The European Beer Star, a European beer competition organized by Verband Privater Brauereien, a German brewing trade association, has undergone a sensational development. In only nine years, participation has skyrocketed from 271 beers (2004) to 1366 beers from 45 countries. It took the judges – a total of 102 brewmasters, beer sommeliers, and specialty journalists from 25 countries – two days to choose the world’s best beers in 50 beer categories (49 in 2011) in blind taste tests. They evaluated the beers purely on the basis of sensory criteria such as colour, aroma, foam, and of course flavour. On 14 November 2012, gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded for European-style beers submitted by breweries from a total of 45 countries at the Brau Beviale in Nuremberg, Germany.

Darguner Brewery is part of the Danish Brewery Group Harboes Bryggeri A/S and located in Dargun, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In early 2011, the brewery decided to install a new yeast propagation system from GEA Brewery Systems. This new system provides pure culture yeast for bottom fermented beers and is an essential part of the brewing process in Dargun.

For reasons of quality and efficiency, continuous wort monitoring in breweries is recommended. Using inline analytical instrumentation, wort concentration can be measured directly in the process every second. Warsteiner Brauerei has installed inline measurement systems for automatic process monitoring and control many years ago. Several measuring points on the lauter tun, wort boiler and wort cooler have been equipped with the LiquiSonic® Plato system supplied by SensoTech, Magdeburg. The measuring point on the lauter tun is important, in particular for optimizing wort yield.

In November 2011, it was made public: Nerb has closed its headquarters in Attaching near Freising. Esau & Hueber was acquired by the Bauer Group in 2008 and jumped at the chance to purchase the brand as well as the company’s expertise. About a year ago, BRAUWELT International visited Esau & Hueber in Schrobenhausen (cf. BRAUWELT International No. 4,

A lack of independent sources for information on the malting barley market was incentive enough for Roger Martin, a former maltster, to develop a unique business concept: He founded RM International (RMI), a company intended to not only fill this gap but to distribute this information in the malting barley market. His idea has proven to be a successful one, and therefore, two new German entrepreneurs have decided to pursue his business model as well.

Measurement technology is a serious matter. Virtually nothing functions in a brewery without sensors, which evaluate what is happening in the boiler, in the tank, in the

“indi coco”, 330 milliliters of pure coconut water, on sale for 1.89 euros online – and it all came about because Manoj, one of the three directors of the Cologne start-up enterprise behind this brand, had so enjoyed coconut water as a child in India. Now he is bringing it to Germany. Although it was heavily hyped in the USA, in India it can actually be bought at any street corner, fresh from the nut. Examples such as these demonstrate India’s vast latent potential for any beverage manufacturers who serve the market with modern packaging such as PET, and equally so for the producers of packaging and process technology for beverages, foods and the many small items required for everyday living. At Mumbai, from November 6 to 8, 2012, drink technology India (dti) and International PackTech India will offer a platform to bring together supply and demand for this sector.

At the World Brewing Congress 2012 in Portland, Oregon, USA, the organizers’ faces were beaming and for good reason: The Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) and the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) jointly hosted the event, and they were very pleased by this year’s attendance numbers. With a total of 1157 registered participants, it was the largest for this event so far. The schedule of the five-day convention, held from July 28th until August 1st, left the participants spoiled for choice: In 22 technical sessions from A as in analytical to M as in microbiology or Q as in quality considerations down to Y as in yeast, a plethora of information was available for the attendees on the latest scientific findings as well as the most current practical issues facing the industry. With up to four presentations running simultaneously, attendees were presented with a variety of lectures, workshops and round table discussions, all taking place under this year’s motto: “Imagine our Brewing Future: 2020”. The large brewing organizations, for instance, the Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD), the Brewery Convention of Japan (BCOJ) and the European Brewery Convention (EBC), attracted attendees to their respective symposia, where they presented information about their own organizations, on-going projects and current research. Aside from lectures, the attendees, who hailed from 25 countries, had the opportunity to peruse information offered by over 120 exhibitors during their noontime breaks. For those seeking further information regarding the latest research findings, 180 posters were exhibited at the event. Those with question concerning the posters could discuss their content with their respective presenters. Various tours to breweries and suppliers and also local places of interest as well as evening gatherings enhanced the WBC’s daily event schedule.

An EBC Symposium recently took place at the Carlsberg Research Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, from September 9th to 11th 2012, following the Symposia 2008 and 2010. The slogan of this year’s EBC Symposium was “From Chiller to Filler”, primarily dedicated to the state of process engineering in the brewing process. More than 70 participants attended the thought-provoking presentations and were captivated by the atmosphere of one of the most significant sites for the history of beer brewing.

The third Ibero-American VLB Symposium for Brewing and Packaging Technology was held for the first time in Brazil, the third largest beer market in the world, from June 18th through 21st 2012. The sixth Symposium for Barley, Malt and Malt Production of Senai, a separate event, was also integrated into the conference program. Senai (National Service for Industrial Training) signed a cooperation agreement with VLB in the autumn of 2011. Over 300 participants from 21 nations traveled to Itaipava, located approximately 70 km from Rio de Janeiro, in order to attend the presentations simultaneously offered in English, Spanish and Portuguese.