The British Guild of Beer Writers has launched its annual competition for beer writing, with the addition this year of a new award for the Best Young Beer Writer, designed to foster new writing about our national drink. The awards now include eight categories with a total prize fund of £ 9,500 for winners and runners up. All entries will be judged on how well they further the Guild’s mission “to extend public knowledge and appreciation of beer and pubs”.

IBD, Asia Pacific Section: 33rd Convention

Boundless opportunities | The vibrant city of Ho Chi Minh was host to the 33rd IBD Asia Pacific Section Convention which took place from March 23rd to 28th 2014. Vibrant in every sense of the word: with a population now in excess of 10 million, nearly matched by some 6 million small motor bikes filling every street, there was an overwhelming impression of boundless energy and opportunity. This feeling of opportunity translates through into

European Beer Star 2013 to Northern France

Passion for beer and the art of brewing – this is the philosophy of the owners of the Castelain Brewery in Bénifontaine, France. In order to boost recognition of their brand on a global level, the brewery entered their beer in the 2013 European Beer Star competition – the only brewery from France to do so. They were quickly rewarded for their efforts with a silver medal in the category Red/Amber Lager. This modern brewery (also see article on p. 166) is planning on participating in the international event this year as well.

Overwhelming response for fdt Africa

The inaugural food & drink technology Africa trade fair and conference has been deemed a success by all

17th School of Fermentation Technology

The 17th School of Fermentation Technology, an international symposium organized by the University of Agriculture Krakow, Poland, took place from March 20th to 22nd, 2014. The event was held at the Kocierz resort located in the beautiful environment of the Beskids Mountains. For many years the event has been considered a prestigious brewing conference in Poland and, therefore, it is regularly attended by representatives of all important malting and brewing companies as well as universities, research institutes and suppliers to the brewing and malting industries. This year there were 100 participants representing 13 breweries and malt houses, 23 suppliers, 11 research institutes and seven brewers associations.

High tech brewery behind historic walls

The Burgdorfer brewpub in Switzerland was given permission by the government to expand into a historic building dating from 1770, the Kornhaus as it is known. Any doubts about the renovations and technical aspects of the move were far outweighed by the strong symbolic identity of the building. A competent architect and extremely flexible suppliers saw to it that the project was realized, and today Burgdorf is the proud home of one of the most modern breweries in Switzerland, housed in one of the city’s most prominent landmarks.

10th edition of the World Beer Cup

The Brewers Associa­tion will bring its biannual international beer competition to Denver, Colorado, U.S., 7 - 9 April 2014. As is customary, the World Beer Cup will take place in conjunction with Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America. For several years, it has been among the world’s largest commercial beer competitions, and 2014 will be no exception with an anticipated 4900 entries on hand for judging. Awards will be presented on 11 April 2014 in Denver. Every entering brewery receives one complimentary ticket to the awards ceremony.

Munich receives guests from all over the world

Attracting over 66 886 visitors from 183 countries, drinktec 2013, the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, has exceeded the expectations being communicated before. 1445 exhibitors from 77 countries benefited from a significant rise in the number of visitors, 14 percent compared to the previous drinktec in 2009. Especially pleasing was that German SMEs, many of them local and regional brewers, rediscovered drinktec and enjoyed the benefits of the show, including the well-attended „Brewers‘ Meeting Point“ in Hall B1 specially set up for this target group.

The second European MicroBrew Symposium

This year, the symposium was held in Nuremberg, home to the historic Kaiserburg castle. Planned as part of the run-up to the drinktec in Munich, sixty attendees from over a dozen nations were present at the event, which was organized by the VLB and Brau Beviale, Nuremberg. Key topics at this year’s symposium were the opportunities and challenges facing the burgeoning small brewers.