Brasil Brau, Degusta and the Beer Sommelier World Championship

Brasil Brau has become well established as an international trade fair for the brewing industry. First launched in 1989, this biennial conference has been held in São Paulo over the last ten years. This year, the conference opened its doors from July 15th to 17th to welcome attendees from around the world. Degusta Beer & Food, which is now placing more emphasis on craft beer, took place concurrently. In addition to these two events, sommeliers from nine countries were on hand to display their knowledge and skills at the fourth Beer Sommelier World Championship. BRAUWELT International traveled to Brazil to report on the championship competition and the two trade fairs.

One for all: New mill type for different raw materials

All current mill types have system-related characteristics and limits which affect the lautering process. With the newly developed cracking mill „T-Rex“ various grist qualities can be produced from different raw materials with only one mill. Both the lauter tun and the mash filter can be fed with grist from this mill. This mill by Ziemann Holvrieka GmbH, Ludwigsburg, Germany represents a good alternative for craft brewers and their diverse raw materials.

Tawny Port, Fado and brewing science

Tawny port wine, the Portu­guese style of music known as Fado and brewing science are three things rarely mentioned together. However, this was frequently the case from May 24th to 28th, as the 400 attendees of the 35th EBC Congress came together in Porto to share and discuss findings

Awareness of sustainability

In the autumn of 2014, Simon H. Steiner, Hopfen, GmbH of Mainburg published an extensive and detailed sustainability report. Sustainability? The word having

All-out battle for share of throat

It could make the outside observer envious: the U.S. beverage market enjoys such low barriers to entry that almost anyone with a bright idea for an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage can get their new product on the shelves. But there is a catch. Beverage shelves are beginning to groan under the weight of SKU proliferation while U.S. consumers have become spoilt for choice.

IBD Africa Section: Convention in Mozambique

The 15th edition of the biannual IBD Africa Section Convention took place at the Girassol Indy Hotel, Maputo, Mozambique. Over 220 delegates participated, from twenty eight countries representing eighty companies.

European Beer Star 2014: Two stars for Denmark

The Munkebo Microbrewery on the Danish island of Funen garnered two bronze medals at the 2014 European Beer Star competition in the categories of German-style Schwarzbier and Scotch ale/wee heavy. Established in 2013, the brewery found itself thrust into the limelight on the international stage just one year later. This article takes a closer look at the brewery and its award-winning beers.

A link between hop growers and brewers

Don’t complain! Do something! Against this backdrop, the organization known as Interessengemeinschaft Qualitätshopfen Niederlauterbach (Niederlauterbach Interest Group for Quality Hops), or IGN for short, was founded almost 30 years ago. This group of 18 active hop growers came together to turn an idea into an institution, and it is now a vital part of the industry today. We met with Mario Scholz, Managing Director of IGN, in Niederlauterbach, Germany over a beer – with plenty of hops.

Tasting beer in Brazil

The craft beer wave has reached the shores of every continent – none have been left untouched. And whether a craft brewer or not, this has had a very pleasant side effect for breweries of any size. Beer is once again a topic of conversation. Beer drinkers are now interested in different beer styles, flavors and hop varieties. It has also become “chic” to sample different beers and be intrigued by their aromas and flavors. But how does one skillfully describe these flavors and aromas? The question is not a trivial one. Answers can be found, for example, at the Instituto Cerveja in São Paulo, Brazil. We spoke with Kathia Zanatta about the institute she helped found.

United against gushing

“When will the gushing puzzle finally be solved? Brewers who in the past have not been able to tame their wild beers have been waiting for an answer to this question for many years. Research has been going on for almost just as long in the hope of identifying the causes on the one hand and to come up with practical countermeasures on the other hand”. This was the introductory text of an article on current gushing research from 2008 (see BRAUWELT International no. 1, 2009, pp. 13-15). The conclusion of this introduction is still valid today: there is no simple solution to this problem.

37<small>^th</small> Brewing & Malting Seminar

The 37^th Brewing & Malting Seminar was held in Plzeň (Pilsen) from 23-24 October 2014. The organizers were Pilsner Urquell, whose parent company is SABMiller, the Research Institute for Brewing and Malting (RIBM) and the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT).