The Brewers Journal Nov-Dec 2016, iss 6 vol 2 by Reby Media

the magazine for the professional brewing industry

Brewers T H E

J O U R N A L

November~December 2016 ISSN 2059-6650

Skinner's Steven Skinner riding high as the brewery nears two decades in business

P.50

sambrook's: the next step

P.58

malt: changing trends

P.64

bottling: the impact of canning

l e a d er

Growing

Pains

n the last two months, two major US breweries took action to affect and change their business proposition. Major Japanese brewery Kirin has confirmed that it is to acquire close to a quarter (24.5%) of US-based Brooklyn Brewery, a move that will enable the Brooklyn brand to grow in markets such as Japan and Brazil. Elsewhere, Stone Brewing Company from San Diego confirmed that it was letting go of more than 50 employees as part of a restructuring process. “Due to an unforeseen slowdown in our consistent growth and changes in the craft beer landscape, we have had to make the difficult decision to restructure our staff, cited Stone CEO Dominic Engels. The timing of such a move, off the back of considerable expansion in Europe and major private equity investment, was not lost on many, though. Beer is big business though, no surprises there, and it’s clear that time waits for no man when it comes to addressing slumps in sales or taking advantage of new growth markets. The sector, not confined by geographical boundaries, is in a state of transitory flux. Closer to home the latest figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) showed that once again, drinkers were consuming more alcohol away from the UK’s pubs and restaurants. The majority of this (51%) was away from the ontrade. With a focus on cost, the average pub price of a pint of lager on draught came in between £2.40 and £4.70, nearly 40% (38%) more than a decade previous. A pint of bitter experienced a similar increase to between £2.05 and £3.90. There are a wealth of factors behind this shift but what’s clear is that where possible, pubs need to act to bring drinkers back through the doors before the drastic rate of closures continues at pace. Elsewhere in this issue, we place the spotlight on malt with some help from some key players in the UK malt sector. For Chris Garratt, managing director of Britain’s oldest working maltings, Warminster, he believes this period in UK brewing is “an appropriate time for malt” and one where more people are starting to appreciate the integral role it plays. “There is an ongoing fascination with hops. But throughout that intense study, the importance of malt has somehow been lost. That is more than just unfortunate, it’s also dangerous,” he explains. “There is just as much excitement around experimenting with malt, as beer is liquid malt.” For more, turn to page 58. A big thank you also to Skinner’s Brewery founder Steve Skinner, who graces our cover this month. As the Truro brewery approaches its 20th anniversary, Skinner talks us through his thoughts on how the industry has

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Editor's choice Duncan Sambrook, founder of Battersea's Sambrook's Brewery observes London's changing beer landscape, and how he embraces the increased competition that brings. - Page 8 changed in that time. Turn to page 42 for more. “I feel very positive about the industry. I love the innovation we are seeing too with styles. People are trying to break the mould all the time, like we did with foreign hops and lagering hops in the early days,” he explains. “You can be different just for the sake of being different, and sometimes there is a reason and sometimes there isn’t.” We were also welcomed to Sambrook’s in Battersea. The brewery’s founder Duncan Sambrook and head brewer Sean Knight explain how one of London’s first brewery’s has established itself in the market but is more than aware of the growing levels of competition that exist within the increasingly crowded London market. “We have gone through an explosion in the number of breweries in operation in London, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of brands, an explosion in the level of innovation and an explosion in the number of packaging formats. And all of that has happened in the last four or five years. I believe we have seen more happen in that period than we have in a generation. That is incredibly interesting for the consumer, but the challenge lies with the breweries to keep up,” says Sambrook from page 50. Have a good one! Tim Sheahan Editor

November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 3

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It begins with one or two but slowly the scale becomes apparent as more brewers are found unconscious, broken and exhausted. These were the brave souls filled with true passion and a love for beer, that made up the army of small breweries providing great craft beer to the ever more discerning beer drinker. they try to keep up but in the end it is just too much…

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Cover story

42 - Steve Skinner grew up in a family of publicans and hoteliers, but this was only the start of the love affair with beer. Now, his brewery is close to celebrating two decades in business the brewers lectures 26 - The full lowdown on the first Brewers Lectures event taking place in London this December COMMENT 28 - Gordons law firm considers some of the funding streams available to new brewers. 30 - Garbutt + Elliott accountants look at peer to peer lending and crowdfunding 32 - Csaba Babak explores how the beer supply chain grows more complex and diverse 36 - Brewers Association on the UK export opportunity for US breweries 38 - Cloudwater discuss why they are moving to releasing DIPAs on a monthly schedule BEER: Goose island 40 - Goose Island give the background on their new Stock Pale Ale, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Brewery Yardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, a recent collaboration brewing historian Ron Pattinson

8 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

meet the brewer: sambrook's 50 - The London brewing landscape has changed beyond recognition since Duncan Sambrook started his own brewery in 2008. However, he continues to enjoy managing both growth and competition in an increasingly crowded market. ingredients: malt 58 - Malt, so often the unsung hero of beer production, is continuing its march to reclaim the recognition it deserves technology: bottling 64 - How canning technologies are proving complementary to bottling systems science: measurement 70 - The importance of control over the whole brewing process , from Timothy Woolley

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Harviestoun Brewery makes move into canning Harviestoun Brewery is migrating some of its most popular beers into cans. Scotland-based Harviestoun Brewery is moving into canned beers with 4.8% Schiehallion and its 4.2% Bitter and Twisted. The company has said that it has already committed to an initial batch of 330ml 41,500 cans, which has secured listings in Tesco and Sainsbury’s in Scotland. UK-wide distribution is expected during this year. According to Harviestoun, distribution deals has helped catalyse a 50% increase in turnover since 2013, while capacity has increased to the equivalent 4.5m pints each year. The brewery now also employs 21 staff. Toby Knowles, managing director of the brewery, which was established in 1983, explained: “For over 30 years, Harviestoun has been driven by a desire to pioneer and innovate. "Our canning programme is a symbol of our commitment to asking ‘what next for craft beer?’ and creating an unforgettable drinking experience for beer lovers in the UK and beyond. “The last 12 months have been an incredibly exciting period of growth for Harviestoun. "During this time we have never lost sight of our commitment to consistency, flavour and quality, which is why we believe Harviestoun continues to grow in popularity. “So whether cask, keg, bottle or can, we are confident our awardwinning core range, renowned for drinkability and innovation, will be enjoyed in ways as individual as the people who drink them.” Earlier this year, Harviestoun launched an American-style IPA, ' Harviestoun IPA'. The 5.8% beer is brewed with Challenger, Citra, Simcoe, Apollo, Amarillo and Fuggles hops. According to the brewery, the beer is a "live-wire citrus hop bomb" with mango, melon and tropical fruits on the nose.

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UK BREWERIES HIT 1,700 MARK...

he total number of breweries in the UK has increased 8% in the last year to reach the 1,700 mark. There are now around 1,700 breweries in the UK, a 8% jump in the last 12 months, new research shows. Accountancy group UHY Hacker Young pointed out that breweries are becoming “increasingly profitable” and represent targets for acquisition. James Simmonds, partner at UHY Hacker Young, explained that the increase is the result of number of factors. He added: “Craft beer is leading the way in the surging popularity of artisan products and has pushed aside other brands in high street bars. "Many are now firmly established household names. This increasing

popularity has transformed many microbreweries into highly profitable businesses for entrepreneurs looking for a niche position in the food and drinks market. “As a result of their success, microbreweries across the UK have also become attractive acquisition targets for larger breweries.” Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom added that “Our food and drink is renowned the world over and for most of us there’s nothing more quintessentially British than enjoying a pulled pint of ale in a classic English pub. “Thanks to the popularity of our pint we’re now seeing a record number of microbreweries opening up across the country, bringing quality beer to communities across the nation and creating countless jobs and opportunities for our economy.”

...and number of NEW BEERs SOARs

he number of beer brand trademark registrations jumped 12% in a 12 month period to nearly 1,700 last year. New beer brand trademarks jumped 12% in a 12 month period to hit 1,666 last year, new research shows. The increase from 1,485 the previous year, is a result of the growing number of breweries in the UK, as well as larger breweries launching sub-brands to broaden their portfolios, law firm RPC said. Beer-related trademark registrations have soared 43% in the last five years with the report stating that 36 new breweries opened in London alone last year.

Jeremy Drew, head of retail at RPC, explained: “Global drinks giants are also now launching their own artisan brands to capitalise on the growing craft beer market and to compete with the threat of independent breweries. “In the past, mega-breweries may have placed greater emphasis on consolidating their current range." Drew that as the number of craft beer products rises, the "possibility for a conflict of similar names may become greater, especially in an industry so fast growing". He said: “As a result, there could be a rise in disputes between brewers and beer retailers over intellectual property rights of their craft beers.”

November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 11

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MOOR BEER SEALS CAMRA WORLD FIRST FOR CANNED BEER

ristol’s Moor Beer Company has become the first company to seal the "CAMRA Says This Is Real Ale” accreditation for its canned beer output. The association carried out tests on the beer from Moor Beer at the recent Great British Beer Festival, concluding the beer qualified as real ale under its definition. CAMRA’s quality control laboratory reported the beer in Moor Beer cans still contained live yeast, with further test results showing any carbonation was created by natural secondary fermentation. National chairman of CAMRA,Colin Valentine, explained: “There have been a lot of developments in the brewing industry and CAMRA has been working hard to make sure that we understand them and how they fit with our real ale definition.

“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to show that “micro-canned” beer under the right circumstances can qualify as real ale, which means that more drinkers can get access to what we believe is the pinnacle of brewing skill – live beer which continues to ferment and develop in whichever container it’s served from. “We carried out similar tests on key-cask beers several years ago and accepted those as real ale and we’re hopeful brewers will continue to innovate and find ways of making real ale as accessible to drinkers as possible through these sorts of developments. “We look forward to granting the accreditation to many more breweries producing canned beers in similar ways to Justin at Moor.” Justin Hawke from Moor Beer, added: “I moved to England because of my love for real ale, so when I made the decision to can

our beer there was only one way we were going to do it – fully canconditioned with live yeast. “We invested very heavily in our canning line and process control to get it right, taking a huge risk being the first to go down this path. "Cans had a horrible reputation, but actually it is the best package type for portability because it blocks all light and oxygen from getting in and ruining the beer. “It is also a much more environmentally friendly container, being lighter in weight, more recyclable, and safer than glass. Hawke, the company's head brewer, added: "We worked really hard with our designer Ben King from Ich Bin Ben to make the outside of the can as awesome as the beer inside. "The beer itself is amazing, and getting CAMRA’s recognition give us a huge sense of achievement.”

Cask washer manufacturer invests in facility expansion

explained: “We have been operating from the site since October 2001 and when the option of acquiring the site next door became available in 2014 we decided that strategically it was the right time to expand. “Over the last few years we have seen a large increase in companies investing in the area to make the most of the excellent transport links. The central location and the demand for warehousing has seen an increase in the demand for state of the art cleaning

equipment.” The company said its previous facilities didn’t allow us to cope with the demand for its products so the investment was essential for the long term growth of the business. “Over the last two years a large amount of investment has been made in the site and we now have one of the largest Cleaning Equipment showrooms in East Anglia along with a dedicated National Training Centre,” the company added.

Caskwasher manufacturer Hugh Crane (Cleaning Equipment) has made a multimillion pound investment in its new facility. Hugh Crane (Cleaning Equipment) said it has reacted to growing demand in its products with a significant investment on a new facility. Jim Saunders manager of the Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire branch,

12 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

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sales@duotank.com November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 13

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Hogs Back kick off £400k expansion programme

ogs Back Brewery has marked the start of a £400,000 expansion programme with the installation of three new fermenting and maturation vessels. Tongham, Surrey-based Hogs Back Brewery has kicked-off a major expansion programme. This has started with the arrival of an 80-barrel and two 120-barrel dual purpose vessels. There is also scope for a further four 120-barrel vessels, as well as a new boiler and chilling system for the brewery. The new vessels will be used to ferment and mature its ‘Hogstar’ English Craft Lager to cater for growing demand while also providing extra capacity for the brewery’s new keg beer, ‘London’s Outback’.

The company will also be building a new hop store and racking building, as well as installing a keg racker and sterile filtration equipment. Hogs Back will also be constructing second warehouse beside the existing listed barn, that will offer space for a new visitors’ centre. In addition, it has taken on two new assistant brewers with additional marketing and sales staff expected on board. Hogs Back owner Rupert Thompson explained: “Hogstar is an authentic lager which is matured for a minimum of 28 days in order to give the beer its combination of depth of flavour and refreshment. With sales of Hogstar growing in bottles, cans and kegs we needed

increased maturation capacity and to free up fermentation space for our bestseller,TEA. “The successful launch of London’s Outback has also created a need for increased kegging capacity, and the filtration plant will allow us to do small runs of cans on site. “Our biggest challenge is adding capacity on our existing small site. There were one or two sharp intakes of breath as the new vessels were moved into place, but our location in Tongham is an integral part of our identity. “This is where we grow our hops and brew our beer, and it’s well worth the time and investment needed to expand on our existing site, in order to retain our place at the heart of the local community.”

Treason West Coast IPA among new additions to Wethererspoon beer range

and bottle portfolio with the addition of four new beers. These comprise the 5.8% Treason West Coast IPA from Uprising Brewery, the sister brewery of Windsor & Eton Brewery. The range also includes a 9.1% Double IPA from Sixpoint Brewery,

Snake Dog IPA from Flying Dog and Blue Moon Belgian White. Tim Martin, chairman and founder of Wetherspoons said: “The new craft beers brilliantly enhance our craft selection and offer our customers a superb choice.”

Wetherspoon has added four new beers to its range of bottled and canned beers Wetherspoon has expanded its can

14 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

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Wadworth, the family brewer in Devizes, Wiltshire, is looking for a

HEAD BREWER

THE ROLE Working collaboratively with the Head of Brewery Operations, the Head Brewer will assist in the development and delivery of BEST leadership that empowers and engages the team to deliver improved performance that supports the Company’s BEST strategy, driving deliverables by strategically managing the brewing process to ensure quality, legal and beer safety standards are met and cost parameters are achieved. The role will be a key brand ambassador, working collaboratively with the Marketing Team. Key deliverables of the role include:

for a fresh long

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Innovation: leading the New Product Development Team; assisting with the design of marketing collateral; implementing new brewing methods. Beer Quality: agreeing product specifications; product quality; safety and legal compliance; monitoring and analysing results. Leading People: proactive interaction with the Brewery Team to ensure effective communication, training & development and employee engagement. Financial Performance: working with Purchasing to ensure our suppliers are providing the best product at the optimum price.

THE PERSON The successful candidate will be a genuine, charismatic brewing figurehead who inspires trust from a diverse team of people operating in different parts of the brewing process - someone who is outgoing - enjoying the ‘PR’ side of the role - who will help to ensure that our beer brands become the iconic beers in the South West. You will hold a degree in applied chemistry; biological science; chemical, process or mechanical engineering; food science or technology; microbiology or, in the absence of a first degree, a postgraduate qualification in brewing and distilling; brewing science; brewing principles and practice; brewing and packaging and have a minimum of 10 years’ relevant experience.

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It is vital that the successful candidate is a strategic thinker with excellent leadership and general management skills. You must be a natural team-player who enjoys working collaboratively at all levels in an organisation. Key will be creativity and innovation in terms of new product development.

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 15

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SHEPHERD NEAME REVAMPS IDENTITY

ent-based brewer and pub operator Shepherd Neame has adopted a new corporate identity. Shepherd Neame has revamped its corporate identity to reflects the company’s association with Kent’s world-renowned hops. The new project impacts the Faversham brewery, pub signage on its 330 pubs and hotels, marketing collateral and certain beer brands. According to the company, it now has a “more premium look”, while an arc above the crook frames

the identity with a horizon line that is designed to echoe the local landscape as well as features within the brewery. Elsewhere, the revamp that was headed up by Kent creative agency JDO Brand & Design, features modern typography helps convey Shepherd Neame’s character and roots. Ray Smith, creative director at JDO, said the company took inspiration from the brewery’s provenance, borrowing the “rich and vibrant colours of Kent” for the new identity. He added: “The Shepherd Neame

brand identity is such an important asset for the business and we believe we’ve articulated the values and personality of this iconic British business.” Shepherd Neame chief executive, Jonathan Neame, explained: “We are delighted with our new identity, which takes inspiration from the brewery’s past and present. The project covers all aspects of this diverse company and articulates our brand positioning and the company’s strategic ambitions. We congratulate the JDO team.”

NEW BEER FESTIVAL SET FOR EDINBURGH

new beer festival, ‘Craft Beer Revolution Festival’, is set for Edinburgh this month. ‘Craft Beer Revolution Festival’ is a new event that will be held at Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh in November. The three-day event takes place from 24-26 November and features 13 breweries. These include Pilot, Howling Hops, Top Out, Spey Val-

ley, Six North, Up Front Brewing, Panda Frog Project, Fallen Brewing, Northern Alchemy, Tryst, Fyne Ales Scotland, Alechemy Mordue Brewery and Parisis from France. More than 60 beers will be on offer. ‘Craft Beer Revolution Festival’ is founded by Richard Servranckx and Dan Quille, both from Leith in Edinburgh. Quille explained: “I recently

16 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

visited America and was blown away by how popular craft beer was there. “Here is Edinburgh it’s still the norm to go into a bar and order a pint of one of the big brands, so we decided to put our love of microbrewed beer to good use and organise a festival that will introduce people to the amazing range of craft beers that are produced here on our doorstep and support the craft beer industry.”

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ARKELL’S BREWERY CELEBRATES RAILWAY HERITAGE WITH NEW BEER

rkell’s Brewery has marked 175 years of Swindon’s railway heritage with the launch of a new beer. Upper Stratton-based Arkell’s released ‘Hooter’, a 5% steam beer in October. The beer, which features Brown and Munich malts, marks the period in which Arkell’s grew alongside the Wiltshire town’s railway works. ‘Hooter’ is one of three beers the brewery is using to mark 175 years of steam in Swindon, the others being 3.7% ‘Golden Gooch’ released in September and ‘Steam Powered’, set for release on 7th November. In celebration of 175 years of Steam in Swindon, Arkell’s is brew-

ing three special cask beers this year. The first, Golden Gooch (3.7% ABV), was released in September to celebrate Sir Daniel Gooch, Brunel’s first engineer’s 200th birthday on August 24th. From October 3, it’s Hooter (5% ABV) and from November 7, the final beer, Steam Powered (4% ABV) will be available across the Arkell’s estate of pubs. Head brewer, Alex Arkell, explained: “In the mid 19th century, dark ales would have been extremely popular with a typical brewery which would have produced three or four, from 5% -7% ABV. “Men were doing a lot more physical work then, especially those labouring in the hot engine sheds of

MEHEEN JOINS FORCES WITH WILD GOOSE CANNING

eheen Manufacturing has combined businesses with Wild Goose Canning. Wild Goose Canning has joined forces with Meheen, a move that enables the new business to offer canning and bottling lines to customers. Meheen and Wild Goose confirmed that both businesses would continue to offer and support their current products. Going forward, they said they plan to harness their “unified experience, industry knowledge and ingenuity to build on their tradition of innovation”. Dan Cleary, president of Meheen, explained: “We’re thrilled about the Meheen-Wild Goose partnership and the opportunities it creates for our customers and employees. “Both Meheen and Wild Goose are passionate about supporting craft, and together we’ll be uniquely positioned to do that.

“We know some craft producers prefer cans, some bottles and many want both. "Our team will now be empowered to help microbreweries and other craft producers select and purchase the world’s best packaging solutions – cans, bottles or both – for their needs and preferences.” “This combination makes tremendous sense on so many levels,” added Alexis Foreman, the President and one of Wild Goose’s founders. Foreman said: “Wild Goose and Meheen have crossed paths for years, and we’ve come to recognize we have a lot in common – from our dedication to serving craft, to our tradition of innovation, to a long list of common customers. “When the opportunity to join forces arose, we immediately saw the benefits it would generate. We’re looking forward to taking advantage of the best both companies have to offer to better serve our customers.”

18 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

Brunel’s mighty Swindon engineering works, and the sweet malty characteristic of these beers was the perfect refreshment, replenishing their energy. “Apart from generally producing lower gravity beer, the way we brew beer at Arkell’s today is much the same as it would have been then. “What we have improved, through investment in well-engineered brew house equipment, is the consistency of our beer. Now that’s something that Brunel would definitely have understood.”

Caledonian Brewery launches Dark Light Caledonian has launched its modern take on a historic black lager with ‘Dark Light’. Scotland’s Caledonian Brewery has unveiled its take on a Schwarzbier with ‘Dark Light’. The 4.7% beer is the first black lager in the Caledonian range and has a dark malt character but offers “light crisp refreshment”. Craig Steven, Caledonian’s beer manager and Beer Academy Sommelier explained: “Dark Light is our fresh and modern take on the historic Schwarzbiers of southern Germany. “It really does have it all – some fruity tones initially, followed by clean bittersweet notes of dark malt, chocolate coffee and vanilla, within a medium bodied, creamy mouth-feel and a crisp dry finish. “We’re certain this fresh yet historic style will be a hit with punters looking for something a bit different.”

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DSM TO SHOW STABILISATION AND FILTRATION TECH AT BRAU BEVIALE

SM will place the spotlight on products to help brewers to overcome stabilisation and filtration challenges at this year’s Brau Beviale. DSM has confirmed that it will be showcasing its Brewers Clarex and Filtrase NL Fast technologies at this year’s Brau Beviale event in Germany. Taking place from 8-10 November, DSM will be exhibiting a range of products on its stand 353 in Hall 1 in Nuremberg. According to the company, visitors can learn more about Brewers Clarex, which is said to offer an easy-to-use solution to stabilize beer within a shorter space of time. The solution is also claimed to reduce energy usage, waste and beer loss while delivering the consistent beer quality that the world’s brewer-

ies expect. “Brewers Clarex reduces the time required for stabilisation from days to hours, thus enabling brewers to accelerate time to market without the need for sizeable investments in production expansion,” the company said. It added: “In addition to clear performance benefits, a DSM study has recently revealed that Brewers Clarex enables gluten-free beer production. “With no effect on taste, this is a significant opportunity for brewers looking to support consumers with gluten intolerance or those who choose to avoid gluten for general health reasons.” DSM will also showcase its improved Filtrase NL Fast solution. This eliminates the effect that variation in raw material can have on wort and beer filtration and de-

creases the throughput time. This easy-to-use filtrationbrewing enzyme works fast and can quickly and easily be integrated into any beer production process, the company said. Joana Carneiro, DSM business line manager for brewing, explained: “Once again, we look forward to participating at this year’s Brau Beviale. Today’s brewers are faced with more competition than ever and are under increasing pressure to meet various consumer needs, whilst still maintaining profitability for their businesses. “Our solutions allow brewers to overcome these challenges so that they can do just that. "What’s more, these technologies are efficient, simple and costeffective, allowing our customers to make the most of the growing opportunities in the sector.”

ST PETER’S LAUNCHES ALCOHOL-FREE BEER

t Peter’s Brewery has launched an alcohol-free beer, ‘Without’. St Peter’s has unveiled an alcohol-free beer that it says is fullbodied and tastes as “good as the real thing”. ‘Without’ is the culmination of a three-year project at the brewery and aims to tap into a growing demand for non-alcoholic beers. The brewery explained: “It is completely different to and hugely better than other alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks on the market, contains less alcohol than a glass of orange juice and is at least 25% lower in calories than standard beer. “Note that St Peter’s Without® alcohol free (AF) ale should not be confused with any low alcohol (LA) ales. The latter normally contain from 0.5% to 2.9% alcohol and hence are alcoholic. Note too that alcohol free beers other than St Pe-

ter’s Without® are usually de-alcoholised lagers and not full-bodied.” Steve Magnall, CEO added: “The time is right to launch St Peter’s Without. Pubs and bars are crying out for an excellent quality, full-bodied alcohol-free beer that drinkers will take seriously. Without®

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really is a fantastic alternative. “We want to be at the forefront of this growing sector, which we believe will form 10% of the UK beer market within 10 years. We’ve made a big investment, but we know that Without® is unquestionably the right product to lead the way.”

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BEAVERTOWN UNVEILS CORE IPA

eavertown Brewery has lifted the lid on the latest addition to its core beer range, Lupuloid IPA. North London’s Beavertown has added the straight up 6.7% IPA to its portfolio of beers. The brewery explained that previous collaborations with other breweries and its earlier wave of beers, ‘The Invasion Of The Lupuloids’ has enabled Beavertown to understand the exact form its IPA would take. They said: “First came the collaborations. We learned so much valuable information, and are eternally grateful to everybody who came to visit / opened their doors to us. These helped create fantastic brews in order to solidify in our minds exactly what we wanted our IPA to be.

“Then we turned it over to you, and introduced “The Invasion Of The Lupuloids,” as a series of waves of beers accompanied by a list of every technical detail you could want and more – by way of something similar to Top Trumps cards – every thing from yeast strains, through original / final gravity, to total hop oils per 100g listed. “We felt this gave people ample info to make an informed decision, and then we listened. "As feedback came in we tweaked recipes and plotted new brews, releasing another wave with the same info available, and then repeated the process. “The end result was 10 IPAs, that were tweaked and adapted with the feedback we received until we were able to bring you the Lupuloid.”

ARRAN BREWERY UPGRADES Operations

rran Brewery has committed nearly £250,000 to a range of upgrades to its bottling, malting, and production facilities. Scotland-based Arran Brewery has invested nearly quarter of a million pounds on a range of upgrades to its brewing facilities. The Irvine brewery is replacing two manual bottling systems with a new line from IC Filling Systems, which significantly boosts the company’s productivity and ability to bottle its beer range. It has also invested in new malt mills and is moving to bulk handling and is also investing in new fermenting tanks. Production director Veronica Michaluk explained “We are struggling to keep up with demand and the new upgrade will resolve these issues and allow us to increase production capacity significantly. “The first phase of the upgrade is currently underway and the whole project is expected to be complete by the end of October. We plan to increase production considerably.

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“A second phase of the upgrade will begin in January and this will modernise our fermentation capacity resulting in the overall capacity of the brewery significantly increased again.” The brewery is also looking to recruit all levels of staff for its new bottling line and packaging department as well as recruit trainee brewers, and HGV drivers. Managing director Gerald

Michaluk added: “We are looking to expand our production four fold over the next two years just to keep up with forecasted demand. This means a steady level of investment in the site on Arran over the next two years. “That said we remain dedicated to using whole hops along with excellent Scottish malts and will continue to produce super premium, award winning, quality ales”.

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CARLSBERG UK TAKES UP BROOKLYN BREWERY DISTRIBUTION

arlsberg UK has tied with US-based Brooklyn Brewery to handle the exclusive distribution of the Brooklyn Brewery beer portfolio in the UK. Carlsberg UK has tied with Brooklyn Brewery to handle the exclusive distribution of the Brooklyn Brewery beer portfolio in the UK. This move follows the agreement to transfer distribution rights from James Clay effective 30 December 2016. The Brooklyn Brewery beer range will complement Carlsberg UK’s existing beer and cider portfolio. The company explained: “In the Free Trade Carlsberg UK will manage the Brooklyn Brewery portfolio through its newly-launched brand and sales division, House of Beers. “House of Beers is dedicated to world, craft and speciality beers and ciders, and provides specialist support to customers operating premium pubs, bars and restaurants in major cities across the UK, including central London. “House of Beers’ team of brand ambassadors will drive the continued growth of the Brooklyn Brewery portfolio in the Free Trade through unique events, range advice and staff training.” Liam Newton, vice president of marketing for Carlsberg UK, added: “Brooklyn Brewery is at the forefront of the craft beer revolution, brewing quality beers that drinkers seek out and enjoy. Brooklyn Lager has seen value growth of 54% over the past year in the UK. “The Brooklyn beer range will complement our existing portfolio of premium, craft and speciality beers and ciders and we will ensure it thrives well into the future, like it has in the past.” Eric Ottaway, chief executive officer of Brooklyn Brewery, commented: “This move is an extension of Brooklyn’s relationship with Carlsberg throughout Europe, and we look forward to working crea-

tively with Carlsberg UK on the continued development of the Brooklyn brand in the UK. “We would like to thank everyone at James Clay for the great work they have done to build Brooklyn to this point in the UK. They have been great partners and brand builders for the last fifteen years.” James Clay, added “We hope Brooklyn Brewery’s new partnership with Carlsberg builds on the foundations laid for the brand over the past fifteen years and would like to express how much we have enjoyed working alongside the talented and committed people at the brewery. “After recently moving into a new facility in the North of England, the largest exclusively dedicated to craft and speciality beer in the UK, and acquiring the wholesale arm of London-based beer distributor Utobeer, this transfer allows us the resources to invest and support expansion from our existing and potential new brewery partners from across the world. “As an independent, family owned business, we are absolutely committed to investing in the longevity and growth of craft and speciality beers in the UK.” Elsewhere, Carlsberg has launched a limited-edition Re-brew beer, a version of the beer first brewed in 1883. Carlsberg Re-brew, a recreation of a beer first brewed in 1883 that used the world’s first pure yeast, was launched last month. The company’s Copenhagenbased research laboratory spent three years recreating the lager, cultivating the yeast and using 19th century brewing techniques to create a limited run of the 1883 beer, named ‘Re-brew’. All proceeds from sales of the Re-brew will be given to the University of Nottingham’s International Centre for Brewing Science. Liam Newton, vice president of marketing for Carlsberg UK, explained: “It has taken Carlsberg’s

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brewers years of craft and dedication to get to a point where we can make Re-brew available to the public. “I’m incredibly excited to be able to sample the beer that our forefathers drank, which is recognised globally as the ‘Father of Quality Lager’. This is a fantastic opportunity for UK beer-drinkers to purchase the Re-brew beer before anyone else in the world.” The original 1883 lager was one of the first to be brewed using the groundbreaking discovery of pure yeast which eradicated ‘beer sickness’, a common problem affecting the smell and taste of beer in the 19th century, explained Carlsberg. They added: “Rather than patenting the development of the yeast strain, Carlsberg decided to give away the yeast for free to other breweries around the world. Today, most lagers originate from the 1883 yeast-discovery, including major international brands.”

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Magic Rock unveils Hypnotist

agic Rock Brewing has released a new IPA, ‘Hypnotist’. Huddersfield-based Magic Rock has launched ‘Hypnotist’, which is its “approximation of a New England style IPA” with a couple of twists. The 6.8% IPA uses Brett Trois yeast while the malt profile includes oats, crystal T50 and rye in the malt bill. On the hop front, Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Amarillo hops are used in the whirlpool, while Amarillo T90 and Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe Cryo Hops™ Lupulin Powder feature the dry hop. The beer has 40Kg of hops in a 50hl batch. Richard Burhouse, founder and managing director of Magic Rock Brewing, said the brewery is “undeniably inspired by the new direction IPA” has taken in the last 12 or so months. He explained: “Super hazy, super fresh, lower bitterness, big-bodied New England style IPAs are taking the US by storm and getting increasingly popular on this side of the pond. “As a brewery, there’s no denying we were initially inspired by the refreshing drinkability of West Coast style IPA’s which tend to be slightly more bitter and more polished/ bright in appearance. “After drinking some great US and UK examples recently (think… our Cloudwater/JW Lees collab, ‘Three’s Company’) and collaborating with Other Half of Brooklyn on a similar IPA, we are undeniably inspired by the new direction IPA has been taking the last year or so. “The style is renowned for its low bitterness, smooth body and very hazy appearance, something we’ve been moving toward in all the hoppier beers for around a year or so, but not really fully committed to haze wise. “Part of this down to production pressures and partly because we live in the heart of Yorkshire cask country where clarity is king.”

“We’ve been trialling the West Yorkshire Ale yeast from Wyeast (WY1469) for over a year, most notably in Cross Pollination and also as a blend with our house yeast in Inhaler,” he added. Burhouse said: “We liked the results to a point but are not sure this yeast is going to add as much fruity ester profile as we’d wish in the New England style IPA’s. “Our new IPA Hypnotist is an approximation of a New England style IPA although with a couple of twists. Firstly we wanted to look at how lower pH affects drinkability and aids hop expression, so went for a slightly more acidic mouthfeel something we’ve done in the past with the other IPA’s. “Similarly, we liked the fruity results we achieved in The Upside Down from using the Brett Trois alongside the lower pH, so we decided to crop and re-use this fruity frankenyeast. “Brett Trois was originally thought to be Brettanomyces, due to its propensity to produce a slightly tart beer with delicate characteristics of mango and pineapple, but was recently shown to be a Saccrharomyces strain. “The malt profile uses some oats

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(for body), crystal T50 (for sweetness & colour), and rye (for flavour) in the malt bill all of which in addition to the dry hopping have an impact on the colloidal stability of the beer and its ability to drop haze. “On the subject of hops, Hypnotist uses Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Amarillo hops in the whirlpool, and Amarillo T90 and Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe Cryo Hops™ Lupulin Powder in the dry hop which is a new hop product we’ve been trialling. “Essentially this is a more refined/ intense version of the T90 pellet designed with maximum aroma in mind. Overall the beer had 40Kg of hops in a 50hl batch. “The beer has had a month’s conditioning in tank and doesn’t appear to be getting any clearer, it tastes great though – so we’ve decided to package it as is rather than remove any hop character or flavour by attempting to remove the haze with finings. “We will have much more control in this regard once our separator arrives in a month or so, but for the time being please bear in mind that the haze in this particular beer is part of its design and a consequence of us seeking maximum flavour in this bold new age of IPA.”

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 25

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Brewers Lectures London full speaker line up

he Brewers Journal turned one last issue. We go out to an industry where around 1,700 professional breweries operate, a marked increase on the 1,300 that existed little more than a year ago. And while the industry is growing, so is The Brewers Journal and we’re incredibly excited to be launching The Brewers Lectures this December. These are designed to inform, educate and inspire. Taking place at four venues across the UK from this December, the lectures will cover a diverse, but focused remit of ideas and subjects designed to help you improve the business of brewing. The lectures programme features eight experts and will place the spotlight on the issues that matter inand-around brewing in 2017, and beyond. The Brewers Lectures features speakers from inside and outside of the industry, offering insights, advice and thought-provoking content. Challenging the way you run your brewery. We are very happy to announce that the confirmed speakers for the London leg of The Brewers Lectures are:

Keynote speaker: John Keeling, Fullers John Keeling is the head brewer at Fuller's and has more than 40 years experience in the brewing industry. His ability to marry tradition and the new, is one of the main reasons the Manchester-born brewer remains a key figure in the brewing landscape, both in the UK and abroad. In recent years, John has overseen the introduction of a wealth of new keg beers to the Fuller’s stable, including ‘Wild River’, ‘Montana Red’ and it’s incredibly popular lager, ‘Frontier’. He has also launched a golden cask ale, ‘Oliver’s Island’, which has been a great success. And it is cask ale that John will place the spotlight on this December, asking why American brewers think British cask ale is cool, when many of our young hip drinkers do not.

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Paul Jones Paul Jones is the co-founder of Cloudwater Brew Co. Only a few years old, the Manchester-based brewery has picked up countless accolades for its beers, especially its ever-popular DIPA releases. Paul will speak on a number of subjects in what promises to be a fascinating insight from one of the most respected breweries in the UK.

Sophie de Ronde Sophie runs a 100L pilot plant for product development and part of her role at Munton Malt is to help customers troubleshoot and develop recipes, along with product development of brewing ingredients and homebrew products. Sophie has had IBD, beer specific training on top of a science BSc, and will be placing the spotlight on barley as a raw material.

Alicia Munoz An expert in hops and brewing, Alicia gained her PHD from the famous Weihen Stephan University in Germany, where she did her PHD in beer light-struck flavours. She is currently the company’s technical support for Brewers in the UK and for Simply Hops customers across Europe she is also is one of their chief brewers in our pilot plant where we play with hops. Alicia will be discussing, and offering a practical approach to, hop aroma and the latest researches in this field.

Matt Curtis Join award winning beer writer and photographer Matthew Curtis for a discussion on why your brewery needs to invest in a camera and how great photography can better tell your businesses story and increase engagement with your customers.

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supporters:

Amaey Mundkur Amaey started home brewing in Australia in 2003 and after graduating with a BSc in genetics and evolutionary biology from The Pennsylvania State University, joined SABMiller as a technical trainee – brewing. He moved to Edinburgh in 2013 to get his Masters in Brewing and Distilling where his Master’s thesis work focused on management and quality for Natural Selection Brewing. He now focuses on the use of sensory to improve process and therefore produce higher quality beer, which he will be discussing in London this December. Amaey is a Certified Cicerone®, a member of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, The Institute of Brewing and Distilling and the American Society of Brewing Chemists.

Jonny Garrett Jonny Garrett is the founder of the incredibly popular Craft Beer Channel on YouTube. He also spends his time ensuring that UK drinkers have access to the world’s best beers through his respected work at a leading distributor and supplier. Jonny argues that the rising tide floats all ships. Or does it?

Csaba Babak Csaba Babak is the author of the critically-acclaimed new book, Beer Means Business, which takes a holistic view of the beer industry today. Csaba, who has held EU and global management roles in public policy and regulatory affairs, will discuss the key factors driving the beer market, the challenges and opportunities ahead, and the sustainability of different brewery business models.

Tickets on sale now - £18 early bird The London Lectures will be held at Kings College London's Strand Campus, 2pm - 6pm on 7 December. Go to www.brewersjournal.info/lectures for tickets and information www.brewersjournal.info

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Raising Capital As the craft brewing sector continues to rise, financing remains one of the biggest challenges to any emerging brewery. Simon Mydlowski, partner at Gordons law firm, considers some of the funding streams available to new brewers.

sk any fledging brewery and one of the single biggest challenges they face is funding. Whether it is a start-up venture or a more established brand looking to enter the ever-strengthening market of craft beer venues, securing access to capital takes careful consideration. Despite this challenge, the rapid rise of craft breweries in the UK in recent years shows that investors are willing to lend. Last year, the number of breweries in the UK hit an 80-year high, according to CAMRA (1424, up from 800 in 2010), with up to 200 new breweries opening each year. Here are just a few of the more attractive funding sources available to an emerging beer brand.

BANK LOANS

ften the first port of call for start-up businesses, bank loans are still available and in most cases attractive rates are still being offered, even if strict criteria must be met by applicants. The days of the old-fashioned bank manager may have changed, but high street banks will still be very aware of the growth in craft brewing and the potential that this rapidly growing sector can deliver. It is safe, secure funding – favoured by traditionalists in particular. However, bank loans are not given as easily as they once were. Despite the booming sector, getting a bank to ‘buy in’ to a new brand can be a challenge, especially if you are starting from scratch with no assets, property or background in the industry.

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PRIVATE EQUITY

nevitably, a booming industry will attract interest from experienced investors and this has certainly been the case in craft brewing – both here in the UK, and particularly in America. Private equity gives brands access to funds which can be used for major investment programmes such as new production facilities or increased distribution channels. For the investor, of course, brewing is rarely a passion – it is merely a means to increase profits in a short space of time by taking advantage of the market growth. It is important to do things right in the early years if you are working towards this goal. Investors will want to see all the relevant paperwork and accounting to prove the success of the business, and it is far easier and more efficient to follow best practice from day one, even if the business starts on a very small scale.

CROWD FUNDING

eer to peer funding has grown immeasurably in recent years and crowdfunding continues to be a buzzword in a wide range of sectors – perhaps none more so than brewing. Of course, any new business needs to convince its investors that it can deliver returns and with so much competition from a growing number of start-up breweries, it can sometimes prove difficult to secure investments through more traditional routes. That has given rise to high-profile schemes such as Equity for Punks, from BrewDog, and Be a Hells Raiser, from Camden Town Brewery – not to mention tens of

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similar funding programmes from new and emerging craft breweries. There are even a host of craft brewing specific crowdfunding platforms, such as CrowdBrewed and UBREW. It suits the sector and we have already seen a number of success stories, particularly for new, innovative business plans and those looking to follow an expansion programme which will see them entering the pub and bar market, as was the case with BrewDog. For entrepreneurs, crowdfunding can provide an invaluable funding source to give their vision the kick start it needs, even when other sources are not viable. For investors, when pursuing the right opportunity, it enables them to get involved with ventures right at their initial concept, which can help maximise returns. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a win-win situation when done well. We must not forget that crowdfunding is still a relatively new platform. Investors are more likely to be backing a vision than an established business and there is still some debate over the valuations put forward by some fledgling businesses. However, there are more than enough success stories to prove the merit of crowdfunding for craft brewers.

In Scotland, for example, Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) funding from Scottish Enterprise, has contributed heavily to a growing craft beer scene, including support for 71 Brewing Limited and Fierce Beer Limited in recent months.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING

RELIEF SCHEME

n certain areas, breweries can also take advantage of regional development funds, which are designed to stimulate investment and support industries that contribute heavily to the local economy. Of course, this is the case for brewing in many parts of the UK, including Yorkshire where I am based, and it is also worth speaking to your financial and legal advisors to see what might be available.

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BREWERY FUNDING

nother stream of funding is the brewery route. This can be a slightly easier was to obtain funding as the loans are linked to the sale of trade products. The main types of funding are usual bank type loans but linked to a barrelage commitment or an advance of discount loan. In both cases borrowers need to be careful as failure to meet barrelage targets (as opposed to loan repayments) can have a negative outcome by way of contractual penalties. Another downside can be that the breweries tie you to buying all products via themselves which in terms of pricing for their own brands may not be a problem but when buying other products outside of the brand range may prove to be quite expensive.

t is also worth referencing the Small Breweries Relief Scheme, which offers a reduced duty rate to eligible businesses producing no more than 60,000 hectolitres of beer a year. The rates are on a sliding scale, starting at 50% for production of 5,000 hectolitres or less, and decreasing for larger production volumes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but there are some valuable savings to be made on Beer Duty for some businesses.

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Platform for Success After a series of high profile investment schemes, more and more brewers are turning to peer to peer lending, or crowdfunding, to help raise capital. On the face of it, it seems like a winning solution - but is it right for your brand? Matthew Grant, director at Garbutt + Elliott accountants and business advisors, considers the pros and cons for emerging brewers.

ou can’t help but notice the growth of crowdfunding in the brewing industry in recent years. High profile equity crowdfunding rounds from the likes of Camden Town Brewery and Brewdog, which is now on its fifth fundraising venture, may have grabbed the headlines but there are many more examples where brands have turned to peer to peer lending as they seek to raise capital for brewery expansion, new product development or venue openings. At first glance, with so many success stories to read, it seems a win-win situation. As the appetite from mainstream lenders wanes due to a perceived market saturation, banks are becoming more restrictive for emerging brewers. Despite some interest from other sectors, ‘second tier’ funders and ‘challenger’ banks are not yet fully established and are not seen as viable alternatives to high street banks by many business owners. Buoyed by the confidence of seeing other brewers successfully raise capital, more and more brands are turning to crowdfunding instead. However, as you would imagine it is not always that black and white, and it is by no means guaranteed to pay off - with significantly less publicity around the failures than the successes. So, is it right for your business?

a certain degree of cynicism by investors. On the other side of the (virtual) coin are the benefits of course - and it is no coincidence that crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly popular method of raising finance, particularly for younger businesses without a track record. Some would argue that the additional work required to handle a large number of investors is outweighed by the fact that you only require small amounts from each investor – which makes it an easier sell, of course. Crowdfunding offers a certain degree of flexibility because it can be debt or equity (short-term or long-term) and is usually internet-based, so it is not geographically restricted. Brewdog’s latest campaign, for example, is seeking to raise up to $50m from American investors to expand in the US, despite having no brewery on US soil until now. There has also been significant development in the crowdfunding platforms themselves, with a number of options including the likes of Crowdcube, Seedrs and even craft beer specific platforms such as CrowdBrewed and CraftFund, both of which are gaining traction in America. Above all else, peer to peer funding is accessible by all businesses, delivering a viable way for any emerging brewer to engage local customers and get them on board with the brand.

PROS AND CONS

TAX RELIEFS

or the more cautious business owners, crowdfunding can be unnerving. It is a relatively new platform and despite some obvious benefits, there are some inevitable drawbacks such as the time investment needed to deal with so many small-scale investors. With peer to peer lending, investors are required to back a vision rather than an established business, which makes it a higher risk strategy. What’s more, without a history of business success to back them up, valuations are subjective and can be looked upon with

f course, for any investment scheme to be successful it must be attractive to investors and one of the main reasons for the continued success of crowdfunding is the tax reliefs that are available. The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), for example, is designed to help small, early-stage companies raise equity finance by offering tax relief to individual investors who purchase new shares in those companies. If a new brewery has somebody who believes in

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the business, they can make an investment of up to £100,000 for up to 30 per cent of the business. In return, they can get tax relief at 50 per cent of the cost of the shares, providing they do not sell those shares within three years. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is similar to SEIS, but is generally aimed at businesses that are longer established than those that qualify for SEIS. The relief is available to individuals who subscribe for shares in an EIS and is at 30 per cent of the cost of the shares, providing they do not sell those shares within three years. The relief is then set against the individual’s Income Tax liability for the tax year in which the investment was made. Relief can be claimed up to a maximum of £1million invested in such shares, giving a maximum tax reduction in any one year of £300,000 providing you have sufficient Income Tax liability to cover it. There is a ‘carry back’ facility which allows the all or part of the cost of shares acquired in one tax year, to be treated as though those shares had been acquired in the preceding tax year. Relief is then given against the Income Tax liability of that preceding year rather than against the tax year in which those shares were acquired. This is subject to the overriding limit for relief for each year. If investment can be secured via SEIS or EIS, it is a win-win situation. The business gets equity and the investor gets tax reliefs. However, as with all tax matters, specific advice should be sought at the outset, as the rules of each scheme are complex and there are a number of pitfalls to negotiate in order to ensure the investment qualifies. In summary, crowdfunding is proven, it is here to stay and undoubtedly has its advantages for both emerging brewers and investors. Just be careful to research the failures as well as the successes, because it may not be the most suitable option for every business. However, in the right circumstances, with the right business model and the right investment opportunity, it could be just the platform needed to kick start a craft brewing and raise significant capital.

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Wider Economic Context The beer supply chain has grown more complex and diverse than before, and this remains an ongoing trend, explores Csaba Babak in the ‘What’s Brewing’ chapter of his recently-published book ‘Beer Means Business’

n ever increasing number of incidents suggests that the ways in which we have gone about things are neither working nor sustainable any more. The world of business has faced significant challenges and suffered most from the economic and financial crisis, the aftermath of which is still lingering around. It is theoretically impossible that the sum of the growth of parts will exceed the growth of the given economy as a whole. In an environment that has been majorly set back and is slowly recovering, the basic economic principle of sustained growth needs to be reinterpreted. This implies a paradigm shift to accept lower growth rates or discovering new ways and spaces available for further growth. Those who do not respond in either way to the new conditions will struggle to maintain momentum. Companies still following the practices that have guided their growth so far will only be able to please shareholders by improving efficiency in the longterm and cutting non-essential costs in the short term. The former triggers furthering the economics of scale, not through investment but by integrations, e.g. mergers and acquisitions to leverage synergies of operations. The latter, though, immediately affects the people involved. Generosity left along with prosperity. Employees’ notions of a career, as well as their sense of security and risks associated with their employment, change in these corrupt systems. Being hired is an indication of their capability to carry out a dedicated task rather than the potential they bring into the company; the performance of employees who take on a specific task improves with

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experience and specialisation. They are then more likely to be transferred between similar roles within or across companies, otherwise their transition requires training. In addition, human labour is reportedly becoming more and more redundant in developed economies, either due to automation or globalisation making more price-competitive human labour available. Consequently, the idea of a life-long employment and career gives comfort only to those who still believe that the sacrifices of the present, their patience and exploitation, will be rewarded somewhere in the distant future. The actual outlook of benefiting from retirement is rather more grim. The difference between the levels of perceived risk in the corporate world and that of self-employment has diminished. The safety of remaining faceless in a corporation and needing to show up for a limited group of people believed to influence their career is less attractive for more and more people in comparison to the real satisfaction of actual creation and authority. This, in combination with the realisation of the need for a paradigm shift in economy, initiated the rise of passionate endeavours that are far more exciting and fulfilling: part-time activities originally set out for self-amusement or potential extra income eventually turn into successful businesses. The new paradigms have brought fresh ideas, innovation and art into the world of business, as well as more agility and competitiveness in the marketplace. Small businesses, ranging from heartcentred sole traders to capitalist start-ups, have established the models that are alternative to simply capitalising on one’s labour and time. The proliferation of businesses based on the

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alternative models of more satisfaction and greater potential is, in fact, a new wave â&#x20AC;&#x201C; something that has penetrated the beer industry too.

The c-word

efinitions of craft (noun) from the Oxford Advanced Learnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dictionary: [countable, uncountable] An activity involving a special skill at making things with your hands [singular] All the skills needed for a particular activity [uncountable] (formal, disapproving) Skill in making people believe what you want them to believe. In fact, the dictionary does not have any definition of craft as an adjective. Attempts to define what the adjective craft, and thus craft beer, means have been unsuccessful in the UK, despite the efforts of the players in the industry considered well positioned to do so. Already the purpose of such attempts often is unclear or ambiguous. Both producers and products can be told apart by the use of the same adjective, and there are many ways to make a distinction. Choosing the facts of the subject for distinction is an arbitrary exercise and will therefore invite criticism, only enabling distinction based on certain facts acknowledged by those coming up with the definition while there might be other facts not acknowledged or unknown to them. Other factors are even less tangible and thus unlikely to provide the basis for comprehensive definition, but these more subjective factors commonly constitute and are intentionally used as distinctive characters in the marketplace.

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Considering the extent and pace of diversification in the industry, a definition is likely to be born outdated. All in all, even meticulous work will result in a definition that is either too vague or too specific, something that is deemed non-comprehensive or arbitrary. The actual associations with the c-word, as well as the specific characters attributed to it, will remain in the eye of the beholder. Hence, in the absence of a universal and concrete definition, the use of the c-word lacks legitimacy, as do the expressions connected to it, such as crafty, faux-craft, etc. Still, something has certainly been happening in the brewing industry for a while now reflecting evolving consumer demand. These obvious new waves have demonstrated that there is consumer demand for unconventional brews and wider choice (as opposed to explicitly craft beer), as well as new ways and players to respond and seize this opportunity.

where we are now

here has always been demand for the unconventional, exclusive or special. Until not long ago, this demand had been ignored simply for being too small and thus commercially uninteresting. Eventually, though, it grew, and meeting the need for wider choice became easier. Imported products, conventional in their place of origin but not in the UK, fuelled the first wave, as did the revival of real ale, put in the spotlight by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). The exploration did not stop there. As more and more consumers realised their latent need for the unconventional, the increasing demand stirred further

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waves in the brewing industry, calling for new or reinvented local operations to meet this demand. This was further encouraged by the equipment and expertise left redundant by the consolidation of the industry. The cracks in the market gradually widened and deepened, calling for more and more supply and further improving commercial viability. In recent years, the number of active breweries effectively multiplied in Europe, the increase in the UK being particularly startling. Today, consumers in the UK are spoiled for choice, probably even perplexed by it: according to the Local Beer Report 2014 published by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), 14– 15,000 different cask beers are brewed each year in the UK. Considering that there are also beers available in other forms, theoretically you could try a new beer every day for your entire life. And that is beer produced in the UK alone. The choice is vigorously expanding through new brands and new types of brews introduced through reinvention, adaptation or revival. This is seemingly a global phenomenon, but the scale and nature might be different from country to country in light of the differences between their cultures of beer drinking. The unbelievable pace of shift in demand in the UK has set hopes and expectations high, creating the notion of limitless potential. Any unconventional beer sells, and new business failure rates in the brewing industry have been reported as insignificant, especially in comparison to those of new businesses in any other sector. A time has come where the number of people coming out as former or actual home brewers is surprising. You can buy brewing kits in the corner shop or a complete brewery online, and leave a lucrative career behind to start up a brewery by studying the open recipes of model breweries. This epidemic has brought about a number of concerns, e.g. about product quality and consistency, resulting in less flattering connotations of the c-word which is already attributed to anything unconventional. Consequently, alternative descriptions (e.g. contemporary) started to surface, as well as objections to the (mis)use of the c-word. There have been other signs of a shifting in the trend: last year saw further acquisitions of new wave breweries by established players in North America, and such activities in the UK for the first time. This outlines the direction of response global corporations are taking to tap into a segment pervading their mature markets. The increase in demand is no longer met by the production of new breweries alone. Existing players of different ages and sizes are adapting and increasing their production, and exporters to the UK progress with their global conquest by setting up or acquiring outposts in Europe, or the UK specifically. As the landscape of competition is changing and entering the unknown and unconventional, evidence of failures of new businesses in the brewing industry has become easier to find. The supply chain has grown more complex and

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diverse than before, and this remains an ongoing trend. While the new wave brews have tunnelled their way into the market through some specialist distributors, bottle shops or pubs, those wanting to trade in them have to have the right skills to keep up with the high pace of change, continuously curating their offerings while managing a widening portfolio. Future demand remains a big question as consumer behaviour is extremely hard to predict, but awareness of new wave brews and brands is still relatively low in society at large. Through more and more exposure and the education of consumers, the perceptive audience seemingly multiplies year on year. However, as the unconventional becomes more widely available, it risks becoming more mainstream and eventually a commodity – the new conventional. Consumers’ experience and preference will inevitably influence the trends, defining some offerings more commercially viable than others and thus triggering consolidation. The growth of new wave brews has taken place at price levels superior to traditional brews while availability has been limited. The businesses’ ability and approach to pricing and availability of these brews can influence change in the effective demand while it is as much determined by the inherent efficiency of these businesses as by government decisions. New wave brews could theoretically replace conventional brews entirely through a sustained better proposition to consumers, but this requires competitive availability and bases for price comparison. How long will the abundance last? The market share of new wave brews is reportedly still insignificant in the UK, but it is growing and easily absorbs the increasing supplies. However, gaining further market share will become more and more difficult due to the increasing diversity and number of businesses involved. This next phase of new wave brewing will bring fierce competition and risks due to policy making as well as the state of the economy.

the united kingdom in the EU

he current standing of the European Union (EU) does not seem as strong as it used to be. Its capabilities have been tested by financial crises, both global and at member state level, terrorism and mass immigration. European integration has become secondary to the priorities of the EU member states themselves. Controlling the EU powers and budgets has been instrumental in internal politics, in particular by net contributors. The UK’s approach to the EU has evolved drastically in recent years, and following the general election in May 2015, it became clear that the relationship and dynamics between the UK and the EU needed to be challenged. The prospect of a decisive referendum has been dependent on the success of the prime minister’s efforts to implement radical changes. At the time of writing, the PM’s efforts have already proved unsuccessful,

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which implies that he will have to proceed with the decisive referendum. By the time this book is published, it will be more apparent how the UK will relate to the EU in the future. If the referendum supports an exit from the EU, it will only reinforce the uncertainty that has been present ever since the start of this debate, and this uncertainty will stay throughout the transition. Effecting a change like this will take a few years, which will be spent defining the right status of the UK outside the EU. The UK is currently part of the EU internal market and customs territory, which makes trading with EU countries more practical and easier, so if the UK exits the EU, it will have to identify a new way of trading with the EU, currently its biggest trading partner. Also, the UK currently trades with countries outside the EU which are covered by EU trade agreements. It is feared that the results of renegotiating trading terms between these countries and the UK will be less favourable than when they were negotiated as part of the more powerful EU trading block. Changes to the rules of international trade might have major implications on the beer industry as exported beer is likely to be subject to import duty in the EU and thus less price competitive than before. This will affect more than 3,000,000hl beer produced in the UK and sold elsewhere in the EU. As for other implications, potential divergencies between regulations in the UK and EU in the long-term may affect the products in international trade. Beyond the final product, any materials used and sourced from outside the UK might be less available or become more expensive in the UK. In addition to the trade aspects, outside the EU, the UK would no longer be bound by either the taxation framework mandatory in the EU or the principle of free movement of people. These could potentially have implications for the brewing industry in the UK. The EU taxation system has elements that indirectly influence pricing policies, e.g. maximum VAT level, minimum levels and structure of beer duty or the maximum excise discount for small brewers. The status of non-UK citizens in the beer supply chain, as well as their willingness to work in it, would also become uncertain in the transition. There is a seemingly realistic opportunity created by the EU exit: the turmoil and uncertainty around international trade and return on foreign investment could affect general supply and cause shortages, as happened in Eastern Europe after the dissolution of their trading block in the early nineties, which the more agile local players could benefit from. As for the size of this opportunity, in 2014, more than 7,000,000hl beer was imported into the UK from the EU: about 18% of total beer consumption. An exit from the EU would affect the state of national economy at large, though. The impact on consumers, whether in number or purchasing power, will indirectly affect the prospects of the beer industry in the UK.

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 35

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U S

E x po r ts

view from the usa Despite competition from the UK’s burgeoning craft beer scene, US craft brewers continue to seek export opportunities to the UK. The Brewers Association looks at how US exports to the UK have been growing steadily in recent years, and the reasons behind this.

he Brewers Association Export Development Programme has been forging a path for small and independent American craft brewers in the UK for over a decade. Exports to this country now account for approximately 10% of all global U.S. craft beer exports and have been rising steadily for the last five years. Despite competition from the UK’s burgeoning craft beer scene, US craft brewers continue to seek export opportunities to the UK. A number of US craft brewers attended a recent beer and vegetarian food matching event held by the Brewers Association in Brixton, London to demonstrate the versatility of US craft beer. The brewers were visiting the UK to explore opportunities and gain a foothold in the UK market. But in this day and age of growing global competition, just what is the appeal of the UK market and why do small and independent US craft brewers look to the UK as the first port of call when considering overseas options…… Richard Miller, export director at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, a five year old brewery in Richmond, Virginia, explains: “The UK has tremendous historical relevance in terms of beer culture and it also has a very exciting beer scene. We are very encouraged by the trend towards drinking craft beer from smaller breweries and it’s fantastic to see the number of great local breweries emerging here. I believe anyone who has a very high quality beer and is able to support it is going to be successful and there is plenty of room for successful beers.” The Brewers Association advocates correct storage and maintenance of US craft beer and works with trading partners to ensure they understand storage and handling techniques, shelf life and quality management to deliver the freshest possible beer on every occasion that reaches the beer drinker looking, smelling and tasting as the brewer intended. The Harpoon brand was launched in the UK a year ago and the brewery’s vice president of national accounts and business development, Jonathan Schwartz, echoes the quality message by saying: “Over the last five years, the craft beer scene in the UK has increased dramatically and a lot more importers and distributors are taking good care of beer and paying attention to quality. This can only help the growth of craft beer.”

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Port City is a small brewery that won small brewery of the year 2015 at last year’s Great American Beer Festival. Established in 2011 it is based in Alexandria, Virginia. Founder and owner, Bill Butcher, explains: “Our head brewer was mentored by a British brewer so a lot of the styles he’s expert at are British styles. It’s a market in which we’ve been very interested for the last five years. We feel that because our beers are well-balanced, and elegant with a full body, full flavours and layers of complexity they sit well with the British drinker.” But what of the wise old sages who have been in the UK market for some years now? Sierra Nevada is arguably one of the best known American craft beers in the UK and was first exported here around 12 years ago. Brewery ambassador, Steve Grossman, travels frequently to the UK and observes many changes each time he comes. “Three or four years ago the UK was eight years behind the U.S. now it’s more like 18 months behind.” Despite the rapid growth of the UK market he sees the same teething problems in the UK as the U.S. and around the world. “There are brewers making incredible beers and others that need to make improvements. Some people are passionate about brewing but not experienced and others who think brewing is fashionable and a way to make money. There’s a teething period and some breweries never get through it, like a form of natural selection. “The biggest stumbling block is quality,” he says. “The goal for every brewer should be to make the best beer they possibly can and (brother and founder) Ken Grossman’s dedication to quality from day one has been paramount to the success of the Sierra Nevada brewery. Education is critical too. There are new drinkers coming onto the craft beer scene all the time and the education process is on-going.”

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 37

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IPA

DIPA Evolution Their goal is to promote the freshest hoppiest beer they can whilst having it available as often as possible, and that’s why they are moving to releasing Double IPAs each month, explains Paul Jones, co-founder of Cloudwater.

p to this point, and from our very first Double IPA release, we’ve timed releases around event dates first and foremost, in an effort to get our hoppiest beers showcased to the most people in the shortest possible time. Here’s a list of the releases so far: • DIPA v1 – 1st anniversary of moving into our warehouse and starting the fit out. • DIPA v2 – 1st birthday, marking a year to the day that we started brewing. • DIPA v3 – BrewDog’s AGM 2016. • DIPA v4/v5 – Brewed to trial dry hopping programmes to get v6 just right for San Diego. • DIPA v6/v7 – Modern Times’ Festival Of Dankness. • DIPA v8 – IMBC16. From v9 onwards we’re going to change our releases of DIPA to the first Saturday of every month (with v9 getting released on the 5th of November, v10 on the 3rd of December, etc). We’re really excited to work on getting you even fresher beer by releasing a greater proportion of DIPA for direct distribution to you from our brewery, online via Eebria, whilst also working with our distribution and retail partners to further improve existing logistics pathways. As we’re going to switch from brewing DIPAs for events to regular monthly releases we’re going to start off with a single 72hl FV (which we’ll fill by brewing three batches back to back) devoted to this wonderful beer style. If, and only when we see solid evidence in trade of our DIPAs selling out before the next one

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becomes available we’ll look to devote another FV to DIPA too. Our goal is to promote the freshest hoppiest beer we can whilst having it available as often as possible. Preempting questions about bigger batch sizes I’ll say that we devoted nearly 60% of our cellar tank capacity to v6/v7, and whilst it was wonderful to see all that beer leave our warehouse in one go we’ve seen both retailers and consumers hold onto not just v6/v7, but some of the prior versions too – largely we think this is because folk really don't want to be without a beer style they really like (which is incredibly flattering)! We think that if we release DIPAs more reliably (and frequently) we can encourage everyone that little bit more to drink them as fresh as they can, showcasing all the punchy and intense flavours as much as possible before they fade away, safe in the knowledge there's another version only a few weeks away.

cold chain distribution

he biggest advantage to releasing a greater proportion DIPA, our hoppiest beer, direct from the brewery immediately after packaging is that you’ll be able to buy beer that hasn’t been above 5ºC. After the end of fermentation our beers are crash chilled to 0ºC in FV, before being packaged as close to 0ºC from our brite tanks, and being transferred into our sub 5ºC cold store immediately after the packaging run finishes. Warmth and heat kill hoppiness (and other volatile

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flavour compounds) in beer, ageing and degrading it many times faster than when it’s held at a low and stable temperature. With all previous DIPA releases we have satisfied distributor and retailer orders with utmost priority, leaving ourselves short of stock to pour at events and sell direct online ourselves every time. Switching things around will allow us to lead the way in getting the freshest beer to you in the best possible condition. Distribution partners that already or are able to preserve cold chain (storing the beer in a <8ºC cold store, rather than in a warehouse that could be conveniently cold in winter, or damagingly warm in spring, summer, and autumn) and retailers we can reach through direct delivery will take precedent over routes that see our most volatile beer warm up to ambient temperature for days or even weeks before it gets poured and consumed. We’re going to do our bit to reflect what our peers and friends in the US do to get beer to their customers in the best shape possible. From the East Coast to the West Coast, and from some of the largest craft breweries to the smallest neighbourhood micros, hoppy beer in the US enjoys more care through cold chain distribution and direct consumption at the breweries themselves than we currently afford hoppy beer here in the UK. Whilst we recognise that the US didn’t go from an interest in craft beer to nearly every corner shop storing hoppy beer in dedicated fridges, and customers drinking beer from the brewery (where it has been kept cold since packaging) in a single day, moves towards better handling of beer started somewhere.

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This is our start, and we’ll work as hard as we can to help our distribution and retail partners progress as we figure out how to positively evolve together.

DIPA versions

e are regularly asked if we’re going to drop version numbers from our DIPAs, and move to a regularly repeating recipe, or something more along the lines of an annual release. I can say that for now we have no plans to stop featuring the freshest hops, and experimenting with different malt bases, yeasts, dry hop addition timings, and more, so the versions are here to stay for the time being. We recognise that our approach is different to other breweries that favour making the same recipe throughout the year (with either no recipe or process changes, or with undisclosed recipe and process changes), but we’re steadfast in our commitment not only to seasonality in modern beer, but complete openness and transparency with our customers. Our position is one that arises from our deepest concerns – those of making the best possible use of the most flavourful, impactful ingredients, as well as concerns that stem from wanting to be as open as we can with an ever more enthusiastic and informed consumer base. We’re really excited to move onto having a DIPA available almost all year round, whilst staying true to our principles of putting the ingredients first, and highlighting seasonality instead of masking it.

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Take Stock

Goose Island has released a Stock Pale Ale, ‘Brewery Yard’, which is the Chicago company’s recreation of a 19th century Burton brewery recipe. The team were in London in September to help launch it.

hicago’s Goose Island has launched its ‘Brewery Yard’ beer in the UK. The ale, which has been limited to 2,700 bottles, is a collaboration with brewing historian Ron Pattinson. It is a historical recreation of a 19th century Burton brewery recipe using floor malted English pale malt, English Golding and U.S. Cluster whole hops. It was then aged for 11 months in oak barrels with Brettanomyces. The beer’s name is derived from the way the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent aged its beer, which involved stacking barrels in large piles in the brewery yard and exposing them to the elements. This allowed the yeast in the barrel to continue a slow secondary fermentation that preserved the beer and created a unique flavour that was prized by 19th Century beer drinkers. Mike Siegel, brewing innovation manager at Goose Island, explained: “This project started two and a half years ago, with me contacting Ron, and asking if he would be interested in a historical recipe recreation.

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I wanted something that had particular meaning to Goose Island’s history of being inspired by English breweries, so an English recipe was a given. “From there, I wanted a recipe that would have had been aged in wood barrels and contained Brettanomyces, two elements we work with quite a bit at Goose Island. Ron had the perfect beer, 19th Century Stock Pale Ale. “We took a year to plan it out, and another year to make it, and we’re really happy with how the beer turned out. It is truly the definition of unique, and I really hope fans of Goose Island and of brewing history will enjoy it.” The beer, which was sold through Clapton Craft, Mother Kelly’s, The Rake, The White Horse, Craft Tooting and We Brought Beer amongg others, is 8.4% and features EKG and US Cluster hops. Wyeast London Ale 1028 is the primary fermentation yeast. Ron Pattinson, Beer Historian, added: “Brewery Yard is a beer I’ve long dreamt of recreating; an authentic Stock Pale Ale, as brewed in Burton-onTrent in the 19th century. It’s taken me more than five years to find a brewer prepared to take it on. But my patience has been amply rewarded.”

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Steve Skinner: "I feel very positive about this industry"

Crest of the Wave Steve Skinner grew up in a family of publicans and hoteliers, so being surrounded by beer came as no surprise. But this was only the start of the love affair, and 20 years after settling in Cornwall, Skinner’s Brewery is close to celebrating two decades in business. Skinner, who proudly calls himself the brewery’s ‘Head Taster’, takes up the story.

o excite the taste buds, offer balance, maintain consistency and make you want more, that’s the sign of a good beer,” explains Steve Skinner, director of the eponymous Skinner’s Brewery. Next year, the Truro, Cornwall-based brewery celebrates 20 years in business but you could be convinced it was the start of Steve’s journey, such is his passion for the industry he remains part of. 2016 will go down as a period of significant growth for the business. New jobs have brought the brewery’s headcount up to 50, a new bottling line and facility has given the company greater control over small pack production, while a major rebrand has revamped its branding across its on- and off-trade presence. But rewind 20 years and this level of growth, and expansion, would have seemed something of a pipe dream for Steve and his family. Raised in Jersey, Skinner was born to parents in the pub and hotelier trade. Growing up in such an environment, his path took him to the London pub scene where he ended up carrying out house stocktaking roles in areas such as Soho. “What really appealed to me during that time was the atmosphere you found in these pubs, and the

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beers available there. The variety of pubs was fantastic so it was an incredibly valuable time for me,” he explains. However, the passing of Steve’s father brought him back to Jersey for the eighties so for close to the next three decades, he was chaired with running the great and the good of Jersey’s pubs, as well as becoming the chairman of the the British Institute of Innkeeping Channel Islands. “During this time, I was also lucky enough to brew in some Yorkshire breweries with like-minded people such as Black Cat in Sheffield and the main one that influenced what I do, Morton Brewery in Sheffield. Their beer, ‘Double Chance’, which was the palest beer you’ve ever seen. I loved the fact that the hops were the main character of the whole thing and this transformed how I viewed beer,” he says. Skinner’s passion for beer only grew in this period, culminating in the 1992 opening of Jersey’s brewpub foray with The Star and Tipsy Toad Brewery. A second Tipsy Toad brewpub site swiftly followed in 1994. It had been far from plain sailing for Steve and his team, though. “In part we probably overstretched ourselves, but we suffered due to some unethical, underhand moves from our business partners so we ended up having to sadly walk away from the brewpubs. And we walked

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The brewery is truly "a team effort" according to Skinner , which began trading in July 1997

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away without a penny,” he says. “So in 1996 we moved to Cornwall. The whole family, our four kids and our cat, Toad. The lot. We are a surfing family and our whole life is based around that. We looked at Ireland, the South West of France and Cornwall, which is where we obviously ended up.” So in 1997, at the age of 40, Steve found himself in a position where he had to start it all again. “The great thing is, is that we kept all our friends, including those that we traded with in Jersey. So while it took us time to get sorted, people stayed on our side, which was a massive help,” he says. Skinner was in no mood for waiting longer than needs-be, though. Having moved from Jersey to Truro in August 1996, Skinner’s Brewery began trading in July the following year. He explains: “The beauty of being a small brewery was that it was possible to get up-and-running in that time. You can make your mistakes, and learn from them. "In those early years, we were fortunate to pick up a fair few awards in the South West, and with a small firm loan guarantee from Barclay’s, we were able to press ahead. It was a godsend, giving us enough to buy the kit, and to convert a little garage building, an old spray shop, to put our kit in. “We bought kit bigger than we needed at the time, opting for 25bbl setup, and we still use it. We were putting out 2000l brews early on to get us going at the time, but it worked. There were a lot of big players in the area at the time so that resulted in a lot of competition, but we went with set out with three beers and had confidence in it.” This included a 3.6% best bitter, the 4% ‘Betty Stogs' and its ‘Cornish Knocker’, beers still popular today. ‘Betty Stogs’ remains the brewery’s best seller while Skinner is still particularly proud of the latter for its use of lager hops in the brew, something that detractors “laughed at” at the time. “How times change,” he muses. Despite initial success with support from old friends, and the approval of drinkers’ tastebuds, Skinner recalls those first months as particularly trying. “There was a lot of cold calling where nobody wanted to know. But I remember the amazing people that helped us get off the ground such as The Watering Hole. It was a case of steady progress. Sales kept going up 20-30% each year and we were lucky in 2002 when the duty rates changed,” he explains. “That was a game changer and allowed us to buy a bigger premises. It was originally brought in to help breweries invest, and a lot of us did, giving us that opportunity to increase capacity and invest in the business.” However Skinner, stresses that this rate change wasn’t designed to allow breweries to undercut on price rather than invest. “That’s a great shame. I think the advice I’d give to breweries today be to invest where you can, and not set about going out too cheap, as a way to get your beer out,” he says. He adds: “We moved as a direct result of that

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change in duty change. It is an old Plum Centre facility, significantly bigger than what we had before. It offers a visitor centre, tasting bar as well as room to expand.” And expand is what Skinner’s Brewery has done in 2016. A considerable investment from one of Steve’s business partners, Alan Morgan, has enabled the brewery to bring bottling in-house. The company sent out one million bottles last year so it made sense to bring that facility closer to home. A Meheen line, installed by Oasthouse in Sheffield, gives the company capacity to bottle up to 32,000 litres a week. “The kit is simply great, and it is proving to be a very good investment, allowing us to create five new jobs in the process. We are very happy herein Truro and we want to support the local economy when we can,” he says. While bottling had been outsourced, cask production has always been done in-house while occasional keg output has been handled by Robinson’s, which are “out of this world”, according to Skinner. And although the dust has barely settled on its bottling spend, Skinner says he has great admiration for canned beer, too. “Mobile canning is a

“

I also like my ale cold so maybe I am a philistine, who knows

great enabler and a positive way to test the market,” he says. “We will see, one step at a time!” Skinner has seen many industry players move into cans, change their business proposition, and look for new routes to market. And in 2016, he says he feels “great about the industry”. “I feel very positive about the industry, but the only thing that gets at me is remembering where we came from, and not enough people do, especially when it comes to recognition from some newer companies,” he stresses. “We have been battling the big guys for so long, putting in that effort to get heard and seen. There are a few that don’t appreciate that, but that’s inevitable. It’s a cynical world out there, but I feel great. We are in competition but there is camaraderie. It’s a balance.” As the industry continues to transform, Skinner points out that temperature, and innovation, help attract new drinkers to beer. “Kegs have done well because of the temperature the beer is served at, I think that helps attracts young drinkers, too. I love the innovation we are seeing too with styles. People are trying to break the mould all the time, like we did with foreign hops and lagering hops,” Skinner explains. “You can be different just for the sake of being different, and sometimes there is a reason and sometimes there isn’t.

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Recent expansion across the company’s bottling operations had helped Skinner’s increase the brewery's headcount to 50

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The company's new bottling line has brought bottle production in-house

“We are all brewing and all ultimately brewing the same way. I love Saisons and Sours, which is the opposite of what we do here. I also like my ale cold so maybe I am a philistine, who knows.” Skinner adds: “The problem with experimenting with new styles is that we are often a victim of our own success as the volumes we are producing stops us from experimenting as much as we’d like. “There are a lot of issues. The frightening thing is the bigger brewery’s pilot kits are the same size of our main one. A big challenge is that if you are on the bar you can be on the bar with people with millions of pounds behind them. Regionally we are in a lot of the supermarkets and some of them sell our beer a bit further. But we are lucky as we have great relationships with Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns, which helps our presence massively.” And increasing the Skinner’s Brewery presence was high on the agenda earlier this year with a major redesign of its beer brands, something that Skinner admits was, at times, something of a “painful” experience. “Some of the original illustrations were a bit marmite to some, but we also wanted a level of continuity in the designs. It ended up being an amazing process, thankfully,” he laughs. The move aims to improve visibility while also

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enable Skinner’s to target national and international markets following the full-scale rebrand of its core range of beers. The brewery teamed up with illustrators from across the music and fashion world to produce new looks for their beers that include ‘Cornish Trawler’, ‘Hops ’n’ Honey’, ‘Penny Come Quick’ and ‘Porthleven’ “We have always known that the unique personality of each of our ales is what our customers love and our research backed this up. We made the decision to collaborate with a different illustrator for each of our core beers to celebrate this and allowed them the freedom to truly capture the spirit and individuality of each ale,” Skinner says. “We have always had great deal of admiration for the Cornish folklore that exists here, with our original beers still named after these characters. We believe these beers now all have their own identity, but also remain part of the Skinner’s family.” The only issue for Steve following the rebrand is that he now has an outdated Cornish Knocker tattoo emblazoned on his body. “Everyone finds it hilarious,” he explains. And after 20 years, Skinner is still having fun, but remains as focused and driven as before. “I’m positive, we have fun, but we make good beer that people enjoy. We like to blaze our own trail, and hope we can continue to do that.”

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Battersea’s Beer Home The London brewing landscape has changed beyond recognition since Duncan Sambrook started his own brewery in 2008. However, the comparative veteran of the capital’s beer scene continues to enjoy managing both growth and competition in an increasingly crowded market.

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e have gone through an explosion in the number of breweries in operation in London, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of brands, an explosion in the level of innovation and an explosion in the number of packaging formats. And all of that has happened in the last four or five years. I believe we have seen more happen in that period than we have in a generation. That is incredibly interesting for the consumer, but the challenge lies with the breweries to keep up,” explains Duncan Sambrook, founder of Battersea-based Sambrook’s. It’s a glorious September morning and things are hotting up in the South London brewery, both literally and figuratively. “We are clearly seeing a boom in the amount of breweries opening in London, and further afield, but I don’t know whether all of these will be successful. Of course there have been success stories, and there will continue to be, but time ultimately will tell,” he adds. “Regardless, there are lots of exciting things happening in this industry so it continues to be a fascinating sector to be part of. Consumers are more demanding of choice and innovation than ever, so that’s our job to keep up.” Sambrook’s is eight years young in 2016, yet there are the best part of a hundred more breweries in operation than there were ten years ago, when the first seeds of the this brewery were sown. Alongside a group of friends back in August 2006, Sambrook attended the Great British Beer Festival in London, then held at Earls Court. “If I’m in Wales, I will always look out for Welsh beers, or if I’m Cornwall, I’ll want a Cornish beer, so to find Fuller’s as the only representative of London brewing at a London beer festival was odd. So that’s where it all started for me,” he explains. In those formative years after that visit, an accountancy career in the City at Deloitte came calling. But studying brewing and creating a business plan kept his passion for beer alive. In this time, Sambrook (bottom right) managed to pool together the necessary funds to start the business that would become Sambrook’s Brewery. The stars also aligned when he was introduced to David Welsh, the retired former owner of the Hampshire’s Ringwood Brewery. The duo, both with a City career in common, rewrote his business plan and located the London site that houses Sambrook’s today. Despite the economy being hit by the financial crisis, and major shareholders dropping out as a result, good fortune in the form of loyal university friends and the support of other shareholders ensured that the Sambrook’s journey could truly start before it ended. And with that support in tow, he handed in his notice at Deloitte to start a professional career in brewing in the August 2008. Three months later, the first Sambrook’s beer was being sampled. Sambrook is honest and considered in his approach.

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He admits that he can brew beer but won’t call himself a brewer. It’s a good thing then that the brewery in 2016 can continue to call upon the expertise of head brewer Sean Knight. The Cape Town native who, in the words of Sambrook, started his career in Battersea as “the world’s most overqualified cask washer” moved to the UK to look at a career in the oil industry, but a recommendation by his brother’s friend to speak to Sambrook’s saw all of that change. Knight swiftly worked his way up at the brewery and

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is responsible for the creation of new beer lines such as the brewery’s increasingly-popular ‘Battersea IPA’, a 6.2% beer that contains Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt and Caramalt, with Chinook Hops for bittering and Chinook and Citra Hops for aroma. Having Knight on board has also resulted in the brewery collaborating with figures such as Jamil Zainasheff, the multi-award winning, internationally renowned home brewer who is also co-founder of California’s Heretic Brewing Company. Something of

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a chance encounter between Zainasheff and Knight saw the duo forge a friendship and mutual respect that lead to the collaboration earlier this year, the 6.9% ’Buffalo Badger Brown Ale’ an American take on a traditional UK Ale. Such one-off beers complement the brewery’s core and season ranges. But while the brewery enjoys releasing new beers, it takes the long view before putting something to market. “I don’t think of ourselves as conservative but people in the marketplace would probably consider us more so than our competitors,” says Sambrook. “To release a new beer, it needs to fulfil many criteria before we release it. Lots of thought goes in to that and we have already started the process of revamping our products for next year. Our cask offering has been the same for around five years, but consumer palettes change so we need to react to that, too. Look at one beer we did, Session. This was trialled in 2015 and was our best selling seasonal, and it was a great success again this year, too. So what we are likely to do is tweak it, bring it in to the core, and maybe drop our Powerhouse Porter to the seasonal range. We look at our portfolio as one. Cask, keg, and bottle. Within that we have the core, the seasonal, and the one-offs.” Having this unified approach simplifies the way the brewery to bring its beers market but Sambrook points out that its sales are segregated as two. “We look at it where we have sales in to the pub landscape and then we have the secondary sales to the consumer. With this, we are talking about tasting events, introductions and takeovers. But the difficult thing at the moment is selling in to pubs,” he explains. “The first thing a pub will often ask is “What is your newest beer?”. People are always looking for something new. However, I was reading the other day that most pubs have around 1,000 customers, but only 10% of these have customers that go in every week. “So if you imagine you have constantly rotating cask or keg lines and in some cases those beers are not on for more than two or three days, you are only actually touching 5% of that pubs catchment before they come in and have another beer. So we are trying to educate pubs to keep beer on for a month, or six weeks. For one, we will give you a better price but two, it’s better for your customers to see and experience a beer more than once. And that will let you, as a landlord, to make a judgement on that beer’s popularity over a better sample size. Otherwise, you are not being truly representative of the people that come in, drink in your pub, and where their tastes lie.” Sambrook recalls a recent visit to a pub where its IPA was on tap for £6.50 and in his own words, that pub was “taking the p*ss”. I know what we sell that for, and it should not be in a category where it is sold for that price. People are making a margin at the detriment of the brewery and the customer in that instance. It’ll become a one-off for the consumer in that case as they’re unlikely to return due to the prohibitive cost. However he is much fonder of the relationship his brewery has with the Draft House chain of pubs. Its first pub, the Westbridge in

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Sambrook’s Core Beers Battersea Rye - ABV: 5.8% A fusion of British hops with an American red rye recipe to produce a rich, spicy beer. Deep copper brown in colour, with a subtle rich fruit aroma, its flavours build to produce a bold spicy finish. Ingredients: Pale Malt, Malted Rye Crystal Malt, Northdown, Bramling X and WGV hops. Pale Ale - ABV: 4.5% Sambrook’s Pale Ale is our inaugural craft keg product and is a beer born out of innovation. We have taken a German lagering technique known as Krausening and married this to a traditional British Pale Ale recipe. Dispensing the craft keg, unfiltered and unpasteurised, creates a fantastically flavoured craft keg beer with a light natural haze. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. Ingredients: Maris Otter Pale Malt, Admiral, First Gold, Celeia and New Zealand Hallertau Hops. Battersea IPA - ABV: 6.2% Battersea IPA is a London IPA fused with a mixture of US hop varieties. It balances the darker colour and sweetness of a London IPA with vibrant citrus and fruit aromas and a long hoppy finish. At 6.2% it packs plenty of punch. Ingredients: Maris Otter Pale Malt, Chinook, Citra and Galaxy hops Sambrook’s Imperial Stout - ABV: 10.4% Our Imperial Stout is dark, rich and full bodied. The chocolate, toasted and coffee flavours from the roasted malts balance perfectly with a ripe fruity aroma. At 10.4% it’s not to be taken lightly however as 2016 SIBA Overall Champion Keg Beer, it’s a must-try. Wandle - ABV: 3.8% Named after the Thames tributary, flowing by the brewery, Wandle Ale has enjoyed critical acclaim from drinkers, bloggers and judges alike. Wandle cemented its reputation in 2012 when it picked up the World’s Best Pale Ale under 5.0% in the World Beer Awards and was category winner in the Quality Drink Awards. Ingredients: Maris Otter Pale & Crystal Malts. Fuggles, Goldings and Boadicea Hops. Junction - ABV: 4.5% Named after our local train station, Clapham Junction, Junction Ale has a rich full bodied character and is dangerously drinkable. It’s Mr Hyde, compared to Wandle’s Dr Jeckell, finally there is a good reason to go up the Junction. Ingredients: Maris Otter Pale & Crystal Malts and Roasted Barley. Challenger, Goldings and Bramling X Hops. Pumphouse Pale Ale - ABV: 4.2% Our pale ale was christened by a local drinker, naming it after the iconic Battersea Park Pumphouse. Packed full of hops, our pale ale is a nod to overseas pale ale styles but keeps true to our British roots.

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Battersea, being the brewery’s first account. What is certain though is that the wider London market, and beyond, continues to enjoy the beer Sambrook’s Brewery puts out. It’s 3.8% Pale Ale, Wandle, named after the Thames tributary flowing by the brewery remains success but its newer keg Pale Ale is on course to overtake the former by the end of year. Though Wandle will always hold a special place in Sambrook’s heart. “We hear from people that hadn’t drunk beer before but have told us that they had tried Wandle and understood beer as a result. I see that, and us, an entry level from where you can go on a journey understanding beer then trying that first Porter, a Double IPA, or a sour, he says. “Then what you tend to do is then value beer more and become aware of its value on different occasions whether it be a special event with a particular beer or a time where you stick on a sessionable beer for an evening.” While Sambrook’s has enjoyed steady growth, the biggest challenge for London breweries such as this is space. “You are seeing it everywhere. Look at the pricing of what is happening in London and you get this concentric ring effect where you get sites priced out of the market. If we were forced to move, we would have to stay in London, somehow. That’s what we’ve always called ourselves, a London brewery, so that

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can’t change. Sambrook considers the brewery lucky as it has been growing steadily and was also able to take on a new bottling line facility in 2012, which freed up space in London. Sambrook’s brewing operation runs at around 80% capacity, producing on average 15hl of beer a month, though distribution remains a “challenge” from the Battersea facility with the company looking at options for the future. Its South East Bottling site in Ramsgate is based over 6,500sqft. and consists of tank storage for rough beer, a bottling and packaging hall, and storage facilities for dry goods and finished products. “One of the biggest problems with premium bottled beer in ranges in supermarkets is that it is no longer becoming premium. "That’s part of the reason we’re primarily moving to 330ml bottles. Premium beer in the future, as we are more frequently seeing now, will be 330ml cans and bottles,” he says. Each part of the process at South East Bottling is carefully managed by their trained technician to ensure minimal losses and maximum product quality and incorporate the requirements of its customers. “It allows us to focus more on brewing here in London. "It’s what we have always done, and want to continue to do,” he concludes.

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In g r ed ien t s

malt

Express Yourself The malt ingredients market, of which brewing accounts for a key part, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 7% by 2020. While the UK brewing sector is fortunate that it has access to excellent varieties grown here, and elsewhere on the planet. So itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no surprise that malt, so often the unsung hero of beer production, is continuing its march to reclaim the recognition it deserves.

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onsumers are more demanding of their beer than ever. They are more exacting and the hunger for that variety in beer is only going one way, up. So it’s up to the brewer to work out what’s next, and what will resonate with the drinker. And more frequently, they are turning to malt to help create and define those styles,” explains Ross Turner, key account manager at PureMalt. The East Lothian, Scotland-based company

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specialises in the production of refined malt extracts that are principally used further down stream in the brewing process, added to the base beer to change flavour or colour. “We have definitely witnessed growing interest in our products. We already sell to 68 countries, but as the scale of competition between brewers to express styles continues to grow, as does the interest in malt extracts,” he says. “There is a passion and an appetite to create new brands and seasonal beers, I think the four beer portfolio for many, is ancient history. It’s a positive infection taking over the brewing planet.”

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PureMalt’s key offering to breweries is divided into three categories. Roast extracts are a diverse range of roast malt extracts for addition in beer range from high colour/low flavour to high flavour/low colour. Its crystal extracts are described as full in flavour and colour. These products have a toffee/caramel flavour character combined with an red hue. Finally, its pale malt extracts are pitched as being best suited for use in reduced or non-alcoholic beers and soft drinks. Turner acknowledges that detractors to malt extracts exist in the industry, and understands a traditionalist standing, but he adds that the company is trying to provide a range of tools for breweries to create diverse styles without the substantial investments that come with grain handling and equipment outlays. “Some traditionalists choose not to use extract products but those that know the product more intimately understand that it makes sense in many situations. We have a 900 year old site that houses a mill built by the local covent,” explains Turner. “There is history there, and there is provenance. The process we undertake starts like the brewing process and we process wort in the same way. It’s not like we are producing a chemical additive or telling people to add nasties to their beer. Many people see the benefit in malt extracts. He adds: “We encounter a great deal of bigger breweries that are creating industrial lagers, and those breweries can create such styles efficiently and in high volumes. But they are less flexible to change, so the ability to receive and use speciality malts and cereals is not really there. “So you either make a business decision and invest in that, or turn to us and our proposition. In our experience, this issue is less of a problem to British brewers as they often have a speciality malt handling facility. But go further afield to Africa, Central and South America, and the Far East, the breweries are younger and often purpose-built to produce lager so they don’t really have that flexibility.” Recent research confirmed that Europe was the leading regional market for malt ingredients market last year. The continent is predicted to continue this dominance over the malt ingredient market across the coming five years. Elsewhere, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing regional market for malt ingredients owing to growing demand for beer and other alcoholic drinks. But a key driving force in each geography is the production of beer. For Dr Nigel Davies, manufacturing and technical director at Muntons, demand from “craft” breweries for its malt continues to grow dramatically, both here and overseas. “We have taken the line that malt has such a key role to play in the flavour and the colour qualities it adds to beer. Are all breweries ready to fully exploit that? We are getting there with some of the bigger breweries but with the craft sector, we are seeing it a lot more,” he explains. “They have taken more to the qualities malt can add to your beer.”

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Davies adds: “We are also seeing continued demand with the malt extracts we offer. Big breweries recognise it as a way to to develop their brand and to help create new ones. And for breweries large and small, it offers a cost advantage, too. It is a way of offering brewers process optimisation, it takes out the variability and helps manage costs. Removing potential variation in your beer is a quality many brewers want.” Another figure aware of the key role malt plays in beer is Chris Garratt, managing director of Britain’s oldest working maltings, Warminster, who calls this period in UK brewing as “an appropriate time for malt”. “There is an ongoing fascination with hops. But throughout that intense study, the importance of malt has somehow been lost. That is more than just unfortunate, it’s also dangerous,” he explains. “There is just as much excitement around experimenting with malt, as beer is liquid malt. Beer cannot be made without it and it should not be a god-given thought that you will have it each year. As each year, the demand on grain is ever-changing. The cut and thrust of availability you have in hops, you also have in grain worldwide. It should not be taken for granted.” Garratt explains that malt is in a tight state of supply and demand worldwide. He says: “Right now, we can remember the weather we had in Autumn going into Spring. We had the wettest winter for many years, or even possibly records began. That was not good news for winter crops, with many destroyed. “Whilst the winter crop established well, it never really recovered after the winter rain. The winter crop, with the exception of Maris Otter, produced high nitrogen levels, and the grain size was small. Due to the age of Maris Otter, and its stubbornness to survive, it faired much better than the newer varieties and recovered somewhat. There will be a large reduction in the availability of winter barley. “Looking at the spring crop, it went in a reasonably good seed bed. The cool start to the summer didn’t help it mature but the summer was somewhat late to get going so it helped it catch up, so quality and quantity has been reasonable.” A pensive Garratt believes that fundamentally, the importance of malt means that more should be made of the role it plays, reiterating the idea that it is incorrect to think that hops are the be-all and end-all of beer DNA. “As the oldest working maltings, we represent the old floor malt process, which is as it has been made for centuries. Technological changes such as the introduction of the Saladin box for malting barley, changes in duty on volume, and the ability to produces more in smaller footprints, have impacted on the relationship brewers had with their maltsters,” he says. “Breweries used to be closer to their maltsters in the supply chain, but I can see that changing and becoming stronger again. We involve our customers, as much as possible. They are not simply clients, it’s a two-way relationship.”

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While Garratt believes that malt has played second fiddle to the focus on hops in the beer landscape for too long, he says malt is now at least “understood”. “Breweries and their brewers understand more and more about the malt types and the styles of beer that can be produced from the malt available to them. People now talk malt, and they enjoy talking malt. Previously at most it would be orders of Pale Ale and Maris Otter. Moving forward, there is a growing need for low colour malt with character and an ever-increasing need for maltier malt such as Milds, Viennas and Munichs, it’s a sign of the times,” he explains. “This has been catalysed by brewers truly discovering malt, the wealth of world beers and the way the market enjoys them, as well as the way malt can allow you to develop your beers and balance that beer.” Malting Box is craft malting service and range of equipment that supports craft brewers and distillers. It enables brewers to specify, control and experiment with the malt you use to brew, creating your own unique local malt in the process. According to the company, you specify the exact type of grain you want malted or you could also

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supply your own locally grown or sourced grain. Malting Box then malts the grain to the brewer’s specification at its UK site using our own purpose designed and built equipment. In addition to its craft malting service, Malting Box also supplies three scalable equipment ranges of craft malting equipment, allowing breweries to run their own craft malting. Hugh Alexander, master maltster at Malting Box, recently explained that the UK is at something of a strange crossroads, with a creeping polarisation occurring of which he suspects most are unaware. He says: “I think it's to do with living in either an urban environment or a countryside setting. The BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Farming This Week' last week focussed on the need to address the problem of a growing number of countryside species becoming extinct. We hear that such and such a species has become extinct from an area. It's emotive language, but not strictly correct if the species can be found in another area. It's not extinct, it just doesn’t live in that area anymore. “Along with the EU directives about conservation,

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malt

various wildlife charities such as the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and WWF (Worldwide Fund For Nature) have been urging the farmers of Britain to increase field margins and areas within their farms to allow the wildlife present to thrive and flourish. And TV programmes such as Countryfile have, it seems, been formulated to portray our countryside as an area specifically set up to provide weekend respite for those living in an urban environment. They always choose an area of outstanding natural beauty for their broadcast. “This does have an impact on malting and brewing in a roundabout way. Our urban dwellers want a lifestyle whereby they can choose which microbrewery beer to drink today, and they have a huge choice. The beer may not even be from the UK. They want the choice as to which cuisine they dine on. They want the countryside set up for them to detox mentally. They want the cheapest prices in the supermarkets, and yet they talk earnestly about conservation. “It's as though everything outside this urban bubble is just set up for them to exploit. By foreign supermarket chains offering the lowest price, they are condemning our farmers to life on a low wage. Are farmers also not entitled to a fair lifestyle? How can a city dweller castigate a farmer for intensive farming and spoiling the environment, when they are happy to consume foods which have thousands of air miles and quantities of CO2 expended, and don't necessarily conform to our standards of welfare. “So, what's the answer? It would be naïve to assume we will all buy local and all grow our own vegetables and drink local beer and eat local bread… but there is an historical precedent. When producing my beer, I have examined the idea of value and it has astounded me on occasions. We can break down all the component costs which go into the bottle of beer.

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The highest cost is the label, which is then thrown away when the beer is poured. The cost of the malt in a bottle of our beer is 3.39 pence, whereas the label is 40 pence. So, that's 3.39 pence for the food value and 40 pence to throw away. Does this make sense to anyone? “What I hope it shows is that the commercial value input from the countryside is so much lower than that of the urban input, yet in the end the urban input is discarded and the countryside input utilised and has some real value. “So, stop knocking our farmers, the playing field is already far from level for them and they do the best they can under very difficult circumstances.” Elsewhere, John S Middleton, UK marketing specialist at malt manufacturer Weyermann explains that the UK brewing industry is feeling growth in the production of organic specialty malts. “With more than 80 specialty malts in our portfolio. we have always adopted a policy from the outset not promote their base malts in the UK as there are many British maltsters out there offering good quality base malts competitively so to challenge them on their “patch” would not be either sensible or competitive and could well detract from the success to date our specialty malt sales are having,” he says. Middleton adds: “This serious growth of craft breweries has also given the larger UK maltsters something to think about. Not so long ago they were about to phase out sack malt in favour of bulk delivery due to high labour costs, time to load their vehicles and delivery along with health and safety reasons putting pressure on the smaller breweries to install bulk silos. This has all changed and sack malt is still the choice of the majority of craft brewers and readily available as it should be. “The dramatic rise in craft brewing has now also come to the attention of the larger regional brewers who once considered craft breweries as no threat to them. Now many have installed small craft pilot brewery plants within their breweries to enable them to develop their own new beers and to become craft brewers themselves.” But while Warminster’s Garratt is wholeheartedly positive about the renaissance in malt and UK beer, he is keen to point out that the biggest threat to the ingredient would be quality beer losing the value it has in the eyes of many drinkers. He explains: “Many would not appreciate it but as I’ve said, there is not a god-given right to have barley. Farmers don’t have to grow it, people can’t forget that. But we do know that farmers at best want to grow high-yielding varieties and would rather be growing wheat, so barley sits in that rotation. “Everything we do here is unique. It has character, and it will produce beer of a certain quality, of a certain character. That may mean however that it won’t be the same every time. It’ll produce a beer that the brewer will love, and be proud of.” He concludes: “Malt is the table from which everything else is set.”

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malt

in g r ed ien t s

Traditional floor maltings at Warminster which is Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest working maltings

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 63

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bottli n g

Bottle Job The UK is consuming more beer at home than ever before. But has the rising prominence of canned beer signalled the death knell of the humble bottle? We speak to some leading suppliers and manufacturers that operate across both disciplines.

any drinkers across the UK let out a collective sigh this Autumn. The latest figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) had revealed that for the second successive time since first

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occurring in 2014, more beer was being consumed in the off-trade than the on-trade. A sign of the transitory drinking landscape, changing habits and developing tastebuds, people increasingly chose to drink their beer away from the familiar confines of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 145,000 pubs, bars and restaurants. Some saw this as further indication of the decline of our pub culture, with 3,000 fewer pubs in operation

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than 2012. Some cite the increased prevalence of cheap availability of beer in supermarkets, while others would acknowledge that the beer they want just isn’t readily available in pubs. Looking at volumes, the equivalent of 44m hectolitres of beer were sold last year. The majority of this (51%) away from the on-trade. With a focus on cost, the average pub price of a pint of lager on

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draught came in between £2.40 and £4.70, nearly 40% (38%) more than a decade previous. A pint of bitter experienced a similar increase to between £2.05 and £3.90. According to the BBPA’s Annual Statistical Handbook 2016, alcohol consumption across the UK remained broadly flat, with some countries, including the UK, witnessing declines in per-head consumption. Estonia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic consumed the most alcohol per head of population. UK beer consumption of 67.7 litres of beer per head is below the EU average of around 72 litres per head, per year. Focusing on UK beer duty, it is 54% higher than it was in 2000, despite the recent cuts to the duty rate. The BBPA explains the data demonstrates that much more work needs to be done to cut beer duty in the UK, with the UK rate still “a staggering” 14 times that of Germany. So drinkers are consuming more of their beer through small-pack vessels, while cans continue to increase in popularity among breweries and consumers alike. Something mirrored in many other geographies, too. A report on recent beer trends in our Canadian sister publication, Brewers Journal Canada, demonstrated that the percentage of beer sold in bottle declined 3.7% to 35.4% last year. It continued a downwards trend that has dipped by an average of 4% each year since 2010 (the start of the record in this case). Canned beer has enjoyed the opposite in this instance, increasing its prominence in the field by 3-4% each year, jumping from 51.1% to 54.7% between 2014 and 2015. Draught beer accounts for 9.9% of beer sales, the same as 2014 and a 0.5% increase since 2010. Moving back to the UK, Rob Lovatt, head brewer

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at Thornbridge nailed his colours to the bottling mast this year with the installation of a brand new KHS Filler. “We had numerous options on the table, including a cheaper machine, a less dramatic jump in capacity of the new filler and the most contentious option, which was purchasing a canning line instead. In terms of the canning option, I have had even good friends in the industry question if this was the right decision to make,” he explained. “So while cans are fashionable and are easy to carry around, we have to do what is best for our beer, which is why we have decided to invest in the KHS Filler.” He added: “It is the Rolls-Royce of bottling lines; its technology enables us to achieve extremely low levels of dissolved oxygen in the bottle, it will future proof the growth of the brewery and will prove to be an extremely robust piece of kit with greatly reduced downtime. The bottom line is that we are putting our beer first. “One thing we don’t do here is grow exponentially and then allow the beer quality catch up, so although we plan to install even more fermentation and maturation vessels this year, we will be able to keep up the consistency and quality for which we are known, and our famous maturation times will not be affected.” On the other side of the coin, Paul Jones, cofounder of Cloudwater, recently detailed why the brewery was looking to make the significant transition to canning its beer. He explained that Cloudwater took the plunge with its own bottling line several years ago as a way to ensure its beer could be an option at family dinners, weeknight BBQs, and the “beer sat in your fridge when you got home”. It also enabled them to support the growing number of bottle shops. Research into entry-level canning lines at the time in 2014 instead led the brewery to invest in a Meheen M6 filler, installed and serviced by Oasthouse Engineering/Beer 2 Bottle. He explained: “Since we commissioned our M6 in Spring 2015 we’ve filled nearly 400,000 bottles, and learned a lot about running a small packaging line in the process. We’ve gone from runs of 2000 bottles every once in a while, to runs of 7500, more than a couple of times a week, but we’ve hit the limits of our compact M6 with our expansion coming up, and have to look again at how we package beer in a way that lets us reach lots of consumers around the country with a great quality beer. “Our biggest two issues with cans have always been how to protect such a large aperture from O2 and bacteria ingress during filling, and whether the agencies that qualify that the levels of BPA in can liners as safe can really be trusted. We had also never previously seen a canning line that we thought would put us in a better position than our M6 in terms of usability, reliability, or dissolved oxygen either.” Jones allayed such fears of bacteria and O2 ingress after seeing an ABE LinCan 60 in action at Five Points

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Meheen bottling technology in action

in London. “After the cans are filled they rapidly progress towards the can end chute, where each can receives a can end – the first can at under 2 seconds from the end of filling, and the last (eleventh can) in under 5 seconds from the end of the fill cycle,” said Jones. “Whilst there are concerns about BPA in can liners (in general, including food can liners), we’re increasingly confident that we’re not being mislead by any agency or manufacturer. As beer buyers ourselves, the liners have never put us off a purchase, or made us worry about our health.” He further explained the company’s move. “What’s also really exciting for us, is that we’ll get to package some beers into 500ml cans, and others into 330ml cans as we see fit, rather than having all our brite beer in just 330ml bottles as we do now,” he explained. “There are other benefits to canning too: hermetical seals rather than vulnerable crown caps; half the box size and weight of bottles means half the cold store space and twice as much on each van delivery and pallet we ship; zero light striking effects; vastly improved portability; wider reach with cans readily accepted into music venues and festivals; near infinite recyclability; less cardboard use; lower environmental impact during can deliveries (pallets of empty cans weight very little) and shipments (full cans weight as little as 343g, where full bottles are around 650g).” However, he added that it would be “remiss” not to mention that cans have some key disadvantages. “Low acceptance in high end restaurants who are deeply averse to putting a can on their dining tables; poor tolerance of pressure (compared to bottles); and dissolved oxygen will continue to cause us concern until we regularly see the same readings we get from our little M6,” Jones concluded. Sam Morris from Sheffield-based Oasthouse Engineering, which supplied Cloudwater’s Meheen line, says an increasing number of breweries are opting to can their beer but demand for bottling technology remains high at the business. “Cans are not a threat to bottles, they are complementary. It’s an option and the industry is better for it. Cans are great as they obviously open up new avenues and sales channels for breweries but this is another route to growth for these businesses,” she explains. “As the on-trade continues to grow, bottles and cans offer that opportunity to breweries Small pack sales will continue to grow, alongside these breweries and that is a very good thing. It means you can drink beer from Põhjala in London and visit Tallinn and enjoy a Gamma Ray from Beavertown.” According to Morris, companies such as Oasthouse Engineering work alongside breweries and form relationships with them rather than operating on a

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bottli n g

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simple one-off sales basis. “Even if you are an established brewery you are likely to need help and support. It’s rewarding to see breweries grow with a particular bottling line, then 12 months on, and return to discuss the next stage of their development. But if a company is opting for one system but claims it wants to treble production in the next 12 months, then it makes sense to invest in a more productive machine earlier on, where possible,” she says. The starting point of the Meheen M2 filler the company offers starts at £29,000 for a standalone model with the option add to that with a labeller and other extras as required. “You need to have the discussion where you ascertain what is essential and what is a wishlist. It's about having that dialogue and working from there,” says Morris. One brewery that recently opted for a Meheen line was Truro-based Skinner’s, a move that allows the company to meet growing demand for its core range of beers while bringing bottling in-house. The investment allows Skinner’s to expand their distribution further outside the South West and create new jobs in the process. Skinner’s founder, Steve Skinner, says its loyal customers were thrilled to know they can buy its bottled beer range nationally. “We’re responding to growing demand for the product – we’re currently bottling more than 100% than last year,” he explains. Meheen offer 2, 4 and 6 head options. Its fillers are designed to meet a brewery’s specific production needs while multiple fillers can be integrated to further increase production, while protecting the company against the downtime risk associated with having a single, large filler. Elsewhere, Marco Caralli, sales director at Framax, says while demand canning and kegging solutions continue to grow, the company is “incredibly busy” with its bottling lines that use a traditional isobaric multi-pre-evacuation system for glass or aluminium bottles and specific filling systems designed to fill beer into PET, cans and kegs. “For many, bottling is the everyday bread and butter. It is as popular as ever and most people that do canning, still do bottling. It’s reliable as ever and you know what you are going to get,” he says. He highlighted a dual investment at Redchurch and an imminent installation at Moncada as a sign of activity in London alone. Despite offering both options, Caralli explains that he has a firm preference when it comes to beer. “In my opinion, craft beer should be in a bottle. Like a bottle of wine, it shares that provenance, I think it just works better. It goes against a lot of popular opinion, of course, but that’s what I believe,” he adds. Among the machines Framax offer are counter pressure filling systems. These feature various different types of filling valve designs, from the traditional mechanical counter-pressure valve that enables to carry out several phases such as pressurization, CO2

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Vigo supplies a raft of bottling technologies that include filling lines from CIMEC

injection, multiple pre-evacuation, leveling and snifting, to the most sophisticated electro-pneumatic valve where all those same functions are completely controlled and programmable from the operator panel, allowing the most up-to date technology and flexibility which is necessary to obtain high quality results and reduced risk of contamination. It also offers low vacuum-gravity filling systems for bottle-conditioned beers. The opening of the filling valves is given by the neck finish of the containers, lifted by the mechanical plates of the filler. Various models of filling valves are available within this category, specifically designed to cater for the filling level requirements, bottle shape, neck shape and product. Several optional features are available such as the "millimetric adjustment of the filling level" controlled directly from the user interface panel, air return outside the filling tank. Jon Clatworthy is the commercial sales director at Vigo, which offers canning technology through American Beer Equipment (ABE) and bottling lines from CIMEC. CIMEC lines offer functions that span filling, including counter pressure filling for carbonated products while bottles can be pre-evacuated to remove oxygen. They also offer corking and capping that can handle corks, ROPP caps, crown caps, and plastic screw caps. He says that the company’s bottling clients tend to operate around the mid-hundreds to the 2,000 bottles an hour mark and that canning has not made the demand for bottling to fall off. “There are many breweries that want to offer both, that’s understandable as it increases your route to market,” he explains. On both fronts, Clatworthy says that Vigo’s customer base values what they call “non warranty time”. He explains: “It’s a daunting task having new kit turn up, so we do all the commissioning and training with our own engineers. We then also offer several days where they can call up if there is any issue and rely on us to sort it. They know they have the time in the bank, and not be billed for it. “We have found that the likes of certain breweries’ experience with us has ensured that we have picked up business from word of mouth.” And for Wendy Sharp, at Telford-based Carbonation Techniques, which offers Eurostar bottling lines, canning is taking up more of the company’s schedule, but bottling remains important. “We find an increasing number of breweries choosing canning to complement their bottling output. Very few solely take the bottling route, at the moment. Canning obviously offers a number of benefits over bottling, but they both have their place.”

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bottli n g

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November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 69

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M easu r eme n t

Testing Times Having control over the whole brewing process and hitting the mark every time can be said to be an art and/or a science, but no matter which one you think it is, it’s critical. Timothy Woolley, technical director at Pura DX discusses the integral role testing regimes play at successful breweries.

ive years ago I was lucky enough to take a couple of months off, I flew out to New York, then up to Vancouver, got the train to Seattle and then drove down to San Diego. It was an awesome trip, planned in essence to visit as many craft breweries as I could, finishing off with a visit to White Labs. I got to go to Brooklyn, Pike Place, Elysium, Rogue, Russian River, Pizza Port, Firestone Walker, Deschutes, Heretic, the list goes on and on and on and I’ve been name dropping ever since. At the time what I saw were a lot of craft breweries moving into their second growth phase, having outgrown there initial site, they now had the reputation and money to purpose build. Some had opened their own bars, almost all had installed canning and bottling lines, one or two had gone into distilling and in one case the brewery had even opened up a hotel. One thing they all did though was install a laboratory. What I found interesting in these successful US breweries was the intense beer testing regimes, as one brewer put it, the more we test, the better we get, the more awards we win and the more testing we do.

the spectrophotometer

aving control over the whole brewing process and hitting the mark every time can be said to be an art &/or a science, but no matter which one you think it is, it’s critical. Many brewers will tell you that instruments like hydrometers, pH meters, and microscopes are absolutely essential to evaluate the key quality aspects of a beer, I would suggest if your opening your own lab you look at a spectrophotometer. The fact is that a UV/Vis-spectrophotometer can provide more information about your brewing process than any

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other single piece of analytical equipment, and for a reasonable price.

the basics

he spectrophotometer uses a specific wavelength of light to determine the concentration of certain compounds in a sample, the more light that is absorbed the more of that substance is present in the sample. Organizations like the European Brewery Convention and the American Society of Brewing Chemists have produced a number of standardized methods covering a range of beer analytes including, iso-alpha acids for bitterness, polyphenols, free amino nitrogen, and colour. Operating a spectrophotometer is really easy, even with some very basic training you would be up and running within an hour or so, most modern units are more or less plug and play, some manufacturers have even pre-programmed the methods onto the analysers, and all you need do is press the method number on the keypad. Sample preparation is however the most difficult part, although that varies by the test in question. Measuring colour for instance is extremely easy, basically pour and play, whereas IBU is a little more difficult and involves mixing different chemicals, vortexing, then sometimes, centrifugation. While Spectrophotometers are not particularly cheap, they are not hugely expensive ether and a new analyser can be picked up for around £5K. Envotech based in Cardiff do a nice one (Nanocolour UV/Vis), as do Thermo and Hach, both these latter two have produced units specifically for the brewing industry and they come with pre-programmed methods. You will also need to buy cuvettes, chemicals and in some cases additional equipment. Cuvettes are little containers that allow you to place the sample into the analyser. There are two main types, quartz cuvettes

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M easu r eme n t

and plastic cuvettes. Quartz cuvettes will set you back a couple of hundred pounds, they are optically perfect and reusable, you will likely break one within the first week and then a few more every year. I use UV compatible plastic ones, these cost about £20 for 100, but are single use only. The other bits of kit you may need include a water bath, a vortexer and in some cases a centrifuge, however all of these can be bought second hand either from Ebay, a laboratory equipment specialist or an online market place such as DoveBid, all for around £1-2K with limited risk. If you have a friendly university close by you may even be able to get old ones for free. The benefits of utilising a spectrophotometer however far outweigh the upfront costs. The amount you will save per month on bittering hops alone could pay for the analyser in less than a year. Not many purchases have a return on investment that good. For those that don't believe me I am going to show you how you can get both colour and IBU assays done for less than a pound.

bitterness

am surprised that given the UK’s preference for IPA’s and every type of hopped up beer style going, more breweries don't test for bitterness. If your using whole leaf hops, performing an IBU on a regular basis is probably more important than if your using pellets, as whole leaf hops tend to

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“

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What I found interesting in these successful US breweries was the intense beer testing regimes, as one brewer put it, the more we test, the better we get, the more awards we win and the more testing we do.

age more quickly than pellets and as they age their humulone content drops. Humulone is the precursor to iso-humulone, so if that chemical degrades so does your IBU potential. The EBC standard method (Section 9 Beer, Method 9.8) for the determination of iso-alpha acids (IAA) requires a liquid-liquid extraction of acidified beer in iso-octane (or 2,2,4-trimethylpentane). The cost per test for IBU if you do it yourself is around 35-75p, plus about the same again for disposal, as you cannot put this stuff down the sink. All that might sound a bit too nerdy so here is the simple how to version. All you need is iso-octane, 6N HCl, and 50ml

November~December 2016 | The Brewers Journal 71

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(l) Humulone (r) Iso-Humulone

conical tubes for mixing (see below for purchasing details). I recommend you always use a control beer as well, basically a beer you know the IBU of, test this with your own samples to make sure your results are accurate. I use a Budweiser, a Bud has an extremely consistent IBU between 7-10. So to get started take: 10ml beer sample 20ml iso-octane 1ml HCl You can halve all the reagents if you want and use 5ml beer, 10ml iso-octane and 0.5ml HCL, this will cut the cost per test down to approx. 35p/test while also cutting your disposal costs as well, but I wouldn't recommend going any lower. Mix all three of these in a 50ml conical tube and shake for 15 minutes. Sometimes you might get a congealing effect, so you might need a centrifuge. However this is quite rare. Sit the tube upright for a few minutes and you will see 2 layers form, it's the upper layer (or supernatant) you need, take off enough to fill a cuvette and measure at 275nm on your spectrophotometer. Multiply the absorbency you get by 50 and you have your IBU. I get my reagents from Sigma Aldrich, below I have included all the ordering information you need. Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) solution 1 Litre 6N: Item: 00010 Product: 72033-1L-90001 Approx Cost: £18 Cost per IBU: 1-2p Iso-octane or 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane, ACS reagent 99% 1 Litre Item: 000020 Product: 360597-1L-D Approx Cost: £36 Cost per IBU: 38-75p UV Macro Cuvette (100)

72 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

Item: 00030 Product: BR759170-100EA Approx Cost: £21 Cost per test: 21p The 50ml plastic conical centrifuge tubes will cost around £100 for 500, these can be picked up via Ebay or Amazon (approx. cost per test: 20p) Remember these are pretty nasty chemicals, Iso-octane is an organic solvent and smells to high heaven, so any testing needs to be done in a well ventilated room, as with all hydrocarbons, its also exceedingly flammable and its vapours readily form explosive mixtures with air. Inhalation or ingestion of large quantities is harmful and it should be treated with great respect. HCL is a powerful acid – do I need to say anymore, so wear gloves and protective eye ware. Likewise a lab coat is a good idea. In addition having eye washing bottles and a sink close by makes good sense. Sigma will always provide a COSHH/MSDS or Safety Data Sheet, read it and follow it. Finally all these chemicals need to be disposed of by a certified waste disposal company.

colour

n the other end of the difficulty scale is colour, this might seem a bit twee, but colour is often the first thing consumers notice. In this case the assay works by detecting how much of the yellow spectrum of light is absorbed at 430 nm. The more light absorbed, the darker the beer colour. The procedure is very simple; all you need is a sample of de-gassed beer, place this into a cuvette and read at 430 nm. If the beer sample is dark (>60 EBC), it can be diluted with equal parts water until the spectrophotometer can get a reading. The cost per test is about 21p, and it takes no more than a few seconds to get a result.

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dat e s

e v en t s

e v ent s

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Craft Beer Revolution Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a new event that will be held at Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh in November. The three-day event takes place from 24-26 November and features 13 breweries.

2016 17 - 19 November Belfast Beer Festival Ulster Hall, Bedford Street, Belfast www.belfastbeerfestival.co.uk

26 November St Austell Brewery Celtic Beer Festival Cellars, St Austell Brewery www.staustellbrewery.co.uk

24 - 26 November Edinburgh Craft Beer Revolution Festival Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh www.revolutioncraftbeer.com

29 November - 3 December Pig's Ear Beer & Cider Festival The Round Chapel, Powerscroft Road, Hackney www.pigsear.org.uk

25-26 November Bath CAMRA 1st Winter Ales Festival 2016 Widcombe Social Club Widcombe Hill, Bath www.bathandborderscamra.org.uk

21 January 2017 Manchester Beer & Cider Festival Manchester Central www.mancbeerfest.uk

74 | The Brewers Journal | November~December 2016

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