safer brewing operation. Quantor’s chillers include utilities to save energy and reduce the CO2 footprint of the brewery, by means of higher efficiency chillers and heat-recovery features. Modular units are available for

cooling only, or as reversible (via heatpumps), producing hot-water. Quantor units are available through their UK agent, Vigo, now part of the Rawlings Group, who have been supplying and installing Quantor systems to drink producers in the UK for more 10 years. The business assess and work in partnership with Quantor to provide comprehensive unit sizing thermal calculations, and Vigo engineers install, commission and service the complete cooling/temperature regulation system. This could be either to control the temperature of a product in a tank via a cooling jacket, single temperature controller and stand alone cooling/ heating unit; or via a centralised complete system for controlling multiple tanks on one circuit (via bespoke ringmain constructed by Vigo engineers) at the same or different temperatures, by terminal, or with software which records and captures data as well as allowing for remote accessing and control. The latter can include full control of both product and air temperature.

u Partial Heat-Recovery - Units can be equipped with partial heat-recov ery collecting the over-heat from the compressors, for heating up to 30% of the cooling capacity in hot water up to 70°C

u Total Heat-Recovery - Collects the complete heat emitted by the unit during the cooling operation, providing full capacity in hot-water in parallel to the cooling operationthe unit is cooling and heating at the same time

u Solar power - Using solar power to power the units is in R&D which Quantor are currently carrying out and plan to roll out soon, as part of their commitment to environmental sustainability

AFTER BEING CROWNED ONE OF THE BEST NEW BREWERIES IN THE WORLD, ROSS HOLLAND AND THE TEAM AT ALPHA DELTA BREWING SHOWED THAT HARD WORK PAYS OFF. AND IF YOU’RE INTO ROCK AND METAL MUSIC, MAKE SURE TO HEAD TO THEIR BAR IN NEWCASTLE. YOU ARE ALL INVITED.

We’ve all encountered challenges and hurdles in our lives. Obstacles in the

way that try and stop us, or slow us down. Consider a driving test, for example. You might be fortunate enough to pass first time. Alternatively you might not be on your game that day, requiring you to reassess and try again.

You can learn from the experience, take something from the encounter and use it to your advantage. Or you could walk away.

For Ross Holland, he has always used his experiences in the world of beer for the better. Knowing that if there’s a situation to learn from, then he can go on to use it as a positive. And when in 2021, you’re crowned as one of the world’s best new breweries, it’s fair to say that approach is working just fine.

In this industry, countless brewers use the beers they create as a way to express themselves. Be that a big, bold stout or a subtle, nuanced table beer. It’s the beer that often does the talking. For Holland, beer has also been a way for him to express himself. Whether that’s through hard-hitting Imperial Stout collabs with the great and the good of Europe’s brewers to Imperial IPAs and more recently, popular core beers such as its Unfiltered Pils Sesh. In starting Alpha Delta Brewing back in 2019, Holland has made his name through the production of these well-received, diverse beers. But as a lifelong fan of rock and metal music, the former band frontman is also suitably proud of the brewery’s taproom in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. Known as The Delta Lounge, it’s a haven for brilliant beers and the best in rock and metal. For many, the perfect combo and another way for Holland himself to

project his passions to a wider audience. So if you’re planning to visit, just come with an idea of what to expect….

DELTA PERSISTENCE IS FRUITFUL

“Honestly, I had been thinking about doing something like this for years now. It’s so frustrating to go into rock bars, especially growing up in the rock and metal scene in Newcastle, and not find any good beer,” Holland recalls. In his eyes, there is a broad crossover appeal between people that are passionate about music and those that enjoy craft beer and what it represents. So when the opportunity arose, somewhere he could realise his ambition to marry great beer and great tunes, it was a no-brainer. The bar, previously home to the taproom of Box Social Brewing, would become the Newcastle HQ of Alpha Delta Brewing’s on-trade operation.

“Between lockdowns, one of the existing shareholders came to me and said ‘I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I want to be involved anymore’ and asked what we could do,” he says. “They questioned whether we wrap it up and cut our losses, or whether I could take it in a new direction. So I did!” Holland informed them that he would take it on, but on the proviso that it would be a rock music bar, and somewhere he could drink decent beer and listen to great music. “Well, what I class as great music. I’m not sure who else does!” he laughs.

It was a good six months before things really took off for The Delta Lounge, which is located at 11 Forth St in Newcastle upon Tyne, some five minutes by foot from Newcastle Station. However, collaborations with figures from the local rock scene meant people would soon take notice. But you can’t please everyone….

“It’s funny because people knew Alpha Delta, they knew our beers and looked upon us as a regarded brewer. But when we opened the bar there was a bit of a backlash. That it was too loud and too noisy for some,” Holland says. “But now it is considered to be a place people come to for that very reason. We had one customer recently who said they saw a three-star review mentioning the music volume was too loud and that was all the encouragement they needed!”

He adds: “I love it in there, man. We are fortunate we have a great customer base, a fantastic team and we enjoy everything about it.”

But rewind a few years, and before Alpha Delta Brewing and The Delta Lounge came to be, Holland was nurturing a love of beer that grew from countless homebrew experiments and experience working at other outfits in Newcastle. Back when he was about 19, a familiar tale would soon unfold. His partner at the time asked Holland what he’d like for Christmas, “I told her I’d really like to try my hand at homebrewing,” he recalls. “My grandad was a homebrewer. Although I never met him, I inherited a lot of his kit. By the time I got it, none of it was really useful but it made me think it was something I might be interested in. So once I left school, I became a plumber and before long I had built my own kit from parts and fittings that I

basically stole from work.”

Early all-grain brews were, in his own words, terrible. “It’s what puts a lot of people off early on, when they realise it’s harder than they were expecting,” he smiles. But Holland stuck with it, before soon moving into a sales and marketing role at Newcastle Upon Tyne-based Anarchy Brew Co.

“I’ll be honest, I as awful at it,” he laughs. “I was not good at sales, and just wanted to brew, but I was also just happy to be working in a brewery environment.”

While working at Anarchy, he’d continue his home brewing ventures with experiments such as Citra dry-hopped Saisons and the like, while also getting more confident in his abilities and the beers he was producing. Upon leaving Anarchy, Holland would go into bar work, handling cellaring and then working at the now-defunct Hop and Cleaver on the Newcastle Quayside.

But he found himself missing the brewing side of life. Thankfully, his dad Steve had just retired from a career in the fire service. Around the same time, the opportunity to acquire a local brewery arose so there was a decision to be made.

ENTER BOX SOCIAL

“I said to him I’d love to do that as he knows that’s my dream,” he explains. “We initially started on one-barrel kit working from his garage in Newcastle. But we soon realised there was zero chance either of us would make any money this way.

“So we moved up to a six-barrel setup, found a unit in Newburn in western Newcastle, sorted a taproom license and got going.”

The father and son combo would go on to start Box Social Brewing in 2015, which swiftly became a hit with beer fans in the local area of Newburn and beyond. They trod a well-worn path of investing in kit early on and swiftly looking to upgrade shortly after. However in making such choices, the duo would soon realise that things are rarely straightforward when it comes to growing your business. They’d purchase a brewery that was sold as brand new, and at a great price, but

things didn’t quite go to plan.

Holland laments: “It’s true what people say that when you buy cheap you buy twice and we got stung really badly. Not one bit of the kit worked. The mash tun didn’t work, the sparge arm didn’t work, the pumps didn’t work. The recircs were missing and just everything was wrong. “We ended up with 23-hour brewdays resulting in scorched beer. It was just a nightmare. We had so many sleepless nights but we powered through, because we had to. We ended up learning how to build breweries and put them right, working with local welders to fix everything we could.”

Once that major hurdle was overcome, they started producing some “pretty good beer” on their system. Enquires for export sales would arrive so the team would turn to a mobile canning business to enable this. A decision they would soon regret.

“They turned up with a brand-new canning line, which we didn’t know at the time. So our first four beers in can were packaged by a line with a broken seamer, so before long you could literally peel the lids off them,” he sighs. “At the time we were reassured that the levels were all fine and that we were good to go. They were wrong.”

Beer that had sent out to countries such Denmark and Spain was all promptly returned. The product was oxidised and the lids did, indeed, peel off. It was a chastising experience for the duo and one that would eventually lead to a change in direction for the business. But one has gone on to be positive outcome for all involved.

“Unfortunately we could never regain that relationship with our exporters. My dad was also ready to take his retirement and effectively said he was done with it all,” Holland says. “I told him I didn’t want to brew the types of beers Box Social were known for anymore, anyway. We were effectively taking a cask product and putting it into can. I wanted to brew bigger beers and with that have a new identity.

I wanted somewhere I could drink decent beer and listen to great music. Well, what I class as great music!” Ross Holland

THE BIRTH OF ALPHA DELTA

So with that, Alpha Delta was born. While dad Steve took a backseat, Ross would work with one his former colleagues from the fire service on the branding for the brewery. “There is a cool connection there because Alpha Delta is named after the call signs of the two fire stations that my dad and brother worked at during their careers,” he explains.

It didn’t take long for things to take off at the new brewing outfit, with Holland describing the journey as a total rollercoaster. And last year, they were crowned in the top 10 of the New Brewer Awards for the Year 2020 by RateBeer. An accolade that led to renewed demand from countless beer festivals wanting Alpha Delta to pour their beers. It’s attention that the brewery is grateful for, but also something Holland and the team have learned to balance, too.

“Beer festivals are a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but you can burn yourself out on them,” he says. Last year, in particular resulted in a gruelling programme, especially as the team had previously been denied the opportunity to officially launch Alpha Delta on the festival circuit owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When lockdown hit were were devastated, so last year I wanted to do them all which is a really stupid idea!” says Holland. “Doing three or four 12-hour days while drinking takes its toll, so this year we have been a lot smarter with what we commit to, that’s for sure.”

While beer festivals require both time and resources from all sides to make them work, the relationships Holland and Alpha Delta have forged in such environments are facets of the industry they truly love and value.

“I love collaborations,” he tells us. “For me personally, that’s the way I have learned the most when it comes to brewing. There are other places I’ve worked where they are quite against collaboration and that sharing is a bad thing because ‘my beer is better than yours’. But that’s not he way I operate.”

A recent collaboration at St. Laurentius based in the town of Bülach in Switzerland featured brewers that had yet to dry-hop during fermentation. “I said ‘nah man, get those hops in there’. Sure, it’s not traditional but it’s the way I and others do it, and they appreciated that opinion and advice. They aren’t our competition and even if they were I don’t care.”

He adds: “Now that we have quite a good name, I want to continue to work with smaller breweries and do what I can to help them. We still have about three scheduled before the end of the year anyway, so I have that to look forward to.” Collaborations with breweries both in the UK and further afield form an important part of Alpha Delta’s output. But following Brexit, its ability to sell overseas has been severely impacted with exports falling drastically.

“It has been really rough for us,” says Holland. “We made the mistake of relying so heavily on export. Early on, you’d get paid upfront so cash flow benefited. But

with Brexit we lost half of our business overnight. And even now we struggle to send beer to Europe. Regular customers in Spain and France are no longer that, so it has hurt us.”

To negate this, Alpha Delta has been regaining those sales within the UK by letting customers know that the beer is available and you can buy direct. They are also looking at the possibility of a central hub, potentially in Europe, to send and dispatch beer from.

And with that renewed focus on the home market, Alpha Delta is also looking at other opportunities and avenues for growth. Not only that, it’s expanding its brewery, too.

“We’re scaling up again by taking the unit next door. This will allow us to double capacity, while we are also welcoming some new brewers starting, too,” he says. It’s a tough time in beer but we are excited about the direction we are going in.”

As the brewery gets set to expand, Holland and the team are also refocusing on the types of beers they regularly brew. “We are just trying to be smart with the beers we are brewing now and that means not brewing three Double IPAs every month anymore, as much as we’d like to.”

Instead there is focus on a core range, with Unfiltered Sesh, a 5% Pils singlehopped with German Hallertauer Magnum, the biggest seller at present. “When starting Alpha Delta three years ago, I would never have thought that a Pils would be our biggest-selling beer but times change and I think if you if you don’t adapt and diversify with the craft beer scene, then you can get left behind,” he explains.

Away from the beer itself, Holland remains interested in expanding the Delta Lounge concept outside of Newcastle to other major cities in the UK. Which is great news for those of us that enjoy a generous serving of rock and metal with our beer. He concludes: “Ultimately we just need to see how everything goes, ride out the storm and have our fingers crossed that this business gets back to where it was a year or two ago. I’m confident it will.”

NOVEL LAGER YEAST HYBRIDS

Of the four primary brewing ingredients (water, malt, hops, and yeast) it is the yeast that has the most complex and dynamic effect on beer flavour. Not only does yeast produce a range of unique flavour compounds such as esters and phenolics, but it also transforms compounds from the malt and hops.

Yeast transforms malt sugars into alcohol and CO2 and produces enzymes that interact with hop-derived flavour compounds in a process called biotransformation. Some notable beer styles are defined by a particular yeast strain, including Weizens, Abbaye ales, Saisons and Lagers. The lager yeast strains are used to brew the majority of beer consumed worldwide and as such they have been studied extensively. The history of lager yeast has its roots in 15th century Bavaria when two closely related yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast) and Saccharomyces eubayanus (cold-tolerant yeast), hybridized to form a new natural hybrid species known as S. pastorianus, or better known as lager yeast.

Over the following centuries, this hybrid strain was domesticated through selective repitching of fermentations with the best fermentation performance. As brewing technology advanced over the centuries, the selective pressure led to a major genetic bottleneck that restricted the genetic diversity of lager yeast. Ultimately this led to the formation of two categories of modern lager yeast, Group I (Saaz) and Group II (Frohberg). Both groups have similar fermentation performance and flavour characteristics and are largely differentiated based on their genomic composition. The Group I strains have a larger proportion of genes from S. eubayanus compared to S. cerevisiae and are therefore slightly more cold-tolerant compared to Group II strains.

The Group II strains have roughly equal

genomic contributions from each parental species and have become the dominant workhorse lager strain globally due to their more robust fermentation kinetics, more neutral aroma profile and lower off-aroma production (especially acetaldehyde and diacetyl). There has been significant innovation in ale strain development over the years resulting in a wide variety of yeast strains that contribute to the diverse range of ale beer styles. On the other hand, innovation of lager strains has been much more limited. Since S. pastorianus strains were domesticated in commercial breweries and do not exist naturally in the environment, selection of novel lager strains is more challenging.

A major breakthrough in lager yeast innovation occurred in 2021 when Renaissance BioScience (Vancouver, Canada) developed a novel breeding methodology to create unique and diverse lager strains.1

Using these methods, Renaissance BioScience selected novel lager strains that contain a greater proportion of the S. cerevisiae subgenome compared to the S. eubayanus subgenome, leading to the formation of a third category of lager strains designated Group III (Renaissance). I n collaboration with Lallemand Brewing, the first commercial strain from this new Group III category is now available to brewers with the launch of the LalBrew NovaLager™, a modern hybrid lager yeast.

The development of LalBrew NovaLager™ started with the identification of Ale and Lager parental strains with ideal brewing characteristics. The Ale parent is a unique strain selected from nature in Vancouver, BC, that was refined using adaptation and selective breeding to be an ideal “American Ale Yeast Breeder” with high attenuation, unique and subtly fruity aroma, low diacetyl production, and no H2S production.

To select the ideal “Lager Breeder”,

FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH OF LALBREW NOVALAGER, LALLEMAND BREWING AND RENAISSANCE BIOSCIENCE EXPLAIN HOW MODERN YEAST BREEDING METHODS WILL SURELY CONTINUE TO PROVIDE NOVEL, NONGMO YEAST STRAINS WITH COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS.

u Efficient fermentation and high attenuation to produce crisp, highly attenuated lagers

u Short maturation times due to the inhibition of H2S and low production of diacetyl

u Unique flavour profile consisting of fruity, vibrant and clean aroma profile

u Cryotolerance conferred by the presence of the S. eubayanus subge nome

u Broad temperature tolerance due to an increased S. cerevisiae genomic content

u Lower pitch rates due to a higher viability relative to traditional lager strains.

u Bottom fermentation typical of traditional lager strains.

u Biotransformation of the hop derived compounds in modern beer styles such as Cold IPA or IPL with the expression of beta-glucosidase enzyme.

a well-known workhorse Group II lager strain was sporulated to form a diploid strain which retained bottom fermentation characteristics and cryotolerance. These Ale and Lager breeders where then hybridized to create LalBrew NovaLager™, which combines the innovative traits from the S. cerevisiae parent with the cold-tolerance and robustness of a traditional Group II lager strain (Figure 1). Importantly, since LalBrew NovaLager™ was developed using only non-genetically modified techniques such as breeding and adaptive evolution methodologies, it is considered non-GMO.

In essence, this breeding strategy involves isolating the S. eubayanus part of a traditional domesticated lager strain in order to rehybridize this Lager parent with a new Ale parent to produce a novel, modern hybrid lager strain that opens the door to more lager beer style diversity. With roots in traditional lager history combined with modern laboratory methods, the release of LalBrew

NovaLager™ represents the next innovation in lager yeast. Going forward, these modern yeast breeding methods will surely continue to provide novel, non-GMO yeast strains with commercially important characteristics. The future of brewing yeast is exciting!

AUTHORS

Zachari Turgeon, MSc. Renaissance Bioscience Corp. Principal ScientistMicrobial Research and Innovation

Eric Abbott, MSc. Lallemand Brewing Technical Support Manager

Alexei Titov, Lallemand Brewing Technical Sales Manager

REFERENCES

1 Turgeon, Z., Sierocinski, T., Brimacombe, C. A., Jin, Y., Goldhawke, B., Swanson, J. M., Husnik, J. I., & Dahabieh, M. S. (2021). Industrially Applicable De Novo Lager Yeast Hybrids with a Unique Genomic Architecture: Creation and Characterization. Applied and environmental microbiology, 87(3)

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LAGER

STRAIN selection

Lager is this style The production brewing, of lagers considered The trees,

Figure 1, Galls growing on a southern beech tree in Patagonia.

ed into genomic strain has a the S. parental strains groups Group I with three cerevisiae the greater eubayanus more lager strains sets of and two greater these strains fermentation temperature well-known

ed into genomic strain has a the S. parental strains groups Group I with three cerevisiae the greater eubayanus more lager strains sets of and two greater these strains fermentation temperature well-known

Figure 2, Comparative genomic structure of Group I (Saaz), Group II (Frohberg) and Group III (Renaissance) lager strain lineages.

maintaining cryotolerance imparted by the S. eubayanus subgenome (Figure 3).

LAGER FLAVOUR AND AROMA - HYDROGEN SULFIDE (H2S)

Saccharomyces

Fig. 2: Comparative genomic structure of Group I (Saaz), Group II (Frohberg) and Group III (Renaissance) lager strain lineages.

Fig. 2: Comparative genomic structure of Group I (Saaz), Group II (Frohberg) and Group III (Renaissance) lager strain lineages.

All brewing yeasts produce some amount of H2S during fermentation as a part of normal amino acid metabolism (See our Technical paper, Impact of Hydrogen Sulfide in Brewing2). With ale fermentations, H2S is depleted efficiently by CO2 scrubbing during active fermentation and reabsorption by the yeast after full attenuation.

Group II (Frohberg) Pseudo-lager Group III (Renaissance) 77-83% 78-84% 78-84% High High Medium 10-15°C (50-59°F) 10-25°C (50-77°F) 10-20°C (50-68°F) 13% 14% 13% 100-200 g/hl 50-100 g/hl 50-100 g/hl Neutral Slightly fruity, neutralClean, low to medium ester, no sulfur

APPLE

Recently, classical and non-GMO methods have been used to breed novel lager hybrid strains that are distinct from the Group I and II traditional lineages1. These novel Group III (Renaissance) strains are allotetraploid with four sets of chromosomes, three from S. cerevisiae

FERMENTATION KINETICS

FERMENTATION KINETICS

With lager fermentations, the cooler, slower fermentations result in less CO2 scrubbing and the bottom fermenting, medium flocculant lager yeast does not reabsorb H2S as efficiently. Small amounts of H2S at threshold detection levels produced by traditional lager strains such as LalBrew DiamondTM are considered an important part of the normal sensory profile for many lager beers.

However, poor wort nutrition or brewing techniques can result in elevated levels of H2S and an undesirable aroma of rotten eggs. This can be avoided by adding nutrients to the wort (especially when using adjuncts) and leaving the beer in contact with the yeast before transfer or filtration to allow time for H2S reabsorption.

AROMA

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

strains for lager styles.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Fig. 3: Fermentation kinetics of di erent LalBrew® Premium Series yeast strains for lager styles. Standard all-malt 15°P pale wort pitched with 1.5 million cells/ml/°P and fermented at 12°C.

Fig. 3: Fermentation kinetics of di erent LalBrew® Premium Series yeast strains for lager styles. Standard all-malt 15°P pale wort pitched with 1.5 million cells/ml/°P and fermented at 12°C.

1 Turgeon, Z., Sierocinski, T., Brimacombe, C. A., Jin, Y., Goldhawke, B., Swanson, J. M., Husnik, J. I., & Dahabieh, M. S. (2021).

34/70 as well as LalBrew Diamond™ belong to the Group II lineage. Both Group I and Group II have changed very little over the centuries since their domestication in 15th century Bavaria. strains to ferment at colder temperatures in order to produce neutral beers that are “lager-like”, they are not fermented with S. pastorianus LalBrew Nottingham™ is an excellent option for neutral pro le and broad fermentation temperatures range. methods lager the These strains are of and rst lager which innovation in to a cerevisiae NovaLager™ warmer rapid and while imparted by 3).

The LalBrew NovaLagerTM strain was

Left, top: Figure 3, Fermentation kinetics of different LalBrew® Premium Series yeast strains for lager styles. Standard all-malt 15°P pale wort pitched with 1.5 million cells/ ml/°P and fermented at 12°C.

Industrially Applicable De Novo Lager Yeast Hybrids with a Unique Genomic Architecture: Creation and Characterization. Applied and environmental microbiology, 87(3)

1 Turgeon, Z., Sierocinski, T., Brimacombe, C. A., Jin, Y., Goldhawke, B., Swanson, J. M., Husnik, J. I., & Dahabieh, M. S. (2021).

34/70 as well as LalBrew Diamond™ belong to the Group II lineage. Both Group I and Group II have changed very little over the centuries since their domestication in 15th century Bavaria. strains to ferment at colder temperatures in order to produce neutral beers that are “lager-like”, they are not fermented with S. pastorianus LalBrew Nottingham™ is an excellent option for neutral pro le and broad fermentation temperatures range. methods lager the These strains are of and rst lager which innovation in to a cerevisiae NovaLager™ warmer rapid and while imparted by 3).

2 https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/technical-paper/hydrogen-sul de-h2s-beer/

2 https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/technical-paper/hydrogen-sul de-h2s-beer/

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

Industrially Applicable De Novo Lager Yeast Hybrids with a Unique Genomic Architecture: Creation and Characterization. Applied and environmental microbiology, 87(3)

BREWERS JOURNAL 54 | NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 YEAST

0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 8 10 Fig. 4: H2S production during fermentation with LalBrew® Premium yeast strains for lager beer styles. A typical lager strain is shown for comparison purposes. Traditional lager strains (LalBrew Diamond™, typical lager strain) produce more H2S than ale strains (LalBrew Nottingham™). H2S levels

0 2 4 6

15°P

Left, bottom: Figure 4, H2S production during fermentation with LalBrew® Premium yeast strains for lager beer styles. A typical lager strain is shown for comparison purposes. Traditional lager strains (LalBrew DiamondTM, typical lager strain) produce more H2S than ale strains (LalBrew NottinghamTM). H2S levels are undetectable for fermentations with LalBrew NovaLagerTM. Standard all-malt 15°P pale wort pitched with 1.5 million cells/ml/°P and fermented at 12°C.

LalBrew Diamond™ LalBrew Nottingham™ LalBrew NovaLager™

LalBrew Diamond™ LalBrew Nottingham™ LalBrew NovaLager™

Practices Lallemand Lager Strain Comparison

Above: Table 1, Comparison of LalBrew Premium Series strains for lager styles.

Table 1: Comparison of LalBrew® Premium Series strains for lager styles.

Diacetyl

LAGER FLAVOR AND AROMA

Right, top: Figure 5, A typical diacetyl rest is performed by increasing the temperature for several days at the end of active fermentation

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S)

selected for reduced H2S production by disrupting specific sulfur metabolic genes (Figure 4). As a result, LalBrew NovaLagerTM does not require the long maturation times typical of traditional lager strains.

DIACETYL

Diacetyl is a common fermentation byproduct that is perceived by most people as an o - avor. It is produced from a side reaction by yeast metabo lizing amino acids into valine. The yeast produces α-acetolactate, which is then excreted out of the cell. The α-acetolactate is then decarboxylated into diacetyl and reabsorbed back into the yeast at the end of fermentation where it is metabolized into acetoin, a avorless compound. Diacetyl reabsorption by the yeast takes time and is faster at warmer ale temperatures compared to cooler lager temperatures. Diacetyl may be present in packaged beer when fermentations are incom plete, and the yeast is unable to completely reabsorb the diacetyl. For this reason, lager fermentations usually employ a diacetyl rest by raising the temperature at the end of fermentation to give the yeast time to reabsorb the diacetyl before transfer o the yeast (Figure 5). Diacetyl production can also be inhibited by using an α-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) enzyme, which allows the direct breakdown of α-acetolac

All brewing yeasts produce some amount of H2S during fermentation as a part of normal amino acid metabolism (See our Technical paper, Impact of Hydrogen Sul de in Brewing2). With ale fermentations, H2S is depleted e ciently by CO2 scrubbing during active fermentation and reabsorption by the yeast after full attenuation. With lager fermentations, the cooler, slower fermentations result in less CO2 scrubbing and the bottom fermenting, medium occulant lager yeast does not reabsorb H2S as e ciently. Small amounts of H2S at threshold detection levels produced by traditional lager strains such as LalBrew Diamond™ are considered an important part of the normal sensory pro le for many lager beers. However,

Diacetyl is a common fermentation byproduct that is perceived by most people as an off-flavour. It is produced from a side reaction by yeast metabolizing amino acids into valine. The yeast produces -acetolactate, which is then excreted out of the cell. The -acetolactate is then decarboxylated into

diacetyl and reabsorbed back into the yeast at the end of fermentation where it is metabolized into acetoin, a flavourless compound.

Valine Uptake

Diacetyl reabsorption by the yeast takes time and is faster at warmer ale temperatures compared to cooler lager temperatures. Diacetyl may be present in packaged beer when fermentations are incomplete, and the yeast is unable to completely reabsorb the diacetyl. For

wort

this reason, lager fermentations usually employ a diacetyl rest by raising the temperature at the end of fermentation to give the yeast time to reabsorb the diacetyl before transfer off the yeast (Figure 5).

Diacetyl production can also be inhibited by using an -acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) enzyme, which allows the direct breakdown of -acetolac- tate into flavourless acetoin and prevents the

or brewing techniques

elevated levels of H2S and an undesirable aroma of rotten eggs. This can be avoided

NovaLager™ strain was selected for reduced

adding

to the wort (especially when using adjuncts) and leaving the beer in contact with the yeast before

Right, top: Figure 6, LalBrew NovaLagerTM exhibits higher “ale-like” uptake of valine similar to LalBrew Nottingham compared to traditional lager strains.

Right, bottom: Figure 7, The level of diacetyl produced by different yeast strains for lager styles.

at warmer ale temperatures compared to cooler lager temperatures. Diacetyl may be present in packaged beer when fermentations are incom plete, and the yeast is unable to completely reabsorb the diacetyl. For this reason, lager fermentations usually employ a diacetyl rest by raising the temperature at the end of fermentation to give the yeast time to reabsorb the diacetyl before transfer o the yeast (Figure 5). Diacetyl production can also be inhibited by using an α-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) enzyme, which allows the direct breakdown of α-acetolac tate into avorless acetoin and prevents the formation and normal metabolism of diacetyl by the yeast cell.

formation and normal metabolism of diacetyl by the yeast cell. Strain selection will also impact diacetyl production. Ale strains such as LalBrew NottinghamTM will tend to produce less diacetyl as a result of more efficient valine uptake. LalBrew NovaLagerTM demonstrates valine uptake and diacetyl levels that are similar to ale strains (Figures 6-7), which contributes to shorter maturation times required for this strain compared to traditional lager strains.

Diacetyl production

ESTERS AND HOP BIOTRANSFORMATION

Traditional lager strains such as LalBrew DiamondTM produce few esters and are very neutral leading to clean, dry and refreshing beers. Modern interpretations of lager styles tend to be more flavorful,

Valine Uptake 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Fig. 6: LalBrew NovaLager™ exhibits higher “ale-like” uptake of valine similar to LalBrew Nottingham compared to traditional lager strains.

Fig. 6: LalBrew NovaLager™ exhibits higher “ale-like” Nottingham compared to traditional lager strains.

Diacetyl production

Strain selection will also impact diacetyl production. Ale strains such as LalBrew Nottingham™ will tend to produce less diacetyl as a result of more e cient valine uptake. LalBrew NovaLager™ demonstrates valine uptake and diacetyl levels that are similar to ale strains (Figures 6-7), which contributes to shorter maturation times required for this strain compared to traditional lager strains.

Esters

Biotransformation

LalBrew Diamond™ LalBrew

Strain selection will also impact diacetyl production. Ale strains such as LalBrew Nottingham™ a result of more e cient valine uptake. LalBrew NovaLager™ demonstrates valine uptake and strains (Figures 6-7), which contributes to shorter maturation times required for this strain compared 0

2000 1500 1000 0 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

often with higher hop rates than traditional lager beers.

Esters and Hop Biotransformation

Fig. 7: The level of diacetyl produced by di erent yeast strains for lager styles.

The LalBrew NovaLagerTM strain produces low to medium esters for a

Traditional lager strains such as LalBrew Diamond™ produce few esters and are very neutral leading to clean, dry and refreshing beers. Modern interpretations of lager styles tend to be more avorful, often with higher hop rates than traditional lager beers. The LalBrew NovaLager™ strain produces low to medium esters for a more aromatic lager beer,

more aromatic lager beer, and expression of a -glucosidase enzymes promotes biotransformation and complexity of hop aromas.

Traditional Diamond™ neutral beers. Modern tend to hop rates LalBrew medium and expression promotes of hop aromas.

before transfer o the yeast (Figure 5). Diacetyl production can also be inhibited by using an α-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) enzyme, which allows the direct breakdown of α-acetolac tate into avorless acetoin and prevents the formation and normal metabolism of diacetyl by the yeast cell. www.lallemandbrewing.com LALLEMAND BREWING

Fig. 7: The level of diacetyl produced by di erent yeast strains for lager styles.

Nottingham™ LalBrew NovaLager™

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ENHANCE BEER AROMA WITH YEAST NUTRIENTS

AROMA

Yeast nutrients will ensure a healthy fermentation, meaning that the yeast has what it needs to perform at its absolute best and in doing so deliver the results you want. They can guard against poor fermentations and off flavour formation. Many brewers will often use yeast nutrients as a matter of course - a better-safe-than-sorry measure - which is perfectly fine. Afterall, a yeast nutrient is considered a natural product. They are essentially yeast hulls and autolysates of yeast, and contain diammonium phosphate (inorganic nitrogen), vitamins and minerals.

In peak condition yeast provide

consistent, reliable fermentations and create rich complex aromas and flavours. However, nutrient deficient wort or one in which the nutrients have limited bioavailability for the yeast cells, can create a sub-optimal environment for the yeast.

This is compounded by the presence of alcohol and carbon dioxide, and a less than ideal wort pH. These factors lead to yeast stress causing stuck (or slow) fermentations, inconsistent attenuation rates, off-flavour formation, and reduced yeast cell viability. High gravity worts (high alcohol fermentations) or high adjunct fermentations can also be challenging. Particular attention needs to be given to how yeast is propagated, the re-pitching rates, how, when, and where

WE GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO ENSURE YEAST PERFORMS OPTIMALLY DURING FERMENTATION. YEAST NUTRIENTS CAN FURTHER MINIMISE THE RISK OF PROBLEMATIC FERMENTATIONS BY PROVIDING THE NUTRIENTS YEAST NEEDS TO STAY IN PEAK CONDITION.

WHAT IF THEY ALSO ENHANCE THE AROMA PROFILE OF THE BEER AND BOOST FLAVOUR? ANDRÉS

active dry yeast and yeast nutrients are added, and the temperature control during fermentation.

AROMA BOOSTING

At AEB we know that in wine production yeast nutrition is of vital importance not only for ‘healthy’ fermentations but also for aroma and flavour development. Yeast nutrition plays a key role in supporting the biosynthesis of aroma-active compounds, known as thiols, during fermentation. Thiols are organosulphur compounds, also called mercaptans. Aroma- and flavour-active thiols, long known for their sensory impact in wine, have been identified only relatively recently in beer. When created/

released they give intense floral, fruity, and tropical aromas and flavours. These highly volatile aroma-active compounds are becoming more relevant, especially in craft brewing, as consumer demand for tropical aromas in hop-forward beer styles, such as West Coast and New England IPAs and modern lagers, continues to rise.

TAKING LESSONS FROM WINE

Originally identified in wine, three potent thiols are known to give tropical fruit-like aromas to beer. Briefly, these are: 4MMP (blackcurrant-like), 3MH (grapefruit and gooseberry-like) and 3MHA (passionfruit and guava-like). They exist in free and bound form in hops, often varietylinked; and to a lesser extent in malted cereals such as barley and wheat. Their release is linked to a yeast gene (IRC7) which encodes an enzyme responsible for cleaving thiol precursors and their biotransformation into aroma-active forms. Wines made from Sauvignon grapes are rich in aroma-active thiols, yet the grape itself has predominantly the bound forms; prompting brewers to add Sauvignon grape skins to the mash rather than late hop. In contrast to wine yeast, most brewing strains lack the gene, which has led to the development of ‘thiolised’ yeasts using gene editing. Yeast strains have also been altered with GM or hybridisation techniques to promote thiol expression in beer.

MORE THAN JUST A NUTRIENT

Building on our extensive knowledge of aroma-active compounds in wine, we’ve been collaborating with brewers to enhance beer aroma and flavour, sustainably (and more naturally), through the complex interactions of yeast nutrition including amino acid composition, wort composition, pH in wort fermentations, point of application, and hop variety. The aim being to reduce high hopping rates, negate the use of grape-skin based aroma boosting products, and avoid the use of GM yeast. The yeast nutrients we’ve developed for winemaking can enhance a brewing yeast’s ability to convert malt- and hopderived aroma-active thiol precursors,

WHAT’S IN A YEAST NUTRIENT?

The main nutrients yeast need are carbohydrates, in the form of glu cose, fructose, maltose, maltotriose, various amino acids and other nitro gen containing compounds collec tively known as Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN), vitamins (biotin, pantothenic acid, thiamine, inositol), and minerals (zinc, phosphate, potassium, calcium, magnesium).

A typical yeast nutrient contains: u Amino acids – although yeast make their own amino acids, some are taken in from the wort u Phosphate – or diammonium phosphate (DAP) is a water-soluble salt that delivers valuable nitrogen u Vitamins & minerals – including thiamine (vitamin B1), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), biotin (vitamin B7), inositol (B8), ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and essential minerals (zinc, manga nese, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium). All necessary for the metabolic reactions yeast need to do their job. They function as catalysts during fermentation and protect yeast cell walls and support flocculation.

u Yeast hulls – these are water-in soluble inactivated yeast cells. Live yeast feed off the nutrients they contain.

and other relevant fermentation flavour active by-products, such as esters, terpenes, and higher alcohols, via the process of biotransformation, to release intense and pleasant floral or fruity aromas in beer. There’s no doubting the appeal of designing and creating beers with distinct aroma profiles using yeast nutrients. And for low and no alcohol beer that appeal is even greater.

About the author: Andrés Furukawa is Brewing Technologist at the AEB Group. He has a keen interest in wine yeast and yeast nutrition Andrés is also the founder and head brewer at Macken Bryggeri in, and brewmaster at Nils Oscar Brewery.

INTRODUCING: HOMEBREW CORNER

and culture, with a modern and innovative approach. But let’s first take a step back, and when Rob Lovatt talks, you listen. The production director at the venerable Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell is one of the UK’s finest brewers. He was frequently part of the judging panel at the Great British Home Brew Challenge.

In conjunction with Waitrose and Brew UK, the competition of fered the winner the chance to brew their beer at Thornbridge before it was rolled out to some 70 Waitrose stores across the UK. And in 2016, the triumphant beer was Raindrops on Roses, a 5.3% Belgian Wit style beer, brewed with rose petals. Commenting at the time, Lovatt said: “The beer was undoubt edly well made with the roses working in a beautiful harmony with the camomile and coriander. A worthy winner from a great selection of beers that were submitted to the challenge which goes from strength to strength.”

To kick off this new part of The Brewers Journal, we want to place the spotlight on those that have made the jump from brewing in their spare time to something even more involved.

And we have all come into the beer industry from different angles, with our own perspectives and from diverse origins. Phil Sisson, the founder of Simple Things Fermenta tions, in Glasgow, Scotland, is no different. Leaving a career in music studio management within London, to move north of the border for a new life, he would soon find his true calling in brewing.

Because we know that some things are just meant to be. For many years, the Strongroom Bar & Kitchen in Shoreditch, London has been something of a destination for great beer in the capital. Not just to a place to drink it, but often to enjoy this beloved beverage in the company of those that brew it, sell it and market it.

Home to countless meet the brewer events, beer festivals and the like, Strongroom was initially founded as somewhere for clients of the studios that operate above the bar to drink, min gle and be merry. And for some time, the manager of Strong room Studio was Phil Sisson. But following a successful stint in London, Sisson would end up trading the capital and its music scene for another creative calling. And that would mean starting his own brewery in Glasgow in the form of Simple Things Fermentations, an outfit founded on the desire to focus on British and European brewing

The victorious homebrewer in the 2016 competition was Phil Sisson. Having moved to Glasgow from London several years back, he wasn’t 100% certain what his next career move would be – but successes such as those clearly focused the mind.

“For us, Glasgow was more or less a pin in a map type thing. Although I grew up in the northwest of England, my folks are in Cumbria, and my wife grew up in Fife in eastern Scotland,” he explains. “So we were effectively within striking distance of both of our parents. That, and we were ready to leave London after more than 20 years.”

Sisson wasn’t keen on giving up much of London’s qualities though, so Glasgow would become their destination. However a career in beer wasn’t front and centre of his thoughts upon leaving the big smoke.

“I think we’ve moved to Glasgow before I’d settled on brewing, I’ve been home brewing for quite a while and enjoying it, and then we moved up to Scotland, and I did more of it,” he says. “So I applied for a Masters at Herriot Watt, was accepted and at that point, the die was cast.”

Sisson says his time at the world-famous institution was a fantastic experience, and one he’s happy to admit was much harder work than he had initially expected, especially as he was combining a young family and a commute between Glas gow and Edinburgh. “That knocked a couple of hours off of the day. And in addition to the huge amount of work to be done, I was part of their natural selection team, an annual project where you develop and bring to market a brand new beer,” he recalls. “It’s a fantastic initiative in conjunction with Stewart

heritage

At the The Brewers Journal, we’ve always taken pride in showcasing the fantastic people and businesses that make up the fabric of the brewing industry. And in this publication, we also want to champion the brilliant beers, innovation and hard work that takes place in the homebrewing community each and every day. Homebrewing is an integral and essential part of many brewery’s journeys. Whether you are just starting out or having been homebrewing for years, we want this to be somewhere you can tell your stories, share your expertise and wield your wisdom

brewing which involves formulating, brewing, packaging and hopefully selling a new beer.” Sisson adds: “It was a super experience that I gained an awful lot from, not just in terms of brewing but the business side, too. The Stewart Brewing team were really good mentors and very generous with their time.”

The aspiring brewery owner also relished the diverse nature of the course setup, featuring students from South America, Australia, India, Africa and beyond. “I didn’t expect it to be such a big factor, but having the chance to learn from people from so many different back grounds, to benefit from those perspectives, was really valuable.”

Following the conclusion of his studies, Sisson would go on to work at Harviestoun Brewery in Alva before branching out on his own. He had a plan, and he knew how he wanted to carry it out – but accounting for a global pandemic was always going to be a tricky hurdle to navigate. “The business plan kind of consistent was was like a sort of two pronged affair. So it was doing bottle-conditioned releas es of styles that were a little bit off the beaten track,” he tells us. “And traditional styles for cask and keg dispense.”

For Sisson, his passions don’t lie in brewing hop-forward hazy pales and IPAs despite enjoying drinking them. “My feeling is that those beers are already very well taken care of by the brewing community, so we don’t need another brewery pop ping up making them,” he explains. “My penny drop moment came reading ‘Radical Brewing’ by Randy Mosher. Realising the sheer possibilities that exist in beer showed me how many opportunities there are for you as a brewer.”

And for Sisson, that belief was realised in initial releases such as European Pale Ale. A 5.0% beer featuring a malt bill of Maris Otter, Vienna, Carapils, Crystal, with Magnum, Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon, and Celeia hops alongside WHC Bjorn Kveik yeast.

Scottish Light, as the name suggests, is light in alcohol content, but dark in colour and big on flavour. Scottish Light (or 60/-) makes use of a long boil and a complex malt bill to deliver a rich and rewarding experience to the drinker. A slow and low fermentation keeps things clean, crisp and refreshing and allows the array of delicate flavours to delight the palate.

This under-represented style overperforms relative to its ABV, works equally well in summer or winter and ages well, making it a great choice for the fridge and the cellar. These beers form part of the brewery’s Big Ideas series, an exploration of

Sisson, founder, Simple Things Fermentations

different styles and ingredients that will at some point inform a core range of more regularly available brands. Regardless of package, instilling a sense of place in his beers was always an important aspect of what Simple Things Fermentations is about. And through releases such as the Scottish Light, Scot tish Export and Peated Pale, he’s done just that. “I’ve adopted something of a broad outlook to my beers,” he believes. “If you were to write it down, I’d probably say Scottish, British and European. But it’s more of a wide circle with Scotland in the middle.”

Fancy being part of an upcoming Homebrew Corner? Then just drop us a line at tim@reby.media

Phil

HERE’S MY BEER

For the inaugural recipe of our homebrew corner, Phil Sisson of Simple Things Fermentations shares the lowdown on his Peated Pale

This recipe is for a beer that I started brewing as a home brewer and eventually brewed as an STF beer a couple of years ago; Peated Pale. It’s a beer I love and represents the sort of thing we like to do as a brewery - full flavoured and full of character, but without adding anything too crazy in terms of ingredients. Obviously some people do consider peat smoked malt to be too crazy, and this beer isn’t for them! For those who enjoy peat flavours in whisky - or wherever - though, it’s well balanced and easy drinking. I managed to get hold of some peated malt from Bruichladdich for a home brew version, which was great! We used Crisp for the STF version and that was really not so different. It’s about time we brewed this again, in fact!

In terms of process, we’d ferment at 18C until fully fermented out then shift to CT for a couple of weeks, then can/bottle condition for another two weeks. No fining other than the protofloc in the kettle.

Phil Sisson: “This beer

full flavoured

full of character”

Original Gravity: 1.049 Final Gravity: 1.010 ABV (standard):5.1% IBU (tinseth): 32.3 SRM (morey): 5.3 Mash pH 5.7 Cost $ n/a

Fermentables

Amount Fermentable

Cost PPG °L Bill % 4 kg United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale 38 3.75 80.2% 0.28 kg German - Vienna 37 4 5.5% 0.22 kg United Kingdom - Wheat 37 2 4.4% 0.22 kg United Kingdom - Peated Malt 38 2.5 4.4% 0.28 kg Crisp Malting - Crisp Malting - Cara Gold 30 10 5.5% 4.99 kg / $ 0 00

Hops

Amount Variety Cost Type AA Use Time IBU Bill % 30 g Magnum Leaf/Whole 9.2 First Wort 0 min 28.93 35.3% 15 g Bramling Cross Leaf/Whole 5.63 Boil 10 min 2.92 17.6% 20 g Bramling Cross Leaf/Whole 5.63 Boil 1 min 0.46 23.5% 20 g Celeia Leaf/Whole 2.79 Boil 0 min 23.5% 85 g / $ 0 00

Mash Guidelines

Amount Description Type Temp Time 14.1 L Infusion 65 °C 60 min 21.4 L Fly Sparge 76 °C 30 min Starting Mash Thickness: 3 L/kg

Other Ingredients Amount Name Cost Type Use Time 5.42 g protofloc Fining

Wcan do with wet spent grain, now what about

how to make and use dry spent grain?

this issue of the Homebrew Journal, Ainslie will be experimenting to come up with the best way to keep your spent grains post-brew day recipes.

gonna go over a few ways to process your grain efficiently and safely using what you already have in your kitchen.

SPENT GRAINS THREE WAYS

Take it away Ainslie!

Brewing can be very wasteful with all water and grain used. An awesome way to cut down on the waste of your brewing process is to reuse your spent grains. It may seem overwhelming deal

Working part time as food ferments assistant at Escarpment Labs in Canada, Ainslie Forbes is part of a team of brewers, scientists, and fermentation enthusiasts. Here, she shares her expertise on keep your spent grains for post-brew day recipes.

The most important thing is to process your grains right away. If you let your grains sit for too long the moisture in them can cause mold growth or other pathogens. If you’re not ready to deal with your spent grains right away you can always freeze them on a sheet pan and thaw them when you are ready.

Brewing can be very wasteful with all the water and grain used. An awesome way to cut down on the waste of your brewing process is to reuse your spent grains. It may seem overwhelming dealing with a bunch of wet grain, but it can be very quick and an awesome way to add unique flavour to your cooking. I am gonna go over a few ways to process your grain efficiently and safely using what you already have in your kitchen.

There are three main methods which I’ll go over. Freeze drying is arguably the easiest out of the three, followed by dehydrating, and oven drying.

Methods

The most important thing is to process your grains right away. If you let your grains sit for too long the moisture in them can cause mould growth or other pathogens. If you’re not ready to deal with your spent grains right away you can always freeze them on a sheet pan and thaw them when you are ready.

There are three main methods which I’ll go over. Freeze drying is arguably the easiest out of the three, followed by dehydrat ing, and oven drying.

Freeze Drying

Is by far the most foolproof. Unfortu nately, it is the most out of reach for people because of the equipment needed. Most people don’t have a freeze dryer. What I love about this method though is that you can spread all of the spent grains on the trays and turn on the machine and it will be ready in the next 2 days. No need to babysit.

Freeze drying

Is by far the most foolproof. Unfortunately, it is the most out of reach for people because of the equipment needed. Most people don’t have a freeze dryer. What I love about this meth od though is that you can spread all of the spent grains on the trays and turn on the machine and it will be ready in the next 2 days. No need to babysit.

BREWDAY TIPS

Dehydrating

Is another great option if you have access to one. There are also some affordable dehydrators available online or at a variety of department stores. Most dehydrators have holes big enough for the spent grain to slip through though so to help mitigate this use parchment paper cut to size and place spent grains on top. In the specific dehydrator I used, it had a hole in the middle of the tray, so I made sure to cut a hole in the parchment in the same space to allow air flow. I then set the temperature to 105°F (40°C) and left it on for a weekend.

Oven drying

Is by far the most tedious method, but is the most attainable without buying another machine. For best results, turn your oven onto the lowest setting possible, ours was around 160°F (70°C). Spread spent grains on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper and put them in the oven. This method will take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours (or more!) Make sure to stir every so often, I suggest every 30 minutes in order to pre vent burning and or cooking. If your oven holds moisture, make sure to pay extra attention to stir often to let the steam out. If, like me, you aren’t able to finish dehydrating the spent grain in one day you can always freeze the tray as is and start again when you have time.

grain. Optimal to still add a nutty

vour but remain as a neutral.

2. Dehydrated: Has a more rough texture and tastes a little bland. Definitely, my least favourite of the three.

Flavour Comparisons

3. Oven Dried: Has the roughest texture and tastes almost caramelized. A very pleasant taste for a recipe that needs a deeper flavour.

Flavour Comparisons

1. Freeze Dried: Has a softer mouth feel ing, Tastes the most like the original grain. Optimal to still add a nutty fla vour but remain as a neutral.

Next Steps

2. Dehydrated: Has a more rough texture and tastes a little bland. Definitely, my least favourite of the three.

Flavour Comparisons

u Freeze Dried: Has a softer mouth feel- ing, Tastes the most like the original grain. Optimal to still add a nutty flavour but remain as a neutral.

3. Oven Dried: Has the roughest texture and tastes almost caramelized. A very pleasant taste for a recipe that needs a deeper flavour.

u Dehydrated: Has a more rough texture and tastes a little bland. Definitely, my least favourite of the three.

1. Freeze Dried: Has a softer mouth feel ing, Tastes the most like the original grain. Optimal to still add a nutty fla vour but remain as a neutral.

Next Steps

Although you can use the spent grains whole after dehydrating, I like turning them into spent grain flour. Using a blender, I will add the dehydrated grains and blend them into a fine powder. It can then sit in your pantry for months until you want to use them.

u Oven Dried: Has the roughest texture and tastes almost caramelized. A very pleasant taste for a recipe that needs a deeper flavour.

2. Dehydrated: Has a more rough texture and tastes a little bland. Definitely, my least favourite of the three.

Next steps

Although you can use the spent grains whole after dehydrating, I like turning them into spent grain flour. Using a blender, I will add the dehydrated grains and blend them into a fine powder. It can then sit in your pantry for months until you want to use them.

3. Oven Dried: Has the roughest texture and tastes almost caramelized. A very pleasant taste for a recipe that needs a deeper flavour.

Next Steps

Although you can use the spent grains whole after dehydrat ing, I like turning them into spent grain flour. Using a blender, I will add the dehydrated grains and blend them into a fine powder. It can then sit in your pantry for months until you want to use them.

What to make

You can make a ton of recipes with spent grains. My favourite way to find new recipes is to modify an existing recipe. First

Although you can use the spent grains whole after dehydrating, I like turning them into spent grain flour. Using a blender, I will add the dehydrated grains and blend them into a fine powder. It can then sit in your pantry for months until you want to use them.

What to Make

What to Make

You can make a ton of recipes with spent grains. My favourite way to find new recipes is to modify an existing recipe. First I’ll find a recipe that I think will benefit from the nutty flavour that spent grain brings. Then I’ll check the ingredients; if the recipe has one AP flour, whole wheat flour, orwhite flour, I suggest replacing around 5-15% of it with spent grain flour. If your recipe

You can make a ton of recipes with spent grains. My favourite way to find new recipes is to modify an existing recipe. First I’ll find a recipe that I think will benefit from the nutty flavour that spent grain brings. Then I’ll check the ingredients; if the recipe has one AP flour, whole wheat flour, orwhite flour, I suggest replacing around 5-15% of it with spent grain flour. If your recipe

2. 3.

1. 2. 3.

has a mix around 66-75% white flour or 25-34% whole wheat flour I suggest re placing all of the brown flour. You can also replace ingredients like oats with the whole spent grains. Overall, I sug gest starting with a smaller replace ment and gradually increase until you achieve your desired flavour without compromising the integrity. And don’t forget that you will need to increase the amount of sweetener in the recipe because the sugar that was in the grain will now be in your beer!

has a mix around 66-75% white flour or 25-34% whole wheat flour I suggest re placing all of the brown flour. You can also replace ingredients like oats with the whole spent grains. Overall, I sug gest starting with a smaller replace ment and gradually increase until you achieve your desired flavour without compromising the integrity. And don’t forget that you will need to increase the amount of sweetener in the recipe because the sugar that was in the grain will now be in your beer!

ATTN: Make sure to write the grain profile on the container of spent grain so you can know all of the allergens.

Ainslie’s Favourites:

ATTN: Make sure to write the grain profile on the container of spent grain so you can know all of the allergens.

Ainslie’s Favourites:

o Spent grain pancakes: Using the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook.

Ainslie’s Favourites:

o Dog treats: Make sure there are no rice hulls or hops!

o Fancy Crackers: Again, make sure grains have no rice hulls!

I’ll find a recipe that I think will benefit from the nutty flavour that spent grain brings. Then I’ll check the ingredients; if the recipe has one AP flour, whole wheat flour, or white flour, I suggest replacing around 5-15% of it with spent grain flour. If your recipe has a mix around 66-75% white flour or 25-34% whole wheat flour I suggest replacing all of the brown flour. You can also re place ingredients like oats with the whole spent grains. Over all, I suggest starting with a smaller replacement and grad ually increase until you achieve your desired flavour without compromising the integrity. And don’t forget that you will need to increase the amount of sweetener in the recipe because the sugar that was in the grain will now be in your beer! Make sure to write the grain profile on the container of spent grain so you can know all of the allergens.

o Spent grain pancakes: Using the “Joy Cooking” cookbook.

o Dog treats: Make sure there are no rice hulls or hops!

o Fancy Crackers: Again, make sure grains have no rice hulls!

u Spent grain pancakes: Using the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook.

u Dog treats: Make sure there are no rice hulls or hops!

u Fancy Crackers: Again, make sure grains have no rice hulls!

has a mix around 66-75% white flour or 25-34% whole wheat flour I suggest re

brewersjournal.ca

BREWERS CONGRESS

BREWERS

Manufacturers and suppliers from the world of ingredients, packaging, capital equipment. software, measurement, analysis and branding are all taking part in the biggest Brewers Congress to date. So here is a glimpse of variety of innovation you can expect at the December event.

At this time of year, many breweries have just released seasonal specials featuring a wonderful world of flavour. And no doubt they have already also turned their collective attention to next year’s schedule. At The Brewers Congress Amoretti (Stand 702) a California-based company, is showcasing their super concentrated natural infusions for craft beverages, just in time for 2023 calendar brewing schedules.

Elsewhere in the world of malt, French & Jupps Ltd (Stand 402) specialises in the production of top-quality speciality roasted and fine crystal malts. While Simpsons Malt (Stand 703) understand your ambitions to make the best beers and whiskies possible. With their heritage varieties, Golden Promise and Maris Otter, to Red Rye Crystal and Golden Naked Oats, they know that to make better beer and better whisky, it’s all about taste and flavour.

Remaining with ingredients, Hopsteiner (Stand 704), offer novel hop varieties & products, including New Salvo, a product that reduces waste and increases yield. Brook House Hops (Stand 304) combining innovation and traditional farming expertise, transforming hop growing and producing some of the most aromatic, verdant hops in the world, right here in their Herefordshire hop paradise.

At Charles Faram (Stand 705), the

business has one of the largest ranges of hop varieties available in nitrogen flushed leaf, T90 and T45 pellets, while their development programme continues to produce new aromas and flavours.

With recent launches such as SafBrew BR-8, the first dry Brett designed for your bottle and/or cask conditioning, Fermentis (Stand 604) has a range of products and services that cover almost all professional requirements: from safeguarding production to expressing sensory characteristics.

CONGRESS THE INDUSTRY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

And earlier this year, White Labs (Stand 009) launched PurePitch Next Generation, an evolution of White Labs’ PurePitch – which they say is the most superior and consistent yeast on the market – has been made even better with new packaging powered by FlexCell Technology for ease of use and a pitch rate resulting in a foolproof fermentation every time.

YOUR BEERS ON THE MOVE

In the world of kegs, whether for beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee or water, as a full-range supplier, Schäfer Container Systems (Stand 003) says it has the right reusable keg for every beverage. While Polykeg (Stand 308) offer an exceptional range of recyclable, high quality, one way PET kegs that are designed for safety and ease of use whilst providing the ultimate protection for its contents. While KeyKeg and UniKeg (Stand 102) are high quality and sustainable packaging that offer the best protection for your beers. With KeyKeg this protection is ensured by the Bag-in-Keg technology, keeping your beers separated from the propellant.

Keg Logistics (Stand 001) are proud to boast the Kegs you want, with the flexibility you need, working with startups

& national brewers, there are mix and match keg programs to meet your brewery’s needs. At Kegstar (Stand 202), they offer a stainless-steel keg & cask solution to the beverage industry. Brewers leave keg maintenance, warehousing and return logistics to us, spending less time and capital on fleet management and more time on making great brews. Elsewhere, Close Brothers Brewery Rentals (Stand 408) are experienced and respected industry specialists offering tailored solutions for kegs, casks and drinks equipment to brewers, cider makers and distillers.

Having worked with numerous breweries, both large and small, to reduce their carbon emissions and their energy costs, CleanEarth (Stand 503) is a leading provider of renewable energy to UK businesses, boasting more than 600 solar PV and wind turbine installations across England, Wales and Scotland.

When it comes to capital equipment, Fulton (Stand 909) specialises in the

design and manufacture of fuel-fired and electric steam boilers, thermal fluid heaters and skid-mounted systems for industrial, commercial and medical applications. SSV Ltd (Stand 809) are trusted by some of the best breweries around. With Brew-Blocs, they offer preassembled turnkey brewhouses to get you brewing straight away. Their tanks are process vessels of all shapes and sizes, including custom manufacture. When it comes to parts, everything you need for servicing and upkeep, is all within a few clicks. And with end-to-end solutions, they offer a personal service, from design and installation to servicing and training.

And based in West Yorkshire, Collective Motion Brewing (Stand 002) are automation specialists for the brewing, distilling and cider making industries. They have extensive experience in automation of brewing processes as well as building, maintenance, and upgrades to packaging plants and cleaning skids (CIP). Exhibiting on (Stand 307) Enterprise

Tondelli have been supplying equipment including bottling and canning solutions to the brewing and spirits industries for many years. Whether you need a complete line or a single machine, from 1,500 bottles/cans per hour to 80,000 bottles/cans per hour, Enterprise Tondelli have the answer.

Elsewhere, Vigo (Stand 409) is known for its ability to supply carefully chosen brewery equipment by renowned manufacturers. These include ABE craft canning lines & brewhouses; Rizzolio bottling equipment & CIMEC bottling lines; Malek kegging equipment/lines; STS labelling machines; Kreyer/Quantor temperature control equipment; Speidel fermentation control/conditioning tanks; Amazon Filters & Bared filtration equipment; Vigo carbonators; Technibag bag-in box filling systems.

When it comes to canning. Cannery OÜ (Stand 806) says its canning products Cannery Standard, Cannery Pro, miniCannery & canCloud are the

best tools for a craft brew business. They help the crew to solve problems, be productive and collaborate more effectively. Their elegant canning machines and versatile platforms create a unique environment for your brewery processes.

EXCELLENT ANALYSIS

In the analysis sector, Foss (Stand 204) creates end-to-end solutions that secure and improve product quality. And systems such as its BeerFoss FT Go is a competitive solution that provides key test data for more effective quality control of the whole brewing process. It is easy to use and delivers results within 3 minutes.

And when it comes to high-tech procedures involving the quality of liquids, breweries around the world use Anton Paar’s (Stand 504) laboratory and process systems to measure and monitor beer parameters such as alcohol content, original, apparent and real extract, density, carbon dioxide and oxygen content, pH, turbidity, degree of fermentation, colour, calories and viscosity. The team at Jumo Instrument (Stand 403) know that brewing beer is an art form in itself, and they can offer the best in brewery technology, with

a wide range of solutions for the most diverse applications and customised requirements.

Elsewhere in your brewery lab, Pneumatic Scale Angelus (Stand 006) is a global supplier of packaging machinery for wet and dry filling, capping, can seaming, labeling, and centrifugation applications. These solutions are fully supported by our global service and aftermarket network. When it comes to analysis, Oculyze (Stand 008) helps you control the most sensible part of beer production. They explain that Oculyze is the fastest, easiest, and most affordable way to analyse your yeast. Simply connect our microscope to your mobile device and get started.

Sure Purity (Stand 507) based in the UK, manufactures a specialist CO2 multi-barrier filtration system called Carboguard. Available worldwide, Carboguard is mandated by global beverage brands in their bottling operations and breweries to prevent CO2 quality related incidents. While at (Stand 303) Corosys like to think outside the box with its DNA creating innovations like car-bonation directly post centrifuge, CO2-free water deaeration, flexible dealcoholization or mulitstream blending. Their #customcoldblock has a lot to discover.

And at Sysmex (Stand 109) is a provider of innovative and state-of-the-art

solutions for microbial quality control for a range of applications, such as waste water, process water, yeast viability and beverage spoilage in production and industrial environments. They offer ready to use solutions consisting of hardware, reagents, software and support, specifically designed for a range of microbiology applications.

Dotmatix Technologies (Stand 209) work with brewers to develop equipment designed to save them time and effort and improve efficiency and quality control. This equipment monitors present gravity in real time, removing the need to take regular beer samples during fermentation. And at Kersia UK (Stand 901) (the new name for Holchem) the company continues to deliver hygiene solutions through revolutionary technology and an unparalleled commitment to service levels. While for nearly 50 years, Shawcity’s (Stand 509) instruments have been deployed across Health & Safety, Occupational hygiene and environmental monitoring applications, providing the highest levels of worker health protection.

On the software front, Breww (Stand 106) is cloud-based, allowing you to run your brewery from your computer, tablet or phone. Trusted by over 250 breweries, Breww understands the complexity of running your business. With over 20 integrations, from e-commerce and accounting platforms to marketing and fermentation monitoring, Breww puts you in control of your stock, sales, distribution, duty and profits.

Also at the Brewers Congress are Premier Systems (Stand 502) who offer reliable and flexible software applications for business. Their cloud-based brewery management software, BrewMan, has been designed specifically for breweries and distilleries and is trusted by over 250 businesses in the UK. And how much more beer could your brewery sell if you had real-time data on sales volumes and quality? Big brands trust Bar Analytics (Stand 603) to collect

analyse their data

BRILLIANT BRANDING

We all know the value of excellent and impactful packaging and branding. Berlin Packaging (Stand 105) is a leading supplier of glass, closures and machinery for the spirits, beverage, food, pharmaceutical and home fragrance markets. The company offers an extensive catalogue of stock items, a design team which delivers world-class expertise to yield extraordinary results on bespoke products, and industryleading technical support. Inspiration (Stand 905) is a full service marketing and promotions agency. They not only create but actually produce innovative promotional ideas, campaigns and collateral. From a branded pen to a full e-commerce website and all points in between, probably Wales’ only truly one-stop design and manufacturer on this scale.

While when it comes to can printing, Hinterkopf (Stand 602) technology offers photo-realistic pictures with vibrant and vivid colours and pin sharp texts that open up completely new options of graphic design and the marketing of your products.

Around your brewery, Bulk Storage & Process Systems (Stand 902) will show how they specialise in industrial loose bulk materials handling and storage systems, offering unbiased advice on plant and equipment selection and a full project management service from conception and design, through to commissioning. At Optimum Flooring Services (Stand 302) they are specialist flooring contractors to the brewing industry. They offer seamless, hygienic resin flooring systems, custom made stainless steel drainage systems, Whiterock & PIR hygienic food safe panels, as well as Chillers, freezers and cold room storage units. J & E Hall’s (Stand 508) proven condensing units and cellar coolers provide effective commercial refrigeration solutions. Condensing units run refrigerated cabinets in convenience stores and petrol forecourt outlets and their cellar coolers accurately maintain wine and beer cellar temperatures.

On a broader industry note, The Licensed Trade Charity (Stand 309) has been providing free of charge support for over 200 years to those who currently working, or have previously worked in the licensed drinks industry. Access to a variety of emotional, practical and financial help is just one touch away via the 24/7 helpline and mobile app. And for more two decades the Carling Partnership (Stand 404) has been the leading name in recruitment, specialising in the drinks sector. They offer unrivalled access to the industry, deep understanding of the sector’s demands, and a thorough and personal approach.

The team at Potter Clarkson (Stand 208) creates value from your innovation. They bring vision and clarity of thought to guide you through the complexities of intellectual property for business. As consultants and experts in IP law, they help you understand, create, protect and defend the commercial value of your innovations anywhere in the world.

THE DISTILLERS ROW

Visitors to The Distillers Congress can chat to Vetroelite, (Stand 609). The company’s mission is to design, produce and sell an exclusive range of glass containers (bottles, carafes, jars) while also offering premium add-on services (technical and marketing consultations, graphic design and glass decoration) for a number of sectors of the market.

And in the world of packaging Printed Paper Tubes (Stand 707) prides itself on the service they provide to their customers, from the quality of the tubes to the customisation they offer on these printed tubes. For them and many others, the experience of a brand begins with their packaging. When their customers receive your products in the post, they want to make sure that your brand makes the perfect first impression.

At Lallemand Distilling (Stand 607) specialises in the research, development, production and marketing of yeast, yeast nutrients, enzymes, bacteria and innovative solutions. It consists of the team within Lallemand Biofuels

AEB

Amoretti

Anton Paar

Bar Analytics Berlin Packaging

Breww

Brook House Hops Bulk Storage

Cannery OU Carling Partnership Certuss Charles Faram CleanEarth

Close Brothers Collective Motion Corosys

Deep Water Blue Limited Dotmatix Enterprise Tondelli Ethimex Fermentis Foss French and Jupps Fulton Hinterkopf Hopsteiner Inspiration Gifts JE Hall Jumo Instruments Keg Logistics Kegstar Kersia Group KeyKeg Lallemand Lallemand Distilling

Licensed Trade Charity Micro Can

Oculyze

Optimum Flooring Services

Pneumatic Scales Angelus PolyKeg

Potter Clarkson

Premier Systems

Printed Paper Tubes

QCL

Schaefer

ShawCity

Simpsons Malt

SSV

Sure Purity Sysmex

VetroElite

Vigo White Labs

Yamika Chief Hops

701 702 504 603 105 106 305 902 806 404 709 705 503 408 002 303 708 209 307 706 604 204 402 909 602 704 905 508 403 001 202 901 102 301 607 309 1001 008 302 006 308 208 502 707 501 003 509 703 809 507 109 609 409 009 101

& Distilled Spirits (LBDS) dedicated to distillers. Lallemand Distilling is committed to providing the distilling market with only the highest quality products : yeast, nutrients, enzymes, and innovative solutions in partnership with expert technical support and education

programs, all specific to the needs of distillers.

While Ethimex UK (Stand 706) is a leading British company and trusted expert in the global ethanol trade with headquarters in London and subsidiary offices in the USA, France, and Singapore

their customers come first and for over two decades they have supplied highquality, tailored products to their clients in the beverage, pharmacy, perfumery, and cosmetics industries.

Certuss (Stand 709) is a worldwide brand, supplying high quality coil type steam boilers, offering rapid steam raising ability, for all steam user requirements. Certuss Steam Generators can be placed in the working area and don’t require any boiler housing. Even when in full operation, the outside of a Certuss Generator is never hot, but only mildly warm. The proof of their reliability is simple: they keep spare parts stored for over 20 years due to the long life span of their genera-tors.

At Deep Water Blue, (Stand 708) they specialise in improving efficiency of water and steam systems, process and waste operations. They are a strong team of consultants who have all spent our working lives developing unique and effective water treatment systems. solutions for clients.

BREWERS

THE BREWERS CONGRESS HAS ALWAYS TAKEN PRIDE IN GIVING A PLATFORM TO BEST-IN-CLASS TALENT FROM THE ACROSS THE WORLD OF BEER AND BREWING. AND IN 2022, THAT’S NO DIFFERENT. HERE’S A TASTER OF SOME OF THIS YEAR’S SPEAKERS AND THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS TAKING

PLACE THIS DECEMBER.

At The Brewers Journal, we believe in the international language of beer and remain thrilled that brewers from across the globe both attend The Brewers Congress and share their expertise on stage.

This year, over two days, we have two keynote addresses. We welcome Rudi Ghequire who has been the brewmaster at Rodenbach since 1982. By his own admission. Ghequire has trod the hallways of their foeder-filled brewhouse more times than he can count. Based in Roeselare, Belgium, Rodenbach is the kind of brewery that leaves a lasting impression.

CONGRESS MEET THE MAKERS

Here passionate beer masters ensure the perfect flavour of the famous ‘Flemish red-brown ale’. Using their own unique recipes they brew exceptional beer from mixed fermentation in 294 oak casks. The result being beers that are slightly different to what you expect. Refreshing and intense.

Also speaking is Jamil Zainasheff. Zainasheff started brewing in 1999 and soon started winning awards in homebrew competitions. He has brewed beers in every style recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program, taken medals in the finals of the National Homebrew Competition every year since 2002 and amassed more than 20 Bestof-Show awards.

Over the course of The Brewers Congress, we will hear from Dr Dawn Maskell, associate Professor and also director of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, Andrés Furukawa, a brewing technologist at AEB Group as well founder and head brewer at Macken Bryggeri in Sweden, and brewmaster at Nils Oscar Brewery. We’ll also hear

from Jaime Jurado, a consultant master brewer and technical and operations COO consultant working in distilled spirits operations, malt beverages, cannabis beverages.

Taking part in 2022 is Chris Pilkington, the head brewer at Tallinn Estonia-based Põhjala where they push the boundaries with the revered Forest Series of beers showcasing local ingredients and barrelageing. Matt Giffen is the founder of Canada’s Bench Brewing Company, a brewery that opened its doors in 2018, with a vision of striving to be a leader in producing barrel-aged, sour and mixed fermentation beers.

Speaking is Brian Dickson the technical director at Leeds-based Northern Monk who he has helped become a leading force in the world of craft beer, and Alex Troncoso the co-founder of Bristol’s Lost and Grounded Brewers. Known for their standout flagship Keller Pils, this unfiltered lager epitomises which they are about: understated simplicity and creating something delicious and complex.

Delivering a talk is Lotte Peplow, the Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe. Based in

Keynote speaker Jamil Zainascheff

Clockwise

Clockwise

from top left: Katie Arabella, Doug Checknita, Melissa Cole, Paul Davies Brian Dickson, Rudi Ghequire, Michelle Gay, Andrés Furukawa, & Ali Capper

from far left: Matt Giffen, Roman Hochuli, Jaime Jurado, John Keeling, Will Kirkby, Jenn Merrick, Dr Dawn Maskell, Rutele Marciulionyte, & Luke.Kulchstein

Clockwise from upper left: Jonny Mills, Fergal Murray, Lotte Pelow, Chris Pilkington, Jef Pirens, Vinny Rosario, Greg Zeschuk, Barry Watts, Alex Troncoso, Mark Tranter, Vik Stronge, Sarah Sinclair, Tim O’Rourke & Will Rogers

London, UK she’s a Certified Cicerone, Beer Sommelier, beer writer, author, international beer judge and keen beer and food pairing advocate. Also speaking is Katie Arabella, the special projects and beer curation manager at Big Smoke Brew Co in London. She has a passion for growing brands, championing original ideas & helping businesses gain recognition through creative sales & marketing tactics.

We will also hear from Barry Watts, who is the head of policy and public affairs for the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) which represents the UK’s small and independent breweries. He is currently a member of the Government’s Hospitality Sector Council and a former brewer with more than a decade’s worth of experience in lobbying and public affairs.

START THE DISCUSSION

Throughout the event, we are hosting a series of panels where figures from

pertinent and prevalent issues impacting the world of beer in 2022, and beyond.

Mixed fermentation beers boast a beauty & elegance. In a panel hosted by Greg Zeschuk, the founder of Canada’s Blind Enthusiasm, we will look at where these beverages fit into the modern beer landscape.

Brilliant branding helps sell beer, that’s a fact. Just what goes into making your beer branding sing? Melissa Cole will ask the question with input from some UK breweries really hitting the mark right now.

And just what qualities do you need to make a great brewing team? John Keeling, the former brewing director at London-based Fuller’s, knows a thing or two about that very subject and he’ll be finding out what other team leaders from UK breweries think too..

Paul Davies is the founder of award-

thirsty enthusiasts to tours of London’s craft breweries and iconic pubs plus hosting tours to Belgium’s best breweries and beer festivals. Speaking with brewers from Belgium and the UK, he’ll ask how Belgian brewing intersects with the modern “craft” beer scene.

Tim O’Rourke is a master brewer with more than 35 years experience and is now the technical editor of The Brewers Journal. He has been involved in the international brewing industry in a wide range of capacities, his expertise covers product and business development, as well as marketing and promotion.

In London, he will engage with leading names in the world of hops to discuss the issue of hop security and how climate change affects the supply and availability of these ingredients.

Photo : Christian CREUTZ

BREWERS CONGRESS

2022

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS

THE BREWERS CONGRESS IS SUPPORTED BY BEST-IN-CLASS INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS. HERE YOU CAN LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THEM. MAKE SURE YOU PAY THEM A VISIT AT THE SHOW

The UK leading manufacturers of micro canning lines. We pride ourselves on our ability to supply a full turnkey package; the canning line plus all ancillary equipment and this is what sets us apart from any of the competition.

INSPIRING REFRESHING BEER & BEVERAGE EXPERIENCES

AEB GROUP is a leader in yeast, fermentation, filtration, and eco-technologies for the beer brewing and winemaking. Headquartered in Brescia, Italy, we have a global presence. We bring 60-years of winemaking expertise to enable brewers to create beers with enhanced aromas and distinct taste profiles. Our purpose is to inspire safe and refreshing beverage experiences, and our passion is do good for our customers, communities, and the environment.

BREWING YE AST YE AST NUTRIENTS

Choose the yeast for the beer you want to brew. AEB brewing yeasts are selected for their fermentation profiles, flavour characteristics and quality. From crisp refreshing tastes of lagers, the punchy flavours of hoppy pale ales, to the spicy warming aromas of wheat beers, and the robust rich maltiness of stouts... or brew something new and different. Check out the FERMOALE, FERMOLAGER and FERMO BREW range of brewing yeast developed to AEB’s high quality, safety, and reliability standards.

Boost yeast performance and enhance the aroma profile of your beer. AEB yeast nutrients FERMOPLUS Fragrance and FERMOPLUS Fruity do just that. With their unique formulation and natural amino acids FERMOPLUS yeast nutrients enhances the yeast’s ability to convert aroma-active precursors to release intense floral and fruity aromas in the beer. They’re perfect for boosting the aroma profiles of hop-forward beers and low- to no-alcohol beers.

BREWING ENZYMES

STABILISATION & CL ARIFICATION

AEB brewing enzymes help to off-set raw material costs and allow for greater flexibility in brewing recipes, especially when using alternative raw materials. We are enzyme formulation experts and our cost-effective and efficient enzymes for modern beer production provide a sustainable way to brew without compromising taste and quality. Look for the ENDOZYM range of brewing enzymes designed for greater extract yield, and consistent and efficient wort separation, and beer filtration.

BREWING ENZYMES

AEB brewing enzymes help to off-set raw material costs and allow for greater flexibility in brewing recipes, especially when using alternative raw materials. We are enzyme formulation experts and our cost-effective and efficient enzymes for modern beer production provide a sustainable way to brew without compromising taste and quality. Look for the ENDOZYM range of brewing enzymes designed for greater extract yield, and consistent and efficient wort separation, and beer filtration.

FILTRATION OPTIONS

STABILISATION & CL ARIFICATION

A truly clear beer can be a challenge. As is achieving the required clarity or haze for an unfiltered beer without adversely impacting the taste profile, the foam stability, and its overall shelf-life. AEB’s silica solutions for wort and beer stabilisation and clarification are easy to apply and there’s no need for capital spend on specialised equipment. Look out for POLYGEL BH – a silica gel with single-use PVPP and SPINDASOL SB1 & SB3 – fining agents formulated to clarify wort and beer.

A truly clear beer can be a challenge. As is achieving the required clarity or haze for an unfiltered beer without adversely impacting the taste profile, the foam stability, and its overall shelf-life. AEB’s silica solutions for wort and beer stabilisation and clarification are easy to apply and there’s no need for capital spend on specialised equipment. Look out for POLYGEL BH – a silica gel with single-use PVPP and SPINDASOL SB1 & SB3 – fining agents formulated to clarify wort and beer.

Preserving the flavour and freshness of a beer while ensuring microbial safety and maximum shelf-life require filtration solutions that do just that. That’s why brewers look to AEB’s range of DANMIL Filtration Solutions. Designed for quality, tailored for today’s brews, and customised to your needs. It’s everything you need for cost-effective and safe filtration of your beer.

FILTRATION OPTIONS

Preserving the flavour and freshness of a beer while ensuring microbial safety and maximum shelf-life require filtration solutions that do just that. That’s why brewers look to AEB’s range of DANMIL Filtration Solutions Designed for quality, tailored for today’s brews, and customised to your needs. It’s everything you need for cost-effective and safe filtration of your beer.

Our team of brewers, microbiologists, and fermentation experts, give brewers the confidence to brew a wide range of beer styles, including low and no alcohol, with enhanced flavours.

We are on booth

Our team of brewers, microbiologists, and fermentation experts, give brewers the confidence to brew a wide range of beer styles, including low and no alcohol, with enhanced flavours.

701

Browse the AEB Brewing ecommerce platform at your leisure aeb-group.com/uk/shop

Here you’ll discover our complete range of brewing solutions

Brewing ecommerce platform at your leisure aeb-group.com/uk/shop

Here you’ll discover our complete range of brewing solutions

Be Creative. Be Passionate. Be AEB

› Brewing Calculators

› Recipes

ATTENUATION AND STANDARD DEV. IN 12°P STANDARD WORT 81.2 (2.0)

FLOCCULATION Medium ALCOHOL TOLERANCE 9% ABV

BIOTRANSFORMATION

β-glucosidase High β-lyase Low AROMA Peach, tropical, dry

ATTENUATION AND STANDARD DEV. IN 12°P STANDARD WORT 83.2 (0.9)

FLOCCULATION High ALCOHOL TOLERANCE 13% ABV

BIOTRANSFORMATION

β-glucosidase High β-lyase Medium AROMA Neutral, clean, dry

ATTENUATION AND STANDARD DEV. IN 12°P STANDARD WORT 78.3 (3.2)

FLOCCULATION Medium ALCOHOL TOLERANCE 12% ABV

BIOTRANSFORMATION

β-glucosidase Medium β-lyase High AROMA Apricot, smooth, medium body

ATTENUATION AND STANDARD DEV. IN 12°P STANDARD WORT 68.6 (1.8)

FLOCCULATION Low ALCOHOL TOLERANCE 12% ABV

BIOTRANSFORMATION

β-glucosidase Medium β-lyase Low AROMA Sweet, fruity, full body

ATTENUATION AND STANDARD DEV. IN 12°P STANDARD WORT 83.6 (1.2)

FLOCCULATION High ALCOHOL TOLERANCE 14% ABV

BIOTRANSFORMATION

β-glucosidase Medium β-lyase Medium AROMA Slightly fruity, neutral

Recent research is uncovering how di erent yeast strains can in uence avor and aroma by interacting with speci c hop-derived avor compounds, a process called biotransformation. The Lallemand Brewing R&D lab has identi ed speci c enzyme activities in several LalBrew® Premium strains that are important for biotransformation, including β-glucosidase and β-lyase.

WIth You.

Armed with this data, the brewer is well equipped to choose the best yeast for each IPA style. Lallemand Brewing is at the forefront of hop avor and aroma research and we are ready to help you with any questions about brewing hoppy beer styles.

Quality Control From Yeast To Mash To Packaging

QCL supply analytical tools to help brewers maintain product quality and consistency. Our analysers supply information on the microbial status and chemical profile of beers.

Rapid Microbiology using PCRVeriFlow

Keeping equipment clean and beer spoilers out is a key part of the brewing hygiene process but infections can happen from time to time so an effective detection protocol is an important tool to avoid costly recalls or product complaints.

VeriFlow is a rapid microbiology system that uses PCR technology to allow microbiological testing in the brewery, avoiding product recalls by detecting problems before release and bringing cost savings by allowing yeast to be cropped and re-pitched with confidence.

Wild yeasts, diastaticus and spoilage bacteria can be detected in less than 4 hours.

days for traditional microbiology results meant that beer was packed and often with the customer before the results came back. The Veriflow system facilitated the implementation of a positive release protocol.

Shepherd Neame adopted the Veriflow system for the positive release of bottle conditioned ale.

It replaced traditional plating out methods which were time consuming and potentially meant waiting for up to 4 weeks before results were available allowing release of the product. Another use for the system is testing yeast slurry prior to pitching to avoid costly pitching of infected yeast.

Electric Bear Brewing Co. also use the system for positive release of keg and canned beer. With the increased sale of cans during the lockdowns of 2020 and their long shelf-life without cold storage a solution was required to allow for positive release of batches for packaging. A sampling plan using an external laboratory was unsatisfactory, the delays inherent in sending a sample and waiting a further 7

Missing Link Brewing is a hub for other brewers to have access to high quality brewing and packing equipment. This means lots of beer from different sources with the potential risk of spoilage organisms contaminating the processing equipment, in particular wild yeasts which are very difficult to remove even with a rigorous CIP procedure. The VeriFlow system is an integral part of the QC procedure with every beer arriving for canning being tested and a negative result obtained before it is released to the canning line.

Beer and Water Chemistry – CDR BeerLab

Measuring the chemical profile of water, wort and beer is a crucial element to the consistent flavour of a beer, particularly if you have a brand that your customers know and love.

Whether it’s testing the brewing water ion profile, the mash for fermentable sugars and Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) or a finished beer for ABV, Bitterness,

Veriflow

Colour and Diacetyl (VDK), the CDR BeerLab is a fast and reliable analyser used by multiple breweries in the UK and Ireland and uses tried and tested EBC methods to allow you to bring a wide range of testing to a brewery without the need for a dedicated laboratory.

The BeerLab is used by Cloudwater and Missing Link to measure VDK levels accurately to quickly reduce tank occupancy and remove the usual subjectivity of this test.

In a study carried out with Hackney Brewery using the BeerLab a considerable increase in IBU value from both late and dry-hopping was demonstrated, suggesting that alternative compounds present in hops (such as humulinone) do in fact contribute to the IBU value during the brewing process.

Another study at Northern Monk demonstrated that the addition

of dry-hops near the end of natural fermentation to increase fermentable sugars can extend the fermentation causing an increase in ABV, which may not be accounted for with gravity readings.

BeerLab

Veriflow and BeerLab installed at Missing Link Brewing

IT’S MORE THAN A BOX OF HOPS

Operating for more than 30 years, we have become more than a hop supplier. We are leaders of innovation, quality, and customer service. We are a resource for brewers, providing solutions-based products and research. We are advocates of sustainability and meaningful social causes, working to support the environment and communities around us.

At YCH, our growers operate with the next generation in mind. Since our founding in 1988, our growers have built everything with a long-term outlook to ensure that farms and communities are here for generations to come. That’s why being good stewards of farmland, people and products, our communities and the environment, is central to everything we do.

YCH’s sustainability goals were developed in alignment with our Chief Commitments that define strategies for making climate and community related progress over time. In the past year, YCH has worked collaboratively across all departments to outline initiatives to help achieve 2025 targets.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

We operate under the philosophy that no resource should be wasted and empower the people of our organization to look for innovative solutions where sustainable practices become best practices. To do our part, we’re thinking long-term and working harder than ever to reduce our waste, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and energy usage, as well as find solutions for renewable energy and fuel efficiencies. Some of our 2025 environmental-focused initiatives include:

• Reduce scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% (based on 2019 baseline)

• Procure 100% renewable energy for our domestic operations

• Achieve carbon neutrality on 50% of all our shipments

• Ensure all packaging is 100% recyclable or compostable

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

We are deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest communities. It is in these local areas that we partner with strong, likeminded organizations, joining forces and rolling up our sleeves to donate the time, energy, and resources needed to promote thriving communities. However, as we continue to grow as a company so does our desire to amplify our positive impact, globally. We choose to partner with organizations to strengthen our community enrichment efforts and ensure that resources end up in the hands, homes and lives of the people who need them most. We’ve established the following initiatives to create meaningful change:

• Increase the percentage of women in leadership positions

• Increase diverse representation such as BIPOC in leadership positions

• Contribute 1% of sales towards community enhancement projects

• Achieve 75% employee participation rate in YCH volunteer and give back programs

Yakima Chief Hops is a 100% farmer-owned global hop supplier with a mission to connect the multi-generational family hop farms of the Pacific Northwest with the world’s finest brewers.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Social Responsibility

• Implement DEI committee to engage and educate employees on meaningful social causes

• Support economic development opportunities on native lands where YCH hops are grown

• Continue to partner with purpose by supporting social issues

Environmental Impact

• Develop climate action plan to reduce carbon intensity across all areas of the business

• Publish environmental footprint data of all YCH products

• Pursue anaerobic digestion as a renewable on-site energy source for operation needs

Governance

• Identify certifications to align mission, vision, and values with industry benchmarks to drive YCH positive impact within industry and for our employees

• Conduct materiality assessment to define best practices as a roadmap for YCH’s stewardship efforts

We’re working to reduce our ecological footprint in everything we do – from the field to the final products. This means that, in our day-to-day work, we’re thinking about more organics, less packaging, more planet-friendly transportation, less landfill and partners that keep us on our toes. We acknowledge there is more work to be done but encourage our partners to join us in our ambition to be mindful of our impact on the planet and the communities where we work, play, and serve.

EARLIER THIS WINTER, JUDGES FROM ACROSS THE BREWING SPECTRUM CONVERGED ON THE RED LION IN BARNES, LONDON, TO DEBATE AND DISCUSS THE WEALTH OF EXCELLENT ENTRIES SUBMITTED FOR THE 2022 ITERATION OF THE BREWERS CHOICE AWARDS. HERE’S HOW THEY GOT ON.

BREWERS

For the Brewers Choice Awards 2022, the categories up for discussion were Young Brewer of The Year, Brewer of The Year, New Brewery of The Year, Brewery of The Year, New Beer of The Year, Beer of The Year, Branding of The Year, Lifetime Achievement and Global Ambassador.

This year’s submissions were judged by an array of talent that included John Keeling, former brewing director at London-based Fuller’s, Lotte Peplow, the craft beer ambassador in Europe for the Brewers Association, and Paul Davies, founder of the award-winning AleHunters Brewery Tours.

The panel also included Greg Zeschuk, a former VP at Electronic Arts and general manager at BioWare Austin and more recently the founder of Alberta, Canadabased brewery Blind Enthusiasm, award-winning beer & food writer Melissa Cole, freelance beverage and hospitality consultant Sean Robertson, Symone Coleman, tour guide at Fuller’s and Tim Sheahan, global editor of The Brewers Journal.

Tim Sheahan said: “It was an honour to share a room with so many respected figures from across the world of beer. The quality of entries in each and every category was sky-high, which made the judging process an incredibly tricky task.”

Thanks to everyone that entered and a huge well done to everyone that made the shortlist this year. We look forward to announcing the winners, alongside the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement and Global Ambassador awards, at our 2022 Brewers Choice Awards dinner in London this December. Hopefully you’ll join us there. Special thanks to our sponsors and also to Angus, Clare and the team at The Red Lion in Barnes for hosting our judging session.”

As mentioned, in addition to the categories ahead, we will also announce the winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Global Ambassador Award at the Brewers Choice Awards dinner on the evening of the 8th December.

BREWERY OF THE YEAR

Supported by Lallemand

CHOICE THE SHORTLIST

To contend this award, we wanted to see a detailed overview of the business success you’ve had in the last 18 months. This will include financials or your trading figures for the last year and your predicted future year figures. Breweries were to showcase key moments for the business such as new investments you’ve made, distribution deals you’ve struck or successes you’ve had in exporting your beer to other countries. And also, we asked them to tell us about their brewery’s approach to all facets of business such as its work in the community, and its commitment to training and developing its staff.

Brew York

At Brew York they have always been successfully adaptive and flexible around industry and customer change, whilst still remaining committed to delivering a product they are proud of. In 2021, Brew York’s strategy has been based on recovering and returning to a ’new normal; whilst trying to maintain as much of the internal creativity and innovation that makes Brew York unique.

Key investments in equipment has facilitated the growth and scale increase, as well as improving the quality of their products. All of these strategies throughout 2021 have resulted in many commercial achievements that show hard work pays off.

Lost & Grounded Brewers

Established in 2016, Lost & Grounded Brewers set up in a large white shed on Whitby Road in Bristol, complete with a state-of-the-art German brewhouse. With a focus on lager and Belgian-style beers, expensive rent and crazy overheads, most of their peers thought we were a little bit ambitious, especially without any Pale Ale. They reached a maximum of 14 brews/week in 2021 but knew it would not be enough to support their planned growth, so in Nov 2021 they

expanded with the addition of 4 x 150HL fermentation tanks, yeast propagation plant and refrigeration upgrade. This has enabled them to reach a maximum of 18 brews per week in 2022. They are currently expanding the site to its final capacity of 30,000HL per annum: and added a 30 tonne malt silo in June 2022, 4 x 150HL tanks installed in September, and in January 2023 are installing a holding vessel in the brewhouse – this will lead them to a maximum of 26 brews per week.

North Brewing Co

The 2021/22 year was brilliant for North Brewing Co. During the depths of the Covid 19 lockdowns they built a new brewery! And 2022 saw them finally welcome guests inside after a winter of virtual brewery tours on Zoom. Although the last few years have seen a fight for survival across the hospitality industry North have thrived: they have grown the business, re-branded their core range, developed new product lined, partnered with new distributors, and increased their team. Their focus on culture, quality, innovation and integrity marks them as one of the UK’s finest breweries.

YOUNG BREWER OF THE YEAR

Supported by AEB

There are some incredibly talented young brewers working in the UK brewing industry. Some young brewers are running their own operations, others are cutting their teeth working at

established outfits. Regardless, these brewers are making their mark on the industry and are certain to have a long, successful career in the field.

Mark Hamblin

Powder Monkey Brewing Co

Over the last 18 months, together with CEO Andy Burdon, Mark has overseen the design and installation of its 25HL 4 vessel brewhouse with 100HL fermentation capacity and 50HL packaging capacity. He says to be involved from the beginning of this project has been a huge learning opportunity and has been both enjoyable and rewarding. Elsewhere he has undergone HACCP level 3 training and utilizing the SIBA toolbox as well as his own research, he was able to design and implement at HACCP plan for the brewery that was well praised during their audit that gave them SIBA accreditation. He has been able to take on an assistant brewer who had not previously worked in the industry and has tried to help them with an understanding of brewing science as much as possible. Hamblin has also been keen to further his own knowledge and whilst the installation of the brewery was ongoing he completed Module 1 of the IBD Diploma in Brewing, with a view to complete modules 2 and 3 in the coming years.

Lara Lopes

Round Corner Brewing

In the 18 months since she moved to the UK to join Round Corner Brewing, Lara

has had the good fortune of representing the brewery on mainstream television, leading an expansion project, helping RCB win a trophy for the World’s Best Ale and sat as a judge for the World Beer Awards. She believes that by being a strong ambassador for young women in brewing, she can play her part in upholding the vibrancy of the UK brewing industry, Before RCB, she graduated as a mechanical engineer in her home country of Brazil, and started working at AB InBev as a brewing process maintenance supervisor, leading a team of 15 engineers.

During that time, she dedicated herself to studying the brewing process. Since joining RCB, she has led a £100,000 capex project to install two new 60hL cylindroconical fermenters and all the associated glycol and control needed. The expansion project was completed in time and on budget and has given the business a 75% capacity increase, enabling them to meet the excess demand for their product. The brewery also entered the International Brewing Awards, the first major beer competition since she joined RCB. They collected five medals in total, including two bronze, two silver and a gold medal for their Steeplechase Pale Ale.

Cody Palin

Ludlow

Brewing Co

Cody’s responsibilities over the last 18 months have been mounting rapidly, from general day-to-day brewing, stock management, recipe development, purchasing and planning, to project-managing the installation of a cutting-edge craft lager and keg beer fermentation and packaging plant. With a minor set-back from COVID, they are now back on their feet and ploughing ahead with the expansion project, which aims to double their brewing capacity and give them the opportunity to not only brew Ludlow’s first commercial lager, but to upscale their modern craft keg beer selection housed under our ‘Derailed’ label.

The new lager and keg plant includes four 25bbl, state of the art, fully automated pressure vessels capable of CO2 recapture, gravity measurements, level detection, yeast cropping and

John Keeling and partner Symone Coleman have a wealth of experience in beer judging

re-pitching, conditioning, and set- andforget filtration into their 5th new vessel, the BBT. With the new vessels their current capacity of 120bbl will increase to 245bbl. Cody says he has been fortunate to have such a great team of brewers to lead at Ludlow. Their careful attention to detail and hard work has allowed him to focus his efforts on the above projects tenfold which he says he is incredibly grateful for, and is also excited to see the results of as they move into 2023.

BREWER OF THE YEAR

Supported by SSV

One of the finest qualities many brewers boast is humility. So this category it was always likely to need some convincing/ persuading/forcing when it comes to ensuring these excellent brewers are considered. We wanted to acknowledge a brewer that is truly an industry tour de force. What sets them apart from the rest? Is it the beers they create, expansion they’ve overseen or a team they’ve built. Maybe it’s all of those….

Matt Clarke Lakes Brew Co

After fate changed his path from a successful career as head brewer at one brewery, he was left with many options and decided to go forge his own path in the UK’s craft beer scene. If not now, then when? If you don’t try you’ll never know and why not build a business up for yourself and your family. In 2021 Matt, co-founded Lakes Brew Co, which has seen unprecedented success in its first year of business. This is hugely down to the beers he has created.

His great belief is that a great sessionable beer doesn’t need to be boring or bland, packing every beer full of flavour no matter what ABV it is. Just because it’s 3.5% doesn’t mean it has to be tasteless. This has been proven with this fledgling brewery bringing home several awards, accolades that have really cemented what he can create as one of the best brewers in the country and this time, in his own way, was most definitely the right path to take. Demand for his beer has outstretched supply and now sees him and the team investing in a small expansion, in more tanks only just into

their second year of brewing. This has given Matt more opportunities to create more beers and quench demand.

Not only is he a fabulous brewer he is and has always been quietly championing the British beer scene, the beer community and is always ready to share his knowledge while throwing himself into the limelight.

He is always pushing for better beer and developing flavour profiles not seen before, such as being the first in the UK to use Tonka in a beer. He is often called on for advice or contacts from industry colleagues, and is always open and willing to help. He has also inspired many a brewer to follow in his footsteps.

Colin Stronge Salt Beer Factory

Colin has been a pillar of the UK beer scene for nearly 20 years, inventing beer styles, lighting the way for new breweries, dishing out advice, support and encouragement to new and existing brewers as well as being an excellent allaround brewer.

His work at Liverpool Brewing Co, Marble, Black Isle, Buxton, Northern Monk and now Salt is acclaimed. He has been trusted by the likes of international outfits such as Omnipollo to brew their beers and collaborated on and developed some of the best-rated beers in the world. He has been an active member of the beer community before ‘craft’ touched these shores and has played a pivotal role in putting the UK on the world beer map.

Described as incredibly modest and someone that doesn’t understand people’s interest in his work – he’s out to make good beer, and it’s a bonus if people like it. This exploration of recipes and styles makes him such a strong player in the brewing world. He can turn his hand to juice bombs, bitters and barley wines, and his imperial stouts are legendary – but he’s just happy to be making good beer.

He is also an advocate for mental health conversations in the industry after being challenged with issues for years. He has spoken on social media and podcasts about the issues that those in the industry can face and has been open and honest about his own experience, too.

NEW BREWERY OF THE YEAR

A raft of excellent new breweries have opened in the last 48 months. Some of these outfits have focused on the art of Lager, some IPA, some mixedfermentation sours and some a mix of all. Regardless, each tread their own different path in the industry of brewing. We wanted to hear about those early landmark points for the business. Maybe they’ve offered employment to local people, made investments, securing deals for those first beers. It could be all of the above We asked to be told about the approach to business such as its work in the community, commitment to training and developing staff, relationships with the industry and their approach to issues such as sustainability.

Paul Davies and Lotte Peplow deep in discussion during the awards juding session

Brewpoint

Brewpoint is described as a state-ofthe-art brewing facility with the flexibility to produce the styles of beer that consumers are demanding, equipped with the technology and brewing expertise to guarantee consistently excellent beer. They are a fresh beginning for a fifth generation brewing family in Charles Wells signalling a move away from higher-volume national sales and a renewed focus on specialty ale and lager brands to delight modern palates. They’ve focused on quality over quantity, with an evolving beer range that places a premium on flavour. Their brewhouse is a new BrauKon kit with a 5 vessel, 30hl capacity which they can utilize for up to 9 x brews in a 24 hour period resulting is an estimated brew of 6 million pints of Brewpoint beer per annum.

Lakes Brew Co

Adversity lit a flame within Lakes Brew Co to create something for themselves, to take control of their own futures and build a brewery that they are happy to be involved in. July 2022 marked the end of their first year brewing. They count themselves lucky to be able to carry on doing what they are passionate about, not only brewing but in the area that feeds them inspiration on a daily basis. Creating innovative and progressive craft beers in the Lake District, they are proud to be an inclusive, independent, woman co-owned business where everyone is

welcome. Their mission to bring back innovative brewing in the Lakes has been welcomed with open arms from local, small artisanal shops, campsites and bars looking for a modern craft beer produced locally, not just brown 500ml bottles of beer.

Their focus on accessible modern beers, with clean concise branding at the very heart of every beer they produce. “We created a brewery that isn’t just for the craft beer elite, we wanted anyone and everyone to feel comfortable ordering, drinking and enjoying our beers. A bit like us as a team, approachable, yet hopefully interesting. This is also reflected in our monthly pop up tap room openings, where we are lucky to have lots of eclectic and diverse drinkers come to enjoy our beers, chat with us and be immersed in everything that Lakes Brew Co is.”

Moonwake Beer Co

Moonwake Beer Co. is a brewery in Leith, Edinburgh that recently entered its second year of trading. They commissioned their kit with the first brew in May 2021. For Moonwake, they have a vision to be an innovative brewery producing a premium range of craft beers that are enjoyed in Scotland, the rest of the UK and beyond by a diverse and discerning audience. As a new brewery their investment includes the entire kit, made for them by Leeds-based manufacturer SSV Limited, a 35hl three-

vessel brew kit that allows them to brew with precision. It is a semi-automated Lehui brew kit. It has a Mash Conversion Vessel (MCV) a Lauter Tun (LT) and a combined Kettle/Whirlpool chosen with versatility in mind.

They tell us: “Our mission is to produce precision brewed beers made with mindful intent using quality ingredients. Our grant funding was based on Moonwake’s ability to bring jobs into the community, paying people fairly (real living wage as a minimum requirement), creating an inclusive space, being environmentally conscious and promoting Scottish products. Luckily, these were all original parts of business plan. Our business plan detailed the above vision and mission while declaring ambitions to reach sales of £2+ within three years and employ at least 10 staff in Leith.”

NEW BEER OF THE YEAR

Supported by Rankin

We can think of countless fantastic beers that have been produced in recent months. In your entry, we asked how this beer is shaping a trend or exploring new techniques and flavours.

Field Recordings

A Hymn for the Fields

Field Recordings is a new venture into brewing from North Brewing Co; a place where they are taking pieces of what they have seen and done, and interpreting them into experimental drinks styles. Their original brewery, Taverner’s Walk, is now home to Field Recordings. A Hymn for the Fields was the first beer released in Spring 2022. A Hymn for the Fields calls back to their origin, back to 2000 when they were first introduced to Belgian beer through North Bar. The saison is a style of Belgian beer that has always required a fine balance. They can range from full bodied, sweet, and cheesy to crisp, tart, clean and bitter.

Just like any other beer style it can be deconstructed and reconstructed to create a new interpretation. A Hymn for the Fields offers a modern interpretation of the saison, demonstrating their love of experimentation and innovation. They started with a target of how

Greg Zeschuk was in the UK to help lend his expertise to the 2022 juding panel

they wanted the saison to be, aiming more towards a dry and fruity style, but with vinous and more wine-like characteristics. Pilsner Malt and a large helping of wheat make up the grist of the beer making for a vibrant golden beer with a foggy haze. They experimented with their yeasts: combining a hybrid farmhouse saison yeast, known for its acidic properties that balance with spice and tropical fruit flavour, with a co-pitch of Sauvignon Blanc wine yeast. A gentle dry hop of Nelson Sauvin and Hallertau Blanc imparted a soft and sweet white peach flavour, with grassy tones, vanilla and a clean minerality. A small addition of Talus was added during the whirlpool process to bring a tone of lime and tropical fruit.

Mondo Ronnie

Their homage to the late, great Ronnie Spector. Our 5.2% Grapefruit IPA is a West Coast style IPA with crisp bitterness and citrus aroma. “The zesty grapefruit flavour is everything you needed this summer, pairing perfectly with the sounds of The Ronnettes,” they said .Best Ale malt provides the base. Vienna and Munich added for colour and body. Columbus hops for bittering. Simcoe, Mosaic and Columbus hops along with grapefruit zest. Fermented on grapefruits with their house West Coast Ale yeast strain.

Moonwake

XPA

XPA is a refreshing, sessionable beer that does not compromise on flavour. Small and punchy, this beer is brewed with Rakau and El Dorado hops for pleasant apricot and passionfruit flavours. Extra pale malt, oats and wheat in the grist provide a pillowy mouthfeel. Moonwake says their XPA is representative of the consumer trend to moderate their alcohol intake but not their enjoyment or quality of the product. They also believe this type of beer is an underrepresented style in Scotland.

BEER OF THE YEAR

Supported by Barth Haas

We want to celebrate the very best beer the UK has to offer. In doing so, we were

not looking at dozens of categories, instead recognising one beer - The Brewers Choice Beer of the year.

Lost & Grounded Brewers Helles

Lost & Grounded Brewers welcomed Helles as a full-time addition to their core range in 2021. In a short time - just over 12 months - Helles has transitioned to its number two selling beer at 35% of sales, just below their flagship Keller Pils. At the time of launching Helles, was offered a listing with Waitrose as a completely unknown product, and now sits proudly on the shelves alongside Keller Pils in approx 180 branches. This year Helles will have grown to +7,000HL volume and delivered just shy of £1.7million in revenue.

Helles has fuelled the brewery’s development as a business and was key to them growing 100% in 2021 and a forecast 85% growth in 2022, and offers an easy entry to our brand for lager drinkers who may not be accustomed to the assertiveness of Keller Pils. Due to it’s approachable drinkability, Helles is now found in high-profile independent on-trade venues across the country such as the 100 Club, and has won them supply contracts for major festivals in 2022 including Bristol Pride, Shambala, Forwards Festival and Waterworks. “Helles is a totally understated beer that has completely transformed our business. It is a beer that fills us with pride,” they told us.

Thirst Class Ale

Stocky Oatmeal Stout

Stocky Oatmeal Stout is a smooth and full-bodied stout brewed with no fewer than nine different malts. The recipe includes oats and roasted barley resulting in a silky smooth texture. This is Thirst Class Ale’s flagship bear, which is based on an award-winning homebrew recipe. The commercial version has also gone on to win several awards. It’s a much loved stout among many local bars and the brewery has a number of venues also pouring this as their house stout.

Mondo

Dennis Hopp’r

Dennis Hopp’r continues to be Mondo’s biggest seller, and for good reason. When they first released it, Dennis Hopp’r immediately made a statement and is a flagship beer that customers recognise as soon as they see the iconic green and purple artwork. Expect clarity and flavour with a pronounced bitter backbone from this beverage. A light citrus hop aroma is balanced with plenty of malt character. Taking its cues from the classic American West Coast IPA, it’s a light amber in colour. Best Ale malt provides the base. Wheat and Carapils added for body. Columbus hops for bittering. Citra, Galaxy and Ekuanot in the whirlpool. Dry hopped with Amarillo, Citra and Ekuanot. It’s fermented with their house West Coast Ale yeast strain.

BRANDING OF THE YEAR

Supported by Potter Clarkson

Great branding helps sell beer. Now we have that revelation out of the way, we wanted this category to showcase the stunning array of design that breweries leverage to brand their beers. From the striking to the subtle, modern beer is blessed with some truly impressive branding; from the work that graces bottles and cans to keg founts, cask badges and beyond.

Abbeydale Brewery Funk Dungeon

The Funk Dungeon is the name given to Abbeydale Brewery’s mixed fermentation barrel ageing and souring project. It is an offshoot of their Brewers’ Emporium range, which showcases the vast spectrum of modem beer styles they produce. The Funk Dungeon sits alongside this whilst still being distinctive as a range of its own indicating the uniqueness of the beers contained within the cans. The initial idea for the skeleton basis behind all of the Funk Dungeon designs was inspired by the name of the project and the space it occupies itself.

“A somewhat spooky underground lair. Whilst there are no real skeletons hiding down there (to our knowledge) we swear we can hear them partying if we’re still in the brewery as day turns to dusk!”

they explain. All of the Funk Dungeon branding is created by their in-house designer, James Murphy, who has been working with Abbeydale Brewery since 2016. His style and immense talent truly has space to shine within this series.

Lost and Grounded Brewers Dog Day Afternoon

In April 2019 Lost and Grounded Brewers released a one-off beer called “All the Cool Cats” which immediately became a cult hit. Following numerous re-brews, they were eventually faced with the decision of what to do for the dog lovers out there? In Spring 2022, with the pandemic seemingly under control (touch wood), they wanted to host an event along with their canine friends. The idea was to hold a kitsch doggy competition with all entries having a portrait taken by a professional photographer with the winning 12 entries to appear on the Dog Day Afternoon can. They also wanted to support a charity and chose to raise money for, and raise awareness of, StreetVet. What transpired was awe-inspiring: about 300 people and over 70 dogs descended on the taproom. They had doggy contests for: Best Boi, Goodest Girl, Best Trick, Shiniest Coat, Biggest Ears and Furriest Paws, along with a fashion parade, awarding medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in all categories. As all the dogs were so beautiful, they couldn’t pick only 12 winners, so they ended up using all +70 dogs in a series of six Dog Day Afternoon cans. This project united the team in a fun project which will now be an annual event, engaged with their community at a grassroots level and supported a charity doing important work, all whilst demonstrating that business can be a force for good and positivity. Through the Dog Day Afternoon event in March 2022 and the following beer sales they donated £1,923 to StreetVet.

Powderkeg Brewery Core Range

As a team of freedom-loving beer obsessives Powderkeg’s mission is to carve its own path and when it comes to branding it’s about bringing freethinking beer to life. But what is FreeThinking Beer? Established in 2014,

they look beyond the established ideas and opinions to revolutionise a style, creating something fresh, interesting end always outstanding. In Cut Loose they reimagined a classic Germanstyle Pilsner by pepping it up with New Zealand hops; it’s a great example of how moving pest traditional techniques can elevate a beer beyond expectations. Taking influences from craft beer amend

the world and classic European brewing, they say they are on a mission to create easy-drinking session beers that excite craft aficionados and casual drinker alike.

They told us: “The many years spent mastering our craft and learning the rules have given us the expert brewing knowledge to break the rules with style, making the beers that satisfy our curiosity, creativity and thirst.

“We challenged ourselves in 2121 with a rebrand to bring our ethos to life with high-impact visuals and clear communication of our brand message and product values. Working with Catling Creative we sought to give our drinkers a uniquely satisfying sensory experience from the moment they set eyes on a can of Powderkeg.”

Powderkeg Brewery rebanded its range in 2021

Realtime fermentation gravity and temperature monitoring with graphing, optional remote temperature control and our new CO2 purge device.

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CASK & KEG CLOSURES

BOTTLING & CANNING

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BREWING

Gravity Systems was formed to meet the growing demand in the craft beer market for a single source for all brewhouse, fermentation, services generation and distribution. www.gravity-systems.co.uk +44 (0)1733 834264 enquiries@gravity-systems.co.uk

Since 1774, Rankin continues to supply reliable closures that help seal, protect and add value to your brands.

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CONTRACT BREW & PACKAGE

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Whether you are an existing brewery or starting your own brand we have the perfect contract solution for you. Brewing, bottling and kegging ser vices - we are the ‘secret’ behind our customer’s great beer.

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PACKAGING

We supply the finest quality kegs & casks in the world, manufactured to the highest industry specifications. We provide 50 litre kegs, 30 litre kegs, 4.5 gallon Pins & 9 gallon Casks.

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RECRUITMENT

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YEAST

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