Coveted awards | After two days of intensive tasting, the winners of this year's European Beer Star have been decided. A total of 2168 beers from 40 countries competed in 73 categories for the coveted awards. These included internationally known beer types such as Pilsner, wheat beer or India Pale Ale, but also specialties such as wood and barrel-aged strong beers, Belgian Dubbel or sour beers were tasted and judged. Only the best three beers in each category are awarded gold, silver and bronze.

Innovations and personal interaction | The beverage industry has been meeting again this week in Munich at drinktec, the leading international fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, from 12–16 September 2022. 65,000 visitors from 170 countries met 1000 exhibitors from more than 55 countries.

Brewing science at the Palacio Municipal

38th EBC Congress in Madrid | After a one-year delay, the 38th EBC Congress took place from May 29 to June 2, 2022, at the IFEMA Exhibition Center in Madrid, for the second time together with the Brewers’ Forum of the Brewers of Europe. Approximately 1000 participants faced a very extensive program with up to six lecture tracks running in parallel. The following article offers a brief summary of selected research topics of the EBC program. Naturally many other topics would have also deserved to have been considered here.

Successful new start | Around 200 brewing experts from Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and America attended the 7th Bangkok Brewing Conference, which took place from 12 to 14 June 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. This year, the visiting programme led to the Thai Spirit Industry Co. The event was jointly organised by the Thailand Beer Industry Guild (TBIG) and VLB Berlin for the sixth time since 2009.

Plenty to celebrate | There was indeed plenty to celebrate in Madrid! After a three-year break due to the pandemic, the European brewing industry, as well as representatives from other continents, met for the 38th EBC Congress in Madrid, which was held for the 2nd time in combination with the Brewers Forum of the Brewers of Europe (BoE). The EBC celebrated its 75th anniversary and the Spanish Brewers Association its 100th anniversary at the same time. Also taking place was the EU Green Week 2022, for which Brewers Forum and EBC acted as official partners with their numerous sustainability talks.

Denmark | With a two-year delay due to the pandemic – which makes it six years after the previous event – the Danish Brewers Guild welcomed an impressive 120 brewing industry professionals from the Nordic countries to the 28th Nordic Technical Meeting on Beer & Beverage Technology at the downtown Copenhagen venue of DGI Byen on 11 and 12 May 2022.

Spain | Take it as a sign of the times that ESG targets will dominate brewers’ lives for years to come: The Brewers Forum, the annual shindig organised by the Brewers of Europe, which took place in Madrid (30 and 31 May 2022), devoted one of its four lecture tracks to the “E” (Environment) in ESG.

Malt publication awarded | The Ludwig Narziß Award for Brewing Science was granted for the 8th time during the 38th EBC Congress at the end of May 2022. For the first time, the winning publication came from the field of malt research. The previous winning entries came from hop research, yeast research and the field of microbiology.

Creative beers | At its premiere at the European Beer Star competition held in 2021, the new specialty beer category “Free-Style Beer” immediately evoked an outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm. More than 60 breweries submitted their beery creations for consideration, which otherwise would not have fit into any other category. Along with beer quality, aspects such as the concept behind the beer and its story were part of the evaluation. But what is it exactly that makes this particular category of specialty beers so special? This article provides insights and background information to the new style category at the European Beer Star, in which storytelling plays a central role.

The times they are a-paisley – The CBC in Minneapolis

Harmoniously diverse | After its annual celebration of all things craft beer was interrupted by the pandemic, this year, the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America (CBC) ascended to “L’Étoile du Nord” or to “The Star of the North”, as the US state of Minnesota is known, to take place in Minneapolis. The industry migrated north to the “Land of 10 000 Lakes” to assemble in the Minneapolis Convention Center located downtown, in order to partake in the first in-person conference since 2019, where they were able to exchange ideas and catch up with old colleagues and acquaintances over a beer or two – like they did in the “before times”. The attendees were also eager to once again participate in educational seminars, lectures and brewery tours as well as to visit the BrewExpo America trade show.