BRAUWELT International 6-2024

One of the unique aspects of the brewing industry is that, on the one hand, it is founded upon a craft steeped in tradition, much of it rooted in age-old principles; while on the other, brewers are not at all reluctant to embrace innovative technologies – in my opinion, a perfect combination for meeting the modern challenges facing the industry. The following exemplify this very well:

Raw materials – Hop drying is an essential process that initiates hop production. Improving its efficiency is crucial for reducing the processing footprint. Dr. Carvalhal Pinto shows us a new way to predict drying time using AI algorithms. Her research reveals the potential for achieving greater accuracy in predictions with advanced algorithms (p. 351). In autumn, as harvests yield the green and gold which brewers value most, the industry focuses its attention on two important attributes: the quantity and quality of the harvested hops and barley. The specific alpha acid content of each of this year’s European hop varieties is presented on p. 354. There is also some positive news regarding potential residues and contaminants in the hops cultivated in Europe in 2023. Dr. Martin Biendl is happy to report that these can be assessed as either harmless or simply undetectable (p. 345). Continuing our discussion of raw materials, we turn to the classic malt analysis. In their second installment entitled “A critical look at malt analysis”, our authors from the Weihenstephan Research Center explain how indispensable a correctly interpreted malt analysis is to beer quality and the entire production process (p. 355).

Fermentation – A brewery and a university in Germany have collaborated on a project to develop sensors for measuring volatile organic compounds in the headspace during fermentation. These data can be utilized to determine the optimal time for harvesting yeast for propagation or to detect any anomalies that may occur over the process of propagation. The brewers who participated in the study shared that this had a tremendous impact on the success of all the other downstream processes as well as on the quality of the final product, not to mention additional economic benefits (p. 369).

Sensory analysis – Even though AI is playing an increasingly important role in many aspects of beer production, human beings are still a key factor in sensory analysis, because the ability to determine whether a beer possesses outstanding aroma and flavor characteristics is a fundamental prerequisite to a brewery’s success. And yet, how does a brewer precisely tailor beer quality to the demands of the market? This is where Sensory Beer Designing comes into play. In the second installment in his series, Axel Kiesbye presents targeted measures for improving the sensory characteristics, and thus the overall quality, of a brewery’s range of products (p. 382).

This final edition concludes BRAUWELT International for the year 2024. We wish all of you a Happy Holiday Season and all the best for a prosperous New Year. We are looking forward to continuing to offer you, our valued readers, many more interesting and exciting articles in BRAUWELT International in 2025!

Authors

• Lydia Junkersfeld