Albert Cramer, the owner of the Warsteiner Group, passed away on 20 November 2012, after a long Illness. He was 69 years old.

RMI Analytics AG is pleased to announce the appointment of Darren Smith as of 1st October 2012. Darren has over 20 years of experience in the global malt & beverage industry, having held a number of senior positions before joining RMI, most recently as Director of Sales with Canada Malting Company. He has a Food Science degree from the University of Alberta.

Barry-Wehmiller International Resources (BWIR) is pleased to announce the addition of Michael Mills to its CDT division, a Value Added Reseller (VAR) for PTC products. Mills joins BWIR/CDT as a National Account Manager for the PTC product suite of Windchill Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), focusing on the U.S. market. Mills is based out of Chicago, IL.

Kalsec, a privately held producer and marketer of natural extracts for use in food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications, has named two new sales executives to its Asian Commercial team for the development of advanced hop products in the China and Asia Pacific region.

Henry von Eichel, Chief Executive Officer of John I. Haas passed away mid August shortly after his 64th birthday at his home in Austria. In his obituary, Alexander Barth, President John I Haas, praised his valuable service to the company: “His presence inspired those around him and his vibrant personality created close relationships around the world.”

Stabifix Brauerei-Technik KG announced the appointment of Jan Mika Unting to the position of Managing Director for Sales & Technology. Mr Unting, who will join Stabifix on 1 November 2012, will replace Klaus Niemsch, who will retire in 2013.

Deschutes Brewery has promoted Sean Garvin and Tim Alexander to serve as assistant brewmasters for the company. Both have played vital roles in the brewery’s growth over the last several years, in such areas as operations, waste management, quality control and, of course, the brewing of damn tasty beers. Both were selected for the positions based on their diversity of experience in the brewing industry.

Controlled isomerisation – commercial brews using the hop yield enhancer

Yield of hop bitter substances in brewing is insufficient, to say the least. Only 30 to 35 percent of bitter substances added oftentimes end up in the finished beer. This is an unsatisfactory situation for breweries. For that reason, attempts were oftentimes made to find solutions that could increase hopping effectiveness. Hertel GmbH developed a process and designed the associated equipment by consistently using basic process operations: this resulted in the hop yield enhancer. It can significantly increase yield of bitter substances in brewing.

Dr. Kajetan Müller is scientist at Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany. He is working in the department material development and is responsible for the acquisition of projects and the mentoring of PhD students.

As of January 2012 Dr. Nikolaj Schmid (42) is part of the sales team at Stabifix Brauerei-Technik KG. He took over the position of Business Manager from Karl von Khreninger, who retired in October 2011.

Dr. Stefan Lustig, COO of the Munich-based BHI (Brauholding International), a German brewing group with brands such as Paulaner, Kulmbacher and Fürstenberg, will take over the position of President of The European Brewery Convention (EBC). Following the approval of the election of Dr. Lustig by the Board of The Brewers of Europe, the EBC´s Executive Committee has met on 10 November 2011 in Nuremberg for the official handover from outgoing President Mr. Christian von der Heide.

Emmanuel Rurema has been appointed as Director Business Development Africa for Pentair Clean Process Technologies (CPT). Effective January 1, 2012, Rurema will be responsible for growing business and coordinating sales operations for all CPT companies in Africa; with a primary focus on the food, brewing and beverage industries.

On 1 october 2011 Jens Neidhardt (44) took over as international Sales Director for the activities of GEA Brewery Systems GmbH, Kitzingen, Germany in the brewing and beverage industry. Neidhardt has many years of international sales experience in different industries, especially the food and beverage industry. Before joining GEA Brewery Systems, he served as Managing Director of Hamba Filltec GmbH in Saarbrücken, a member of the OYSTAR Group, and before that, he held the same position at SIG Combibloc Ltd in Great Britain.

Effective from 1 October, Andreas Baumgarth (47) assumed the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the European Operations of WILD Flavors GmbH. He will be responsible for all aspects of the European business. Andreas Baumgarth will be a member of the Management Board and report directly to Michael Ponder, Global Chief Executive Officer.