Anniversary | It has been 20 years since Siebel Institute and Doemens Academy began their collaboration with the vision to offer students a unique international educational experience.

The future of malting | It can be hard to keep up with the speed of change in the beverage industry: satisfying the ever-more discerning tastes of consumers while also meeting sustainability requirements. To bring customers up-to-date on the industry developments and innovations, multinational plant equipment manufacturer Bühler is hosting its very first online only Future of Malting Symposium on 15 September 2021.

Every crisis also contains an opportunity - With this statement, the VLB has implemented their online events over the past year. Due to current circumstances related to the pandemic, VLB has taken this opportunity and is launching, among other events, the 2nd Africa Brewing Conference (ABC), where participants from all over the world, but especially from the African continent, will attend at the virtual Campus of the VLB Berlin from 24 to 26 August 2021.

Round tables | When in February the news that drinktec was to be postponed until 2022 hit home, the industry’s first reaction was “And what about BrauBeviale?” We speak to Andrea Kalrait, executive director of BrauBeviale, about this difficult situation and find out which solution she and her BrauBeviale team are working on together with exhibitors.

International family gathering | European Beer Star awards have been presented for 17 years now – time to look back to the very beginning. How has the beer competition changed since 2004? What has stayed constant at European Beer Star? And where is it heading?
When you take a look at the pictures from the very first European Beer Star competition in 2004, it’s like looking at baby photos.

In the spring of 1996, the Brewers Association (then the Association of Brewers) staged an unprecedented international beer competition. Twenty-five judges from five countries evaluated 600 beers at a standalone event in Vail, Colo. Winners of the first World Beer Cup were announced in 60 beer style categories and the pioneering international competition was on its way.

Long tradition | The International Gruitday was founded by Steve Beauchesne from Beaus All Natural Brewing Company, Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada, in 2013 to celebrate gruit, a beer with herbs instead or in addition to hops, according to medieval traditions and recipes. He established www.gruitday.com as his webpage to inform and to network about gruit beers. In 2018 more than 60 brewers from all continents took part in International Gruitday. Unfortunately colleagues in Canada stopped brewing gruit and also returned their domain.

For young scientists | From 4–7 September 2022, the University of Cambridge will host the 7th International Symposium on Malting, Brewing and Distilling for graduate/PhD students and young professionals working in these fields.

Wide range of topics | Due to the imponderables concerning the organising and hosting of the EBC congress, a decision was reached jointly between The Brewers of Europe and the EBC to organise the next EBC congress, together with an edition of the Brewers Forum, from 29 May to 2 June 2022, at IFEMA / Madrid. The call for abstracts for both poster and oral presentations for the 38th EBC is now open.

Sponsorship | More than 30 companies from across the globe have confirmed sponsorship support for the 2021 International Brewing and Cider Awards. The competition, which dates back to 1886, has a long history of championing, on a not-for-profit “by industry for industry” basis, the world’s best brewers and cider-makers, and companies from across the globe have been keen to align their brands to the Awards.