Ludwig Narziß Award for Brewing Science: Second ceremony in Bamberg

Malt project awarded | After the Ludwig Narziß Awards for Brewing Science had first been granted on 30 May 2022 during the EBC Congress in Madrid, the second part of the award ceremony finally took place on 8 August 2022, at the Guest Centre of Malzfabrik Weyermann in Bamberg – this time in the presence of all authors.

After author Michael Féchir, BrewingScience editor-in-chief Dr. Lydia Junkersfeld was now also able to congratulate Prof. Jens Voigt, FH Trier, and Thomas Kraus-Weyermann for winning the award. They are the authors of the paper “Identification of marker volatiles in malt to predict malt-derived aroma properties of bottom-fermented beers” (BrewingScience issue 74 (2021), no. 1/2, pp. 17–26), which, according to the EBC board members, is the BrewingScience paper of the past year with the greatest practical relevance: The project investigated the impact of different malt flavours on the sensory profile of the finished beer (see also BRAUWELT International no. 4/2022, pp. 222–225, “Predicting the impact of malt composition on the beer aroma”).

After having already handed over one certificate and the cheque in Madrid, Dr. Junkersfeld now presented the large (3-litre beer) glass cup to Michael Féchir and the remaining certificates to Prof. Voigt and Kraus-Weyermann in Bamberg.

In memory of Andreas Richter

Prof. Jens Voigt talked about how the project came into being, the first idea being based on a contribution at the EBC Congress 2013 in Luxembourg and on preliminary work done by former Weyermann employee Andreas Richter, who sadly passed away much too early. “Andreas Richter is the spiritual father of the project,” Prof. Voigt was keen to emphasize. “Together with him, the idea arose to approach the topic more thoroughly and to prepare it scientifically.”

Voigt was very pleased about the award. This was the first time that the prize went to a University of Applied Sciences, and also the first time that a malt topic won this award for practical relevance in brewing science. “The project generated a lot of interest at the UAS, and not only because of the many tastings,” he revealed. “The Ludwig Narziß Award for Brewing Science is now the crowning glory of this work.” For Thomas Kraus-Weyermann, the award also is a visible indication of the importance of sensible investment in research that is also relevant in practice, a field which – incidentally – has mostly been overlooked by public funding. “We will of course continue our research here,” Prof. Voigt promised at the end.