Hopfenklang 3 - Hop Creep – was ist das und wie vermeide ich es in der Brauerei?

Was ist Hop Creep und wie vermeide ich ihn in der Brauerei? Mit diesen Fragen beschäftigen sich Mark Zunkel und Dr. Christina Schönberger vom Brewing Solutions Team bei BarthHaas und Dr. Lydia Junkersfeld, BRAUWELT, in der dritten Folge des gemeinsamen Podcasts „Hopfenklang“. Hören Sie doch gleich mal rein …

Hopfenklang 2 - Beeinflusst der Klimawandel die Hopfendosage?

Im Gespräch mit Dr. Lydia Junkersfeld diskutieren Dr. Christina Schönberger und Roland Novy vom Brewing Solutions Team bei BarthHaas, wie deutsche Hopfensorten auf den Klimawandel reagieren. Grundlage ist eine Publikation von Dr. Adrian Forster, Andreas Gahr, Dr. Florian Schüll und Johann Bertazzoni aus dem Hop Special 2021 des Wissenschaftsmagazins BrewingScience. Darin haben die Forscher gezeigt, wie sich die Inhaltsstoffe verschiedener deutscher Hopfensorten bei Hitze und Trockenheit verändern. Was sich verändert, welche Sorten empfindlicher sind, wie der Brauer reagieren kann und welche Hopfensorten wir in Zukunft brauchen, das alles hören Sie in Folge 2 von Hopfenklang.

Beer monopoly podcast No. 14: The war in Ukraine – the view from the boardroom

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the existing world order: from one that was based on rules to one in which naked power rules. The age of globalisation is coming to a catastrophic close. In the brewing industry it has even gone into reverse as the Big Brewers are exiting a major beer market. No one knows if the fighting will last for weeks, months or years How are brewers to plan ahead? (19.05.2022)

Hopfenklang 1 - Ist Rückverdünnung die neue Methode für die Kalthopfung?

Dr. Christina Schönberger und Roland Novy vom Brewing Solutions Team bei BarthHaas diskutieren mit Dr. Lydia Junkersfeld die Ergebnisse einer Studie, die die beiden zusammen mit Michael Kohles, Ferdinand Gutsch, Dr. Martin Zarnkow und Prof. Fritz Jacob im Hop Special des Wissenschaftsmagazins BrewingScience im Dezember 2021 publiziert haben. Darin wird eine Methode beschrieben, mit der ein besonders hochgehopftes Bier (oder besser Hopfensuspension) hergestellt wird, das im Anschluss mit „normalem Bier“ rückverdünnt wird. Was bringt das dem Bieraroma und welche Möglichkeiten bietet eine solche Methode dem Brauer?

Beer monopoly podcast No. 13: The Big Brewers’ 2022 financial outlooks: Don’t ask, don’t tell?

The Big Brewers issued their 2022 financial outlooks in February. They were remarkable insofar as Carlsberg, Heineken and AB-InBev refrained from commenting on geopolitical risks to their businesses - at a time when all our eyes were turned to Russia and its looming invasion of Ukraine. What can this possibly mean? (18.03.2022)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 12: AB-InBev and the stock market game

AB-InBev is trying to talk up its share price. It is trading at a significantly lower valuation than every single one of its peers, despite controlling a third of the global beer profit pool. As the economist John Maynard Keynes said: Financial markets are moved by animal spirits, and not by reason. In this podcast Ina Verstl and Ernst Faltermeier discuss if AB-InBev’s new strategy, which banks on organic growth, is likely to sway investors in a big way. (27.01.2022)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 11: The political CEO

In today’s climate, political issues have become hotly contested. Activists are dragging business leaders into debates that have little to do with their commerce. But before brewers go and find a soapbox to stand on, they should be aware that whatever they say, they could potentially alienate half of their workforce and consumers. So what are they to do? (13.12.2021)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 10: The future of supply chains

From bottle and can shortages to shipping delays and soaring commodity costs, the pandemic has strained brewers’ global supply chains. Amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and a toughening of European legislation, brewers will have encountered vulnerabilities in procurement and risks in their production strategies just about everywhere. How can brewers improve their supply chain resilience? (28.09.2021)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 9: Direct to consumer

It was a remarkable admission by James Watt, one of the founders of Scottish craft brewer BrewDog: He said that in March 2020 he broke down in tears when the severity of covid-19 became clear: BrewDog had lost almost 70 percent of its revenue overnight, almost all of its 100 bars were closed, most of its export markets stopped ordering. Pivoting its website to prominently feature its online shop proved a way out. BrewDog ended a potentially ruinous year profitably. So what can craft brewers learn from BrewDog’s e-commerce model? (11.06.2021)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 8: Digitalisation

The latest deceptive buzzword in the brewing industry is digitalisation. Like all terms it can mean a whole lot of different things. Take the Drizly app. It is a piece of technology which was bought by Uber in February 2021, whereas Flaschenpost (message in a bottle), which was acquired by Germany’s major brewer Radeberger in December 2020, is fundamentally an old-economy type of beverage retailer that uses an app where people can order stuff. The world of shopping is undergoing an upheaval. For consumers the benefits are obvious: they will gain greater convenience from being able to shop either physically or virtually. But for retailers and producers the challenges are immense. (14.05.2021)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 7: Hard seltzers

Both Coke and Heineken announced they will be launching their hard seltzer brands in Europe this year. Tere are several barriers that any hard seltzer brand will need to overcome in Europe, starting with the fact that “seltzer” is not a word used here. Will consumers over here really fall for the hype of low calories in an alcoholic beverage? Besides, the powers that be in both Germany and the EU are already taking a long hard look at hard seltzers because it could be argued that they are akin to alcopops. Those drinks were taxed nearly out of existence in 2004. If this fate were to befall hard seltzers too, their time in the limelight in Europe could be brief. (29.04.2021)

Beer monopoly podcast No. 6: Organic beers

For all the hype and hope over sustainability, the market share of organic beers remains small. Is it because consumers do not want to pay more for them? Or is it because other purchasing criteria like flavour, style and support for the community are still more important?

Beer monopoly podcast No. 5: Narratives for the brewing industry

Narratives help us make sense of the world and ourselves. Take globalisation. It was presented to us as an inevitable process, forging global champions in its wake. In the brewing industry, the narrative of “biggest is best” was countered by the craft brewers’ own narrative, which was modelled on the biblical story of David and Goliath. These narratives have reached closure. Do we still need a compelling new narrative to maintain a conversation around beer?

Beer monopoly podcast No. 4: The legacy of the AB-InBev-SABMiller transaction: MegaBrew five years on

Dubbed MegaBrew, the merger between AB-InBev and SABMiller in 2016 combined the world’s two largest brewers. In the following years, AB-InBev unwound SABMiller little by little. But its megadebt has proven a headache. Was the whole thing really worth it?

Beer monopoly podcast No. 3: Dealmaking in the brewing industry

Through dealmaking the Big Brewers could bulk up more quickly than through organic growth. That is how they become global. But not all deals lived up to expectations. Constellation Brands’ purchase – and subsequent sale – of US craft brewer Ballast Point can serve as a warning.

Beer monopoly podcast No. 2: Is Brewing beer an essential industry?

Brauwelt International is hosting a new series of podcasts, which will feature the award-winning authors Ina Verstl and Ernst Faltermeier, whose book The Beer Monopoly was published by Hans Carl in 2016. In their short podcasts the two will provide sound reasoning on economic and strategic issues affecting the brewing industry. You can listen here free of charge.

Beer monopoly podcast No. 1: The brewing industry in an age of disruptions

Brauwelt International is hosting a new series of podcasts, which will feature the award-winning authors Ina Verstl and Ernst Faltermeier, whose book The Beer Monopoly was published by Hans Carl in 2016. In their short podcasts the two will provide sound reasoning on economic and strategic issues affecting the brewing industry. You can listen here free of charge. From globalisation itself to craft beer, the brewing industry has witnessed all kinds of disruptions. Even CEOs sought to become disruptors. And now we have the covid-19 pandemic, which has hit the industry unprepared.