United Kingdom | Figures released by the SIBA UK Brewery Tracker at the end of July show the total number of breweries in the UK has continued to decline despite the sector reporting strong sales, with a -29 net closure rate across the UK and no region in growth for the second consecutive quarter.

Ireland | Global flavour expert, Synergy Flavours, has conducted an assessment of the flavoured beer market, using data from Innova and the consumer research platform, VYPR. Synergy presented its findings at the May 2024 International Beer Strategies Conference in Portugal, including the surprising consumer preference for bitter taste profiles in beer.

Nuremberg | On 16 July 2024, hop specialist BarthHaas presented the latest BarthHaas Report at an online press conference. It shows that the world hop acreage declined in 2023 for the second year in succession. It decreased by 3.3 percent year on year to stand at 60,641 hectares.

United Kingdom | Figures released at the end of April show the UK brewing industry post a considerable -38 net closure rate across the UK, with all regions either seeing a reduction in the overall number or remaining the same.

The great American lager comes full circle

Comeback | There’s no denying it: It’s an IPA world in the USA’s craft beer world. India Pale Ale, along with its many substyles – from Imperial, to West Coast, to New England or Hazy, to Brut, to Cold – with their uniform monotony of citrus-dominant hoppiness from Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, El Dorado, Amarillo, and a smidgen of dank Simcoe, have enjoyed a market share of over 40 percent in 2023!

Brewery Tracker | The figures released by the Siba UK Brewery Tracker show the UK total number of active brewers now stands at 1815, compared to 1828 in January 2023.

Is the world heading for a second hop revolution?

Maltless hop water | In her newest market report, BRAUWELT author Elva Ellen Kowald gives a short overview of the history of using hops as an essential beer ingredient and focuses then on what she calls the second hop revolution: Water infused with hops, an emerging beverage category that came into being in the wake of a new health awareness.

How Modelo Especial became America’s No. 1 beer

US antitrust | Luck plays a big and often unacknowledged part in a company’s success. Constellation Brands struck it lucky twice in the past 30 years: first in 1996, when Grupo Modelo awarded them an evergreen contract to import Corona Extra into the US; then in 2013 after trustbusters at the US Department of Justice forced a settlement on AB-InBev during its takeover of Grupo Modelo, which turned Constellation into an independent, fully integrated, and economically viable beer industry competitor.

Crafting a beer server revolution

Focus on quality standards | While industry luminaries have been talking about the need for brewing quality standards since the beginning of the craft brew movement, Ray Daniels, the author of the seminal book Designing Great Beers, went one step further in 2007 when he decided to focus on quality standards for the customer experience at the point of sale – whether in a bar, a restaurant, retail store, or brewery tap room. Daniels was prescient in calling out the critical importance of competent and knowledge-based servers in the industry – and that everything they do, from their professionalism to their knowledge of beer and beer styles, to their presentation in the glass, to their care of the product, can make or break a consumer’s idea of a beer, a brand, or the craft industry as a whole.

A brave new world of beer communications

Beer podcasts | Just as there are cable networks and streaming services for every topic and taste, so are there beer podcasts. Just name a beery topic and you’ll find a podcast for that, whatever your interest – the latest industry news; interviews with brewers and “beer celebs”; beer festivals and competitions; home brewing; brewing science and technology; and not least, banter about life and drinking. Elva Ellen Kowald introduces us to the fascinating world of beer podcasts and takes a closer look at three podcasters.