SIBA Journal Summer 2017

ISSUE 105 S UM M ER 2 0 1 7

SOLID ROCK HOW MAGIC ROCK BUILT A BUSINESS TO LAST

THE BIG INTERVIEW

BREWERS ASSOCIATION CHIEF BOB PEASE

MEET THE BREWER

MALCOLM DOWNIE FROM FYNE ALES

LOVING LOCAL

BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY REPORT

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EDITOR'S COMMENT CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE WORDS PETE BROWN & MARTYN CORNELL PHOTOGRAPHY DOUGLAS BARCLAY

WELCOME

TO THE SUMMER 2017 ISSUE OF THE SIBA JOURNAL!

As the weather finally hots up, I am writing this from a local pub garden with a cooling pint of ale in hand – locally brewed of course!

I consider myself extremely fortunate to live in an area with easy access to great local pubs, independently brewed local beers and other local community facilities, but not everyone is so lucky. Many local pubs have sadly closed their doors in recent times, and towns and villages have lost shops, post offices and community halls as well. This has left the community feeling disengaged and in many cases isolated.

We have picked up this important ‘local’ theme for this issue, because small independent brewers across the UK are doing as much, if not more, than pubs, shops and community centres were previously doing to reinvigorate their local area and bring their communities back together. The first ever SIBA Brewers in the Community Report (highlights of which can be found inside this issue on pages 16-23) demonstrates how much SIBA members do for their local communities in terms of charity work, employment, investment, and providing facilities for locals. This is something that SIBA will continue to celebrate and to highlight nationally, and a key part of the Four Pillars strategy that Mike Benner, SIBA’s CEO, talks more about on page 7 of this issue.

Society of Independent Brewers PO Box 136, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 5WW Tel: 01765 640 441 www.siba.co.uk Email: ripponoffice@siba.co.uk

Elsewhere, in these pages we bring you an interview with US Brewers Association boss Bob Pease, who looks at the synergies between UK and US craft brewing and gives his own view on where the challenges lie on both sides of the Atlantic (see pages 34-41). We also caught up with the team from Magic Rock – a name often quoted by SIBA Members I speak to as an inspiration – to find out how it all started and what plans they have for the future (pages 48-55).

Last but not least we have not one, but two award-winning beer writers featured in this issue. The legendary Pete Brown (on page 33) offers his take on what good marketing looks like, and Martyn Cornell (pages 43-47) takes an in-depth look at whether ‘big lager’ has had its day.

You can email me direct at my SIBA email address caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk with all your news, views and ideas for the Journal and don’t forget to check your inbox for the regular Brewing in Brief updates from the SIBA team.

Happy reading!

Caroline

CAROLINE NODDER EDITOR, SIBA JOURNAL caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk

Editor: Caroline Nodder (caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk) Published by: Media Alive Limited Produced on behalf of SIBA by: Media Alive Limited, 2nd Floor, The Red House, 119 Fore Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1AX. T: 01992 505 810 Creative Director: Darren Kefford (darren@media-alive.co.uk) Studio Manager: Jon Hardy (jon@media-alive.co.uk) Printed by: Advertising Manager: Claire Rooney (claire@media-alive.co.uk) Printwize, 9 Stepfield, Witham, Managing Director: Dan Rooney (dan@media-alive.co.uk) Essex CM8 3BN

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or be any other means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of SIBA and/or Media Alive Limited.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in this publication is accurate and up-to-date, neither SIBA nor Media Alive Limited take any responsibility for errors or omissions. Opinions expressed in editorial contributions to this publication are those of their respective authors and not necessarily shared either by SIBA or Media Alive Limited.

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

3

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SUMM E R

CONTENTS

2017 ISSUE 105

MARKETING MAGIC

AMERICAN GODS

TOP DRAW

Beer writing legend Pete Brown on what makes a good message

Bob Pease on the continuing evolution of US craft beer

The winners of the latest SIBA Regional Beer Competitions

PAGE 33

PAGES 34-41

PAGES 66-73

NEWS 9-15 16-23 66-73 87-91 93-105

FEATURES

SIBA NEWS

All the latest from SIBA HQ including an FSQ deadline reminder

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

The best bits from SIBA’s Brewers in the Community Report

REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

The winning beers from the latest round of SIBA competitions

SIBA REGIONAL NEWS

8 33 65

This issue we focus on Scotland

SUPPLIER NEWS

34-41

48-55

News and views from SIBA’s Supplier Associate Members

57-63

CEO’S UPDATE

Mike Benner calls for a fair deal on beer duty

CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE

Buster Grant on what ‘professional’ looks like in brewing

GUEST COLUMNIST

This issue we feature legendary beer writer Pete Brown

TECHNICAL FOCUS

31

43-47

COMMENT 7

24-29

Brewlab’s Dr Keith Thomas on the importance of getting your temperatures right

MEET THE BREWER

Get to know Fyne Ales’ Malcolm Downie

THERE’S A BEER FOR THAT

The national campaign to grow the beer sector

THE BIG INTERVIEW

We meet US Brewers Association boss Bob Pease

SPECIAL FEATURE

Author and beer writer Martyn Cornell predicts the future for big lager

BUSINESS PROFILE

Market leaders Magic Rock on building a business with solid foundations

BUSINESS BACK OFFICE

Advice on construction law, marketing, social media and finance

74-81

FOCUS: BREWING, BOTTLING & CANNING EQUIPMENT Updates and advice from suppliers

82-85

GOLD SPONSORS

106

SILVER SPONSORS

109

MEET THE SIBA TEAM

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

Charles Faram and Murphy & Son

Listing of our key sponsors

Introducing three more members of our team

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

5

CEO’S UPDATE

GET BEHIND A FAIR DEAL FOR BEER DUTY!

There has been a flurry of activity at SIBA central since the adoption of the ‘four pillars’ plan in March. The plan puts our focus on access to market for members, taxation, promotion of members’ beers via the ‘Assured Independent British Craft Brewer' campaign and product excellence, placing the SIBA Food Safety and Quality standard at the heart of our activities and we are making good and exciting progress.

You can imagine my despair, therefore, on the announcement in the March Budget that beer duty was to be increased by ‘inflation’. That itself would be bad enough after the dumping of the devastating escalator and three consecutive duty cuts followed by a freeze in 2013, but actually the reality is worse.

The increase marks the return to an escalator, in that duty was increased based on a future forecast for RPI alcohol duties for September 2016 of 3.9%.

Much has happened since then of course. The Small Brewers’ Duty Reform Coalition has launched its review of Small Breweries’ Relief and many SIBA members have, importantly, submitted their views to the review. And we have had a snap General Election, the outcome of which surprised us all.

With nearly a hundred new or ex-MPs elected we now have an opportunity to build new relationships, as well as strengthen existing ones, in our efforts to build parliamentary support for a sustainable and profitable future for Britain’s independent brewers.

SIBA will soon be sending all new MPs a copy of our new Brewers in the Community report (highlights of which feature elsewhere in this issue of the Journal). The report positions members positively as important elements of the communities in which they operate. We are using this report to highlight the need for MPs, new and old, to support their local brewers and I strongly encourage each of you to act now to take the opportunity to build a relationship with your MP; invite them to the brewery to celebrate their election victory with a great glass of beer.

Given that taxation is one of our four pillars I make no apology for focusing on beer duty in this column, even though I have done so several times before. Now, more than ever, we must align

with other stakeholders to get the beer duty campaign back on track, not least because it is one of the few campaigns where our industry is united and therefore powerful and influential.

Remember that a two pence increase in duty can lead to bar prices increasing by four or five pence. Many of our newer members formed in the last four years may not have experienced a duty increase until this year!

Let’s not forget that during the five years of the beer duty escalator from 2008-2013 beer duty rose by 42%, yet government revenues rose by only 12% while total UK beer sales dwindled by 16%, 5,000 pubs closed and 58,000 jobs were lost. These are serious and startling statistics. Conversely, after the three duty cuts the beer market has shown signs of stability, exports have increased, 1,000 pubs have been saved and jobs and investment increased dramatically.

In summary, cutting beer tax to a fair and sensible level works.

And yet we are still overtaxed, paying almost 40% of all EU beer duties while consuming only 12% of beer. One pound in every three spent in the pub goes to the Exchequer.

For these reasons SIBA will continue its focus on a fair deal for beer duty and I’m asking all members to support the campaign as we approach the first Autumn Budget. I will be writing to you soon with specific actions to help us get things back on track following the first increase in four years. A better approach to beer duty has a direct impact on our member businesses and should be supported by all.

Finally, SIBA recognised in its election manifesto that the UK’s exit from the EU provides the opportunity for a creative look at duty structure, not least via a review of cider duty with the aim of creating a level playing field with beer and the need to support pubs and encourage social drinking with a lower duty rate applied to draught beers sold in the on-trade. We will be pursuing these issues in the coming months while ensuring that any other proposals and reviews of alcohol duties do not have negative or unintended consequences for independent brewers.

Mike MIKE BENNER CEO mike.benner@siba.co.uk

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

7

WORDS? COMMUNITY

PROMOTES

QUALITY

EXCEPTIONAL BEER QUALITY MORE BENEFITS

CRAFT WHAT’S IN GLOBAL BREWERS

ENABLE US TO THRIVE

SIBA CHAIRMAN'S COLUMN

CAPITALISING ON

OPPORTUNITIES BETTER INFORMED, MORE ADAPTABLE

PROFESSIONALISM I found myself at BeerX using a phrase repeatedly – probably not even good English, but a two-worder that sums up a huge amount of the work going on at SIBA presently. Those two words: Aspirational Professionalism…

What does this actually mean? At BeerX, SIBA’S CEO Mike Benner outlined the Board’s plans for the Four Pillars: the themes that will guide SIBA’s policy and actions. But the single overarching theme can be described as ‘professionalism’.

Everything we’re trying to do is to improve the level of professionalism within SIBA, among our members and for the whole Industry.

As brewers, we’re all always looking for ways to improve our beers. However, it’s often easy to forget that we’re meant to be business people as well, and that we should be striving to improve our businesses too. Given the ever increasing pressures on us, finding ways to stand out from the crowd is ever more important, be that by exceptional beer quality and consistency, excellent customer service, engaging sales promotion, involved social media or whatever else it takes to be a better business – including raising our levels of professionalism.

My view is that SIBA, as your trade association, should be providing the tools and inspiration to drive professionalism across the industry. There is currently (as ever!) a huge amount of work going on in the background, and there are some great projects coming to fruition.

8

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

Following on from discussions with the Brewers Association in America, Mike crystalised some ideas in his head, and has been making contacts to try and establish a Global Craft Brewers Community. There are trade bodies such as SIBA and the BA in many countries across the world, and most of these organisations are facing the same challenges as we are, and indeed many of the member brewers are facing the same problems as all of us. Therefore it makes sense to try and work with them to find solutions and innovations to improve our businesses.

FSQ will continue to develop and as more parts of it come online, the more it will provide us with to enable us to thrive.

Two other projects are starting to show returns at the moment. Work with the IBD on training has resulted in a much improved programme – at BeerX, the IBD hosted a number of technical seminars, and the new education program has been launched, with a wide range of courses now on offer to SIBA members at a discounted rate. There are also moves to greater develop systems for consumer and trade education, to build the knowledge base of our customers, and drive their thirst for more.

This drive to increase professionalism has a huge number of benefits – not only will our businesses become better informed, more adaptable and capable of capitalising on opportunities, but by being seen to be professional, we’ll be more desirable to do business with – both to our customers, buying beer from us rather than less professional competitors, as well as to suppliers.

Many supply chain companies already prefer to deal with us via SIBA, by becoming Supplier Associate Members, and by increasing this level of perceived and actual professionalism within SIBA, more benefits for both suppliers and brewers will arise.

Over the last few months, I have received a number of messages about the Food Safety & Quality standard (FSQ), and the Board had a lively debate about the next stage for FSQ last month. Some of the negative comments I’ve heard about the FSQ seem to be about the fact that it involves us brewers doing work that isn’t actually brewing. However, my view is that the FSQ makes sure that our business is legally compliant and provides a set of tools and concepts that allows us as a business to improve what we do – to become more professional. I’m sure the

Having all not otherwise accredited SIBA brewing members enrolled in the FSQ will provide more meaning to the Assured Independent British Craft Brewer initiative (AIBCB) – the FSQ will be the ‘Assured’ part of this, thus giving it meaning and professionalism. As a part of the AIBCB, we’re hoping to be able to provide targeted market insight to our members – the first of these “State of the Industry” reports should be heading your way soon.

So, professionalism promotes quality, sustainable business, information, collaboration and education – but what will that lead to? I think it can be best summed up as a Good Price for a Good Beer…

Buster BUSTER GRANT CHAIRMAN buster.grant@siba.co.uk

SIBA NEWS

FSQ deadline for BeerFlex breweries: 31st August 2017 Food safety and quality control are becoming increasingly important for British brewers, particularly those looking to sell beer to supermarkets, retailers, or pub companies - many of whom now require accreditation as a prerequisite.

SIBA's FSQ (Food Safety & Quality) was introduced as an easy to undertake food safety and quality audit to ensure breweries selling beer via BeerFlex are meeting the requirements outlined in SIBA's Manual of Good Brewing Practice.

As Beerflex members will be aware, we

have introduced a lengthy communications plan on FSQ and the requirement for brewers trading on BeerFlex to hold the SIBA FSQ or equivalent NSF, Salsa, BRC, ISO 22000, or STS certification by the 31st August. This communications plan has included emails, phone calls, Toolbox messages and features in Brewing in Brief.

If a Brewer actively trading on Beerflex does not hold the SIBA FSQ or other approved certificate by 31st August 2017, their brands will be delisted from Beerflex and

SIBA Brewers in the Community Report

made unavailable to order.

At time of going to press, the delisting of brands affects 30 breweries, who have not responded to any communications from SIBA. If you have any questions regarding BeerFlex operations please contact the SIBA Head Office on 01765 640441.

SIBA last month released a new report, highlighting the important role independent craft brewers are now playing in communities across Britain.

The ‘Brewers in the Community’ report, which is compiled from the results of SIBA’s Annual Members’ Survey (almost 500 of our 850 brewery members completed the survey), shows 84% of independent brewing members regard their relationship with their local community as ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ to their business and more than eight out of 10 also support local charities.

Case studies of the amazing support are included in the report which includes Cullercoats Brewery in Tyne & Wear, who have raised over £30,000 in the last five years for the lifeboat charity RNLI, by donating 3p from every pint they

sell – just recently reaching the 1 million pint mark needed to achieve their target of £30,000.

Owner and brewer Bill Scantlebury said: “We’re proud to have reached the £30,000 milestone, it’s been a lot of hard work but very satisfying. We hope our fundraising achievement helps to highlight the benefits of corporate giving through permanent charitable donations.

Our aim for the future, as well as raising even more money for RNLI, is to be a firm favourite for local drinkers, and publicans. We value our strong community ties and work hard to promote other local businesses and community events.”

For highlights of the report see pages 16 to 23 or download the full report from the Toolbox section of the SIBA website.

SIBA Election Manifesto SIBA asked candidates in the recent election to back independent brewers by signing up to its Election Manifesto – and brewers are now being urged to download it and use the key points in discussions with their newly-elected MPs. The Manifesto was sent to all parliamentary candidates ahead of the General Election and set out a number of ways in which the Society, which now represents more than 850 independent craft breweries across the UK, is seeking to work with MPs and Government to secure the future of a vibrant independent brewing sector.

Mike Benner, SIBA's CEO, said: “SIBA’s Manifesto sets out five key areas which are vital for the future health of the independent craft brewing industry in the UK; asking candidates to actively

support local brewing businesses, back the retention of Small Breweries’ Relief, support SIBA’s campaign to ensure local brewers have the access to market to meet the demands of beer drinkers, back pubs as centres of community life, and finally back SIBA’s campaign for a fair deal on beer tax with at least a freeze in beer duty during the next parliament.”

SIBA’s Manifesto highlights the success of the UK independent brewing industry, with more breweries per head of population than any other country in the World, while also recognising the challenges faced by small brewing businesses due to intense competition and restricted access to market.

SIBA’S MANIFESTO SETS OUT FIVE KEY AREAS WHICH ARE VITAL FOR THE FUTURE HEALTH OF THE INDEPENDENT CRAFT BREWING INDUSTRY IN THE UK

The Manifesto can be downloaded from the Toolbox area of the SIBA website.

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

9

SIBA NEWS

SIBA says review of Small Breweries’ Relief must consider access to market for small brewers SIBA has responded to the launch of a review of Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR) by consultancy Europe Economics by calling for it to include a full analysis of access to market for small brewers to ensure the review provides an accurate picture of the challenges facing Britain’s small brewing businesses.

The review is to be managed and funded by the British Beer & Pub Association and the Small Brewers Duty Reform Coalition which has around 60 members.

Mike Benner, CEO of SIBA, said: “We have raised our serious concerns that as presently planned the review will only superficially analyse the restrictions to access which face Britain’s small brewing businesses in a market which is largely foreclosed to direct access.

This is an essential factor to consider in reviewing the effectiveness of SBR. Small Breweries’ Relief was intended from the outset to offset both the higher production costs faced by small breweries and the difficulties of gaining access to market they face. This is as valid today as it was in 2002 when the Relief was introduced, especially given the closure of around 10,000 pubs and a significant switch to the off-trade during this period.”

SIBA is carrying out its own review of market access for small brewing businesses as part of its recently announced ‘Four Pillars’ plan to ensure the craft-brewing sector can continue to deliver the beers today’s discerning beer drinkers demand, notwithstanding the intense competition in today’s beer market.

Buster Grant, Chairman of SIBA, said: “SIBA would support improvements to and enhancements of the scheme to promote growth, exports and normal business activity.

Whilst there are currently many views on what a ‘refreshed’ SBR might look like, we believe an industry consensus is possible and, as the trade association representing the vast majority of the UK’s Independent brewers, we are looking into all aspects of the market. We hope an industry consensus on the future of SBR will prevail.”

Mike Benner added: “We look forward to feeding our views into the review, which we hope will help to establish a consensus right across the industry, including beer drinkers, on the future of SBR through its enhancement, without reducing the vital relief it provides for the UK’s many small brewing businesses.”

Grey Trees Brewery and Purple Moose come out on top at SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards Grey Trees Brewery and Purple Moose Brewery took the top awards in SIBA’s Wales & West Independent Beer Awards, which took place at Ludlow Festival.

The American hopped ‘Afghan Pale Ale’ by Grey Tress Brewery took home the overall Gold in the cask beer competition, whereas the rich and chocolatey ‘Chocolate Moose’ by Purple Moose took home the overall Gold in the small pack (bottle and can) competition.

The Purple Moose Brewery is a ’40-Barrel’ micro-brewery based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia. Brewer Lawrence Washington from Purple Moose commented: “This is amazing news for the brewery with so many great breweries in the Wales & West SIBA region. To win the overall small pack award is testament to how far we have come as a brewing business.”

To see the full list of winners go to the competition pages 66-73.

Buster Grant, SIBA Chairman, said: “Two very different but equally excellent beers won the overall Champion Golds in the SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards. Judges had a tough job separating the pack as the standard was extremely high once again and lucky beer festival attendees will be scrambling to try these beers – now officially the best independent craft beers in the Wales & West region. Massive congratulations to Grey Trees & Purple Moose!”

The SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards judge a huge range of beers across a number of styles before the winners from each category go forward to an ‘Overall Champions’ final. It was this ‘best-of-the-best’ final that finds the best winners in cask and small pack, which judges cans and bottles side by side.

Grey Trees Brewery, which started with a mission to get local people excited and enthusiastic about drinking ‘proper beer’ again as opposed to global lager, is run by Ray Davies, who had this to say on their win: “Fantastic! This has been a great year for the brewery and it is brilliant to see an IPA win the overall regional cask award. I would like to thank all of my family and everyone at the brewery for their support and hard work.”

10

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

Lawrence Washington (Purple Moose), Buster Grant (SIBA), Ray Davies (Grey Trees)

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SPIRITS

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WINES

SUPPORTING BREWERS, ROUND AFTER ROUND

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SIBA NEWS

Hot off the Press: SIBA PR & Media Support Tell us your latest news!

The SIBA website features news and updates from our Brewing and Supplier Associate members so whether it's a new beer launch, brewery expansion, or special event - make sure we know about it and can help you promote it.

The SIBA Comms team publish the vast majority of press releases we receive (though some editorial judgement has to be used) so if you aren't sending us PR or updates why not start today? As well as getting exposure on the SIBA site our articles are often also picked up by the trade media such as the Morning Advertiser, which greatly adds to your media exposure.

If you don't think the news is worthy of a full press release then why not drop us an email and see if we can promote it on social media?

This is great for special events or beer launches. If you've got any questions or would like to submit some news/updates then email PR & Marketing Manager neil.walker@siba.co.uk

EVENTS

EVENTS

ROUND-UP

ROUND-UP

Imbibe Live 3-4th July As part of SIBA's partnership with Imbibe Live on the hugely successful 'IPA Challenge', won for the third year running by a SIBA member brewery, we had a trade stand at the show serving SIBA Members’ beers.

This year all of the SIBA members who entered the competition were served on the SIBA bar within 'The Pub' section of the show, giving greater profile to our members’ beers and increasing the amount of quality, independent craft beer being displayed at the show.

Pizza Pasta Show

SIBA is partnering with the European Pizza & Pasta Show taking place at London Olympia on the 15 & 16th November 2017, which is attended by alcohol buyers from the UK’s largest Pizza & Pasta restaurant operators (e.g. Pizza Express, Prezzo, Zizzi, Strada, Carluccios, etc) as well as thousands of independent restaurateurs, retailers and wholesalers.

One of SIBA’s Four Pillars of activity over the next few years is 'access to market'.

Part of our plans include SIBA opening up new sales opportunities like this for its members in the hospitality industry.

A key part of this is to create new business opportunities in the casual dining and restaurant industry for our members, making sure that the independent craft beer you brew is

Morning Advertiser 'Future Trends: Beer & Cider' SIBA secured a stand at the Morning Advertiser's "Beer & Cider - Future Trends" event on the 26th June in London to serve SIBA members beers. The event was a great opportunity to promote SIBA members' beers to the attendees mostly National drinks buyers and pub operators - as it is all about what's next for the industry.

As well as the SIBA table serving beer, SIBA's Operations Director Nick Stafford did a talk on trends in the beer industry and took part on the panel debate alongside beer writer Pete Brown, Tom Stainer of CAMRA and Roger Clayson of Cask Marque.

More information on the event can be found at www.future-trends.co.uk.

getting into the hands of the right buyers.

‘The Craft Beer Experience’ will be a first for the European Pizza & Pasta Show and has come about as a result of feedback from attendees last year who were interested in finding out more about craft beer.

The event will have a large SIBA trade stand which will serve our members’ Award Winning Beers from across the UK (details to be sent separately) and promote how SIBA Commercial can supply our members beers, primarily in smallpack and keg, to restaurant chains and independents across the UK. As well as this we will be curating the content for the ‘Craft Beer Experience Live’, which will be a live theatre space near the stand which hosts tastings, food-pairings, talks and seminars over the two days and educates buyers on why their restaurants need to be serving independent craft beer - and most importantly how they can do it.

We have also secured a significant

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

discount for SIBA Members if you would like to take out your own trade stand at the show, with prices starting from as little as £500+VAT, that is a £350 discount (£850+VAT for non SIBA members).

SIBA will be announcing the partnership in the press soon but wanted to make members aware of the activity first and give you the opportunity to get involved.

If you would like to book a trade stand within ‘The Craft Beer Experience’ then please contact the organisers IPR Events directly via Laura Duffin, the event manager: laura@iprevents.uk If you won a national small pack or keg beer award at BeerX this year then we will be in touch shortly regarding presenting your beer to buyers at the show, but if you have any questions in the meantime please email neil.walker@siba.co.uk

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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SIBA NEWS

International Brewing & Cider Awards announce Champions Brewers and cider makers from across the world gathered at London’s Guildhall on 26 April for the unveiling of the Championship winners in the International Brewing & Cider Awards 2017. Trophies were awarded to nine brewers and one cider maker from three continents, with all bar one of them winning a Championship for the first time.

The ceremony, which marked the end of the 2017 competition, was attended by more than 400 people. As well as the presentations to the 10 Championship winners, more than 125 brewers and cider makers from 21 countries accepted their Bronze, Silver and Gold medals.

The International Brewing Awards Champions 2017 Champion Cask Ale Encore: Lacons Brewery, Great Yarmouth, UK Champion Dark Beer Kala Black IPA: Saltaire Brewery, Shipley, UK Champion Keg Ale Maltings Irish Ale: Sullivan’s Brewing Company, Kilkenny, Ireland Champion Keg Lager Frontier: Fuller Smith & Turner, London, UK Champion Smallpack Ale Easy Jack: Firestone Walker Brewing Company, California, USA Champion Smallpack Lager Pils Unfiltered Lager: Camden Town Brewery, London, UK Champion Speciality Beer Coolship Fruit: Elgood’s Brewery, Wisbech, UK Champion Strong Beer Rurik Russian Imperial Stout: The Galbraith Brewing Co, Auckland, New Zealand Non and Low Alcohol Beer Birell: Plzeňský Prazdroj a.s, Nošovice, Poland

Beer & Cider Marketing Awards tickets now on sale Established in 2015, the Beer Marketing Awards has embraced the increasingly dynamic cider market, as it launches for 2017 as the Beer & Cider Marketing Awards. The awards set out to discover the UK’s best marketers and celebrate the best campaigns across the industry.

Leading beer writer and co-founder of the Beer Marketing Awards, Pete Brown said: “The awards are open to all, demonstrated by the breadth of winners from last year’s competition, ranging from Loch Ness Brewery to Heineken. So whether you’re a mainstream lager brand creating a large scale TV advertising campaign, a microbrewer pouring your creativity into social media, or a cider maker who’s turn up the rulebook in pack design, the awards are for everyone, at every level.”

Winners will be announced at an event on 21st September 2017 at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London. Details of how to buy tickets to the awards evening can be found at: www.bestofbeerandcider.com

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY

SIBA REPORT A MESSAGE FROM SIBA’S CEO

Welcome to SIBA’s first ‘Brewers in the Community’ report, which highlights, promotes and celebrates the incredible work our members do within their local communities.

We recently launched SIBA’s ‘Four Pillar’ plan to overcome the challenges our 850+ independent craft brewers are facing. One of the core Pillars is to promote our members’ beers and from this, the ‘Brewers in the Community’ initiative was born.

Britain’s small brewers are now a common feature of communities across Britain and are just as much a part of the local social and economic fabric of the communities they serve as pubs - creating jobs, supporting local charities and providing a place for the community to come together in the brewery tap.

In total, the beer and pub sector is responsible for creating a staggering 900,000* jobs in the UK. But even more pertinently to SIBA, one single job in brewing creates one in agriculture, one in the supply chain, one in general retail and 18 jobs in the pub sector*. So other sectors benefit and thrive as our members’ businesses grow, and our SIBA Supplier Partners – ingredient manufacturers, equipment suppliers, cask and warehousing suppliers, the list goes on - are true testament to this strong and positive two-way relationship.

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While SIBA will always promote drinking craft-brewed beer in community pubs, unfortunately we have seen 10,000 pubs close in the last 15 years and many of these are rural community pubs. The brewery tap room can fill a void for a community to socialise in where the last village pub has sadly closed.

Our members, through their tap rooms, allow communities to come together, enjoy locally-brewed beers and socialise with friends and neighbours. Many have led fundraising campaigns and are regularly raising £1,000s for local causes, and you can read about just a few of their achievements in the pages of this report.

In this report we have used data collected as part of SIBA’s annual members’ survey as well as case studies from members around the country to give a flavour of the work they do locally.

This is indeed something worth championing, and yet another reason why buying beer from your local independent British craft brewer is a way of supporting your community’s future.

Mike MIKE BENNER, CEO, SIBA

* Figures taken from the BBPA ‘The Beer Story’ report 2016

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY

BREWERS

LOCAL!

Brewers have become as important to the local communities they serve as pubs have traditionally been, offering a brewery tap for locals to gather in, and in many cases taking the place of struggling pubs, being at the heart of their community with charity fundraising and support. The 2017 SIBA Members’ Survey asked members about the importance of this relationship they have with their local community. Of the 315 who responded to the survey, an overwhelming 84% rated their relationship with their local community as being ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ to their business, with only a tiny 2% saying their community was ‘not important’ to them at all. This is a clear indication of how embedded in their local communities SIBA brewing members are, not just when it comes to local customers but also using other local businesses, employing local people, supporting local initiatives and bringing paying visitors in to the community too.

How important to your business is its relationship with the local community?

50%

41%

40%

43%

30% 20%

12%

10%

2%

2%

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY

ON tap!

A quarter of the brewers in our survey have a tap bar and almost 40% have a shop so local sales to the community are clearly a key part of their businesses, and a further 11% had a visitor centre.

A quite surprising 27% say they had none of these on-site sales facilities though, although many brewers use an existing local pub as their unofficial tap bar until the business can afford these kinds of investments so even these brewers are still likely to be making substantial local sales. For those that have taken the leap and invested in a tap, shop or visitor centre, it looks to be good for their business, with over 30% of respondents reporting this local facility now accounted for over a quarter of their trade.

Does your brewery have any of the following on site?

What percentage of your overall turnover comes from your Shop/Visitor centre/Tap Bar?

50%

37%

40%

25%

30%

0%

>25%

11.06%

27% 21.5%

11-25%

20%

11%

11.9%

9%

10%

4.52%

19.6% 64.82%

8.4%

1-10%

LOYALTY OPPORTUNITY

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If you do run a loyalty scheme, what type of customers is it designed for?

Local residents only

3.8%

Interestingly, while members obviously value their community, and many support local causes and provide community facilities through their brewery sites and tap rooms, there are always opportunities to build on this relationship. The survey OF RESPONDENTS CURRENTLY found that only 17% of respondents HAVE A LOYALTY SCHEME IN PLACE currently have a loyalty scheme in place – which seems low given the emphasis they place on community and therefore regular customers. Of the schemes that are running already, over 44% were aimed mostly at local residents, but almost 52% were open to everyone so didn’t especially reward the community. Loyalty programmes are proven to increase the frequency of visits and number of purchases made by customers. Certainly there is an opportunity for brewers who are very active in their communities but don’t currently operate a loyalty scheme to offer local customers rewards for their loyalty – and at the same time encourage more regular visits. Loyalty schemes can also be an excellent way of collecting local customer data to use for marketing and promotions.

No difference

17%

44.2%

51.9%

Mostly local residents

17% YES

Does your brewery run a customer loyalty scheme for customers?

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NO 83%

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY

BREWER APPRENTICESHIP TRAILBLAZER The first Brewer Apprenticeship Trailblazer meeting was held in March hosted and chaired by London brewer Brewhouse & Kitchen.

We have a significant need to internally grow our own brewers to keep pace with the development of B&K.

The meeting brought brewers, trainers and professional bodies together to agree on the first steps needed to create a crossindustry set of standards for a new Brewer Apprenticeship Scheme.

Brewers both large and small were represented including Fullers, London Brewing Company, Castlerock, 40ft Brewery, Hepworths, Thwaites, Wimbledon Brewery, Ignition Brewery, Innis and Gunn and Big Hug Brewing. Joining them were representatives from SIBA and the BBPA, the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and a number of colleges and training providers.

Hayley Connor, People and Development Manager at Brewhouse & Kitchen, said: “We have a significant need to internally grow our own brewers to keep pace with the development of B&K, and with the new apprenticeship framework, which puts industry front and centre in setting the standards, we have a great opportunity to work with our peers large and small to create the programme, underpinned by a formal apprenticeship qualification. This October we plan to take on five new learners to trial the content of the developing standards over a 12 month period.”

CREATING LOCAL JOBS

Brewery location Living in same town/village

36.0%

30.6%

Living further than 5 miles

Workforce categorised by age bands and place of living.

Breweries are hugely important to local employers, with more than one in three brewery workers living in the same town or village as the brewery, and the majority (66%) of employees living within five miles.

Importantly, the vast majority of independent breweries are planning to expand their workforce over the next twelve months. This can be seen in the below chart, with more than one in three breweries planning to recruit two or more new employees, and 7% planning to recruit four or more new employees. This means that overall, 71% of independent craft breweries in the UK are planning to recruit at least one new employee in the next year, a sure sign of the health of the industry and it’s contribution to creating jobs.

This follows on from years of continued growth within the sector, with analysis showing an average workforce increase of 35% for full-time staff and 56% for parttime staff in independent breweries between 2012 and 2016. When looking at brewers’ recruitment plans and this past data it can be estimated that around 980 new jobs will be created next year by SIBA members, highlighting the importance to local jobs of this stillgrowing industry.

Living within 5 miles

33.4%

16-24 yo

17.2%

25-34 yo

10.7%

35-44 yo 45-54 yo 55 yo and older

21.3%

28.5% 22.3%

6 (2%) 16 (5%) Recruitment plans of surveyed breweries for the next 12 months

93 (29%)

96 (31%)

105 (33%)

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No plan of recruiting Plan to recruit at least one new employee Planning to recruit two or three new employees Planning to recruit four or five new employees Planning to recruit more than five new employees

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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BREWERS IN THE COMMUNITY

CHAMPIONS Charity fundraising and good causes put brewers truly at the heart of their communities and SIBA members are proud to support thousands of charities across the country. Our survey found, unsurprisingly, that almost half (48.6%) had supported between two and five charities in the last year, while more than a fifth of respondents (21.3%) had supported more than five different good causes in the last 12 months alone. Our survey also found that brewers’ support for charities went beyond simply donating money and so the true scale of the support they offer goes beyond the cash they raise. Many offer charities free space within their brewery and tap room, some help organise charity events and provide free beer, some promote the charity through their supply chain to broaden its reach. The value of this practical support cannot be underestimated. And of course many breweries also donate directly to charities themselves, some by giving a regular donation from each beer sold.

How many charities have you supported over the last 12 months?

48.57%

50% 40% 30%

21.27%

16.51%

20%

13.65%

48.6%

HAD SUPPORTED BETWEEN TWO AND FIVE CHARITIES IN THE LAST YEAR

ABBEYDALE: ANNUAL CHARITY BEER case study

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Each year the team at Sheffield’s Abbeydale Brewery chooses a different local charity to work with. They brew a full batch of beer in conjunction with the charity and 10p from every pint sold goes straight to the cause.

They always have the first pour of the special charity beer at Sunfest, the brewery’s annual beer festival held at one of the brewery’s pubs, the Rising Sun.

In the past 12 months, how much money was donated by your business to charities?

57% 50% 40% 30%

21%

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20%

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Both of Abbeydale’s pubs, the Rising Sun and the Devonshire Cat, frequently hold tasting evenings with special menus to raise money for other local charities including Cavendish Cancer Care and Rain Rescue.

The brewery also enjoys creating collaboration brews with businesses in the local community, including the very popular Birdhouse Tea Beer!

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In 2016 Abbeydale worked with Seven Hills Women’s Institute, who were themselves raising money for Light Sheffield, a charity which benefits local mums with postnatal mental health issues. Members of the WI group joined in with the brew day, including zesting 100 lemons by hand, to create Not Just Jam – a 4.1% lemon and Earl Grey pale ale. Beer sales raised over £1,000, with over £500 more raised on the WI’s cake stall during the beer festival.

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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MEET THE BREWER

MEET THE

BREWER MALCOLM DOWNIE, FYNE ALES

BREWER'S CV: Malcolm Downie, Head Brewer, Fyne Ales, Argyll, Scotland

1994 – 1998 – Brewing Degree , Heriot-Watt University, Edi nburgh 1998 – 1999 – Seasonal work, Bulmers, Somerset 1999 – 2000 – Temporary assistant, Belhaven Brewery, Scotland 2000 – 2005 – Various roles, chemicals/manufacturing, Sco tland

2005 - present – Assistant brewer to Head Brewer, Fyne Ales.

xxxxx

24

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

MEET THE BREWER

Fyne Ales’ Head Brewer Malcolm Downie admits he fell into brewing by accident, mainly as a result of a school-days passion for fencing and a wish to move to Edinburgh. But once immersed in the brewing team at Fyne Ales some 10 years later, his passion for the sector saw him climbing from brewing assistant to head brewer in a business that has grown significantly in the 12 years he has been there. Fyne Ales is probably best known for sessionable Jarl – a 3.8% pale beer that makes up 40% of current volumes – but interestingly, as a result of the arrival of a young Italian brewer to the team, the current focus is on a complete revamp of the original brewery site to embrace the niche, but possibly more exciting, world of wood fermentation and barrel ageing. SIBA Journal’s Caroline Nodder caught up with Malcolm to find out more about his journey and what the future might hold for Fyne Ales’ beers…

I do have a knack for trying to interview brewers during the busiest week of their year – and Malcolm Downie is no exception! We finally arrange a time to talk between the intensive planning he must do for this year’s Fynefest - the biggest beer, food and music festival in the UK, which showcases not only Fyne Ales’, the organisers’, beers, but also around 160 others too - and a trip he is taking the next day to a beer festival in Italy on an exchange visit with a brewery he works with over there.

Malcolm has been at Fyne Ales now for over a decade, but fell in to brewing originally in the mid-90’s more or less by accident.

“I did a brewing degree at Heriot-Watt University from 1994 to 1998,” he explains. “I was basically looking to move to Edinburgh and a friend was doing it and suggested I had a look at it. When I was younger my main sport was fencing and Herriot-Watt had a good fencing team. That was it really. I had no real career direction at that stage. The course back then was very much aimed at macro-breweries, so I probably learnt a lot more actually doing the job afterwards!”

Geared up as the course was for larger breweries and production, the explosion of smaller independent breweries had not really taken off yet in the late 90’s, especially in Scotland, so Malcolm initially got some experience in the cider sector over the autumn of his graduate year.

“I spent the cider season down at Bulmers, just working in the mill, then had a brief period at Belhaven, and then I went out of brewing for a bit, doing anything from melding plastic to blending biodiesel. Then a few years later a job came up at Fyne Ales and I’ve been here for 12 years now.”

The team at Fyne Ales has grown from three when Malcolm started there as an assistant in the brewery, to six now on the brewing team and around 20 across the business. Their best seller remains Jarl, a sessionable light golden ale at 3.8%, and, as Malcolm puts it, “We brew beers that people are going to enjoy drinking and want to drink again”.

Jarl probably accounts for 40% of volumes across all formats, but Fyne has now begun to experiment with the latest trend for wood-aged beers, sours and even spontaneous fermentation with plans currently underway to redevelop the original brewery on the site for this purpose.

“We are obviously best known for Jarl – 3.8%, pale, easy drinking. But the original brewery is getting redeveloped at the moment and it’s going to be slightly more geared towards the more esoteric end of the market – looking at wood fermentation, barrel ageing, sours – a little more experimental. We have a young Italian lad with us at the moment who has a lot more experience with those things than I do. I’d say I’m definitely more conservative – with a small c – when it comes to brewing, and if we keep that side of things ticking over it then allows us to do some slightly more experimental keg and bottle things.”

Continued on page 27

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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MEET THE BREWER XXXX

The Italian connection is an interesting one. Fyne Ales is part of the Erasmus Young Entrepreneur scheme, an international initiative which allows businesses to locate young workers looking for placements in particular sectors. This has led to a steady stream of Italians working within Malcolm’s team over the last few years since Italy’s micro-brewing industry is starting to take off while the country lacks skilled workers in this area.

“You register your company with the Erasmus Young Entrepreneur scheme and say you are looking for someone in a particular field – it can be anything from brewing to computing – and they register with their skills and they match you up,” says Malcolm. “With the way the industry is going in Italy there seems to be more people there at the moment looking to get into brewing and get experience.”

This has been especially useful at a time when the brewery is looking to move outside its heartland sessionable beers into more experimental brews that one of the current Italian exchange workers Andrea seems to have a particular interest in.

Although the concern for the future is that Brexit might affect the finding currently available from the EU for the scheme.

“We have had a fairly steady influx of Italian guys coming through and working with us, and the scheme is paid for by the European Union,” says Malcolm.

“I don’t know quite what will happen, maybe there will be more visa inspections and sponsorship involved. You just don’t know.”

Erasmus is not the only interesting external initiative being embraced at Fyne Ales, which has also linked up with some of the local schools and colleges on a project which ties in with the move into more experimental territory as well.

“We are involved in a scheme to do with education and industry at the moment where we look for projects that schools and universities can pick up and run with,” explains Malcolm. “The project we’re looking at is analysing what’s in the air around here that might affect fermentation – wild yeasts and that kind of thing – and working out what the best time of year might be to do these things. It is in its early stages to see if it’s a viable project for their microbiology or biochemistry students to look into. We have a lot of things sitting in wood at the moment, some bubbling here and there, but we are hoping projects like this will give us a bit more knowledge and understanding and help us refine the process a bit more.”

Malcolm freely admits this latest move into wood-aging and different fermentations has presented a learning curve for him, but his passion shines through and you can see that his interest in the category has now been piqued. So does he think this trend for sours and more unusual styles is here to stay?

“With the way we seem to be following what the American market does it was inevitable that we’d move in that direction,” he says. “Even three or four years ago if you’d said you were doing this people would ask you who was going to buy it, but that’s just the way the market

is changing so fast now. We are known for beers that are modern, traditional but with a modern twist really, but with this it is giving us a completely different marketplace to aim for.”

He adds that consumer acceptance of more unusual styles and also business pressures such as the hop shortage have all added to the momentum for brewers to explore new processes.

“The industry changes so quickly. You’ve got to keep adapting, and changing and trying to keep up with what’s happening really. There is definitely longer term going to be more focus on alternative fermentations, and more interest in brews from other cultures – I am thinking here of sake being brewed in Norway for example. Look at Williams Brothers who do a heather ale and also slightly more historical brews, I can see that area becoming more interesting, especially with the hops shortage. Non-hopped beers might become a thing - I was speaking to someone who owns a meadery a few weeks back, which is something that is now quite big in America.”

All this is of course being driven by the drinker ultimately. Malcolm adds: “There are plenty of places doing the hoppy, strong ales, so I think if you are going to be looking at new markets then you are looking at doing more unusual things like wild beer, woods, sours. Consumers are becoming a lot more accepting and indeed expecting of new beers – they are always asking what’s new now! Long gone are the days when you could get away with producing two or three beers – a mild, a

Continued on page 29

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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MEET THE BREWER

THE INDUSTRY CHANGES SO QUICKLY. YOU’VE GOT TO KEEP ADAPTING, AND CHANGING AND TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT’S HAPPENING REALLY.

bitter and a stout – now they want to know what else you’ve got.”

While this recent surge in consumer interest in new beer styles might have been led by the American market, Malcolm believes there is a distinct difference between the two country’s tastes today.

“I have been over to the States quite a few times and, not to do the American market down in any way, but there is almost a challenge over there as to how bitter something can be or how strong, or how hoppy,” he says. “And I think over here we are a bit more balanced. More sessionable.

In terms of where we are headed you see breweries like Cloudwater that have an emphasis on fresh, an emphasis not about being completely sterile and filtered – there is a bit more going on – and if people weren’t liking that and drinking it then they wouldn’t be producing it.”

Interestingly, Fyne Ales has had recent success exporting their British beer over to the US market in cask, a format not native to the American sector. But while there is growing interest in UK beers over the pond, Malcolm does see a barrier to widespread export of the more sessionable beers he produces.

“The barrier to the more European styles taking over from the hoppy US beers is cost. You expect to pay more for a stronger beer so by the time you have paid all the taxes you’re looking at charging as much as you would for a US 6% beer which consumers look at as unfair. I’ve seen Jarl over there in 330ml bottles for $15 which is ludicrous! But there is definitely more appreciation over there for our beers – Americans used to come over here and think our beer was warm boring, bland, and that is changing.”

Cask is certainly still at the forefront of the Fyne Ales model, but as Malcolm explains: “Because we have been around since 2001 there wasn’t really a keg market when we started out, so what we’re doing now is looking to see if we can grow that market share.”

In that respect, the brewery is not consistently brewing at capacity yet, so there is certainly room for growth, although the week of our interview marks a massive 220bbl volume record – partly due to the impending FyneFest event which has 30 cask lines on the main bar alone.

“This week’s been the most we’ve ever brewed, we’ve done 220bbls, thankfully it is keeping busy,” says Malcolm, who is happy to be kept busy, and feels it would be nice to gradually push volumes up, equipment permitting!

And there has been some wider recognition of what Malcolm and his team have achieved recently, with Fyne Ales’ Mills & Hills taking overall Gold in the SIBA national awards at BeerX this year for the small pack category.

“It is always good to get recognition for what the team has been doing,” says Malcolm. “But the best thing for me is going out and seeing people drinking your beer. We don’t enter too many awards actually, we find it hard now as the categories are so defined in the competitions, and we have never set out to brew a particular style of beer. We sit and come up with new beers based on what we would like to drink, so we are not being true to any style, it is about making something people are going to enjoy.”

Speaking of which, I ask Malcolm what beers he is particularly enjoying at the

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moment and what other brewers out there he respects and admires.

“There are so many great beers out there at the moment I don’t want to miss anyone out,” he smiles. “If you’re looking for very good drinkable beers, Thornbridge are very hard to beat. Pale, hoppy, interesting then Magic Rock, and Hawkshead are consistently good obviously. Up here in Scotland then Tempest, Fierce, Loch Lomond – I could name so many!”

This does seem to be a very strong time for the Scottish market as a whole, with Scottish brewers dominating both this and last year’s SIBA national beer awards and the market steadily growing in the region.

“The Scottish market has gone from being all ‘lager lager lager’ to there being some really interesting brewers up here now,” adds Malcolm. “I hesitate to say it is at the forefront but we have some really exciting stuff going on.”

Exciting times definitely for the Scottish market as a whole and also for Malcolm himself as the brewery gears up for its experimental project work, the dust settles on another successful FyneFest and Malcolm looks at ways to take more market share in keg. And after 12 years he shows not sign that the role is getting tired for him, enjoying the hands-on nature of the head brewer’s perspective.

“I don’t fancy getting involved in the business side,” he laughs when I ask about future aspirations to have his own operation. “In fact this is the longest I’ve spent in the office for a long time! Life is interesting here, so why change it?”

Why, indeed.

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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GUEST COLUMNIST

MAKING YOU

Memorable

In this issue of the Journal, multi-award winning beer writer and author, and founder of the Beer & Cider Marketing Awards, Pete Brown, looks at how good beer marketing captures the imagination…

marketing has been turned on its head.

I bet he drinks Carling Black Label.

Or maybe he follows the bear?

So what does good beer marketing look like 20 years after the demise of the laddish lager ad?

Does Heineken really refresh the parts other beers cannot reach? Probably.

If you’re of a certain age, beer ads provided the comedy catchphrases of the day, and are still memorable now. Some of them even entered the general vernacular.

But can you think of a good beer ad slogan from this year? This decade? This century?

I came into beer writing because of those ads. They made me want to work in advertising, and through working in advertising, I came to be so fascinated by beer’s cultural role that I ended up writing a book about it.

Back in my agency days, we used to say people ‘drink the advertising’: the products were similar to the point of being indistinguishable, but the brands had a power to create affiliations that were almost tribal.

Just before the millennium, everything changed.

You wouldn’t get many of those TV ads past the tighter regulations we have now. And even if you did, the large, homogenised TV audiences that used to watch them are now scattered across a thousand different channels, screens and box sets. The brands they promoted have been commoditised and debased by years of cheap supermarket deals. Beer

The most successful beer brand of the last decade became a household name without spending a single penny on advertising.

BrewDog harnessed social media and a knack for sensationalism to become the most talked about beer brand in the world.

Love them or hate them, they’ve steered a new course in how beer brands are built.

First, it’s worth pointing out that whether or not you think marketing is important, either you invest in controlling or at least influencing the meaning of your brand, or people will make it up for themselves.

Stella Artois worked when it really was ‘reassuringly expensive’, but its owners then lost control of what Stella meant, and it became ‘wife beater’ – just as powerful a brand, but absolutely not what its owners wanted it to stand for.

So it helps if you have a very clear and simple idea of what you want your brand to be. Brew Dog is ‘Punk’. Guinness is ‘made of more’. Both are more than straplines – they’re ideas that provide a clear steer for all marketing activity.

You also need to have a very clear target audience in mind. Think about writing a postcard on holiday – you’ll write a very different message to your mum than to your mates down the pub. In the same way, your brand message will have a different tone of voice if you’re talking to urban-based drinkers under 30 than if it’s talking to older people in the shires. If BrewDog irritates you, chances are that’s part of the plan, because it helps their fans feel edgier for liking the brand.

The best brands translate their idea and attitude into a concrete brand world.

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This is where Beavertown have excelled in recent years. Their gonzo fifties sci-fi chic is fun, colourful and vibrant. It runs through everything they do, and makes them stand apart from the craft beer pack.

This is all simply a way of saying that good brands communicate the right message to the right people. But great brands are also about knowing where, when and how to do this. In place of big TV ads that broadcast messages at people, good beer brands are now on a level with their drinkers, engaging them in truly meaningful ways. The most useful brand building channels now are social media and events. A combination of the two means brands are in full time conversation with their fans, and that’s how you create brand advocates who will do your marketing for you, by word of mouth advocacy, by wearing your branding, by RTing your messages, by bringing their mates to your events.

And the most exciting thing for small brewers is that anyone can do this. Only the very biggest brands have the budget for TV ads. It’s free to set up Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. And anyone can throw a party.

With nearly 2,000 UK brewers now, you can’t afford not to do marketing. But do it right, and it might even be more fun than chanting those old ad slogans used to be.

Pete Brown is a British writer who specialises in making people thirsty. He is the author of eight books and wrote the annual Cask Report for its first nine years. He writes numerous articles in the drinks trade press and consumer press.

He appears regularly on TV and radio, and has judged competitions including the BBC Food and Farming Awards, the Great Taste Awards and the Great British Pub Awards. He's was named Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012 and 2016.

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

THE

BIG

INTERVIEW BOB PEASE, PRESIDENT & CEO, THE US BREWERS ASSOCIATION

With the recent boom in craft beer and brewing in the UK market often credited as being inspired by the rise of the ‘hoppy’ American pale ales from breweries across the Atlantic, many in the UK market continue to watch what’s going on in the US with great interest. And so it is that Bob Pease, the President and CEO of the US Brewers Association, travels across to these shores quite often, most recently to SIBA’s BeerX in Sheffield where he spoke on the many current issues upon which UK and US brewers are aligned and on which they can work together to ensure both sectors flourish. Caroline Nodder, the SIBA Journal’s Editor, caught up with Bob after BeerX to find out more about the challenges the US market is facing and how he sees the evolution of brewing worldwide over the coming years.

©Brewers Association

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

THE BIG INTERVIEW

THE GROWTH IN CRAFT BEER HAS BEEN DRIVEN

BY THE BEER DRINKER. WE TRY VERY HARD NEVER TO FORGET THAT.

©Brewers Association

What is your background and what inspired you to become part of the US brewing sector?

I’ve been part of the craft beer community for a long time now - it’s hard to believe but I joined the Association of Brewers (predecessor organisation to the Brewers Association) nearly 25 years ago. At the time, I was inspired by the passion of the craft brewers I knew. That passion remains a key inspiration for me. Since joining in 1993, I’ve had a number of roles in our organisation, starting as Operations Director, and shifting to Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer and President over time.

It’s been quite a ride!

Who does the US Brewers Association represent and when was it founded?

The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade body that promotes and protects small and independent American craft brewers, their beers and the community of craft brewing enthusiasts. We’re an organisation of brewers, for brewers and by brewers.

We have a membership of more than 3,800 breweries, 46,000 members of the American Homebrewers Association, 1,600 members of the allied trade, and others.

The association in its current guise was founded in 2005 following the merger of the Association of Brewers (which itself was founded in 1983) and the Brewers Association of America. At the end of the day, the Brewers Association promotes and protects America’s small and independent craft brewers.

The US brewing sector has been transformed during your time at the association, what in your view has driven this change and how has it impacted the sector?

The growth in craft beer has been driven by the beer drinker. We try very hard never to forget that. It is the beer lover first and foremost who is demanding new, innovative and diverse beers. The beer drinker wants authenticity, transparency, exploration and discovery. They are more knowledgeable about beer than ever before and constantly looking for adventurous, experimental, envelope-pushing new beers. Small and independent craft brewers provide that.

What are the main challenges currently facing your brewing members?

Access to market and maintaining a level playing field for all industry participants

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is the biggest challenge our members face. The craft beer revolution has been driven by the beer drinker. The Brewers Association wants to preserve that dynamic. We call that dynamic, “beer drinker pull”. The opposite dynamic is “supplier push”. If the beer drinker is left to decide what is on tap and or on the shelf, small and independent brewers will win. If global multinationals are allowed to dictate what is on tap or on the shelf the result will be a reduction in choice and the beer drinker will lose. We view the multinational companies as potential threats because we don’t want to see one or two companies owning all the brands that have become synonymous with craft beer. Craft beer in the US is a total entrepreneurial success story. The majority are small and independent businesses, employing maybe 10-15 people – maintaining and preserving that status quo is at the core of what the association does.

Promoting the importance of consistent product quality is another main focus. We work hard to ensure that all our members understand the importance of consistent product quality and we publish resources on quality such as the quality pyramid which are free to all our members. We published a book on quality management

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

©Brewers Association

OUR ROLE IS TO EDUCATE AND LET GROWTH HAPPEN ORGANICALLY

by Mary Pellettieri two years ago and sent every member a copy – around 4,000 at the time, at our expense. We have recently appointed a new quality ambassador Neil Witte who travels the country offering practical advice and performing an evangelical role.

Domestically, the biggest challenge is growing the ‘pie’ of beverage alcohol ie. beer, wine and spirits. Beer growth is slowing, wine is growing a little and spirits a lot. Our challenge is to grow that pie for beer. If we can’t do that, brewers have to compete amongst each other for the existing pie and that becomes harder to do especially with the brewers acquired by AB-Inbev and Miller Coors.

Do you see many parallels with the UK sector?

Yes, absolutely. I see the large multinationals wading in and buying small and independent breweries in the UK too eg. AB-Inbev’s purchase of Camden Town last year. I also see small and independent breweries growing at a healthy rate. There are now nearly 1,800 breweries in the UK and every time I come here the number has grown significantly. We recognise the

emergence of a thriving craft beer scene in the UK and we’re totally comfortable with that because we want more beer drinkers to discover the plethora of styles available and enjoy more full-flavoured, authentic craft beer styles on more occasions.

The recent boom in brewing in the US was said to be inspired originally by the beers of Europe. Would you say that was the case?

Yes, there were two catalysts – a) homebrewing was made legal in 1979 and b) in 1981 the airline industry was de-regulated making it easier and cheaper for Americans to fly to Europe. Having experienced the flavours, range of styles and brewing techniques in Europe, Americans began creating their own recipes and exploring and innovating with flavours. The early 80s in the States gave rise to the current craft beer movement we are enjoying now.

The more hoppy beer styles that have become synonymous with your members inspired a similar trend in the UK. Do you see that style evolving in more recent times?

Yes, IPA and IPA variations make up one quarter of all beer volume in the States and range from 4% or less to 12% or more. We now have IPAs that are barrelaged, sour, infused with fruit, spices and herbs, black, red, rye and many more.

This style is the primary driver of craft volume growth and continues to evolve and innovate every year. Of course, that still leaves the other three-quarters of craft beers out there which offer a diversity of flavours and profiles. But IPAs are definitely popular and constantly evolving.

What is your view on the large multinational brewers launching ‘crafty’ beers?

Multinationals like ABI tried to create their own beers that were ‘craft’ with limited success. When you look at consumers in the US and globally they seem to be shifting towards small, independent and local producers – whether it be bread, coffee, cheese or beer – and that works against the big companies. That illustrates the importance of authenticity and you can’t buy that. We do question though, why the global multi-nationals are not more transparent regarding their

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

ownership of formerly small and independent brewers. Why can’t you find the words Anheuser-Busch InBev on a label of Goose Island for example?

Do you think the brewing sector in the US is reaching saturation?

WE SEE BEER DRINKERS IN THE UK DEMANDING INNOVATION, VARIETY AND EXPERIMENTATION JUST AS THEY DO IN THE STATES AND WE SEE NEW CRAFT BREWERIES OPENING AT A HEALTHY CLIP

No, there is still plenty of room for growth but it’s going to get harder as the market expands. There are around 10,000 wineries in the States and no one asks if that’s too many. We don’t have a specific goal to reach 7, 8 or 9,000 breweries – our role is to educate and let growth happen organically. There are nearly 1,000 cities in the States with a population of more than 10,000 that don’t have a local brewery – yet. Some States are under-represented eg. Texas and the South East.

As long as a brewery can differentiate itself and make world-class beer it will succeed.

Is beer quality becoming a bigger issue within the sector?

Beer quality is the single most important issue and we take it very seriously.

We are consistently placing an increased amount of resources towards developing programs and projects that will help our members brew better beer.

In 2017, for example, the Brewers Association is funding over $500,000 in barley and hop research. Our technical committee and quality sub-committee do tremendous work and we’re all about educating and informing our members.

Are there any current issues that US and UK brewers should work more closely together on?

©Brewers Association

Yes, quality. Maintaining quality through the supply chain is critical. We push for cold-chain infrastructure from the moment the beer leaves a brewery to the moment it is enjoyed by the beer drinker. One bad experience may put off a craft beer drinker for life. We’re making progress – we now have more of our members asking questions about quality and accessing our quality resources than ever before. These resources are available for UK brewers to use as well.

Go to www.brewersassociation.org for details.

What makes a great beer?

One that the beer drinker is willing to pay for time and time again.

Who is currently leading the growth and development in US brewing?

The beer drinker, who is demonstrating a demand for flavour, innovation, and quality. Brewers are challenged by this demand, which is important in creating something new and special.

What is your view of the trend for small craft brewers selling out to large multinationals?

The BA respects the decision by small and independent brewers to sell their business to the largest competitors in the beer space. We don’t begrudge any one entrepreneur for trying to secure financial security for them and their families. But when a brewery does sell, they are no longer independent and they are different from the 5,300 small and independent brewers. When a formerly small and independent brewer sells out, they immediately have access to distribution and raw materials that small and independent brewers don’t have. In the US a brewery by and large needs a distributor to get their product to market, but a multi-national like AB-Inbev has a massive influence at distributor level and that gives them an unfair advantage. That distribution muscle can unduly influence what beers are on tap or on the shelf upsetting the ability for the beer drinker to decide and reducing choice for the beer drinker. How can that possibly be a good thing?

What are your main challenges as a business this year?

For our larger members they have the challenge on one hand of competing against the hyper local breweries, ‘the long end of the tail’ as we call it, and on the other hand competing against brewers acquired by the large multinationals for chain placements in on or off trade multiple outlets eg. grocery stores or big liquor stores. These brewers are competing against the ‘chain’ market and the local market and get squeezed from both ends. Local brewers at the long end of the tail are seeing consistent growth.

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

©Brewers Association

©Brewers Association

Other challenges include the intense competition, agricultural variables and the constant threat of increased taxes and regulations. Access to raw materials and ingredients is an ever increasing challenge for small brewers.

is very high. Local and even hyper local will continue to be a big thing. For the larger independent brewers this presents a problem because they may not be seen as local once they are away from their core state.

Have beer drinkers’ tastes changed significantly since you started at the BA?

Who do you most admire in the brewing sector worldwide, and why?

The current trend is towards more sessionable beers and beer styles. Two or three years ago there was a push towards sours which is still evident, but there’s not a lot of volume in sours so we’re seeing a shift to lower ABV and more sessionable styles like lagers, pilsners, golden/blonde ales. These styles appeal to beer drinkers coming into the market for the first time as well as those who are aging having been in the market since its inception. You can have two or three at the same sitting. I think beer drinkers on both sides of the Atlantic will continue to appreciate flavourforward, high quality beer styles whether they are popular and well-known or totally new and innovative, and this bodes well for the future of the category.

Well, it would be hard not to mention Charlie Papazian who helped give birth to this movement and from there I would focus on the likes of Ken Grossman, Steve Hindy, Gary Fish, Kim Jordan, Pat Conway and the other pioneers who created a market for their beers and beers from other craft brewers when before them, no market existed. What that group of small brewery owners and entrepreneurs accomplished was nothing short of remarkable.

How do you see the brewing sector evolving over the next five to 10 years?

We would like to see fair access to market for all US breweries.

Cans will continue to grow. Sustainability is a big ethos for our members and cans are more recyclable than bottles - they are lighter, easier to transport, cheaper to ship and offer the 360 degree marketing wrap.

Taprooms are another exciting development. These are breweries where beer lovers can come along and enjoy beer at source. It’s not like a bar - there are no TVs, it’s a communal setting, families are encouraged and no distributor is required.

Breweries can sell all the beer they make directly over the bar and the profit margin

Are there any trends in the brewing market that you are currently excited by?

Beer tourism is a growing trend. More than 7% of craft sales (by volume) now happen at the source ie. the brewery. Beer tourism is so strong that travel website Travelocity just published a beer tourism index. In 2014 10 million people toured craft breweries in the States. When a brewer like Russian River announces the launch of a new Pliny it can have a multi-million dollar impact on the local community.

People come from all over the world to attend. The Great American Beer Festival held in Denver every fall has over a $25 million dollar economic impact on the city and county of Denver.

What is your view on the UK beer market at the moment – have we caught up with the US?

see new craft breweries opening at a healthy clip. We recognise that the UK’s craft beer scene is experiencing dynamic growth of its own and a resurgence of interest and we applaud this growth.

Our goal is to get more people to enjoy full-flavoured, authentic quality craft beer all over the world and if that happens via a domestic craft beer or an American export we’re good with that. American craft beer exports and UK craft beers are not mutually exclusive, rather we see them as complimenting each other. Variety drives sales.

We will, once again, be participating at the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia this August and we welcome SIBA members to our stand to sample the vast range of flavours and styles on offer from our Export Development Program members.

What is your favourite pub/bar worldwide?

The White Horse on Parsons Green holds a special place in my heart. More and more though I find myself going to the local breweries tap room instead of a bar.

There is no substitute for experiencing craft beer culture than visiting the brewery, the source of the beer and seeing the excitement and sense of discovery the beer drinker is enjoying.

What are your five favourite beers worldwide?

I usually say it’s the beer that’s in front of me at the time! But these five would be up there: Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Left Hand Polestar Pilsner, New Belgium Transatlantic Kriek and Port City Optimal Wit.

We see beer drinkers in the UK demanding innovation, variety and experimentation just as they do in the States and we

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SPECIAL FEATURE

WILL BIG LAGER ONE DAY GO THE SAME WAY AS BIG PORTER AND BIG MILD? In the latest in our occasional series of SIBA Journal special features, which look at market trends and examine the history of the sector, beer writer Martyn Cornell has taken a look at what we can learn from the evolution of beer styles over the ages, and whether allconquering lager might one day meet the same fate as its predecessors…

Benjamin Franklin once wrote to a friend that there were two certainties in this world: death and taxes. He missed at least two more certainties, however: that language changes – or we would all still be speaking the English of Alfred the Great – and that tastes change, too, or we would all still be drinking the same unhopped ales Alfred the Great drank.

Only the oldest pub-goers today can remember a time when the British beer market was not dominated by lager. Today almost three pints in four of all beer drunk in Britain are of the bottomfermented variety. But that dominance was achieved from very tiny beginnings: in 1960 lager sales in the UK were less than two per cent of the total. Instead, the dominant beer style was one that has almost vanished today: mild. In 1959 draught mild was 42 per cent of all UK beer sales, six pints out of every 10 served on draught, and turning over 10.3 million barrels a year.

More than 60 years earlier, however, mild itself had replaced another once-dominant beer style: porter. The dark, bitter beer that was a favourite of the men who moved goods about the

streets of London, and on and off ships moored in the Thames – men called porters, hence the beer's name – had been a favourite from the 1720s until at least the 1840s. In 1843 the Scottish journalist William Weir called porter “the most universally favoured liquor the world has ever known,” and declared that “porter drinking needs but a beginning: wherever the habit has once been acquired, it is sure to be kept up.”

But even then, the beer that had been a favourite of everybody from dockers to dukes for more than a hundred years was in decline. In 1823, porter output in London hit 1.8 million barrels, after a continual rise that had lasted 50 years. But this was its peak: by 1830 porter production would be down 20 per cent on its 1823 level. What was replacing it was mild ale, made for quick consumption, slightly stronger than porter, pale in colour, unaged and therefore sweeter, less acid than porter. A House of Commons select committee on the sale of beer in 1833 was told that the London drinker “will have nothing but what is mild, and that has caused a considerable revolution in the trade, so much so that Barclay and Perkins, and other great houses, finding that there is a decrease in the consumption of porter, and an increase in the consumption of ale, have gone into the ale trade; nearly all the new trade is composed of mild ale.”

In the early 19th century, ale brewers and beer (that is to say, porter and stout) brewers were still different concerns in London, with the ale brewers much smaller than their rivals. But as the demand for mild ale grew, so the ale brewers grew too, boosting companies such as Charrington in the Mile End Road and Courage at Horsleydown on the south bank of the Thames, almost opposite the Tower. Charrington’s trade increased almost two and a half times between 1831 and 1851, for example. In 1814 it

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SPECIAL FEATURE

TRADITIONALLY BITTER IS LOOKED ON AS THE BOSSES’ DRINK. ANY MAN RECKONS TODAY HE’S AS GOOD AS HIS BOSS. SO HE CHOOSES BITTER.

was producing just 16,510 barrels a year, all ale, when Barclay Perkins, then London’s leading brewer, was making 257,300 barrels of porter: by 1889 Charrington’s output had risen to more than 500,000 barrels a year, level with Barclay Perkins.

The porter brewers responded by moving into the ale market, particularly after the Beerhouse Act of 1830 dramatically increased the number of available licensed outlets. Thomas Beames was still able to write in 1852, in a book called The Rookeries of London, that for the working classes “porter is the common beverage with them, just as vin ordinaire is in France.”

But by then there were just two porter-only breweries left, Reid’s in Liquorpond Street, Clerkenwell, and Meux & Co, off Tottenham Court Road. Porter still made up three quarters of London beer sales even in 1863. But the pace against it was increasing.

By 1879 mild ale made up more than 60 per cent of sales for one big London porter brewer, Truman, and 57 per cent for another, Whitbread.

A writer in 1875, reminiscing about the beers of 70 years earlier, during the Napoleonic wars, wrote: “It is strange how the taste of those days for old stale beer has turned to the opposite extreme in the liking for the new and the sweet by the present generation.”

Although the mild ale of the final decades of the 19th century is regularly described as “sparkling”, at some point it changed from being pale to, mostly, being brown again, as it had been in the 17th century. According to the Daily Telegraph in 1928: “The taste for a brown mild ale was developed about 50 years ago” – that is, around 1878 – “and mild ale soon became the chief and most popular drink among the lower-priced beers.”

By 1908 “fourpenny beer (mild ale)”, so called because it retailed at four pence a quart, was being described as “the large bulk of the trade of the country”. The pressure on brewers to lower the gravity of their beers during and after the First World War, in large part to keep prices down after huge increases in tax, saw porter drop from around 1055OG to 1036. When the war ended, former

porter drinkers turned, if they could afford it, to stout, which was now the same strength as pre-war porter. Gradually brewers began dropping porter from their ranges. In 1920, for the first time, Watney Combe Reid, an amalgamation of three big former porter brewers, sent no porter to the Brewer’s Exhibition for sampling. Truman’s, another former great porter brewer, stopped making the beer in 1930. Taylor Walker was still brewing porter in 1936, but ceased soon after. The writer TEB Clarke in 1938 called porter “a lowly brand of draught stout selling in the Public [bar] at fourpence a pint,” about the cheapest beer available.

Whitbread ended the brewing of porter in the early 1940s. It survived – just – in Ireland, but in 1958 the Times newspaper’s survey of Beer in Britain stated: “Porter, the strong dark staple beer of 18th century England, is no longer brewed in Great Britain.”

Mild's reign lasted until the end of the 1950s. However, mild had an image problem. It was always the beer of the working classes, cheap and cheery, drunk in the public bar, while bitter was for the middle classes, who frequented the classier, more expensive saloon bar. The Times newspaper in 1958 pointed out mild’s growing problem: “Traditionally bitter is looked on as the bosses’ drink. Any man reckons today he’s as good as his boss. So he chooses bitter.” By 1964, draught mild was down to 33 per cent of beer sales by volume. Around 1969, sales of draught bitter overtook those of draught mild for the first time. Six years later, in 1975, as draught mild plunged to barely one pint in eight of total beer sales, it was passed in popularity by a beer that had hardly existed in Britain in 1959 – draught lager.

Lager's rise continued throughout the 1980s, and mild's fall continued, fuelled not by people actually changing beers, but by the constant inflow of new cohorts of 18-year-old drinkers every year, most of whom chose lager as their first pints, while elderly bitter and – in particular – mild drinkers were falling off the perch almost as fast as young lager drinkers were replacing them.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Lager consumption in the UK passed that of bitter about 1997, and until very recently lager was still increasing its share of the UK beer market, up from 67 per cent in 2002 to 74.8 per cent in 2014. However, 2015 saw the first dip since the early 1990s (when the growth of the “guest beer” market after the Beer Orders of 1989 gave a brief boost to sales of bitter), albeit by less than one per cent, as “ale and bitter” pushed up its share to 21.5 per cent of a falling overall market, down 4.7 per cent to 4.25 billion litres (or 25.97 million barrels, in old-style money). With a growing (though still tiny) proportion of even the lager market now “craft”, are we seeing Big Lager start to slide just the way every “big” style has in the past?

IN 1823, PORTER OUTPUT IN LONDON HIT 1.8 MILLION BARRELS, AFTER A CONTINUAL RISE THAT HAD LASTED 50 YEARS.

History suggests very strongly that it’s almost inevitable Big Lager’s reign will end one day. What the timescale will be, and exactly what will replace it, is hard to guess. The change is, again, likely to be demographics-led: new entrants in the market (those 800,000 or so fresh 18-year-olds legally drinking for the first time every year) choosing something different, rather than their elders altering their purchasing habits. I certainly don’t see those new recruits to alcohol automatically drinking Big Lager: though I may be wrong. But meanwhile the first wave of UK lager drinkers, those who powered the drink's growth in the 1970s as they themselves turned 18, are now in their mid-to-late 50s: give them 10 to 15 years and they too will be dropping off their perches in vast flocks. That’s about how long I’d give Big Lager, at the most.

Martyn Cornell is a beer historian, beer consultant and author of books including Amber Gold and Black, the story of Britain’s beer styles.

He blogs at zythophile.co.uk

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BUSINESS PROFILE

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After 15 years doing graphic design for the family wholesale business – which specialised in importing crystals, minerals and rocks, hence Magic Rock! – Richard Burhouse was looking to turn his passion for beer into a career. He saw the potential in American style hoppy ales when only one or two brewers in the UK had jumped on that particular wagon, and along with his brother Jonny and brewer Stuart Ross launched a start-up brewery in a disused outbuilding on the family business site. The rest, as they say, is history, and Magic Rock now brews over 13,500hl of quality craft beer a year and leads the pack as an inspiration to many new starters in the sector. Caroline Nodder, SIBA Journal’s Editor, spoke to Richard to find out more about what drives his love for both the beer he produces and the area the brewery still calls home…

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

BUSINESS PROFILE

BREWERY BASICS NAME: Magic Rock Brewing Co FOUNDED: 2011 LOCATION: Birkby, Huddersfield OWNED: Richard Burhouse, Stuart Ross (brother Jonny Burhouse, joint founder, sold his shares back to Richard in late 2011) CAPACITY: 700hl (brewing 13,500hl pa) BREWING TEAM: 10 (head brewer Stuart Ross) STAFF: 34 (inc. tap room) KEY BEERS: High Wire (5.5%), High Wire Grapefruit (5.5%), Inhaler (4.5%), Rapture (4.6%), Canonball (7.4%) PRODUCTION (CASK/KEG/BOTTLES/CANS): Cask 5%, Keg 25%, Can 70% EXPORT MARKETS: Sweden, Spain, Italy, Holland and France

Tell me a bit about your background and the background to the business.

“I was working in a family business which is an importer and wholesaler of rocks, crystals and minerals – hence the Magic Rock name! I was doing graphic design for that business for probably 15 years. And I had a long-standing love of beer, West Yorkshire being really good for breweries with lots of choice, so that led to me starting a website initially with a friend where I was trying to help small breweries get their beer to market. A bit like Eebria or one or two other businesses that exist now. That was in 2009 and it was difficult to get it off the ground, but I started stocking beers anyway, and that gave me a lot of contacts in the industry. One of those was Stuart (Ross – Magic Rock’s now head brewer). And I made the decision the website wasn’t really working and decided to start a brewery. I knew Stuart’s beers were good, and that he could make these American hoppy style beers. It was really just about wanting to change my life and have a career in beer, but it was particularly the American style beers I was enthused by and I thought there was something we could do in that area. At the time there was really only BrewDog and Thornbridge making those sort of beers. We had an outbuilding available at the family business which we used, and that was why it became Magic Rock.”

How would you describe your beer range and brewing ethos?

“It was definitely this modern American style I was wanting to concentrate on. Even though the area is traditional, or perhaps because the area was set up as being very traditional. I didn’t want to just follow that course, we needed a hook really. So we went for very bold modern American-style dry-hopped pale ales and IPAs right from the start. The first beer we brewed was Cannonball IPA which was 7.4% and for a lot of people that was the strongest beer in their range then, but for us it was our basic IPA. Our approach was always about quality, but we just

wanted to open people’s eyes to different styles and stronger and more flavourful beer really. In particular also different formats of dispense. So we did cask, because that was an easy way to enter the market, but we did keg from an early stage which was quite unusual for 2011. It was probably 50/50 in those days cask to keg but since then it’s skewed towards keg because we are sending it further afield apart from anything. I was trying a lot of beers from America when I set up the website and I was really enjoying them, and I just hoped in Huddersfield that a lot of the cask drinkers would go on the same journey that I did.”

How is Magic Rock different to other brewers in the sector?

“What we did differently back in the early days was embracing these American styles and producing heavily dry-hopped beers which is expensive to do. I was also interested in the full package too – not marketing really, but social media and packaging and that sort of thing. We did it very professionally and in a way that maybe made the brewery feel bigger than it perhaps was.”

You have a very distinctive look to your brand. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

“Probably because of my background in graphic design I wanted everything to look just as it should, and I had access to some resources. My friend designer Richard Norgate, who was doing book covers and album covers at the time, he had worked in bigger business and I wanted everything to look like it was professional from the start. So right from the beginning people would call up and ask to speak to the marketing department and that was me. So I would have to say ‘hang on a minute’ and then pick it up again! That was about trying to create a product people trusted. At the time there was a lot of good beer about but it wasn’t particularly well branded.

Whereas now the branding is really good but the beer sometimes isn’t so good. So things have come full circle really. Richard is still our designer in house now. He was originally just contracted to do a bit here and there, but he has come on board now.”

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BUSINESS PROFILE

Can you describe how your business has grown over the last few years?

I AM QUITE KEEN ON THE REGENERATION OF HUDDERSFIELD BECAUSE LIKE A LOT OF NORTHERN TOWNS IT IS DYING A LITTLE BIT.

“We have grown the business threefold since we moved site in 2015 and the new capacity is mainly in cans, we had a new canning line put in. We still only have one van so we deliver locally with that, but everything else is going out on pallets further afield. We had some limitations at the initial site, we couldn’t retail, it was surrounded by houses so we would never have got a licence there. So we looked for a new site near Huddersfield town centre. I wanted to stay in the town where I’m from and where the brewery was based and we found somewhere a 10 minute walk from the train station. It’s about 15,000sqft externally and we have a reasonably sized tap room now which is a great way to get the beer out. That couldn’t have gone any better, and about 15% of our volume now goes out through the tap room. It’s very much locals and community who use it, which is great. We do have some beer geeks who travel down to see us but mainly it is very community orientated. We are continuing to grow and we have got another five tanks about to be ordered so I imagine we will be up around 20,000hl by the end of the year. We are considering another site at the moment which would be in the town centre. I am quite keen on the regeneration of Huddersfield because like a lot of northern towns it is dying a little bit. So for the time being if we do do another retail site it will be here.”

Do you see any barriers to your growth and if so how are you approaching these?

“The first one is always capacity – just a case of when can we afford new tanks and when can we afford new production equipment. I have always had this mantra from the start that we look to reinvest the money from the business into quality improvements and that is ongoing. So we have a list of things that need to be purchased. In the last year we have done malt silos, and a centrifuge, and carbonation, and we have taken on some more storage space for cold storage. The barrier really is making sure the cashflow is good enough to buy the things we need. With that comes the staffing, making sure we get good people, and moving everything forward. We haven’t really got any specific barriers other than that, except the size of the site and time. I don’t want to overextend us so it is about doing it at our own speed.”

In an increasingly crowded market, how do you stay ahead of your competitors?

“We watch the market quite closely and we have great resources in house in our designer Richard, as well as the skill of the brewing team, so we stay ahead though innovation really, but maintaining that quality focus. Social media continues to be very important for us and I have employed someone now to do our social media – it was getting too much of a job for me to do on my own – and it is all tied together through that. Keeping the brand fresh by trying new things and still finding what we do fun – the team looks forward to the new things we are doing coming out and I hope that comes across in what we do. I do notice how many different brands there are out there but in terms of competition for us, it is a weird one really because we have never gone out and pro-actively sold anything. People come to us as a response to what we do, which is a nice position to be in. We need to make sure we are creative and our product is desirable enough that we keep the demand strong. And when there is competition about it is also important to be strict with your pricing and make sure the margin is still there to reinvest.”

Continued on page 53 WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

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BUSINESS PROFILE

How are you seeing consumer attitudes to beer change and how has this affected your range?

“It has changed quite a lot actually. I was very mindful when I started out that I wanted core beers and a core range because I liked the brands you’d see locally that were highly thought of and I wanted a core beer people would obsess over on the bar.

But it seems to have gone towards the ‘ticker’ market – for want of a better term! – you can have your core beers but people now want new beers all the time. If you are not doing something new you’re not moving forward, and we now need the innovative stuff to sell the core stuff. In some ways now you have different groups of consumers. The new stuff and experimental stuff is for a newish crowd who want that new stuff all the time, and then the core stuff will get listings on restaurant menus for example or supermarkets for a different consumer group. Both drive eachother in a strange way. It is nice to have both.”

What challenges do you see for small brewers entering the current market?

“Price and quality competition is the big one for new brewers coming into the market, and having a USP. Anyone new now has to start with very good product or they are going to be dead in the water quite quickly. You get one chance and if your beer is not amazing it doesn’t get bought again. I am glad we started when we did. Quality is particularly an issue in the cask market which is the easiest one to get into, but it is the one with the smallest margins, and people have very strict pricing policies, maybe because three out of four casks they buy are not very good. That is pushing the price down and that means people are not making the money to invest in improving the quality so it is a bit of a catch 22.”

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BUSINESS PROFILE

How do you see the structure of the brewing sector changing over the next few years?

“I think in the UK everyone has been predicting it slowing down for a while, and I think that probably will start to happen, because there just aren’t enough retail outlets for the beer. But where people can do well is in opening their own tap rooms and doing retail themselves. That to me seems to be a lot more obvious way of doing it and it appears to have happened that way in American too. It is the only way to support a retail operation on the margins that exist. Not a lot of people have the kind of margin to enable them to go off and start a pub somewhere so I think there will be more tap rooms. Things are cyclical generally in brewing so potentially there might be some more bigger breweries buying smaller ones as well in pursuit of margin.”

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

YOU GET ONE CHANCE AND IF YOUR BEER IS NOT AMAZING IT DOESN’T GET BOUGHT AGAIN.

“I am not sure there is anything that is completely new any more in the world of beer, most things tend to be a variation on a theme. So we are inspired by what we see happening around the beer world, by the styles and the beers coming out of other breweries. Often you follow a chain of thought, you make a beer that tastes a particular way with a particular strain of yeast and you wonder about what would happen if you changed this or that…it is like following a thread. Most of the inspiration is still coming out of America as it was when we started – they are still a few years ahead of us in terms of production quality and methodology of production so that is where we look most of the time. There has also been a speeding up of the spread of ideas through social media and the internet, and so things are spreading and happening more quickly. We do collaborations with American brewers and we go over there and the exchange of ideas is immediate – so our next brew could be using some techniques we have learnt or ingredients we have been exposed to during the visit.”

Where do you see Magic Rock being in five years time?

“There is no massive plan, other than to continue to be focused on quality and on this quality drive we have always been on. It feels like we are still some way off being the finished article and I am not sure if that journey ever really ends in brewing – there is always something to spend your money on! – so I am just looking forward to the next quality improvement we make, or the next beer we make. It is very difficult to look longer term. I would definitely like another retail site and I am not looking to move away from where we are at the moment so I am just looking to streamline what we are doing and keep making it better and better.”

Who do you most admire in the sector and why?

“That is quite a difficult one because I still sway between being inspired by quite traditional breweries – I get to drink enough hoppy and sour beers working here so I do like more traditional beers – and a lot of us in the brewery are big fans of Timothy Taylors just up the road in Keighly. Similarly down south I like Harveys. On a more modern scale I like and am friends with the guys at Thornbridge, I like the way they have done things.

Internationally I like Bell’s out of Michigan, probably one of the top five craft producers in America but I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t heard of them because they sell I think 95% of their beer in their local area. That is really inspiring to me.”

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SIBA BUSINESS - BACK OFFICE

LEGAL

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS Whether considering the expansion of an existing brewery or extending a pub, the legal paperwork behind a construction project is key to ensuring the works and final premises are properly designed, well built, cost efficient and ultimately suitable for your business.

In this article Leigh Child, Senior Associate in Construction at Napthens, highlights the importance of construction documents underpinning any building project and highlights some key issues when planning works:

Leigh Child, Senior Associate in Construction at Napthens

Use a building contract

Health and safety

The ‘back of a fag packet’ approach to building contracts is still, unfortunately, all too common, despite how important it is to use a well-written contract when appointing a contractor.

Since April 2015, the vast majority of construction projects in England are subject to the health and safety provisions

Robust and properly drafted construction documents should ensure a well designed, quality build through provisions relating to standards of care for workmanship/design and quality of materials (essential when your brewing kit is high spec) as well as payment, insurance and health and safety compliance.

contained in the CDM Regulations 2015.

The HSE publishes guidance on the CDM Regulations on its website and it is advisable to read through the guidance to be clear on your role as a client under those regulations and how they will affect your project.

Project management

Funding If funding is required, most lenders will want to see an adequate building contract ensuring a quality build and a payment mechanism allowing proper control of costs.

If brewing is your day and night job, then proper consideration should be given to appointing a project manager (and quantity surveyor) to assist with running your project.

Most importantly, the funder will want security under the contract through a collateral warranty. This allows a funder to step in and complete a build if something happens to the developer during construction, and after, it allows a funder to enforce the building contract if there are defects.

They can assist with tendering and appointing a contractor, coordinating the works/design, and provide contract administration during the project.

Appointing the professional team

Good project management can ensure your project completes on budget and on time – crucial when your business depends on your premises being out of action for the shortest time possible.

The use of a well-appointed professional team can make or break a project – commonly, on projects there are a number of professionals dealing with different aspects of the build such as a project manager, quantity surveyor, architect, engineers and in the case of brewery premises, a specialist brewery designer.

All too easily changes to design mid-construction can have significant time and cost implications. Most standard building contracts provide for the costing and design changes made during construction allowing you to be fully informed of the time/cost implications of your decisions.

A specialist brewery designer can be engaged to simply design and spec the kit or to also carry out a more extensive project management role.

Again, a funder will want a collateral warranty from each design professional.

Insurance Ideally, the building contract and appointments should be agreed and signed before anyone starts work, not least because these documents contain obligations on the construction team to maintain key insurances including: professional indemnity (covering design work/professional advice); product liability (key for bespoke brewery kit); and for protecting the works as they are built including existing premises.

Discussing insurance requirements should be an integral part of any tender before appointment.

For advice on this topic or on legal issues affecting your business please contact SIBA Legal Helpline: 0845 6710277 North West law firm Napthens LLP is a SIBA supplier associate and gold standard sponsor. The firm has a team of specialists looking after the legal requirements of clients in the leisure and licensed trade sector, with clients including Daniel Thwaites plc and Sceptre Leisure Ltd. Napthens manages the SIBA Legal Helpline which offers legal advice and guidance on a wide range of legal issues affecting your business including: general commercial, intellectual property, corporate finance, dispute resolution and litigation, commercial property, licensing, debt recovery and employment law. Any enquiry through the helpline will receive up to 1 hour of free legal expertise (if further work is required, you’ll be advised of the appropriate charging structure)Full details of the helpline can be found on the SIBA Members Toolbox.

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SIBA BUSINESS - BACK OFFICE

MARKETING

THE TOP 10 MARKETING MISTAKES Brand and marketing guru Mark McCulloch, Founder & CEO of WE ARE Spectacular, looks at some marketing pitfalls you should look to avoid…

Having spent the last 20 years working across a variety of industries I am hoping that I have learned a few things that may help you when planning your next marketing push.

Below, I have laid out some common marketing mistakes that I have made over the years, and that we can all learn from:

1

ot Having your brand defined. You need to be able N to write down the following in order for you to have a solid base from which you can make all decisions and communicate. What’s your story? What do you do? If you brew beer, what kind of brewery/beer is it?) Who are your customers? What are their motivations? What are your USPs?

2

orgetting commercial. This is the key thing that so F many marketers do not think about. We are only here to help sell stuff. So simply look at your current takings, define what you would like them to be and then divide by average spend per head. That then gives you the number of customers that you need per day, week and month.

3

ot defining your target audience and where their N attention is at. From point 1, if you know exactly who your audience are, then the next step is to figure out where their attention is. Mainly, it will be stuck to a mobile phone. So guess what you need to do?

4

Being an order taker. If you simply become an order taker then you are replaceable. Don’t just do what your board wants. Most marketers are (quite understandably) compromising to keep their job, however many CEOs are not as up to the minute as hopefully a practicing Marketing Manager/Director is.

It is our job as marketers to know our numbers, our facts and you therefore should hopefully be able to fight your corner.

5

6

ot training your marketers. In the drinks sector, so N many marketers fall into the job by showing aptitude for it, but they have no formal training or previous experience and are learning on the job. This is great, however to have a foundation in marketing is a must and it is the responsibility of the company to ensure your teams have the proper training and support. ismissing the more ‘low rent’ marketing methods.

D Most clients come to us with a one store/pub/ restaurant issue. This means that you have to revisit

Mark McCulloch is the Founder & Group CEO of WE ARE Spectacular

the more low rent and personal marketing methods.

You need to create relationships in the community and meet people one by one by one every day, door knock, call people, actually go out an personally sell your business.

7

ot investing in marketing. Having ‘no budget’ or ‘no N resource’. This is business, get real and start thinking about what you want to happen and what value it has to you. There is no diamond bullet or secret answer; otherwise we’d all be doing it. If you want to raise your income by £25k per year, then think about what you would be willing to invest to get this return.

8

topping your campaign after two weeks. Something S we continuously come across is clients wondering why sales are down since launch (when they supported the launch for just two weeks). Campaigns should never end. Marketing is a constant fight for attention and you need to keep winning the fight.

9

ot understanding digital. The level of N misunderstanding and under appreciation for digital is still staggering. Having a website is great, however if you are not spending 10x what you spent on the site a year on content, search engine optimization and pay per click advertising to drive bookings and sales, then you might want to think about that. If you have not updated your site in months, then Google et al will stop ranking you.

10

arketing from your desk. Due to busyness and M pressure of the job, marketers do tend to find themselves behind the desk a lot. Spend the time to create relationships with the teams at the sharp end of the business to talk to them about the bigger picture, why you need their help and also some value exchange on what is in it for them is time well spent in the long run. I really admire clients who practice and preach marketing by walking about and also empowering their teams to do so too.

Mark McCulloch, Founder & Group CEO of WE ARE Spectacular Mark has 15 years experience in brand, marketing, digital, social and PR. WE ARE Spectacular have worked with many leading pub, food, beer & wine clients including Long Arm Brewery and Harviestoun Brewery. www.wearespectacular.com Twitter/Instagram: @spectacularmark

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SIBA BUSINESS - BACK OFFICE

DIGITAL

FACEBOOK

AGAIN!

Ed Davies, from digital consultancy firm Inapub, takes a look at how Facebook is still relevant to your business, even 10 years on….

Ed Davies

It seems that we live in a world dominated by social media and fuelled by mobile smart phone use and this doesn’t look like ending anytime soon! In the UK there are now more mobile phones in use than there are people!

So how can you make the best of this to promote your brewery?

We think it all starts with your website and Facebook.

Your website is where you sell and provide information.

Facebook is where you engage with your new and existing customers.

As Facebook has been around for 10 years or so now, many people think this is old school and its all about the newer channels like Instagram or Snapchat now. However, with over 31 million users in the UK are you really making the most of Facebook and isn’t it time you had a look again to see how you could really make the most of that audience.

To help you, here are five top tips for maximising the opportunities on Facebook:

1

Page Verification

Posting

Make sure most of your posts are engaging with your customers and not selling. We recommend the 80:20 rule where 80% of the time you are engaging and 20% you are selling. You should always make sure you include images or videos as that will help with both your reach and engagement. The average lifetime of a post on Facebook is estimated around two to three hours which doesn’t seem very long but compares very favourably with the average lifetime of a post on Snapchat which is 10 seconds!

Boosting Posts

If you haven’t already why don’t you boost a post?

It can cost as little as a couple of pounds and you can target the post to reach exactly the kind of demographic you want to reach. This can work well with posts where you are asking questions and/or requesting likes or shares.

For example you could run a competition to win a chance for one person and three friends to have a brewery tour and be the first to taste a new seasonal beer or maybe they could win a chance to name a seasonal beer.

4

Facebook Live

This is a great way to bring your brewery to life for your customers. Whether it’s an event, part of the brewing process or an interview with someone in the brewery, you can record it on your phone and stream it through Facebook live. It’s easy to do and really builds engagement with your customers.

5

Have you verified your page? If not you should as this confirms with Facebook that your page is the page for the venue and enables you to ask Facebook to merge or delete other pages with your brewery name on them that you may or may not control.

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Following and Liking others

Don’t forget to follow and like on Facebook. You have many opportunities to do this with your on-trade and off trade customers, suppliers, trade press, beer bloggers etc. The list is endless and really helps you to extend your reach as well as your engagement with new and existing customers.

If you have a pub or pubs as well as a brewery then these tips will work for them as well.

We can also provide you with more detail on these tips through our digital marketing guide. This is an online guide covering all aspects of digital marketing and we can offer you a free one month subscription so you can see if you want to sign up for the year at £150 plus VAT. Inapub is the leading supplier of digital marketing solutions for Britain’s pub and beer trade, offering news, advice, training and website services. If you’d like to know more about how Inapub can help grow your business, email sales@inapub.co.uk or visit www.inapub.co.uk.

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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SIBA BUSINESS - BACK OFFICE

FINANCIAL PLANNING

RAISING FUNDS FOR YOUR BUSINESS Last issue’s article looked at how to successfully grow your brewery business, which included a quick look at funding. This issue, we’ll take an in-depth look at some of the types of funding available. If you need funding, make sure you spend time looking at all sources of finance and only borrow what you need. This is also the perfect time to examine all your finances, review your business plan and cut any expenses you don’t need.

Probably the most common type of funding is loans from banks. Loans can be a good source of finance for businesses, as they are usually for a fixed time and have a fixed repayment amount each month, which helps with cashflow planning. You will usually need to submit a business plan to the lender to prove your business is viable and that you have a strategy for repayment and growth.

Unsecured business loans are designed for businesses that don’t have assets such as property or equipment to offer as security. This type of loan is good for new businesses without collateral, however interest rates may be higher than secured loans, and a personal guarantee from a director (if you are a limited company) may be needed.

Secured loans tend to be cheaper than unsecured, and they are backed by using the equity in assets owned by the borrower. They are good for borrowing larger amounts and are easier to obtain than unsecured loans if you have a limited credit history. Depending on the amount needed, a personal guarantee may still be needed, and non-payment of the loan could result in the loss of business assets.

Asset Finance companies specialise in providing funds for companies to buy assets for use within the business, such as brewing equipment and vans. Asset finance can be good for a company’s cashflow as it means you don’t have to find a large sum upfront to buy equipment; in essence, the finance company buys the asset and leases it back to the business. This can be more expensive than buying the equipment outright and you may not be able to cancel an agreement once entered into. Asset finance companies will also look at purchasing your book debts, allowing you a proportion of funds immediately rather than waiting for the customer to pay.

If you are comfortable with selling a stake in your business, you can find an investor or develop a crowdfunding campaign. Raising finance through an equity sale can work well for many business owners: you won’t have to make repayments as you would if you took out a loan although profits have to be shared with the investors. Remember though that you will have responsibilities to shareholders, including consulting with them before taking major decisions, so this may not suit every owner, in particular those that don’t want to lose ultimate control of their business.

Crowdfunding is becoming extremely popular amongst breweries. Recent James Sleight, Geoffrey Martin & Co fundraising campaigns have seen SIBA members Seven Bro7hers, Wild Beer Co and Red Squirrel Brewery all successfully raise money, enabling them to invest in their growth. Not only does crowdfunding help you raise funds, it can also give you access to a large number of shareholders who can help you raise awareness of your beer (and hopefully buy some as well).

Crowdfunding companies such as Crowdcube and Seedrs have helped many brewers raise funds and awareness, but running a campaign means around two to three months of work, setting up the campaign and then raising the funds, usually in a 30 day window. Look out for costs: crowdfunders will charge up to 7% of all funds raised through their site. Also, unlike a bank loan, you will have shareholders, who may want to be kept uptodate with trading performance.

If crowdfunding doesn’t appeal, either because you don’t want to run a campaign or don’t want to deal with multiple investors, then finding one or two investors may be a better option. Most areas have an association of business ‘angels’ that you can make a pitch to. Raising finance in this way is not just about the money, it can be a great way of bringing on board someone with skills that you may be lacking in the business, e.g. finance or marketing.

Finally, although scarcer than a few years ago, there are still grants available for helping companies grow.

Many Local Enterprise Partnerships will offer cash grants alongside private funding. For example, if you wanted to purchase new brewing equipment for £50,000, your local LEP may give you a grant of £10,000 leaving you just £40,000 to find from other sources such as a bank loan.

In general when looking at raising funds, review your business plan and only borrow what you really need as outlined in your plan. This assures you keep a disciplined approach to your business and demonstrates you are credible to lenders and financiers.

James Sleight is a Partner at Geoffrey Martin & Co, a Supplier Associate Member of SIBA. Geoffrey Martin & Co provides practical advice concerning growth, financial issues, exit and contingency planning, and insolvency to a business’s directors, owners, investors and financiers at all stages of its life cycle. We work with companies, individuals, partnerships, and lenders across the whole of the UK, with experience in many sectors including Bars, Restaurants, Media & Marketing, and Technology.

For a free, informal chat about any aspects of your business, please call our Leeds team on 0113 244 5141.

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How strong is your beer?

We’ll tell you if your beer is strong or wrong How confident are you that your beer is being consistently brewed to the declared alcohol level?

Contact us today for further details on +44 (0) 191 543 6820 or email Alison Hedley on alison@brewlab.co.uk

Brewlab offer a cost effective service that can accurately analyse your beers for alcohol content.

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The service costs only £22.65 per sample and discounts are available for multiple analyses.

The service enables your brewery to fully comply with the requirements for HM Revenue & Customs and at the same time brew a consistent product for your customers.

Can you afford not to use this service?

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Around 4% Roughly 5% Maybe 6%

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Brewman : software you can rely on.

Premier’s Brewery Management System, Brewman, has been designed and written to allow your brewery to manage business in a more efficient manner and make the most of your best resource - your customers.

SYSTEM BENEFITS Brewman has the following major benefits: • Complete control of outlet ordering, pricing and history • Outlet telesales • Product pricing and forecasting • Cask tracking • Dray planning • Ullage • Dray runs • Beerflex orders and Web orders • Duty calculations • Retail orders • Stock control • Comprehensive reporting • • Repeat orders Integration to • Mobile Delivery SAGE and other Application accounting systems

Local and Cloud versions available SQL Server version for larger databases CALL

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02380 811 100

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

EMAIL

sales@premiersystems.ltd.uk

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TECHNICAL FOCUS

TOP TEMPERATURES

By Dr Keith Thomas of Brewlab, Sunderland

How high is your temperature? Not your own temperature on a hot brew day but of the yeast in your fermenters?

And particularly when brewing in the middle of a hot summer.

All brewers are very aware that brewing yeast requires a stable temperature to ferment well and also that ale and lager yeast differ greatly in their preferences.

Moreover, many fermentation systems include sensors and electronic controls to maintain a target temperature or at least a thermometer and a control panel.

Ideally we need a feed-back system to activate cooling systems when yeast metabolism generates heat.

The reasoning for this control is that temperature affects the metabolism of yeast and thus the final flavour of the beer. There is certainly a clear association with higher temperatures producing more fruity ester and acetaldehyde flavours but this relationship is complicated by the impact of other factors, particularly wort gravity and carbon dioxide content.

In this context studies have indicated that increasing the carbon dioxide concentration by managing the pressure in the fermenter can reduce ester concentration. As such it is thus possible to use two factors to control your flavour. Moreover, different esters respond differently to carbon dioxide levels so allowing more sophisticated management of your fermentation.

This aside, which fermentation temperatures are suitable and desirable?

Accepted fermentation temperatures

are, interestingly, much lower than the optimal growth temperatures of yeast – as any homebrewer suffering the outfall from an airing cupboard full of beer foam can recount.

Optimal growth temperatures for ale yeasts are above 30oC with a maximum of 37 – 40oC while optimal temperatures for lager yeasts are below 30oC with a maximum no higher than 34oC. No sane brewer would approach these temperatures - although in the current age of extreme brewing perhaps let’s not say never.

General advice would be that ale fermentations should start around 17oC and rise to 22oC while lagers might start at 10oC and rise to 12oC. This, though, is to produce beers with limited fruitiness so a few degrees higher, at least for ales and strong beers, would be fine. One difficulty is applying this to small scale production where a small fermenter of a few barrels is likely to loose heat rapidly after pitching and particularly so on a cold night. If the temperature of an ale falls below 15oC the yeast is likely to sediment and stop fermentation.

Fermenters typically have cooling rather than heating systems so making it hard to heat up and stimulate your yeast to full activity. To anticipate such problems it may be recommended to pitch ale yeast into warmer wort in the winter – perhaps up to 25oC. However, ensure that your yeast is not thrown into this directly from a chilled fridge – gentle warming will prevent a fatal shock to your resting cells.

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This issue is also encountered at the other end of the temperature range where lies the problem of cooling beer after fermentation. Here we encounter the effect of chilling on yeast viability. Chill too fast and yeast will be stressed and either die or release undesirable flavours into the beer – or both. Too rapidly in this case meaning faster than 1oC per hour and for some strains 0.25oC per hour. If you are relying on your yeast to provide secondary fermentation in cask this could lead to flat beer with an accompanying harsh yeast bite. In a similar vein it makes sense to crop yeast before chilling is started so as to prevent similar thermal stress effects.

In addition, if you are looking for your yeast to mature beer by reducing diacetyl then chilling too early may also limit yeast metabolism so leaving high levels in the beer.

While these are general recommendations it is important to stress that responses are strain and treatment specific. Previous temperature history of a yeast during growth and storage may affect resistance to chilling for example. Today the genetics of yeast stress resistance are increasingly understood so allowing us to select strains with specific genes suitable for particular processing conditions.

Both high and low temperature fermentations may become novel opportunities for future innovations.

While we don’t want to return to the ice beer trend of the 1990’s the possibility of temperature management becoming more than just a turn of the dial is increasingly attractive.

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REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

SOUTH WEST BEER COMPETITION 27TH APRIL - TUCKERS MALTINGS, NEWTON ABBOT

SMALL PACK

OVERALL CHAMPION SMALL PACK

STANDARD BITTERS & PALE ALES

Sponsored by: Advanced Bottling UK Ltd Presented to: Jonathan Price Presented by: James Alexander Kerr

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd Presented to: Dan Blake Presented by: Adam Johnson

Exmoor Ales - Exmoor Beast

Glastonbury Ales - American Pale

PREMIUM BITTERS & PALE ALES

STRONG BITTERS & PALE ALES

Sponsored by: QCL Presented to: Kevin Newbold Presented by: Justin Hawke

Sponsored by: Rastal GmbH & Co. KG Presented to: Marc Bishop Presented by: Justin Hawke

Exeter Brewery - County Best

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St Austell Brewery - Proper Job

REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

PREMIUM STRONG BEERS Exmoor Ales - Exmoor Beast

Sponsored by: Bulk Storage & Process Systems Ltd Presented to: Jonathan Price Presented by: Bill Egerton

PREMIUM LAGER & PILSNERS Powderkeg Brewery Ltd - Cut Loose Sponsored by: Niche Solutions (GB) Ltd Presented to: Guy Sheppard Presented by: Paul Calcott

SMALL PACK STANDARD LAGER & PILSNERS Red Rock Brewery Ltd - Pilsner Sponsored by: Niche Solutions (GB) Ltd Presented to: Mike Poole Presented by: Paul Calcott

PORTERS, STOUTS, OLD ALES, STRONG MILDS & STRONG BROWN ALES Kettlesmith Brewing Company - Ridgeline Sponsored by: Beatson Clark Ltd Presented to: Andy Parsons Presented by: Kevin Newbold

SPECIALITY LIGHT BEERS

SPECIALITY MID TO DARK BEERS

Sponsored by: Vigo Ltd Presented to: Angus Rumbold Presented by: Justin Hawke

Presented to: Ryan Read Presented by: Buster Grant

Skinner's Brewing Co Ltd - Hops 'n' Honey

Electric Bear Brewing Co. - Cherry Blackout

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REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

SOUTH WEST BEER COMPETITION 27TH APRIL - TUCKERS MALTINGS, NEWTON ABBOT

CASK

OVERALL CHAMPION CASK

STANDARD MILD & BROWN ALES

Sponsored by: Tuckers Maltings Presented to: Pete Howson Presented by: Jonathan Webber

Sponsored by: Flying Firkin Presented to: Simon Lacey Presented by: Kevin Newbold

Dawkins Ales - Ultra

CountryLife brewery ltd - Reef break

STANDARD BITTERS & PALE ALES

BEST BITTERS & PALE ALES

Sponsored by: Hallamshire Brewery Services Presented to: Simon Lacey Presented by: Paul Dimond

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Presented to: David Lang Presented by: Ben Adams

CountryLife brewery ltd - Old Appledore

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Forge Brewery - Litehouse

REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

PREMIUM BITTERS & PALE ALES Coastal Brewery - Poseidon Extra Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd Presented to: Ruben Holmes Presented by: Adam Johnson

PREMIUM STRONG BEERS Dawkins Ales - Ultra

Sponsored by: East West Ales Presented to: Pete Howson Presented by: David Aucutt

STRONG BITTERS & PALE ALES

Stonehenge Ales Ltd - Danish Dynamite Sponsored by: AVS Wines & Beers Presented to: Stig Andersen Presented by: Buster Grant

PORTERS, STOUTS, OLD ALES, STRONG MILDS & STRONG BROWN ALES Moor Beer Company - Stout Sponsored by: ABUK Presented to: Justin Hawke Presented by: James Alexander Kerr

SPECIALITY LIGHT BEERS

SPECIALITY MID TO DARK BEERS

Sponsored by: SPASoft Ltd Presented to: Emma Turner Presented by: Nigel Hoppitt

Sponsored by: SPASoft Ltd Presented to: Pete Howson Presented by: Nigel Hoppitt

Gyle 59 - Caribbean Cocktail

Dawkins Ales - Foresters Black

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REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

WALES & WEST BEER COMPETITION 12TH MAY - LUDLOW CASTLE, LUDLOW

SMALL PACK

OVERALL CHAMPION SMALL PACK

STANDARD MILD & BROWN ALES

STANDARD BITTERS & PALE ALES

Mumbles Brewery - Malt Bitter

Presented to: Robert & Peter Turner Presented by: Wilf Nelson (Regional Director)

Purple Moose Brewery Ltd - Chocolate Moose Sponsored by: Brewers Select Presented to: Lawrence Washington Presented by: Dave Hughes

Hobsons Brewery - Old Prickly

Presented to: Reuben Crouch Presented by: Norman Pearce (Regional Director)

PREMIUM BITTERS & PALE ALES

STRONG BITTERS & PALE ALES

Sponsored by: Beatson Clark Ltd Presented to: Dave Carr Presented by: Jonathan Clark

Presented to: Matt Cooper Presented by: Chris Gooch (Regional Director)

Bewdley Brewery - Sir Keith Park

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Bewdley Brewery - Worcestershire Sway

REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

PREMIUM STRONG BEERS

STANDARD LAGER & PILSNERS

Presented to: Erik Geipel Presented by: Buster Grant (SIBA Chairman)

Presented to: Robert & Peter Turner Presented by: Wilf Nelson (Regional Director)

Geipel Brewing - Zoiglator Bock

PREMIUM LAGER & PILSNERS

Stroud Brewery - Premium Organic Lager

Mumbles Brewery - Murmelt

PORTERS, STOUTS, OLD ALES, STRONG MILDS & STRONG BROWN ALES

Sponsored by: Saxon Packaging Presented to: Kris Beacham Presented by: Wilf Nelson (Regional Director)

Stonehouse Brewery - Off The Rails

SPECIALITY LIGHT BEERS

SPECIALITY MID TO DARK BEERS

Presented to: Wilf Nelson Presented by: Norman Pearce (Regional Director)

Presented to: Lawrence Washington Presented by: Carolyn Uphill (SIBA Non-Exec)

Salopian Brewery - lemon dream

Presented to: Shane Parr Presented by: Chris Gooch (Regional Director)

Purple Moose Brewery Ltd - Chocolate Moose

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REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

WALES & WEST BEER COMPETITION 12TH MAY - LUDLOW CASTLE, LUDLOW

CASK

OVERALL CHAMPION CASK

Grey Trees Independent Craft Brewers Afghan Pale Ale Sponsored by: SPAsoft Ltd Presented to: Ray Davies Presented by: Nigel Hoppitt

STANDARD MILD & BROWN ALES Corvedale Brewery - Katie's Pride Sponsored by: Muntons PLC Presented to: Norman Pearce Presented by: Jake Mortiboys

STANDARD BITTERS & PALE ALES

BEST BITTERS & PALE ALES

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd Presented to: Jack Morris Presented by: Adam Johnson

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co. Ltd Presented to: Chris Davies and Alison Walters Presented by: Emily Powell-Tuck

Wye Valley Brewery - The Hopfather

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Ludlow Brewing Company - Blonde

REGIONAL BEER COMPETITIONS

PREMIUM BITTERS & PALE ALES

STRONG BITTERS & PALE ALES

Big Hand Brewing Co Ltd - Appaloosa

Grey Trees Independent Craft Brewers Afghan Pale Ale

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons Presented to: Dave Shaw Presented by: Barry Jones

Sponsored by: Brewers Select Presented to: Ray Davies Presented by: Dave Hughes

PREMIUM STRONG BEERS Brecon Brewing - Mind Bleach

Sponsored by: Rastal GmbH & Co KG Presented to: Buster Grant Presented by: Tony Jerome (Communications & Membership Director)

PORTERS, STOUTS, OLD ALES, STRONG MILDS & STRONG BROWN ALES

Cwrw Ial Community Brew Co - Imperial Tan Halen Sponsored by: Bulk Storage & Process Systems Ltd Presented to: Tom McNeill Presented by: Nigel Gibbons

SPECIALITY LIGHT BEERS

SPECIALITY MID TO DARK BEERS

Sponsored by: Crisp Malting Group Presented to: Robert & Peter Turner Presented by: Carl Heron

Presented to: Owen Morgan Presented by: Buster Grant (SIBA Chairman)

Mumbles Brewery - Mumbles Weiss

Mantle Brewery - Dark Heart

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BREWING, BOTTLING AND XXXX CANNING EQUIPMENT

FOCUS SUPPLIER viewpoint

There’s more to purchasing new equipment than the shine!

An introduction to the common pitfalls to watch out for when buying new equipment by brewery consultants David Smith and Rob Smith.

A visit to a trade fair is exhilarating for many of us. Innovations in plant are designed to increase productivity, automate the process, minimise production problems, improve quality and of course, increase profit. But in the rush to increase productivity and innovate, it’s also easy to be overwhelmed by the choice of new equipment coming onto the market, and ill-prepared for the integration process, It is very easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal – maintaining beer quality.

When considering plant improvements, the primary aim is to have the brewing process work seamlessly between old and new.

There are four stages to a successful upgrade: initial proposals and design, appropriate equipment purchases, commissioning plant and ensuring optimum brewing procedures are achieved, and finally, and most importantly for the future, good staff training.

The design stages of a project include identifying needs, budget, infrastructure upgrades (for example, utilities), combining purchases with existing, and how the transition from the old brewing equipment to the new will take place, all whilst producing beer. Only now is it time for making those all-important purchases.

Inevitably, problems crop up during commissioning, and new brewing practices will need to be adopted and solutions found.

The equipment suppliers will provide basic training on your purchase. But adapting the brewing process to work just the way you want it, and produce the beer to your standards and quality takes time.

David Smith and Rob Smith.

In future, automation will have an ever-increasing part to play in modern brewing, but it cannot replace a well-trained, experienced brewer. Comprehensive staff training is a sound investment; brewers need a thorough understanding of all aspects of brewing, from art to science.

Wandering the halls of the exhibition centre and admiring all that’s on offer is a pleasure, but a thoughtful and informed plan for upgrading the brewery, keeping an open mind and adaptability in terms of reviewing procedures, and trained and knowledgeable employees will all ensure new plant is money well spent, beer quality is optimised, and the awards keep coming.

The authors, David Smith, BA (Chem), FIBD, Dipl.Brew and Rob Smith, BSc., M.Sc (Biol.) run Brewing Services and Consultancy Ltd. Since1988 Brewing Services has helped design and commission over a hundred and seventy breweries in the UK and abroad and helped train hundreds of brewers, from novices just starting out to experienced career brewers seeking to upgrade their skills and knowledge.

Find out more at: www.brewingservices.co.uk.

New Beer Membrane Filtration solution from Pentair

With the development of the BMF +Flux Compact S4, Pentair makes the benefits of diatomaceous earth (DE)-free beer membrane filtration accessible to craft and small breweries.

The first BMF +Flux Compact S4 systems are already operating successfully at the Princen Brewery in the Netherlands, and two other breweries in Europe.

The BMF +Flux Compact S4 is equipped with four type R-30 membrane modules. Its filtration performance of 30 to 60 hl/h makes it ideally suited for breweries with an annual output of between 10,000hl and 100,000hl.

Compared to DE filtration, membrane filtration provides major performance benefits.

Complex DE handling and disposal is eliminated. In addition, Pentair’s Beer Membrane Filtration gives brewers a fully automated process that can be interrupted at any time. This true start/stop filtration is especially beneficial to craft brewers who produce a wide variety of beers. Small batches of beer can be run with constantly excellent beer quality and very low beer loss. This provides considerably more turnover for craft beers, which are often exclusive runs.

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

For an overview on Pentair’s complete range of BMF solutions visit www.foodandbeverage.pentair.com.

FOCUS

BREWING, BOTTLING AND CANNING EQUIPMENT

Bulk Storage and Process Systems helps Leeds Brewery finish final stage of 20BBL expansion for 2017 Following the successful completion of the brewhouse upgrade and additional fermenter capacity, Leeds Brewery has now finished the final stage of its 2017 expansion to include the bulk malt storage and a malt milling plant.

“Having considered various mill suppliers we chose to work with Bulk Storage and Process Systems Limited (BSPS) who designed and installed the new silo configuration – I am pleased to say that all work was completed on time and on budget,” said Ventakesh the Head Brewer.

The installation includes two 20t ale malt silos, each fitted with their own load cells for good stock rotation and control, the Buhler 4 roll malt mill, 100Kg additions hopper and all the interconnecting conveying equipment. BSPS worked with a local company, Brewology, to incorporate a fully automated electrical control system into the existing brewery.

“We know that this will be a good return on investment for Leeds Brewery as moving away from pre-crushed 25Kg bagged malt to bulk malt will give the added benefits of higher extract and enhanced control achieved from milling their own malt,” said Bill Egerton, Technical Director at BSPS.

For further information on converting from “Bag to Bulk” call BSPS on 01483 202211. Finance options are available to help with cashflow and local grants are available in some areas of the country to help with projects.

Why choose a Letina brewhouse?

When Doghouse Distillery in Battersea, London, decided to buy a brewhouse, Braden Saunders, Managing Director at Doghouse, says a Letina brewhouse was the natural choice.

“I wanted equipment which was high quality, designed with the brewer in mind, and good value for money. The Letina brewhouse ticked every box,” he explains.

A brewhouse is an efficient piece of equipment which integrates the entire brewing process prior to fermentation, increasing production rates and minimising waste of product and energy.

Letina offers a wide range of brewhouses, from 3.5 barrels up to bespoke models of any size, depending on the brewer’s individual requirements. The Lentina range features all taps and valves, a heat exchanger and advanced Whirlpool technology.

Core are the UK distributors for Letina brewhouses and tanks. Jonathan Chaplin, Managing Director at Core, explains: “Our company stands for high quality products at excellent value for money, supported by a professional installation service and immaculate customer care throughout. It is great to have suppliers on board such as Letina who share the same values.”

For more information go to www.core-equip.com or call 01327 342589.

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More love for your beer

Refine your beer with the Craft2Craft package

-

With the Craft2Craft package you can be sure that your products have a consistent great taste

-

The DMA 35 density meter for precise fermentation control

-

The Alex 500 alcohol and extract meter for correct alcohol labels

-

The CboxQC At-line CO2 and oxygen meter for optimized shelf life stability

Get in touch: www.anton-paar.com

FOCUS

BREWING, BOTTLING AND CANNING EQUIPMENT

Determination of low amounts of oxygen in beer SUPPLIER viewpoint Here, the team at Anton Paar, experts in laboratory equipment and measuring systems, look at the issue of dissolved oxygen in beer.

You cannot see it, you cannot smell it, but you still do not want it! The less oxygen (O2) in beer, the better. No matter how big the brewery, oxygen is any brewer’s enemy. O2 has to be observed closely to ensure that specifications are met and, if required, to make corrections possible to avoid changes in taste and color caused by reaction with oxygen.

Today most O2 meters use optical oxygen sensors. They are sensitive, require pleasantly little maintenance, and their response time is fast. The market offers meters for measuring dissolved oxygen (DO) and also for the simultaneous measurement of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) such as CboxQC for measurements from tanks or kegs or, when combined with a filling device, directly out of bottles or cans.

General Hints for DO measurements directly out of packages

For measuring samples with very low oxygen concentrations directly out of bottles or cans, nitrogen of 99.999 % purity (nitrogen 5.0) is recommended

to transfer sample into the measuring chamber of CboxQC.

Recommended: Total Package Oxygen calculation

Oxygen in the head space is equally unwanted: is all DO consumed, head space O2 will compensate the depletion, migrate into the liquid, more oxidation products will be formed.

The total oxygen content in a beverage container can be calculated based on the determined DO content in the equilibrated package and the sample’s temperature. For the conversion of DO and temperature into TPO serves an Excel AddIn which is provided by Anton Paar free of charge. The input of known factors such as brim/ISO volumes as well as the measured temperature and O2 result will lead to the calculated total package oxygen value.

A glimpse across the fence

Not only beer, but also the cans are subject to oxygen impact. Can corrosion may manifest itself e.g. by an DACS Process flow diagram: increased risk regarding leakage or taste modifications due to metal pick up.

This makes it even more important to keep an eye on comprehensive analyses to ensure low dissolved oxygen levels.

Anton Paar develops, produces and distributes highly accurate laboratory instruments and process measuring systems, and provides custom-tailored automation and robotic solutions. It is the world leader in the measurement of density, concentration and CO2 and in the field of rheometry. Anton Paar GmbH is owned by the charitable Santner Foundation. Go to www.anton-paar.com for more information.

St Austell achieves 65% cost savings using Envirogen Group’s innovative wastewater treatment technology St Austell Brewery is set to reduce its water discharge costs by 65% following the installation of an innovative wastewater solution developed by The Envirogen Group The Downflow Anaerobic Carrier System (DACS) water treatment solution installed

by Envirogen generated significant cost savings and also provides a future-proofed solution to enable further growth at this successful site.

“It was clear that the wastewater management systems were limiting production capability at this site,” explains Mark Little, European Strategic Projects Director at Envirogen, who led the project.

“Due to the brewing process, wastewater streams can have high organic loads and this high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) makes a big difference in the calculation of wastewater disposal charges. As a result, St Austell Brewery was tankering

high strength wastewater streams from

Mark explains how it works: “The is site,Little at an additional cost towastewater the significant screened and held a balance tank, where flow water and discharge feesin required from itsthe local concentration of the wastewater is continually mixed to company, which some of the form a homogenous feedlevies to the next process stage.highest The wastewater charges isinthen thedirected UK.”to the conditioning tank where it is mixed with some of the anaerobically treated wastewater.”

Artists impression of the DACS wastewater treatment plant:

Mark Little continues: “Our work with

This ‘conditioned’ water then makes its way to the DACS many breweries over The thebiogas yearsgenerated has shown anaerobic treatment reactor. as a by-product the DACS anaerobic process, collected in that theirof wastewater streams areisideal the headspace before theThis next stage of treatment. forreactor anaerobic treatment. significantly The buffered biogas is combusted in a Combined Heat and reduces the COD content of the wastewater Power (CHP) plant to generate electricity. The hot water produced by the CHP plant is diverted to a closed-circuit by converting it into biomethane.

St Austell water loop via a heat exchanger. This source of heat can Brewery’s wastewater stream COD content be used on-site to supply hot water to other systems - and will beadditional reducedincome by 90%.” generate through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) - or used as a source of heat energy to Clive the Nichols, St Austell Brewery’s project elevate temperature across the anaerobic system.

engineer, said: “Envirogen’s solution not only

“The anaerobically treated wastewater and off-gases from the deliversConditioning greater returns than the tenders Balance, and Divert tanks, areother then passed to awe simple aeration phase to oxidise any residual malodourous received, but its technology caught our compounds, prior to discharge to the sewer,” he adds.

eye with its simplicity and low running costs. We’ll save money straight away with Designed withon theinvestment community inrealised mind full return within five Mark Little continues: “We designed systemincome to deliver years and we’ll continue to the receive the maximum benefit to the brewery’s business at the through the renewable energy incentives.” lowest cost. To reduce the capital outlay, we made use of existing useful vessels and pipework. By using gravity flow where possible in the process, this solution benefits from particularly low operating costs.

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

“The DACS plant will be built from prefabricated process blocks that are engineered and manufactured off site and then constructed on-site as a ‘plug and play’ solution.

For more information go to: “Our brewery is located within a market town, so we wanted to make sure that any change www.envirogengroup.com/food-beverage. we made would be to the benefit of the local community,” highlights Clive Nichols. “Envirogen worked hard to ensure that the development would have the lowest possible profile ensuring that it would blend discreetly into the surrounding environment. As the COD concentration of the wastewater stream will be much lower after DACS treatment, we’ll require no tankering, which is great for the budget, and equally importantly,

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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FOCUS

BREWING, BOTTLING AND CANNING EQUIPMENT

The 8 most overlooked factors when considering a boiler purchase In the first in a regular series of columns for SIBA Journal, Adrian Rhodes, technical director at Byworth Boilers and the head of the Combustion Engineering Association, looks at the most common pitfalls when purchasing a new boiler and how to avoid them.

Purchasing a boiler is one of the most important investments for a brewery.

The boiler lies at the heart of your brewery as it supplies all the steam.

The steam provides all the needs for heating up anything in the brewery.

Steam is generally more efficient, safer and offers more precise temperature control than other methods so it’s no wonder breweries prefer this method of heating. High-quality dry steam is vital to producing the best quality beer.

We are putting together a series of columns for each SIBA issue to help you choose the best options for your steam brewery.

Here are 8 things to consider when bying a new boiler: 1 – Boiler outputs are expressed

differently to the steam requirement for your machines. For example, if you need 700kg/hr steam at 7bar you would need to include the word ‘actual’ when talking to your boiler manufacturer.The boilermaker will then need to make allowances for blowdown and other losses for the system.

2 – If there is a risk of steam getting into the finished product, make sure the boiler water treatment chemicals you order are food safe. That means, among others, using sulphite or ascorbic acid as an oxygen scavenger and avoiding Amines for example.

3 – You must notify your local planning office if you are adding a new boiler or making changes to an existing one. You don’t need to go through a long planning process but they will, for example, help to ensure the chimney is the right height for your location.

4 – Make sure you have enough gas.

You will find a big yellow sign by your gas meter which will state a minimum and maximum pressure but you’ll need to check with the gas supplier how much gas you’re allowed to consume per hour – don’t trust the range on the meter!

5 – The room where you’re planning on placing the boiler must be well ventilated.

So, if you are not buying a pre-packaged boiler house you will need 4 cm² of free air space at low level and 2 cm² at high level for each kW of burner input. Since louvered or grilled vents are typically only 50 – 60% free air space you need to take that into account too.

6 – Boilers require different levels of automation depending on how frequently they are attended. Include your attendance level in any enquiry to prospective suppliers.

SUPPLIER viewpoint

7 – Choosing the right type of boiler is important. If you are not using steam every day, you may want to consider a rapid steam generator. Sites that use steam all day would benefit from the improved steam quality obtained from the horizontal shell type boilers.

8 – Consider what your load profile is. You may have 5 separate pieces of equipment that add up to a potential requirement of 5000kg/hr – but what is the likelihood of that happening? You may only need 3000kg/hr at peak demand. It is really common for people to oversize the boiler by sizing for unrealistic peaks.

Minimum demand is also important; it’s quite fashionable to ask for 10:1 turn down but if your minimum load is only 25% of the peak demand then you’re wasting money asking for anything more than 4:1.

Visit the Combustion Engineering Association website www.cea.org.uk to access best-practice guides and training.

More information about Byworth Boilers can be found at: www.byworth.co.uk.

NEXT TIME: How to keep boilers efficient

Bürkert increases stock levels to support maintenance market As more companies tighten maintenance budgets they are less willing to hold stocks of spare parts. Instead they are expecting original equipment manufacturers and their service agents to hold stock for them.

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems is one manufacturer that supports this model, with a complete parts and specifications catalogue online and distributors holding increased stock levels.

Direct replacement of components can be achieved quickly with over 500,000 items now available from stock for despatch 24 hours after the order is placed. This includes over 1,100 different product combinations. Bürkert achieve higher than 95% on time delivery.

The extensive Bürkert Select catalogue, which is available both online and in hard copy, has over 400 pages of fluid control products including solenoids, pneumatic actuators, valve bodies, sensors, valve islands and controllers, each product has a comprehensive description, technical data and dimensions.

For customers that need to replace a discontinued product or that of another manufacturer, expert technical staff can assist with advice on the most suitable product for the application.

For more information go to www.burkert.co.uk.

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SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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FOCUS Hardknott Brewery and Siemens work to develop ideal temperature control solution for micro-brewing sector

Since establishing Hardknott Brewery in Cumbria in 2005, founder Dave Bailey and his small team have continued to develop, invest, innovate and drive forward their goal of producing stunning craft beers.

Now, with the help of Siemens technology, he is tackling a vital part of the brewing process – control of the fermentation process – so that it is more efficient and reliable going forward.

He explained: “Control of the fermentation temperature helps to considerably improve the quality and consistency of beer. Temperature control systems can be expensive and complex to set up and micro-breweries tend to use fairly rudimentary on/off controls, or even manual ones, which by definition are not overly accurate.”

Searching for a cost-effective and usable solution, Dave began a dialogue with Siemens at the SIBA BeerX event in Sheffield. This led to a working relationship matching Siemens technology answers with the particular processing needs of the micro-brewery.

Dave continued: “It was clear to us that there was work to be done to find a suitable solution for the small-scale, independent brewing sector, that could overcome cost barriers and technical hurdles around automated temperature control. At this stage, I offered to

BREWING, BOTTLING AND CANNING EQUIPMENT

investigate whether the proposed Siemens solution – LOGO; an intelligent logic module that is ideal for smallscale automation tasks – could provide the answers and support we needed to control the fermentation temperature process.”

Dave was already aware of LOGO from using it to control a simple keg washing solution, and was pleased with its performance and potential. He was keen, with Siemens‘ help, to see if it could also be the basis of an automated control system that was appropriate, fit-for-purpose and cost effective for his fermentation control needs.

Dave said: “The specification of LOGO to control this central element of our brewing process has already proved to be beneficial as it offers cost effectiveness, flexibility, scalability and the potential to be seamlessly networked with other Siemens technology. There are areas that we will look to optimise, such as the system’s resistance thermometer detector resolution, and we will continue to work with Siemens in this area. However, my early impression is that we can eventually achieve the goal of developing the basis of a truly commercial solution that will be ideal for other micro-brewery operations.”

Further information is available at www.siemens.com

NINKASI Brewkit Rentals launches Breweries with a fermenting/conditioning capacity issue have just got a new solution with the launch of NINKASI Brewkit Rentals. The new business has been launched by ex CBR/ECasks/ Beerswaps founders Peter Godwin and Andy Thompson.

NINKASI will rent highly specified stand alone FVs for periods from eight weeks upwards. Its stated objectives are: • To provide a simple way for growing and innovative breweries to increase brewing capacity at short notice; • Introduce a true “universal FV” of high quality and advanced specification that it is hoped will set the standard for craft brewing going forward; • Provide an outstanding level of service and flexibility, renting FVs from as little as 8 weeks all the way up to five years.

Short term rental tanks will be delivered and located in the brewery complete with all pipes, connections and stand alone cooling systems so it really is a “plug in and go” solution. FVs are being manufactured in the UK for NINKASI. Longer term rental solutions also use the same high specification tanks.

Andy explained: “we want to help those fast growing and innovative breweries that are always pushing the capacity and capability of their existing brewplant. We also hope to move the industry forward; our conical FV’s are the most advanced in terms

of design and specification to ensure that just about any product can be brewed, efficiently, and with particular consideration to energy and CIP requirements.”

“This is a completely new concept in the industry,” explained Peter, “and having previously made casks and kegs available for short term hire, it seemed the logical thing to do to help breweries have capacity flexibility in production - we hope it will give craft brewers the freedom and confidence to go after extra sales without worrying too much about being able to supply the products.”

The launch range of FVs will be 10 BBL to 15 BBL on short term, with these and larger sizes available for longer term hire. All vessels will be pressure rated and ready for carbonated products.

Andy also hinted at more to come saying that if the concept of very high quality and technically advanced specification equipment at affordable rental prices proves popular, a number of other brewkit solutions are in the pipeline.

And the name NINKASI? “We wanted something relevant,” says Peter “and the Sumerian Goddess of beer and alcohol seemed appropriate!”

For more information please see www.ninkasirentals.co.uk or email info@ninkasirentals.co.uk

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GOLD SPONSORS

What flavour do you

want from your hops?

Paul Corbett, Charles Faram MD

It’s a pretty straightforward question and one which most brewers know the answer to. However not all agree. There are quite strong opinions about the different types available and whilst in the past hops were simply classified as Aroma and Alpha the market has changed quite significantly over the last few years and new lines have been drawn. The dividing line nowadays seems to be “traditional” versus “new world” flavours. Do you want the classic, delicate, easy drinking character of a Golding, Saaz or Mittlefruh or are you looking for the big, hoppy, fruity character of a Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo or Centennial? It is always fun to discover a beer drinkers opinions.

“I can’t drink more than a pint of the over hopped citrus bombs, they are just too much!”

“I don’t get any flavour from the traditional varieties, the flavours are just not enough!”

You have all no doubt heard the arguments and have your own opinions but in truth everyone is right. The challenge for the hop industry today is to produce this wide range of flavours and even to try and create different, exciting new ones.

The team at Charles Faram are one of the latest to take up the challenge. Ever since 2007 when Peter Glendinning started experimenting with a few new plants he had in his greenhouse the aim has been to try and find agronomically sound, exciting new varieties that will one day be produced commercially.

The results have been much better than were ever expected with a hit rate not experienced in many programmes like this before and credit must go to Peter for his perseverance and knowledge of what to look for when he is making selections from the huge range of different seedlings. Initially

the programme was looking to try and create hedgerow hops with characteristics similar to Fuggle and Golding.

At the time and still today growers struggle to grow these varieties economically as they are susceptible to disease, are not easy to pick and yield poorly compared to the newer varieties. The first varieties from the programme to come through to farm trials were Archer and Minstrel, both hedgerow varieties and both with a classic, traditional aroma with a slight twist due to their hedgerow parent. These are proving popular with growers and brewers alike but are not quite getting as much “airtime” due to their traditional flavours. They are expected to have a big future in craft markets worldwide who are looking for more of the traditional flavours as beer styles develop away from the high hits of the West Coast IPA style hops.

“The first varieties from the programme to come through to farm trials were Archer and Minstrel” Peter Glendinning, showing Charles Faram staff and growers around the nurseries.

Check out the Faram website or get in touch with the sales team for an up to date picture of all the products available. Whether its hops, malt, dried yeast, finings, kegs, sensory training kits, bottle tops or closures they are very keen to hear from you.

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Charles Faram

Hop Varieties

minstrel®

spiced berries, Orange,

the aroma and flavour

of a hop helps the brewer

alpha % 5-7

Jester

®

herbal

to select the varieties to

Grapefruit, lychees, Blackcurrant

use in each style of beer.

alpha acid is the measure ment brewers use to calculat e the amount of hops needed

Cohumulone %

the aroma and flavour of a hop helps the brewer to select the varieties to use in each style of beer.

to achieve their target

alpha % 7-9

bitterness.

alpha acid is the measurement brewers use to calculate the amount of hops needed to achieve their target bitterness.

(one of the main alpha low Cohumulone generall acids): y gives a smoother bitternes s. high Cohumulone is a crisper, sharper bitternes s.

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GOLD SPONSORS

Charles Faram

Hop Varieties

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Cohumulone % (one of the main alpha acids): 23-28

low Cohumulone generally gives a smoother bitterness. high Cohumulone is a crisper, sharper bitterness.

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This has led to expanded farm trials of the varieties Jester and Olicana, strong plants with “new world” aroma, excellent disease resistance and good yield. Although still in trials these hops have performed well beyond expectation and they are ready to take the next step to European plant variety rights this year which will make them fully commercial varieties. What is extremely exciting is that there are more varieties coming through the programme which have new intense aromas and delightful flavours.

Not content with just developing their own varieties, Farams have got involved with and sponsored the British Hop Association programme of new seedlings in their search for great new flavours. This programme is being led by Hop Guru Peter Darby and already there have been some superb discoveries amongst the existing plant material. The hops have been assessed for aroma in the field back in September last year and again in the showroom dried. The most promising have had cuttings

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More recently the aim of the programme has changed; as the “new world” hops have become more popular in Europe the team have concentrated on bringing in some of these varieties to make crosses with the strong British rootstocks and create hybrids, something with the best of both worlds. The best way to assess these varieties has been initially through the Charles Faram sensory panel but then later with the help of UK brewers who have given excellent feedback from brewing trials.

The aroma and flavour

jammz.co.uk

j6c15.arr info@

taken and will have farm plots planted this year. These will be assessed again after harvest and hopefully there will be enough material for a few brewing trials.

The message is to definitely watch this space for other new British varieties over the next couple of years.

Contrary to popular belief Charles Faram & Co is still one of the smallest Hop Merchants in the UK. Whilst other dealers are owned by multi-national conglomerates Faram prides itself in being 100% British owned and is very closely associated with its growers. Indeed, the main shareholding is grower owned. That said another exciting development at Farams is the opening of its new cold storage facility and sales desk in the Yakima Valley, USA. The store is in the centre of one of the main hop growing regions of the world and is ideally placed for collections of US hops off farms and storage of British, New Zealand and European varieties for onward sales to US brewers. Two new appointments have been made to increase the grower and brewer liaison opportunities with Sean McGree (Ex BSG) and Jennifer Stevens (ex YCH hops) joining Farams in the last few months.

In the UK Farams have developed their portfolio to include other brewing raw materials and products to make all your brewing requirements as accessible as possible. The most recent addition is the Dolium one trip keg. It had been difficult for Dolium to get their products to the

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market and fulfil regular, reliable supplies from a UK store. The link up with Faram has provided this and is already producing repeat business for these easy to use kegs.

“The message is to definitely watch this space for other new British varieties over the next couple of years.”

New cold storage facility in the Yakima Valley, USA

www.charlesfaram.co.uk 01905 830734 WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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GOLD SPONSORS

Yeast Maintenance and

Control of Infection

Introduction

The first aspect of good yeast management is the selection of a good yeast. In order to brew good beer it is essential that your yeast is healthy and free from infection. Yeast is usually “recycled” from brew to brew, the crop from one brew forming the inoculum for the next. The factors which affect yeast health are: A

A

Its’ nutrition

B

The growth temperature

C

The time of harvesting (skimming)

D

Storage conditions.

Yeast Nutrition A good quality wort will contain all (but one) of the essential nutrients for yeast growth; sugars, nitrogen source, vitamins etc. The missing nutrient and in many ways the most important one is Oxygen. One cannot over-emphasise the importance of oxygen. When one looks at the growth curve for yeast during a typical fermentation one sees that there is an initial lag phase, whilst the yeast adjusts to its new environment, followed by a period of rapid growth. This is important to produce the mass of cells necessary to rapidly convert wort sugars to alcohol. This growth is affected by the availability of nutrients of which oxygen is crucial. Oxygen is essential to produce certain fatty substances used in making the yeast cell membrane.

Lack of oxygen will have a number of consequences: 1 Poor growth.

2 Poor attenuation.

3 Poor flocculation, leading to cloudy beer and a poor yeast crop.

4 The yeast crop will not be “healthy” and will die more readily on storage.

B

Growth Temperature This will also affect the rate of growth of the yeast. If the temperature is too high, yeast growth will be too vigorous, producing an excessive demand on nutrients and resulting in beer depleted in these nutrients. This can have an effect on subsequent conditioning. In addition to this, and probably more importantly a higher growth temperature will change the yeasts metabolism producing a different range of by products which can have a major effect on flavour. If the temperature is too low, the fermentation will be sluggish, resulting in an increased opportunity for infection.

C

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Time of Harvesting (Skimming) The aim when skimming is to remove the yeast head at a point in the fermentation where there is still sufficient activity to keep the head on the surface and to leave just sufficient yeast in suspension to complete the fermentation and form a thin but stable cover over the surface of the beer for protection. If the yeast is allowed to remain on the surface of the beer until the end of fermentation a number of things may occur.

1 It is possible that autolysis may occur due to overheating from ambient temperatures.

This will result in a decrease in yeast cell viability, which could cause, slow, problematic subsequent fermentations.

2 In addition if the yeast head is allowed to remain too long on the beer it may result in yeast off flavours, due to the products of autolysis.

3 The longer the yeast head is kept at ambient temperatures, exposed to air, the greater the possibility of aerial infection.

We now supply wet yeast please contact us for more information

For more information please visit our site: https://murphyandson.co.uk/store/21-yeast-maintenance here you can learn more about yeast maintenance, our services, and relevant products that can help you maintain your yeast.

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Storage of Yeast

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and therefore take up the stain and appear The way in which yeast is stored after therefore more likely to be adversely affected. blue. Too high a percentage of dead cells skimming is of the upmost importance if It is important to time acid washing correctly, will lead to sluggish fermentations, as you it is to remain in top condition. Yeast will to start an hour or so prior to pitching. The will in effect be pitching less yeast than rapidly deteriorate if kept at too high a acid washed yeast is then pitched directly you think. This of course will increase the temperature. It is therefore important to into the brew – do not attempt to store acid opportunity for infection to take hold. By decrease the temperature of the yeast, which washed yeast. using a special microscope slide, known will be skimmed at about 21°C to 2° – 4°C Cider & Wine Making Auxiliary Finings Isinglass Finings Preservatives Stabilisers as a haemocytometer, one can count the as soon as possible. The simplest way to Maintenance of Yeast Stock number of cells in a given suspension. This store yeast is to mix it with chilled sterile At first sight, it seems reasonable that one can be useful in determining the number water and store it in 1 – 2 gallon containers should maintain ones yeast stock indefinitely, of cells in suspension in your beer at rack. with lids in a refrigerator. The lids should as each brew yields more than enough yeast Microscopic examination of your yeast and not be tightly sealed so as to allow gaseous to pitch subsequent brews. Some breweries beer can also enable you to detect any exchange. The depth of yeast should not be have in fact managed to sustain this system substantial contamination which may not too great otherwise a temperature difference for many years. It is however a risky policy otherwise be evident. (Note however, that if between the surface and the centre of for a number of reasons. You should always contaminating organisms are easily visible the yeast mass can build up resulting in have a source of new yeast of consistent under the microscope, then they are present temperatures of 8° – 10°C higher at the quality available in case the need should Filter Aids Hygiene Laboratory Manual Handling Training Days in appreciable numbers. For more sensitive centre. Under these conditions the yeast arise to replace your yeast stock. methods of detection of contaminants it is at the centre will be more active but in Possible causes of loss of yeast stock necessary to set up laboratory cultures.) the starvation conditions prevailing will be A microscope is therefore is an invaluable forced to undergo autofermentation i.e. break 1 Infection tool for good quality control and should down their own constituents. As a result An infection with wild yeast cannot be be considered by all brewers. It is also they will autolyse and die causing a gross eradicated other than by replacing your yeast obtainable at modest cost. reduction in the overall viability. Another stock (possibly several times). Also, if your possible consequence of storing yeast in poor If the yeast cell viability is low, you should yeast is unhealthy, it may not be wise to acid conditions is that they will become altered replace your yeast stock and review the wash to remove a bacterial infection. with respect to their flocculent character. causes, as indicated in the previous sections.

This may cause problems in subsequent Similarly, if the yeast becomes infected then it 2 Mutation fermentations. One other factor which can Mutation is always occurring in a population can be replaced. Alternatively, if the infection affect yeast health is the level of infection. of yeast cells. Most of the mutants do not is bacterial, it may be possible to eliminate This is because the yeast must compete survive but over time there is an increasing it by acid washing. This involves treating the for essential nutrients with contaminating possibility that one will arise which may have yeast with acid for a period immediately prior organisms. undesirable properties. The most common to pitching. The principal of this procedure is adverse mutations involve a change in that the low pH produced (pH 2•0 – 2•2) is Monitoring the Condition flocculent character or the loss of the ability sufficient to kill the majority of contaminating to ferment maltotriose. bacteria, whilst the yeast (which is more of Your Yeast tolerant of low pH) is left unscathed. In order If you take account of all the factors and Infection to carry out this procedure it is essential that follow the best practice, you should have the correct conditions are obtained or the As previously indicated, infection can have no problems. However, even in the best yeast may also be damaged. an effect on yeast health because pitching establishments things can go wrong. It is yeast must compete with the infecting important to have some system of quality Correct Conditions for organisms for essential nutrients. More control in place, bearing in mind that such importantly however infection will have a things as a decrease in your yeast cell Acid Washing Yeast major effect on the quality of your beers. viability or a low level of infection may not pH 2•0 – 2•2 be immediately evident. If action is not The principal effects of contamination are: Temperature less than 5°C taken to remedy these problems at an early Contact time approx. 1 hour.

1 Flavour/odour effects stage one could have bigger headaches Sour taste due to the production of acetic The yeast slurry should be stirred to ensure later, as such effects become exaggerated or lactic acid and/or unusual aromas, often an even temperature and distribution of the in subsequent brews. The best means vegetable, sulphury, phenolic or stale. acid. of monitoring the health of your yeast is

Supplying all your brewing products and services

Quality, Consistency & Support

to check its microscopic appearance. By

using the 0115 dye “Methylene Blue” one can Technical Enquiries: 9785494 distinguish between viable cells (i.e. cells capable of growing) and non-viable (dead) email: info@murphyandson.co.uk

cells in your yeast population. The cell membrane of viable cells is impermeable to this dye so cells appear colourless. Dead cells in contrast have damaged membranes

ebsite: www.murphyandson.co.uk

Many acids are suitable for this procedure but we recommend the use of food grade ortho-phosphoric acid. Yeast should be pitched immediately after acid washing otherwise it will deteriorate. If an infected yeast has a low viability it is preferable to Find us toonacid facebook replace it rather than attempt wash it, as the yeast cells will be under stress and

2 Hazes

3 Poor attenuation or over attenuation Order Office: 0115 97801111 There are two major groups of email: sales@murphyandson.co.uk microorganisms which can cause infections:

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1 Wild Yeast 2 Bacteria

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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30/03/2017 17:34

SIBA

REGIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP SCOTTISH REGION

Things are transforming at Alechemy Livingston brewer Alechemy is currently going through a period of transformation following a tie-up with Glasgow-based drinks company Catalyst. Since signing the six-figure share deal last December, brewery founder James Davies has been working with Catalyst’s Jim Young to increase awareness, interest and availability of Alechemy’s range of beers.

James said of the deal: “I felt that, although we’d grown our turnover quite quickly, I wanted to get to the next stage.

We take great pride in our beer, and I value consistency and quality. I felt Jim got what we are about and that the partnership would help us achieve the growth and presence in the market we both believe Alechemy beers deserve.”

In March of this year Alechemy moved one mile down the road from its original home to a new brewery. The 6,000 square foot space is almost double the size of the original brewery and is home to an additional five vessels - with more on the way this summer. The new brewery will allow Alechemy to grow over time and the brewery will also welcome its own inhouse bottling line later this year.

Since settling into the new brewery, Alechemy has already began to reap the benefits of expansion with some great successes. In late March Alechemy’s Bad Day At The Office won Gold for Champion Cask Premium Bitters & Pale Ales at the SIBA awards. In April, they announced a UK wide supply deal with Waitrose for

their 10.5% Imperial Stout Bring Out The Imp and in late May were part of ASDA’s massive supply deal with Craft Beer Clan to bring more local craft beer to the shelves across their Scottish stores.

Over the coming months Alechemy are looking to grow further still. They are currently finalising a full rebranding of their packaging and refining their core range.

The new branding will be rolled out this summer. Beyond the rebrand, Alechemy are opening their own bar in Glasgow’s Merchant City later this summer, allowing them to showcase their full range of beers in the heart of the city. It’s an exciting time of growth for the Livingston brewery; and it looks like this is just the beginning.

Arran Brewery leant its support to SIBA Scotland Election Manifesto

Loch Lomond Brewery launches in Marks & Spencer’s Scottish Stores

SIBA in Scotland asked election candidates last month to back Scotland’s independent craft brewing businesses by signing up to its Election Manifesto.

Following the widely unexpected results in the election, and many changes to sitting Scottish MPs, Scottish brewers are being urged to invite their newly elected MP to visit their brewery to talk to them about some of the key issues in the Manifesto – which can be downloaded from the SIBA website.

The Manifesto was sent to all Scottish parliamentary candidates ahead of the General Election and set out a number of ways in which SIBA, which represents almost 50 independent craft breweries in Scotland, is seeking to work with MPs and Government.

Loch Lomond Brewery celebrated its sixth successful year by taking the next big step on its journey through the craft beer world by agreeing a deal with high-end supermarket giant, Marks & Spencer.

Two of Loch Lomond Brewery’s most decorated products now take pride of place in the new craft beer line for Marks & Spencer.

Southern Summit, which was crowned SIBA’s supreme champion cask ale in 2016, and Silkie Stout, which was crowned SIBA champion Small Pack Stout 2017 and CAMRA’s Champion Stout for Scotland and Northern Ireland 2016, feature in the new line up are available in 54 stores throughout Scotland.

Fiona MacEachern, managing director of Loch Lomond Brewery, said: "This new deal further cements our position as one of the most respected Scottish craft breweries, with a whole host of award winning beers, retail contracts and export deals.”

Mike Benner, SIBA CEO, said “SIBA’s Manifesto sets out five key areas which are vital for the future health of the independent craft brewing industry in the UK; asking candidates to actively support local brewing businesses, back the retention of Small Breweries’ Relief, support SIBA’s campaign to ensure local brewers have the access to market to meet the demands of beer drinkers, back pubs as centres of community life, and finally back SIBA’s campaign for a fair deal on beer tax with at least a freeze in beer duty during the next parliament.”

The Isle of Arran Brewery made an open invitation to all the Parliamentary Candidates to come and visit the brewery on Arran on the 8th of June and this invitation is being echoed around Scotland as SIBA members open their doors to welcome candidates to see around their local brewery and enjoy a photo opportunity signing up to the SIBA manifesto.

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SIBA

REGIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP SCOTTISH REGION

Bellfield Brewery scoops Gold at Free From Food Awards Bellfield Brewery was presented with the Gold award at the 10th annual Free From Food Awards for its Bohemian Pilsner beer, while its IPA took Bronze.

The beer is certified gluten-free and is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Bellfield Brewery, based in Edinburgh, has only been in business just over a year, having launched its beers at last year’s Free From Show in Glasgow.

The brewery was one of 30 winners at the awards, presented by Antony Worrall Thompson in front of 350 guests at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

Bellfield is the first dedicated gluten-free micro-brewery, brewing all its beers in the UK. It recently announced a funding drive to raise £500,000 to support its expansion.

Bellfield brewer and head of business development, Kieran Middleton, said: “I am over the moon to win this award. It’s a fantastic end to an incredible first year in

business and a huge vote of confidence in beers from a young business.”

Last year, Bellfield secured listings with a number of the UK’s leading distributors and wholesalers including Bidvest Foodservice (Scotland and UK), Matthew Clark, Amathus, Pigs Ear and in Scotland with Green City Wholefoods, Inverarity Morton, Gordon & Macphail and Craft Beer Clan Scotland.

The young brewery was chosen as one of only 10 breweries in the UK for Naked Wines’ new craft beer offering, which launched in January 2017.

Bellfield’s beers have been well received in the market with Bohemian Pilsner a finalist in the 2016 Scottish Beer Awards and

FyneFest 2017:

In Scotland, Bellfield beers are currently featuring in Aldi’s craft beer festivals and from April, in bars on CalMac’s fleet of 32 ferries.

The gluten-free beers are also stocked by around 200 bars, restaurants and independent bottle shops, mostly in the central belt of Scotland, although the brewery is starting to make inroads into London and the SE. Considerable interest has been shown in the beers from overseas and Bellfield has already shipped pallets of beer to wholesalers in Singapore and Switzerland.

And representing Scotland, alongside the festival organisers, beers from Fierce Beer and Edinburgh’s Pilot brewery; while Out of Town, Up Front and Campervan brewing were also be featured as part of a new brewery showcase. Over 160 beers from over 35 breweries from the UK and Europe were available at the 2017 festival.

bigger and better than ever

FyneFest, the UK’s biggest beer, music and food festival, took place last month featuring beers from some of the UK’s best breweries including Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Beavertown, Wild Beer and Siren this summer.

its Lawless Village IPA came 2nd in the Independent’s recent Top 10 Gluten-Free beers list.

breweries made their debut at the festival; two of the most talked about breweries in the UK.

Organiser Fyne Ales ran the annual festival, this year taking place from 2-4 June 2017, featuring a selection of beers from the UK’s top breweries. In addition to Cloudwater, who were recently named fifth best brewery in the world by Ratebeer, other established names including Magic Rock, Beavertown, Wild Beer, Thornbridge, Buxton and Hawkshead breweries beers were showcased.

“While we’re proud of the fact that FyneFest brings together elements of music festivals and food festivals, beer is the star of the show for the majority of festival-goers,” explained Fyne Ales Managing Director, Jamie Delap.

“Developing on the success of the Brewers’ Bar introduced last year, we’ve put even more focus on beer for 2017.”

The festival also offered attendees the chance to experience rare and exclusive beers from partner brewers through timed tappings on the Brewers Selection tap.

At regular intervals during Friday and Saturday evening, a new, special beer was poured from a specific tap on the festival’s Main Bar.

Cornwall’s Verdant and Cheltenham’s Deya

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REGIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP SCOTTISH REGION

Finalists in the Scottish Beer Awards announced The finalists in the second annual Scottish Beer Awards have been announced with 36 breweries and 146 beers all brewed in Scotland progressing to the finals of the national competition.

“The beers which have made it to the final had to achieve a high standard of marks in the rigorous tasting session all of which was conducted blind and managed by the excellent technical team at Cara Technology.

The successful candidates represent just over half of the entered beers received in the highly regarded programme, sponsored

by ALDI.

“The finalists we have selected in the business awards clearly demonstrate the strength and potential of the brewing industry in Scotland.”

The awards cover both taste and business performance and were judged last week by an experienced judging panel consisting of some of Scotland’s foremost brewing and beer experts.

In the business categories, a new category has been created for Breakthrough Brewery of the Year to recognise the exceptional potential of new breweries trading within the last two years which have managed to create a range of successful products. The finalists are Cross Borders Brewing, Dead End Brew Machine, Fierce Brewing, The Ferry Brewery and Up Front Brewing.

Of the finalists, Borders-based Tempest Brewing leads the race with 12 beers reaching the finals in the taste categories. Stewart Brewing are next with 9 beers and Cromarty Brewing, the rural brewery based in the Black Isle, has 8 beers in the finals.

Five breweries will fight it out for the ultimate award, The Scottish Brewery of the Year, presented by ALDI. BrewDog, Fyne Ales, Innis & Gunn, Stewart Brewing and last year’s winner, Tempest Brewing Co. 266 Scottish beers were tasted by 27 judges and were marked according to a range of tasting standards set by the international sensory management consultancy, Cara Technology. In addition, 83 written entries covering breweries’ business performance in marketing, innovation and product development, were

Finalists are now being sent a digital marketing package to enable personalised branding of finalist beers to take place. The finalists will also receive branding support in the aisles of ALDI supermarkets in Scotland.

debated in a session which was chaired by former S&N Technical and Quality Director, Hilary Jones.

She commented: “To make it to the final stage is an achievement in itself. Due to the huge surge in the volume and range of beer entered this year, only around half of the entered beers have progressed to this stage.

All medal winners will be announced at an awards celebration and gourmet beer-paired hosted by Hardeep Singh Kohli, on Thursday 28 September 2017 at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange.

Tickets cost £120.00+VAT per person or £1,200.00+VAT for a table of 10.

For full details visit www.scottishbeerawards.co.uk.

Stewart Brewing celebrates awards success It’s been a busy few months at Stewart Brewing. In March the brewery celebrated its Jack Back beer winning a Gold Award at the SIBA National Independent Beer Awards and then in May its popular triple hopped pale ale Radical Road won the Brewing category at the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards.

breweries. This included a blood orange saison, Another Bloody Saison, with Liverpool Craft Beer and a kiwi hopped double IPA with Cross Borders. There was also an ice cream style ale with Over Langshaw Farmhouse Ice Cream which proved a hit with drinkers.

Finally, the brewery has being playing host to four Masters students from Edinburgh’s HeriotWatt university as part of Natural Selection Brewing. This collaborative project, now in its seventh year, is between Stewart and selected MSc Brewing and Distilling students at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling. These students have been tasked with brewing 5,000 litres of their own creation and selling it across the UK. This year’s beer is a 5.2% ABV California Common called Common Ancestor launched at the end of June.

Stewart also recently celebrated securing a new permanent listing with UK’s largest specialist wine retailer, Majestic Wine. Four of its beers – Black IPA, Embra, Ka Pai and St. Giles – are now available to buy in all 14 Majestic Wine stores in Scotland.

May also marked the return of Stewart Brewing’s Edinburgh Beer Festival. This was the third year of holding the beer festival at the brewery and it was a great success with tickets selling out ahead of the event.

In addition to established craft beers from Scotland and beyond, the festival featured several limited-edition collaboration beers which we created with friends at other

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SUPPLIER NEWS

SUPPLIER viewpoint

Is trouble brewing for craft beer brands?

1 – Many brewers are simply unaware that not just identical brands can block a new name but also similar brands.

Rowena Price

Rowena Price, Partner at Gill Jennings & Every LLP, an intellectual property law firm in London, looks at whether there is still space for new brands in the current market and how to protect yours.

The last few years have seen a huge rise in the number of breweries on both sides of the Atlantic and there’s no sign of a slowdown any time soon.

But what does all of this mean from a branding perspective? How will the everincreasing number of breweries manage to carve out a space for their brands? What does a successful exit look like and how can a coherent brand protection strategy help breweries to achieve this? What risks, opportunities and challenges are there? And where is the industry heading more generally?

This article tries to answer some of these key questions as it looks at some of the growing trends in the sector.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...or would it?

A great product is always key, but a good name is equally critical to success. But in a market that’s getting more and more crowded, it’s likewise getting harder and harder to find new names that don’t conflict with existing brands.

Yet being forced to change the name of your beer down the line because it turns out you’re infringing someone else’s rights can have serious implications not just financially but also in terms of management time, reputation and consumer brand awareness.

So how do you minimise this risk? In short, by running clearance checks and searches early on (ideally before committing to a new brand).

Some checks you can run yourself but ideally you should also consider getting professional advice. An obvious place to start is by looking at beer rating sites such as www.ratebeer.com, www.untappd.com and www.beeradvocate. com, but that will only get you so far, since:

2 – Not only earlier beer brands but also wine/spirit or even soft drink brands could kibosh your new name - they might feel to you like totally different products, but from a legal perspective there is still a risk of confusion considering the numerous bottled drinks that sit together behind a busy and noisy bar, and the number of companies which increasingly sell a whole range of drinks across different categories (from large companies like Constellation Brands to smaller microbreweries selling both craft beer and craft spirits).

3 – It’s not just names that are in use that you need to worry about - a name which has been registered as a trademark (even if there’s no corresponding product on the market yet) can also cause serious problems.

But we’re all friends aren’t we?

The craft beer sector has always been known for its friendliness, collaborative approach and respect for a gentleman’s agreement; disputes would be settled amicably and without lawyers (probably over a beer or two). But all of this is changing as money and power enters the industry. And the stakes will only get higher.

The surge in exports has added a further level of risk. Even if a home-grown craft brewer may still (initially at least) be offered an olive branch in the event of a dispute, the same is much less likely to apply abroad, where an infringing foreign interloper will be treated much less charitably.

What’s the point of trademark registration?

Once you’re sure you’re safe to use your new name, the next step is to lock down your rights by registering the name as a trademark in key markets. Registration is crucial to the protection of your brand and to building longer term value in your business, and in the UK can take as little as four months.

Failure to register means that you could struggle to protect your brand and stop someone copying you, because you’ll have to rely instead on unregistered (i.e. use-based) rights. These are far less clear-cut than registered trademarks and hence harder and more expensive to enforce.

So what are the top takeaway tips to growing a successful craft beer brand?

1 – Choose a good name - it has to be not just catchy but also sufficiently different from any existing registered or unregistered brands (not just for beer but also wider alcoholic and soft drinks).

WWW.SIBA.CO.UK

2 – Search properly and early on - you can do a certain amount online yourself, but consider also getting professional advice. Investing now could save you a huge rebranding headache down the line.

3 – Be pragmatic and creative when it comes to disputes - the B2B approach may well be best at least at first, but know what your end game is and try to be practical. It will rarely be worth going to Court and it helps if the parties are flexible e.g. offering a reasonable run-off period.

4 – Register your beer names as trademarks - they’ll be easier to enforce if the need ever arises and you’ll be making yourself more attractive to would-be investors and buyers.

5 – Think ahead - if foreign markets are key to your future success (especially the US or Far East), get professional advice early on about an appropriate clearance and registration strategy, taking in to account budget, priorities, size of market, risk of copycats and squatters etc.

6 – Check you own the rights to your logos, labels and packaging designs - in the UK, if an agency or someone else has designed these for you, they will own the copyright unless there’s a contract in place that stipulates otherwise or unless they’ve actively assigned the rights to you.

7 – Develop a sensible brand protection strategy (dealing with all of the above) with the help of a brand protection expert i.e. a trade mark attorney - many craft brewers have limited budgets and getting professional advice will help you maximise whatever funds are available. Brand protection doesn’t have to cost the earth and doing something is always better than doing nothing.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, then please contact Rowena Price, Partner via rowena. price@gje.com.

Gill Jennings & Every LLP are a specialist intellectual property law firm based in London. Our patent and trademark attorneys provide commercially focussed advice on legal protection for innovations and brands to companies ranging from start-ups to multinationals. We have a team of patent and trademark attorneys who specialise in advising clients in the food & drink sector.

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SUPPLIER NEWS

Chevallier Heritage Malt is back!

In 1819 a Rev Dr John Chevalier from Debenham in Suffolk selected the seeds from an ear of particularly fine barley. He sowed them. So good were the results that he carried on propagating, and it wasn’t long before a new variety known for its excellent malting qualities had been created. It was named after him.

For the following hundred years, Chevallier barley malt was revered for the quality of the beers it produced – and was the main type used for brewing in England. It took until the 1920s for it to be superseded by other varieties.

Now it is back again.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre recently revived the Victorian variety, starting with just a handful of seeds, producing a small crop and repeating the process. The work took place as part of a project to improve contemporary barley, especially disease resistance, by looking at past varieties. Historic records showed Chevallier to produce good yields – and premium quality malt.

With the support of Crisp Maltings, propagation continued beyond the initial research. The Crisp team worked with Dr Chris Ridout of New Heritage Barley and a handful of Norfolk farmers prepared to take on the responsibility of reviving the variety.

By 2014 a 20 tonne crop of barley was produced. Five tonnes were malted by Crisp on their traditional floor maltings and the balance was reserved as seed for further regeneration. The process was repeated in 2015 and 2016, each time allowing more of the precious grain to be allocated to malting and brewing.

Says Dr David Griggs of Crisp Maltings: “Yes, this is an exciting project for historians, crop scientists, farmers, maltsters and brewers. But it also holds appeal for any curious drinker. The revival of Chevallier provides an opportunity for people to sampleauthentic tastes of the Victorian era.

“Brewers are researching old brewing recipes and using them to reproduce, or play tunes with, flavours of the past. Opportunities associated with Chevallier Heritage Malt are many and varied – and we’re finding brewers keen to push boundaries with the help of history.”

Brewers interested in the malt should contact sales@crispmalt.com.

Record sales for Kammac’s Keg & Cask range

Kammac is having a record year for sales across it’s Keg & Cask range, which comprises of 9G cask, 4.5G pins and 30L, 50L kegs.

New investment and a plan to grow the business through direct sales plus the capability to offer all clients the Rent to Own scheme through long term partner Keg Logistics are paying off.

Ged Carabini the Keg & Cask Sales Director said: “We are not just here for the good times and we our committed as a team to provide a grade A service. Kammac plc is a family business and it’s of upmost importance that we deliver an excellent service, we have to date and will continue to do so and our recent growth in sales reaffirm this focus pays off in the long run.”

For more information contact Nicola or Kayleigh on 01695 727272 ext. * 206 and * 208 or alternatively email Nicola.smith@kammac.com for an immediate quote.

Kammac currently has a Summer Time promotion on so please call the above number or email to take advantage.

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SUPPLIER NEWS

It’s easier than ever to join the Beer Swapping revolution!

If you want to buy/sell beer from/to other breweries to expand your portfolio for your customers, then the process just became a whole lot easier.

The inter brewery trading portal for beer swapping, www.beerswaps.co.uk has been updated with some significant changes to simplify the process for breweries using the site all based on customer feedback.

BeerSwaps has been running for over 12 months and has quickly become recognised as the way forward for breweries to easily find trading partners and safely buy/sell pallets of beer.

The unique thing about BeerSwaps is that a brewery does not have to buy and sell from the same partner, but to any different brewery registered on the portal. The process is still administered as a “swap” so money does not need to change hands.

This is made possible by BeerSwaps operating an innovative invoice hub and, on the practical side, the use of ECasks to package the beer means there are no brewers casks to be returned. These benefits are now the main way to complete a trade ensuring breweries can maximise the trading possibilities available.

New to this latest version is also the inclusion of an Ullage process for any quality issues, and credit limits for brewers to ensure fairness is maximised, and risk minimised.

All the original benefits of using the portal remain such as the simplified administration of keeping all your beer swap information in one place, the ability to provide and see feedback on each brewer’s products, and the ability to build and download marketing literature to help sell the swapped beer.

For more information look on www.beerswaps.co.uk

Pegas CrafTap Smart growler filler keeps beer fresh for up to 60 days Craftbeer Growlers Limited have taken delivery of the Pegas CrafTap Smart, a further development on the successful Pegas CrafTap 2.0 & 3.0. This allows staff and potentially customers to fill Growlers perfectly without any air/oxygen coming in contact with the beer and virtually zero foaming even from highly carbonated beers. This results in a growler fill that keeps the beer fresh for up-to 60 days.

The extra benefits of the Pegas CrafTap Smart are: • Accurate fill each time.

• Reduction in staff time required to serve customer.

• Potential for improved customer self-service.

Growlers are becoming a very popular way of giving customer a new choice for take home craft beer.

Growlers are now available in Glass, Stainless Steel, Ceramic and PET and allows customers the benefit of draught craft beer at home, at a time of their choosing.

For more information go to www.craftgrowlers.ie

Erben launches two litre ‘Grab It’ keg The two litre “Grab It” Keg is the smallest fully brandable keg on the market. It is the first compact re-sealable tin keg, with a free flow spout dispenser, and is a great way for brewers to showcase their beers without having to use expensive equipment for filling, as the kegs can be hand or machine filled.

This keg is the first of its kind in the UK, allowing consumers to pick up the perfect size of premium beers, ales or ciders to showcase to their friends or colleagues. Due to its two litre capacity, it is a cost- effective way to distribute drinks in a socially responsible manner, and perfect for replacing glass bottles to bring to, or serve at, this summer’s festivals and parties.

The “Grab It” keg is the first keg to fit in UK fridge doors and features a smooth free flow pour system assuring the same flow rate of beer is poured at no matter what angle or force given.

The kegs come in different designs, as well as the possibility of bespoke printing for brewers to showcase their designs and logos.

If you would like more information contact Erben on 01473 824 381 or email mail@erben.co.uk. Website: www.erben.co.uk.

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SUPPLIER NEWS

SUPPLIER viewpoint

Cask or Keg – the choice is yours!

The brewing industry is notoriously fickle and everyone seems to jump onto the ‘next big thing’ at the same time: 10 years ago, ‘craft’ was an anomaly, now everyone is adopting the mantle; earlier this decade brewers wanted to be in bottle, this year everyone is chasing cans…

So where does cask sit in relation to the craft keg phenomena? It has a shorter ‘shelf life’ than keg, requires more cellarmanship and yet is generally less expensive per pint… According to Cloudwater keg is the new king. However, if you listen to the Americans, who first brought us ‘Craft’ beer, cask is becoming a bit of a big thing, albeit from a very small base – in the past the USA market has been almost totally keg.

Whilst they have more of a challenge over storage and dispense (and temperature) cask is steadily growing in popularity with the American craft brewers.

So for the UK market, will cask fight back against the recent keg phenomena? You can bet your dollar it will, and with the right presentation and marketing it can build on its true ‘craft’ credentials.

So don’t give up on cask, there is still life in it yet – just manage your product quality throughout the supply chain and invest in branding that will ensure it is fit for the new and exciting beer market.

After the brewing boom of the last decade, the key challenge, going forward, will be to build equity and maintain a premium positioning – for both your cask and keg brands alike.

Myles Pinfold is founder and creative director at WPA Pinfold.

New Sales Director for Simpsons Malt Family-owned maltster Simpsons Malt has appointed Jamie Ramshaw to join the flourishing company as UK Technical Sales Manager.

Based in Tivetshall St Margaret Maltings, Jamie (46) will head up the sales division for the UK bringing a wealth of brewing knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to the role.

Previously Technical Sales Manager for Murphy and Sons Ltd, Jamie comes from a brewing background having worked at Wells & Young’s Ltd for 12 years.

In this new role, Jamie is responsible for sales around the UK, with a focus on England and Wales. And having worked closely with most of the UK brewing industry he is confident his established relationships stand him in good stead to continue the growth of Simpsons Malt.

Commenting on joining the successful malt company, Jamie said: “Having been in my previous role for six years I was ready for my next challenge and Simpsons Malt seemed like the perfect fit. I am looking forward to working with the much-respected company and having the opportunity to work with such great products and people.”

Richard Simpson, Vice Charmain of Simpsons Malt, added: “We are delighted to have Jamie on board, having known him through the industry for nearly 20 years we understand his background and his passion for a challenge.”

For more information go to www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk

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NEXT ISSUE

AUTUMN (OCTOBER) 2017 ISSUE 106

REGIONAL NEWS: EAST REGION FOCUS FEATURE: CONTAINERS AND DISPENSE FOCUS FEATURE: POINT OF SALE AND MARKETING Editorial Deadline: Monday 4th September please contact caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk Advertising Deadline: Monday 18th September please contact claire@media-alive.co.uk

REDUCE MANUAL HANDLING AND SAVE MONEY! Bring your material handling process into the 21st Century, automate your system with a Collinson silo and conveyor and eliminate heavy bag handling.

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NEW Festival Glass Revival craft beer glass available March ‘17!

With craft beer becoming evermore popular, the choice of drinking vessel is crucial to enhancing the drinking experience, including: taste, colour and smell. Enter the NEW Revival craft beer glass from Festival Glass.

Boasting an authentic craft beer shape that optimises the tasting experience, Revival offers you: great stackability, MOQ from 300 units (6 per case), single colour or classic etch print options, short lead times and is available in two convenient sizes: 17.25oz (49cl): CE marked, lined at 2/3pt, 1/2pt and 1/3pt 14.75oz (42cl): CE marked, lined at 1/2pt and 1/3pt

For further information on the Revival glass contact Kelsey Cheesbrough today:

Email sales@festivalglass.co.uk Call 01422 382 696 l www.festivalglass.co.uk Festival Glass_2 x ads_Brewing_Business_182wx128h_Feb_17_AW.indd 2

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09/02/2017 19:45

SUPPLIER NEWS

Pharma Bottle gives LoneWolf prototype gin craft appeal BrewDog-backed distillery LoneWolf has chosen a Beatson Clark bottle originally intended for pharmaceutical products for its new craft gin.

The Scottish distillery launched its first spirits into the industry last year with its V1 and V2 prototypes. In January 2017 it launched its V3 prototype gin which has an eye-catching look thanks to the new white flint bottle.

Beatson Clark’s 500ml Sloping Shoulder Flat bottle was designed for medicines, but its elegant lines and unusual shape help to emphasise the revolutionary nature of LoneWolf’s boundarypushing product.

It’s not the first time a customer has found a novel use for an existing Beatson Clark container: last year London Rd Jam Jar Cocktails started selling its range of ready-to-serve premium cocktails in

Beatson Clark’s 300ml glass food jar.

“We love it when customers give our glass bottles and jars a creative twist,” said Beatson Clark Marketing Manager Charlotte Taylor. “With LoneWolf BrewDog have gone one step further and put a craft spirit in a pharmaceutical bottle, and we think the final effect looks great!”

Beatson Clark is the UK’s only manufacturer of pharmaceutical glass bottles and jars and holds a wide range of shapes and sizes to suit customers’ requirements.

To find out more about standard, customised or bespoke craft beer and spirit bottles call Beatson Clark on 01709 828141 or email sales@beatsonclark.co.uk.

The importance of well-designed beer packaging SUPPLIER viewpoint Saxon Packaging looks at your packaging options and how your choice influences what consumers feel about your brand.

There’s no denying that getting your beer packaging right is an important step to success. In a highly competitive market keeping up with the packaging and marketing trends is an important part of giving your beverage the edge that is required for that crucial conversion; and packaging is after all, the final opportunity for a brand to visually convey its message and appeal to the consumer. Packaging is also particularly vital in the brewing industry for those who bottle and can their brew as it acts as that crucial protective measure that protects the precious cargo in transit.

Whether your beer is being transported in your own vehicle, courier or bulk palletised, the mode of transport being used and how your beer is stacked will hugely determine how your packaging is designed and engineered, such as what material grade, board and dividers are used to guarantee optimum strength and suitability to conditions. An often unavoidable aspect of a quick turnaround in a canning or bottling line is that cans and bottles are packed when they are still damp. Well-designed packaging takes extra precautions in these moist conditions such as including a kraft inner liner and a waste based fluting to support and prevent damage to the boxes.

Logistical specifications directly affect the foundations of packaging, but after these aspects are covered an almost infinite amount of options are left open to you and your brand’s packaging.

Consumer’s expectations of packaging is constantly growing due to packaging developments throughout all industries,

and companies have the exciting job of not only keeping up but standing out. Packaging in the beverage industry is one of the most transparent ways to give consumers an impression of a brand before they sample the contents inside. Although the quality and flavour of a beverage is what matters most when it comes to retention and advocacy of a customer, it is the visual representation and brand impression which initially attracts a person to sample the beverage in the first place. Breweries put great thought and effort into producing a high-quality brew so it is important that the quality of the contents is reflected in the exterior.

The best examples of product packaging we see is when real care and thought has been put into the consumer’s experience, such as taking advantage of the packaging artwork and incorporating this into packaging design and structure.

An innovative example would be taking a feature of a beer’s label and allowing this to show through the gift pack or carry pack in an interactive way with a die-cut window.

When deciding on printed packaging it’s important that people know the vast array of print options available for their packaging as well as which process will produce the quality and standard they want for the right price. Digital printing is often seen as the ‘go to’ option for high quality printed packaging for a relatively low unit price, but lithographic printing produces printed packaging to a higher standard whilst also providing endless options for print finishes, all of which are opportunities for the consumer’s

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experience of the packaging to be enhanced. You would be surprised at the variety of print finishes there are out there, such as fragrance burst (or ‘scratch and sniff’), gold/silver foil blocking, spot UV varnish and different film laminates to give the packaging a luxury feel such as silk, soft-touch and matte. It’s also important to know that there is a tipping point when lithographic printing becomes considerably cheaper per unit price the higher the order quantity gets, so litho is definitely an option more than worth considering.

Print finishes have the potential to propel a product’s packaging to the forefront of innovation, and when thought of in conjunction with the packaging artwork can really make for some industry leading, premium beer packaging worthy of the brew inside.

To talk to someone about your beer packaging options, got to www.saxonpackaging.co.uk or call 01502 513 112.

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SUPPLIER NEWS

EVENTS UPDATE FROM THE BFBi:

Drinktec, September 11th – 15th 2017, Munich, Germany. BevExpo 2018 Drinktec is the global exhibition, showcasing the entire supply chain, held every four years. BFBi has been working with Drinktec in order to create an opportunity for beverage manufacturers to exhibit and source potential distributors/ wholesalers. Drinktec has recently announced their partnership with PRO FachHANDEL the leading fair for German drinks and convenience retailers and an opportunity for UK drinks manufacturers to showcase their products to potential buyers and distributors. BFBi has funding for both events.

If you are visiting Drinktec please visit BFBi on either of their Pavillion stands, B21-323 or B2-113.

If you are interested in either event, would like to showcase your drinks brands on the BFBi bars, or if you would like to visit the Oktoberfest on the opening Saturday, BFBi has 40 tickets for members and industry friends. Please contact ruthevans@bfbi.org.uk.

A Call to Action Clean, Care, Communicate.

What do I mean?

Recently I undertook a very unscientific survey. Using social media, I asked a potential audience of 15,000 people what they consider to be the main quality failures of beer dispensed in pubs. I was surprised by the number of responses I had and also by the fact that the comments were very similar in nature. The three main areas of concern were, beer line hygiene, glassware condition, and the lack of product knowledge of the bar staff.

My findings were backed up by the recent Beer Quality Report 2017 which again highlighted these three areas as being of concern, add to this the decision of a major craft beer brewer to come out of cask beer production because they believe that their products are not dispense to the standards that

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BevExpo will be taking place on 23rd & 24th January next year at Ricoh Arena. BevExpo is a B2B event for the industry by the industry, celebrating excellence through the beverage supply chain.

Comprising a mix of exhibition stands and seminars, BevExpo is the opportunity to meet the experts in whatever sector of your beverage supply chain.

Previous exhibitors and BFBi members receive discounted exhibitor rates. Attendance to the exhibition and seminar sessions is free.

Anybody interested in BevExpo, please visit the website, www.bevexpo.com, where you can become a virtual visitor to the 2016 show; browse the exhibition hall, view the seminar presentations and sign up as a 2018 visitor or exhibitor.

Brewing consultant Mark Tetlow, from The Beer Hub, calls on brewers to get more involved in the quality of beer at dispense.

they require, and a major beer writer deciding to stop drinking cask beer because of poor standards and you begin to see that as an industry we have a problem.

I have always believed that there is no such thing as problems, only challenges. As an industry the solution to all of this is in our own hands and the answer is really simple, it’s all about training people how to handle and sell beer. Short focused bespoke training packages, delivered within the pub, addressing the issues of how to maintain the hygiene standards of the dispense equipment, how to handle cask beer preparation, and a basic knowledge of the product flavour profiles on sale would address the issues we currently face.

Brewers spend hundreds of thousands of pounds designing and running quality systems within their breweries

SUPPLIER viewpoint

to ensure that the beer leaves in the best possible condition. The last part of the quality chain is in the pub and we need to ensure that we resource this in the same manner. After all, if you do a risk assessment of the whole production chain the final point i.e., dispense, is arguably the most important.

So this is my call to action, if we want to continue to serve some of the best beers in the world, meet, and I believe exceed, our customers’ expectations we need to train and support our licensees in the areas of hygiene, handling and product knowledge.

CLEAN. CARE, COMMUNICATE.

Mark Tetlow BSc Brew. Dipl Brew. Beer Sommelier mt@thebeerhub.co.uk www.thebeerhub.co.uk

We are moving!

For five successful years, Sheffield has been a superb home for this national and increasingly international event, but it is time to move on - to Liverpool, in March 2018. The Arena and Conference Centre in Liverpool has excellent facilities in its Exhibition centre, which opened in 2008, and they will enable a huge step towards SIBA BeerX providing all businesses in the brewing industry a very important venue for learning, networking and commerce.

SIBA BeerX will be a two day conference and trade exhibition, including seminars, debates and, of course, social opportunities. The Business and Retailing Awards will be held at the end of Members' Day, Wednesday March 14th, at the Chairman's Reception and on Industry Day, Thursday March 15th. The grande finale of SIBA BeerX 2018 will be the National Brewing Awards, followed by a party celebrating the success of the best of British independent brewing.

Visit www.beerx.org for details

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Independent Family Maltsters since 1809 Manufacturers of the finest Pale Ale, Crystal and Roasted Malts All Malts delivered ON TIME to your specification, crushed or whole.

Main products include: Maris Otter, Pearl, Propino and Golden Promise Ale Malts together with the complete range of Speciality Crystal and Roasted Malts including Wheat, Oat and Rye products.

Thomas Fawcett & Sons Limited Eastfield Lane, Castleford, West Yorkshire WF10 4LE Tel: 01977 552490/552460 Fax: 01977 519076 E-mail: sales@fawcett-maltsters.co.uk

make your packaged beer taste even better

BOTTLING, KEGGING AND CANNING SYSTEMS Moravek International Limited, Pure Offices, Kestrel Court, Harbour Rd, Portishead, Bristol BS20 7AN Tel: (44) (0)1427 890098 Fax: (44) (0)1427 890939 E-mail: Info@moravekinternational.com

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SUPPLIER NEWS

Packaging for Retail expands Packaging for Retail was started by David Bell in 2014. David’s background has long been tied up in the printing and packaging industry. Finding himself unemployed and broke he began to create a range of beer and cider bottle gift packaging for small artisan producers. He quickly realised that small producers in the craft beer industry were unable to source either plain or bespoke quality gift packaging in small and cost effective quantities.

Larger packaging companies are unable to manufacture the low numbers that many producers require in a cost effective way.

David started the business in the midst of a recession without working capital or support from any external source. Using his design and production skills and his contacts in the industry he has been able to build a business supporting this niche market by making the boxes himself from scratch. From carton design and die cutting the products by borrowing or renting a machine when one was available - sometimes gluing them up on the kitchen table – to delivering them late into the night!

One of his first customers was Yorkshire Ales who were also starting a shop and distribution business for craft ales. This gave Packaging for Retail the boost it needed to really get going.

From those small beginnings the firm now has a growing customer base and a wide range of products which it is continuously adding to as it builds the business.

Because of this cost effectiveness, in 2015 one of Packaging for Retail’s competitors asked the business to produce packaging for them. The company has now taken over their business completely.

“We want to maintain our relationship with our customers, while at the same time being responsive and providing an effective service, whether by providing stock items or offering our bespoke service,” said Packaging for Retail in a statement.

“To support this change we have re-designed our website. We’ve added an online shop offering 34 stock items. We’ve also added the facility for customers to create their own designs and upload them to the site. This is a unique feature and a neat way of personalising their own packaging.”

David is still actively involved in the design process but is handing over the production element to a small number of trusted suppliers to maintain the quality of the product. David now wants to spend more time focusing on the customer to support them and to make sure Packaging for Retail is in touch with their packaging needs.

For more information go to www.packaging4retail.co.uk.

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GOLD AND SILVER SPONSORS

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Paul Corbett paulcorbett@ charlesfaram.co.uk

Emily Plowman eplowman@ closebreweryrentals.co.uk

Malcolm Ireland Malcolm.Ireland@ napthens.co.uk

Jackie Smith Jackie@ premiersystems.ltd.uk

CROXSONS

Tim Croxson Tim.croxson@ croxsons.com

THOMAS FAWCETT & SONS LTD James Fawcett JFawcett@ fawcett-maltsters.co.uk

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InnCellar Equipment

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Since the launch of the new Multi-Purpose Jacket©, this has become popular with it been able to cater for the multiple applications needed to cover the new influx of CASK/KEG variations.

To see our full range of Cask & Keg Jackets please visit our website.

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MEET THE SIBA TEAM

MEET thE SIbA tEam NAME: Ian Ward JOB TITLE: Sales and Marketing Consultant CONTACT DETAILS: ian.ward@siba.co.uk Describe your role at SIBA. I help develop Beerflex supply solution within existing customers, prospect to win new retail customers and importantly open up new access to markets. These would be from the wider On trade leisure industry – Restaurants Hotels those areas where craft beer is becoming a permanent feature. Building a case for the category and making sure we’re featured and promoted where possible nationally and locally.

How long have your worked at SIBA and what did you do before? I started working for SIBA in April this year, having established my own beer Sales and Marketing Consultancy Amber Drinks.

I have worked in many senior sales and marketing roles, building some of the UK’s best known beer brands. From Carling Lager, Staropramen Czech beer, Draught Bass and Grolsch Premium Lager to Wychwood Hobgoblin, Marston’s Pedigree, Ringwood Brakpears Bank’s’ and latterly craft beers such as Revisionist craft beers and Shipyard American Pale Ale. I worked in retail earlier in my career then in beer companies -22 years with Bass/ Molson Coors and 9 years at Marston’s Beer Company.

How do you support SIBA Members? Each SIBA Brewer wants to see its beers on sale in as many local pubs and bars to them as possible, building awareness and permanent stockists for its brewery. Working with national pub retailers, I maximise the current opportunities whilst building a category case for all SIBA brewers and brands ahead of other options from larger brewers. There a great deal of defending our position with customers as well which needs consent attention.

What’s new in your area of SIBA this year? Pubs and bars and importantly other leisure markets within the On trade are looking to develop craft keg and small pack. Along with cask these are next categories we need to exploit. Draught craft beer will become more widely available and attract high value for brewers and retailers if we get it right over the next few years.

Tell us something SIBA Members might not know about what SIBA does. As the market changes there are consent opportunities and threats. At the moment as ever, price pressures are intense however, a number of large pub and bar groups are looking to consolidate their purchasing and streamline administration. This is a great opportunity for SIBA and Beerflex, we are still the best option to access the UK’s genuine authentic craft beers and the widest choice local and national. Some of this is driven by changes in route to market such as Carlsberg withdrawing from distribution later this year and others are reacting to genuine consumer demanding choice of better beers. SIBA is in the right place to take advantage.

If you could drink any beer anywhere in the world what would it be and where? I have worked in a few countries and there are some great beers around the world. However, there’s no better place like home… so it would be on the coast at Southwold Suffolk, with a cool pint of Adnam’s Mosaic Pale Ale. For me it’s a great balanced beer, sensible use of mosaic hops but still distinctive and refreshing, and if the sun’s out – Perfection!

NAME: Steve Benton JOB TITLE: Consultant to SIBA Beerflex CONTACT DETAILS: steve.benton@siba.co.uk Describe your role at SIBA. I work within the Commercial team in SIBA with Nick Stafford. I manage our relationships with some of our ongoing customers, look for new opportunities for access to market, and also work as part of the team that ensures that SIBA and it’s members remain compliant.

How long have your worked at SIBA and what did you do before? I started working with SIBA back in 2013. I set up my own business after working for Marston’s for 10 years, as well as big food companies such as Unilever Bestfoods, United Biscuits and Goodfellas Pizza!

How do you support SIBA Members? We always try and develop solutions that either increase brewers sales, or save them money.

What’s new in your area of SIBA this year? SIBA HDC is probably the biggest

NAME: Stephen Holt JOB TITLE: Contracts and Compliance CONTACT DETAILS: stephen.holt@siba.co.uk Describe your role at SIBA. I’m self-employed and am contracted by SIBA to work for a few days each month. As required by the senior management team, I review SIBA’s commercial contracts, and research regulatory and compliance matters that may affect our members’ businesses.

How long have you worked at SIBA and what did you do before? I’ve worked for SIBA for about 10 years, both on a contract and part-time basis, helping with both commercial and operations management during that time. I’ve spent almost 35 years in the brewing industry, starting with Truman, Hanbury and Buxton in Brick Lane, London, and spending 7 years working for the “dark side” as commercial manager of a pub company, Avebury Taverns. In my defence, I did introduce SIBA’s DDS scheme to Avebury’s pubs!

How do you support SIBA Members? Basically by helping to ensure that SIBA’s commercial arrangements are sound, that members’ interests are represented, and that members are made aware of important compliance issues.

What’s new in your area of SIBA this year? At the moment, looking at the implications of the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS), which was fully implemented in April, and getting to grips with WOWGR. I can’t wait for the outcome of the Brexit negotiations!

Tell us something SIBA Members might not know about what SIBA does. Along with HMRC, and other trade organisations including the BBPA, WSTA and SWA, SIBA is a member of the Joint Alcohol Anti-Fraud Taskforce, co-operating to tackle the illicit alcohol trade which deprives the UK of substantial sums of revenue, and damages the legitimate UK alcohol industry.

If you could drink any beer anywhere in the world what would it be and where? Cask ale is my drink of choice, and I always try to sample locally-brewed beers wherever I am. If pushed, however…………….could I please go back to the Malt and Hops in Bristol in 1979 for a pint of Directors??

thing. More and more customers are asking for a consolidated delivery solution, and we’ve been working on this for over a year in order to be able to offer it to customers. This is where brewers hold stock centrally and SIBA then pick up the management of orders going out to customers in a consolidated load. It’s important for UK customers in the on trade, the off trade, and also for export, where importers want to deal with fewer suppliers.

Our first customer is Enterprise Inns (EiGroup) with the launch of their new Craft Tap offer to their licensees.

If you could drink any beer anywhere in the world what would it be and where? Ah there are too many SIBA members to answer part of that, as well as clients that I work for.

As for where, then in a pub in Pembrokeshire overlooking the sea!

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contacts SIBA Head Office: 01765 640441 Cellar Services: 01765 641099

DIRECTORS

OFFICE TEAM

Mike Benner Chief Executive mike.benner@siba.co.uk Nick Stafford Operations Director nick.stafford@siba.co.uk Tony Jerome Membership & Marketing Director tony.jerome@siba.co.uk John Hart Finance Director Sara Knox Directors Assistant sara.knox@siba.co.uk

Neil Walker PR & Marketing Manager neil.walker@siba.co.uk Rachel Harriott Operations Manager rachel.harriott@siba.co.uk Rebecca Kirby Financial Controller rebecca.kirby@siba.co.uk Louise Gosney Commercial Administrator louise.gosney@siba.co.uk

Jenna Barningham Regional Executive – North East, North West & Scotland jenna.barningham@siba.co.uk Siobhan McGonigle Regional Executive – East, Midlands, Wales & West siobhan.mcgonigle@siba.co.uk Cheryl Ford Regional Executive – South West & South East cheryl.ford@siba.co.uk

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Existing members wishing to contact your regional representatives can use the relevant regional e-mail addresses listed below. For individuals, just type firstname.lastname@siba.co.uk Chairman of SIBA Buster Grant

EAST east@siba.co.uk Sam Abbott Stuart Bateman Marcus Beecher

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Lincolnshire Brewing Co George Bateman & Son Ltd Elgood & Sons Ltd

SCOTLAND scotland@siba.co.uk Andrew Richardson Black Wolf Brewery Isle of Arran Brewery Gerald Michaluk Harviestoun Brewery Stuart Cail

MIDLANDS midlands@siba.co.uk Christopher Harrison-Hawkes Idle Brewery Ltd John Allcroft Grafton Brewing Co Lincoln Green Brewing Co Ltd Anthony Hughes

SOUTH EAST southeast@siba.co.uk Tom Bott Signature Brew Ed Mason The Five Points Brewing Company Red Cat Brewing Iain McIntosh

NORTH EAST northeast@siba.co.uk Roosters Brewery Ian Fozard Maxim Brewery Mark Anderson Hop Studio Ltd Dave Shaw

SOUTH WEST southwest@siba.co.uk Moor Beer Company Ltd Justin Hawke Cotleigh Brewery Stephen Heptinstall Flying Monk Brewey Kevin Newbould

NORTH WEST northwest@siba.co.uk Greg Bolton Coach House Brewing Co. Bank Top Brewery Dave Sweeney Prospect Brewery Patsy Slevin

WALES & WEST west@siba.co.uk Buster Grant Brecon Brewing Corvedale Brewery Norman Pearce Teme Valley Brewery Chris Gooch Salopian Brewing Co Ltd Wilf Nelson

SIBA JOURNAL SUMMER 2017

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Training Days

Supplying all your brewing products and services

Quality, Consistency & Support

Technical Enquiries: 0115 9785494 email: info@murphyandson.co.uk website: www.murphyandson.co.uk

Order Office: 0115 97801111 email: sales@murphyandson.co.uk Find us on facebook

Fermentation vessels

Tower Brewhouse with combined HLT and mash tun

Conditioning tanks

High quality, tailor-made vessels at sensible prices n

Coppers (gas and steam heated options available)

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Mash tuns

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Hot/cold liquor vessels

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Fermentation vessels (cylindrical/rectangular)

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Conditioning and dual purpose vessels

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Pressure vessels

Moeschle (UK) Limited Unit 1b, Parkway Rise, Sheffield S9 4WQ. Phone: +44 (0)1142 434 463 Fax: +44 (0)1142 448 932 E-Mail: sales@moeschle.co.uk

www.moeschle.com

Vessel Design and Manufacture