The International Centre of Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) was inaugurated at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK in 1988. A series of events will take place in 2014 to celebrate the anniversary, such as an industry conference, special lectures and beer competitions.

It’s that time of year again: In April, the Craft Brewers’ Conference and BrewExpo America opens its doors. The Brewers’ Association is the organizer of the event and will welcome craft beer enthusiasts from around the world to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver from April 8th to 11th, 2014. Like-minded individuals will be exchanging ideas and becoming acquainted with the exciting beers on tap at the World Beer Cup Awards, an event held at the conclusion of the CBC. As a sponsor of the CBC, BRAUWELT International will be in attendance, since events of this type are not merely a means for making and maintaining contacts in the industry but also serve as an excellent platform for disseminating information.

“food & drink technology Africa” is the title of a new event which premieres on March 18 and 19, 2014 in the South African city of Johannesburg (see also BRAUWELT International no. 6, 2013, pp. 395-396). This marks a further phase in the internationalization of drinktec, the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry.

That’s courageous. Kirin plans to produce its Ichiban Shibori draft beer in Brazil as of March 2014, Japanese media report. The Japanese probably hope to benefit from increased demands for beer forecasted for the 2014 World Soccer Cup to be held in the country.

Casting a glance through the MEBAK Collection of Brewing Analysis Methods, it is almost impossible not to stumble across the abbreviation AACC, which stands for the American Association of Cereal Chemistry, the world’s largest research organization on topics concerning cereals. The organization was founded in 1915 by US millers with the goal of developing standardized and thus comparable analysis methods. One hundred years on, what was once a partnership of convenience has now become an international organization boasting close to 2500 members. European brewers also make substantial scientific contributions, especially the laboratory at the Carlsberg Research Center. In order to acknowledge the international nature of the contributors, an “I” was added to the abbreviation for the organization (AACC-International).

On September 18, 2013 MBAA-members attending drinktec in Munich met at the Krones-booth for a photo session. MBAA-President Horace Cunningham personally welcomed the group. He was very satisfied with the growing number of members, especially the still young MBAA-District Europe with its MBAA-District Europe chairman, Prof. Jens Voigt, University Trier. This group is comparatively small, but is growing fast and already shows 74 members since the exhibition.

The European Beer Star (EBS), Europe's leading beer competition, keeps on breaking one record after another. This year's EBS saw another significant increase in popularity with 1,512 beers entered from 40 different countries, up from 1,366 last year. In late August an international consortium of connoisseurs consisting of 102 master brewers, beer sommeliers and expert journalists from 25 countries gathered for a blind tasting held at the Doemens Akademie, Gräfelfing, Germany to select the best beers in the world, now in 51 separate beer categories (previous year 50).

Around 200 delegates attended the 14th IBD Africa Section Convention which was held in Ghana’s capital city Accra during March 2013. Here is a summary of the Convention.

The cultivation of spring barley is turning out irregularly this year. In Germany, France and Denmark it is decreasing. Only Great Britain has enlarged its acreage. In almost every growing area it was sowed late. Losses of yield are expected.

Nine beers and one cider were named as overall Champions of The International Brewing Awards 2013 at the end of April at a presentation in London’s Guildhall that marked the end of this year’s competition.