BRAUWELT International 3-2026

The world we live in is a mosaic that is becoming ever more byzantine and intricate in its complexity, where the capacity for lateral and innovative thinking, commonly referred to as “thinking outside the box”, is an ever more valuable trait and leads to novel solutions, especially through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Positive approaches – We begin with the most recent Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America alongside which the World Beer Cup also took place. Nancy and Christopher McGreger were at the CBC held in Philadelphia, and on p. 154, they not only share their experience attending the event in “Philly” and report on the current state of the craft industry but also uncover a bit of the beer-soaked historical roots of one of America’s first cities. Even though double digit growth is presently a thing of the past for craft beer, Bart Watson, now CEO of the Brewers’ Association, buoyed the attendees’ spirits by identifying the many positive developments in the industry and painted a picture that was far from bleak for the future of the industry.

Novel raw materials – Likewise, it’s also worth keeping an eye on new advancements on the technical and technological fronts. On p. 117, Spanish author Etienne Vassiliades explores Tritordeum, a genus of hybrid cereal grain derived from durum wheat and the wild species of barley Hordeum chilense. This hybrid grain is cultivating interest among brewers as a novel raw material for malting and brewing. In a structured homebrew competition in Spain, where homebrewers employed Tritordeum to create their beers, the resultant data set facilitated not only evaluation of the grain’s performance in the glass but also an assessment of the process decisions that led to the best results. – Another example of successful interdisciplinary collaboration is the development of climate- and heat-tolerant hop varieties by the Hopfenforschungszentrum (Hop Research Center) in Hüll, Germany. The third installment in this series on the new variety Huell Classic describes the sensory results from test brews produced at various pilot breweries (p. 124).

Unorthodox yeasts – Exploration of non-Saccharomyces genera of yeast in brewing has been forging ahead into new territory as well. Greek author Fotini Drosou sheds light on recent trials into the use of Zygosaccharomyces bailii as a potential alternative for fermentation in breweries. This article focuses on the capacity of this yeast to metabolize wort sugars and to influence the formation of aroma compounds both in pure cultures and in combination with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The trials have yielded promising results for practical application (p. 130).

Flavors from the Far East – When it comes to exploring flavors from around the globe, American craft brewers continue to push past conventional norms and boundaries. In her article “East meets West,” Lotte Peplow transports us to Japan and shows us how Japanese ingredients and flavors have begun to appeal to American palates through the creation of exciting new experiences for brewers and beer drinkers alike (p. 159).

And those are just a few highlights in this issue. Enjoy!

Authors

• Lydia Junkersfeld