Crystal clear beer: Over 100 years of brewing tradition in Cologne

Beer culture has a long tradition in Cologne, as has the privately owned brewery “Früh”, which was established in 1904 by Peter Josef Früh. He opened his brewhouse “Cölner Hofbräu P. Josef Früh” near Cologne’s cathedral and it soon attracted customers from the city and surrounding area. Due to its good taste, “Früh Kölsch” firmly established itself on Cologne’s beer market. An important part of the brewery’s quality control is turbidity measurement, which ensures that Früh Kölsch beer reaches customers as clear as required by the Kölsch Konvention. Alexander Rolff and Philipp Müller, the fifth generation to lead the traditional family firm, count on measuring technology from Anton Paar in Graz, Austria, to ensure their beer’s quality.

When you are reading this, the world will have come to an end. Why? Olli Rehn, the European Economic Commissioner, said recently that the euro zone has only until 12 December 2011 to save itself. So what exactly will happen on 12 December?

Another one bites the dust. Nico Nusmeier, 50, who joined Heineken 26 years ago and became President of Heineken’s Central & Eastern Europe business (CEE) in 2005, has decided to leave Heineken and will be replaced by Derck van Karnebeek on 1 January 2012, Heineken announced on 29 November 2011. Derck van Karnebeek is currently Managing Director for Heineken in Romania.

This August, Hans Carl Publisher celebrated 150 years of its BRAUWELT publication. While the anniversary issues have already been out, the party was only held in Nuremberg on 8 November 2011 on the eve of Brau Beviale to give advertisers and readers, authors, partners, as well as staff members and members of the owners’ families a chance to attend.

So where does Europe’s "Wild East" really begin? Apparently as far west as the UK. On

Where does Europe’s "Wild East" begin? East of Poland? Or perhaps further to the west, in Germany itself? In early November 2011, German customs officers raided a distillery in the eastern German state of Thuringia, which they suspected had handled and re-sold moonshine from eastern Europe thus defrauding the taxman of EUR 1 million (USD 1.3 million) in excise.

Ho ho, could it be that German hacks have already had too much advent punch? At the end of November 2011 they spread the rumour that Bionade’s former owner Peter Kowalsky was in talks about setting up a cooperative to buy back Oetker’s 70 percent stake in his company.

That’s a tipsy rumour if ever there was one. On 22 November 2011 the German edition of the Financial Times reported of a big board-room brawl at Germany’s privately-owned Mast-Jägermeister company, which is world-famous for its Jägermeister schnapps and its corporate secretiveness. Sluggish growth of its Jägermeister brand in recent years seems to have given board members a bit of a headache. While some board members appear unperturbed and would like the company to continue as a single-brand business, other more powerful members favour a bit of M&A activity to get the company out of the doldrums.

Russia: down. Western Europe: down. How much worse can it get? On 9 November 2011 Danish brewer Carlsberg reported an almost flat net profit for the third quarter 2011 amid declining sales in most of Europe and Russia. "2011 has been a challenging year and we have faced headwinds from rising input costs, adverse weather conditions and soft trading conditions in our largest market," chief executive Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen said.

AB-InBev's German employees are worried. In early November 2011 workers at the Beck's brewery in Bremen were told that in 2012, about 600,000 hl of Beck's beer will be brewed at the St. Louis brewery. In 2013, another 80,000 hl, currently exported to Canada from Bremen, will be brewed at Labatt's in Canada.