The Brewers Journal Jul-Aug 2016, iss 4 vol 2

the magazine for the professional brewing industry

Brewers T H E

J O U R N A L

July~August 2016 ISSN 2059-6669

Also in this issue:

LOST AND GROUNDED Bristol's newest brewery on why being a team is key

Shepherd neame Moving with the Times

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CAMRA: SHAPING THE FUTURE

P.62

canning: from canvas to can

P.68

hYGIENE: tRENDS & DEVELOpMENTS

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Solid Foundations

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ast month we were invited down to Faversham, Kent, for a fascinating tour of Shepherd Neame’s brewery. It’s a marriage of embracing modernity and respecting tradition, which goes a long way to explain why it is still responsible for some very popular beers. Thanks to Kathryn, John and Richard for your time. Speaking with head brewer Richard Frost, he expressed his mild surprise that a magazine such as The Brewers Journal was visiting a brewery like Shepherd Neame. Surely we are only really focused on the newer breweries, the smaller outfits and those producing more ‘fashionable’ beer styles.

That could not be further from the truth. We made a conscious, easy, decision when putting the idea of this magazine together that it was not going to be exclusively focused on so-called craft beer, or solely on the London beer scene, or on any other self-excluding parameter that would be detrimental to the publication and what we want to do.

Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and with that in mind, this issue features the aforementioned Shepherd Neame (page 44 onwards), which is Britain’s oldest brewery. And on the other end of the brewery spectrum, we speak to one of its newest, Lost and Grounded Brewers.

I, like many, have been following the progress of the brewery as it developed from a name on paper to a company that has a stunning facility, a solid team and a growing legion of fans.

Brewing officially started this month so with that in mind, I approached Alex and Annie to talk about their exciting plans. It’s worth noting that they were more than aware of doing an interview before brewing had even begun.

They didn't want to appear forthright or arrogant in the eyes of those new to what they’re doing. And it’s that modest, personable, approach that is conveyed across the whole business. Exciting times lie ahead so to read about their plans, turn to page 52.

And over the next year or so CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), will be consulting its membership and shaping its future and by inference having a big effect upon the UK brewing industry. CAMRA was founded in 1971 and now has over 175,000 members which makes it one of the biggest single issue consumer groups in Europe. CAMRA has launched “Shaping the Future” which it calls its revitalisation project and

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Editor's choice How Alex Troncoso and his partner Annie Clements are aiming to build a respected brewery and a valued team with Lost and Grounded Brewers in Bristol - Page 52

David Harris investigates how this could pan out, Starting later this year, The Brewers Journal will run a series of features that place the spotlight on areas of CIP, hygiene and sanitation across the brewery landscape. In this issue, we speak to some leading manufacturers and suppliers to focus on some of the key trends and developments taking place across this field.

And with the publication of this issue, we have now reached the end of our first year. But at risk of veering into cliche, and failing, it feels like we are just getting started. This December we launch The Brewers Lectures in London, and are very fortunate to have some great people involved already.

So thank again for all of the support and for helping us get to this point. The printed publication is going out to more readers than ever before, while the digital edition of the last issue has been read more than 40,000 times. We appreciate it!

Tim Sheahan Editor

July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 3

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SUBscriptions The Brewers Journal is a bimonthly magazine mailed every January, March, May, July, September and November. Subscriptions can be purchased for six or 12 issues. Prices for single issue subscriptions or back issues can be obtained by emailing: subscriptions@ rebymedia.com

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The Brewers Journal ISSN 2059-6650 is published bimonthly by Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Subscription records are maintained at Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. The Brewers Journal accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its publishers. Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom.

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Cover story

46 - Shepherd Neame's Richard Frost leads us through the brewery's plans for 2016 and beyond, his views on brewing under license and where he sees the company fit in the brewing landscape of today.

The Big iSSUE: cAMRA 20- David Harris: How CAMRA is consulting members to revitalise the association COMMENT 24- Norriq UK on business integration 26- Premier Leasing & Finance talk planning 28- Rob Lovatt on brewing sour beers 30- Friends of Glass on the merits of bottling 34- Tonejet on the craft of canning 36- Jonny Garrett: The UK trails the US in business 38- Brewers Association: Why the GBBF matters book reviews 40 - Brewing in Britain: An Illustrated History 42 - Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers the brewers lectures 44 - An introduction to the first Brewers Lectures and speakers set to talk at the event that takes place in London this December

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Meet the brewers: lost and grounded brewers 52 - How Bristol's newest brewery is capturing hearts and minds industry: beer marketing 56- Why your punters are drinking that other brewery's beer, by Velo Mitrovich sector: canning 62 - Daniel Searle investigates the best options on the market for decorating a can of beer technology: hygiene 68 - Key trends and developments in the sector science: Hop Products 72 - Colin Wilson on the role hop products play science: Pediococcus 78 - Timothy Woolley talks Pediococcus

July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 7

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The London Beer Factory rolls out new 360 cans and expands

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he London Beer Factory has expanded its brewing capacity and is broadening its presence in small-pack sales after rolling out its beers in unique 360 cans.

The South-London based brewery has taken a considered approach to the roll-out of its new cans, which it has been trialling in-house for the past several months.

While it will still offer bottles as long as customers demand them, the

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plan now is to migrate its range to the cans it has invested heavily in.

Its full range is available in the new cans, which comprise Chelsea Blonde, Paxton IPA, Sayers Stout, London Bohemia Lager and Beyond The Pale.

Canning is handled in-house using the 12-staff company’s line from Cask Brewing Systems. Unlike traditional cans, the lids completely peel off, revealing the aromas previously prohibited by regular bottles and cans.

“We started looking at this side of things around six months ago.

We were looking to can our beer and as a result, we started the 360 discussion. We had seen, and experienced, the benefits of it in the US so when the opportunity arose to can our beers this way, it made complete sense,” explains The London Beer Factory’s Tom Bull.

He adds: “It’s an exciting development for us and one that are people getting on board with. Once people try beer from these cans, it easy to see what the fuss is about.”

In addition to the new canning initiative, the brewery has recently installed a number of new FVs and is also expanding its Pilot range of beers that it puts out once a month.

Additions to the range, such as the Galaxy IPA, also tie in to the subscription service The London Beer Factory is offering drinkers. It offers a mixed case of its core range, alongside a new addition from the Pilot range, for £35 a month.

“The service gives people the opportunity to try our core range each month, with the added benefit of trying the latest creation from our Pilot range. It’s an exciting time for this brewery.”

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Rebellion Beer Company completes thermal fluid installation

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hiltern Hills-based Rebellion Beer Company has called on Fulton for a thermal fluid installation to replace its older steam boiler system.

The commission forms part of a three-stage development plan for the business that also comprises the upgrade of some of the its brewing equipment.

Mark Gloyens, who co-founded the brewery with Tim Coombes, said it was the first time the company had approached thermal fluid system specialists for a project of this sort.

He added: “Having met with two of the UK’s main suppliers to discuss the project, we were impressed with Fulton’s enthusiasm and interest in getting involved with what turns

out to be one of only a handful of brewery-based thermal fluid heat transfer projects in the UK.” According to Gloyens, Fulton’s new FT-C 240 vertical coil thermal system is expected to save money on the company’s energy bills.

This is possible as it is can easily turn the heater on and off as required, with minimal heat-up time.

As fluid heaters are non-pressurised systems and as a result, not subject to the costs of running a system under pressure regulations.

The new system is also claimed to be “much simpler than a steam solution” and was therefore less expensive to set-up and maintain.

The Fulton thermal fluid heat transfer solution is used throughout Rebellion’s brewing process.

This includes the brewhouse, where liquor is heated to 66 degrees for the mashing-in process and wort is boiled with hops for 90 minutes; to heating Rebellion’s brewhouse and fermentation tank CIP system.

Fulton’s Doug Howarth said that, that unlike steam, thermal systems provide useable temperature with very little pressure and a variety of cost savings should be expected.

He added: “The whole life costs for thermal systems can also be cheaper because they require fewer insurance inspections, which minimises production downtime and shut down periods. There’s also no requirement for water treatment or chemical dosing, which leads to zero waste disposal and minimal maintenance costs.”

Celt Beer brands sold to EvanEvans Group

He added: “Its business as usual, and we hope to build our stock over the next few weeks, and to bring some great new kegs and cask products to the market’.Newman confirmed at the end of May that the Celt Experience would be stopping production.

He explained at the time: “ We hope the brand will still be continuing strong so please do not lose the love.

After a decade of playing with this brewery, I personally would like to thank everybody for their loyal support

and (please) ask for you all to continue with drinking Celt.It is a time of life where for personal reasons and for family commitments I have decided to prioritise my next flight/ path. But I absolutely intend to continue and to hold the same morals and passion for this exciting industry.

“Finally I would like to devote a huge thank you to ALL previous staff and in particular to Becky and Gavin, who both had a huge role in allowing the mystical dream getting to where it is today.”

Celt Beer Brands has been purchased by the Evan-Evans Group, a move that will see Celt founder and head brewer Tom Newman join the latter’s technical team.

James Buckley, who heads up the team as consultant, said they were delighted to own the Celt Beer Brands and to have Tom join us as a key partner in the development.

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WEST BERKSHIRE BREWERY SEALS NEW £3M FACILITY

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est Berkshire Brewery is to significantly increase brewing capacity after signing for a new £3m custom-built brewery.

The new facility, operational from early 2017, will enable the company to increase brewing capacity by ten-fold as well as effe packaging facilities to other breweries.

WBB’s new equipment comes from Italian manufacturer CFT, which includes a three-vessel brewery and a fully automated and flexible packaging line that can handle 7,000 bottles or 12,000 cans per hour.

In addition to the expansion on

its brewery side, the company has also secured its first London pub, Shillibeer’s in Islington.

Both deals have been signed during the company’s crowdfunding campaign that aims to raise £1.5m to help to fund the new initiatives.

To date, the company has raised more than £1.36m via the process that closes on 14th June.

David Bruce, chairman of West Berkshire Brewery since 2013, said: “This is a real turning point for us at West Berkshire Brewery. We are thrilled to have secured such a fantastic site in one of London’s most exciting areas.

“For the first time we can proudly serve our beers directly to custom-

ers. Our pub will be full of atmosphere and showcase a stunning range of beers and ciders from all over the world, including those we make ourselves. It will really put our brewery on the map.

“We’re just as excited to have signed an agreement for our new brewery.

"We have a fabulous brewing team who are full of ideas and our new equipment will enable them to let their creativity loose.

“It also means that we can significantly increase our production, allowing us to spread our wings further than our current distribution heartland; it’s truly an exciting time.”

Cask launches new line

purge heads, ten fill heads, and two can seamers. That is twice the pre-purge, filling and seaming features of Cask’s ACS machine, which has been popular with micro-canners since it debuted on the market in 2005.

The company’s new machine fills and seams 75+ cans/minute and 190+ cases/hour and requires just one operator. It features a revamped seamer system and an improved operator interface, and can be adapted to various can sizes in just minutes. Other options

for the ACS X2 include an improved automatic pallet dispenser and a can pre-rinse feature.

“Our customers around the world are experiencing huge demand for their canned craft beer and it’s creating production pressures for them.

"Many of them are faced with outgrowing our machines and having to make a four- or five-fold leap in price — and a giant leap in size — to buy the next level of canning gear,” said Cask founder Peter Love.

Cask Brewing Systems has launched the Cask ACS X2 (Automatic Canning System X2), which offers ten CO2 prepurge heads, ten fill heads, and two can seamers.

Calgary’s Cask Brewing Systems is offering a new canning line that doubles the speed of its fastest machine.

The Cask ACS X2 (Automatic Canning System X2) offers ten CO2 pre-

12 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

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BACK LAUNCHES SHEPHERD NEAME launches HOGS THREE HOGS ALE new SPITFIRE LAGER

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aversham-based Shepherd Neame has added a Lager to its Spitfire brand of beers.

The 4% golden beer, available on keg, has a sweet vanilla aroma, that features lager and brown malts, as well as Herkules hops.

Marking 80 years since the Spitfire’s first flight in 1936, the beer’s tap handle and textured gun metal font are said to be reminiscent of the iconic plane’s body work.

Spitfire brand manager William Upfield said: “In recent years there has been a huge growth in demand for real ales created using traditional brewing methods and locally sourced ingredients, such as our Spitfire range.

“Drinkers are now prepared to

experiment within the lager portfolio, which prompted our decision to launch Spitfire Lager. We hope that it will encourage a new group of drinkers to discover the Spitfire brand, as they enjoy the character, flavour and aroma of the refreshing new Lager of Britain.”

ogs Back Brewery gave its support to England’s Euro 2016 bid with the launch of a new beer, ‘Three Hogs’.

The 4% Golden Ale, that features Fuggles hops, is pitched as ‘a beer of two halves’ with hoppy character up front that is followed by a balancing bitterness and a hint of sweetness to finish.

Hogs Back Brewery managing director Rupert Thompson explained: “The Euros are going to be screened in thousands of pubs, with crowds of supporters rooting for England.

“There’s no better way to toast

A b e e r o f two h a lv e s Refreshingly hoppy upfront. Perfectly balanced with bitterness and a hint of sweetness to finish .

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ST AUSTELL’S PROPER BLACK IPA HITS TESCO

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t Austell’s Proper Black IPA has been stocked in Tesco stores from June.

The 6% black India Pale Ale features “mellow cappuccino notes” and was first brewed more than three years ago.

Chiara Nesbitt, beer buying manager at Tesco, explained: “I discovered St Austell Proper Black on a recent visit to Cornwall. It’s an absolute gem of a beer that

14 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

instantly caught my attention – as soon as I tried it I just knew we had to add it to the Tesco range.

“This is one of the best aspects of my job, being able to discover these little nuggets that are so different and exciting for our customers.”

Roger Ryman, head Brewer and brewing director at St Austell Brewery added: “We are delighted that Tesco has decided to exclusively list this beer for its stores as it is an unusual one for beer lovers.

“A Black IPA is one that stimulates debate, as it is a fusion of two beers that some people don’t think should be mixed. Its origin comes from American craft beer makers, who are synonymous with combining beer styles.

“I was inspired to try and brew my own when doing a beer tasting session at a bar in London, as it wasn’t something we had tried before at St Austell.”

4.0% a bv

the team’s triumphs, or commiserate if things don’t quite go their way, than with a pint of refreshing English ale brewed in their honour.

“We’d love to think that Vardy and Kane can lead the England team to Euros victory but, more pragmatically, we’d advise licensees to learn from the national team’s performance over the last 50 trophy-less years, and make sure Three Hogs is on tap for the group stage through to quarter finals, rather than the later matches.”

In addition, the brewery was offering a free pint of beer to any customer that visits its brewery shop in Tongham on 9th July had England reached the final.

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Spinks Compak Ltd promotes the PET advantage

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ET lightweight bottles represent a burgeoning opportunity for UK breweries, according to Leedsbased container manufacturer Spinks Compak.

Small pack beer sales are an integral way for breweries to ensure their beer reaches the widest audience possible, and the company says PET bottles are an excellent way for beer to get in the hands of even more drinkers.

With more than 30 years’ experience in glass and plastic containers, Val Speight joint managing director at Spinks Compak, believes PET has a key role to play in the modern landscape of beer sales.

It is clear that bottling beer in PET offers a number benefits for breweries that want their beer to reach more people.

“There is an insatiable appetite for good beer in the UK, and this is not confined to pubs, bars or in the home environment.

“PET offers a raft of benefits such as being lightweight, resistant to breakages and as a result, permitted for use in growth areas such as live music and sporting events. In addition to reducing carriage costs, it simply opens up an increased number of avenues and channels to sell your beer in.”

“We are across many industries and we bring that expertise to the brewing industry too, we want to support breweries, building quality relationships Val concludes: “The UK brewing industry is growing at a rate of knots and it’s a fantastic industry to be part of, and one we want to move forward with. We have a fantastic team to work with, excellent service on offer and as importantly, we love what we do."

Spinks Compak was formed in September 2005, the team that founded the company having over 30 years experience in the glass and plastics industry, specialising in jam jars, drinks bottles, Le Parfait preserving jars, food packaging and much more.

It carries a wide range of high quality, glass and plastic containers for multiple market sectors, with a huge choice of closures and fittings supplied by many of the top UK and European manufacturers.

"We’re proud to have been supplying British & Italian jam jars, beer bottles and other drinks bottles as well as food grade packaging, directly to the public, to artisan producers and large companies alike for over 30 years," they added.

They said: "Here at Spinks Compak, good oldfashioned conversation combined with a friendly and professional service sets our business apart. For our team, it’s an essential combination; as important to us as it is to our customers."

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a d v er t o r i a l

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• The latest innovation for the beverage industry • Multilayer barrier technology • Protects against oxygen ingress and reduces C02 loss • Maintains and preserves colour, taste and carbonisation levels, this can provide up to 12 months shelf life • Up to 85% lighter than the glass equivalents & more durable making them ideal for outdoor events, sporting venues festivals etc • Recyclable The bottles are available in both box and pallet quantities Spinks Compak currently supplies a wide range of plastic and glass bottles to the drinks industry

Available in Amber and Green in 330 and 500ml & Clear in 275, 330 & 500ml Emma.speight@spinks.co.uk Tel: 0113 2350662 www.spinkscompak.com July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 15

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XT BREWING CO BOOSTS CAPACITY AND MAKES FORAY INTO CANS

T Brewing is making its foray into cans and has also boosted its brewing capacity.

The Buckinghamshire brewery has invested in the new tanks to enable the production of more of the beers

in its ‘Animal’ range.

In addition, it has taken delivery of several oak casks for its forthcoming barrel-ageing programme.

Russ Taylor, co-founder at XT, said the investment in new tanks would allow the brewery to brew

more keg beers and continue to diversify with new recipes.

Two such examples are two new collaboration, its Donkey 4.8% WitBier and its Pukeko 4.6% Espresso Pale Ale. The former is an Anglo/Italian WitBier that is made with the innovative Italian Brewery BBBirra – based on the Bosaland farm in Sardinia.

Taylor explained: “ They make artisanal beers using locally sourced ingredients. Their head brewer Carl joined the team at XT and brought several of the speciality ingredients for the Wit beer.

“The pale cloudy wheat beer has a spiced edge and hints of orange from Sardinian orange peel. The beer is named for the 15 donkeys Carl has on his farm and who eat all his spent brewers grains.”

For Pukeko, it has joined forces with premium coffee micro-roastery in the historic Jericho neighbourhood of Oxford – Jericho Coffee Traders.

Taylor added: “Aided by the extensive coffee know-how of James and Lizzie, we have created a coffee infused pale ale: Animal ‘Pukeko’ named for their little delivery truck and New Zealand heritage. A unique flavour hit of coffee and topped off with a dash of New Zealand hops.”

XT will soon be releasing XT-IPA, its debut in cans. The 4.2% beer will be available in 330ml cans.

Windsor & Eton, Redwell, William Bros and Firebird winners at can awards

design and according to judges, made them smile “from every angle”.

Commenting on their double success, Kieran Johnson, production manager at Windsor & Eton said: “Going to the ceremony, I knew there were other beers competing that I loved and enjoyed so I wouldn’t have thought in a month of Sunday’s that we would win. It has been a real, but brilliant shock.

“I am personally very influenced by the US market. It has spent the last ten years showing the world market that the can is the way forward and I’m so glad that the UK is now following suit.

I truly believe that the can is the best format to preserve the integrity of the beer and make any beer look awesome.”

Featuring 13 finalists from an initial

130 entrants, the festival featured judges including Adrian Tierney-Jones and Annabel Smith, Lidl’s Ben Hume and Martin Constable, chairman of the Can Makers.

Constable explained: “Two years ago there were only a handful of UK craft beers available in can. We couldn’t be prouder that this festival has supported such incredible and positive market growth. We’d like to congratulate all the entrants and finalists who have done an amazing job showcasing indie beers in cans.”

Other finalists included Spicy Weiss from Earth Ale Brewery, Fourpure’s Oatmeal Stout, Northern Star Mocha Porter from Northern Monk, Freedom’s Liberty Pils and 1917 from The Little Beer Corporation.

Pukeko: Collaborative effort

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Windsor & Eton, Redwell, William Bros and Firebird have all been recognised for their canned output at the recent Indie Beer Can Awards.

The breweries were recognised across a number of categories with ‘Best Ale’ going to Uprising Treason

by Windsor & Eton Brewery, while Brotherhood Lager by William Bros.

Brewing Co sealed ‘Best Lager’.

Top of the ‘Other’ category was Fireweisse by Firebird Brewing Co while Uprising Treason also sealed the award as best “New to Can”.

Steam Lager from Redwell in Norwich scooped the accolade for best

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ASDA BROADENS BEER OFFERING WITH 25 NEW ADDITIONS FROM 13 BREWERIES

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sda has expanded its beer offering with 25 new lines from 13 breweries.

The supermarket chain is now offering beers from Deeside Brewery, Eden Mill Brewery, Jaw Brewery, Knops Brewery, Lerwick Brewery, Stewart Brewing, Loch Lomond Brewing, Wooha Brewing and West Brewery.

These join other new lines from Isle of Arran, Isle of Skye, Loch Ness and Kelburn.

Asda has worked with Craft Beer Clan on the expansion, which is worth £850,000 to the breweries involved.

Brian O’Shea, Asda’s regional buying manager for Scotland, said it was clear that customers are “trading up to more premium beers, particularly ones which come from local brands”.

He added: “The new lines we have launched are all premium quality and will give customers a new more local choice, with a variety of flavours to suit every palate and occasion.”

Heather McDonald, head brewster and owner of WooHa Brewing Company, added: “We are delighted to have secured our first major su-

Brewdog unveils Kingpin lager BrewDog has unveiled its new 4.7% lager, Kingpin.

The new addition, pitched as a 21st Century Lager, is brewed with Magnum and Perle hops, as well as Pilsner, Munich, Cara and Pale Malts.

BrewDog explained: “We have worked for months to develop our new Headliner, channelling the spirit of classic German pilsners into a king amongst knaves – a true twenty-first century lager.

“The recipe has been dialled in using our pilot kit and the ingenuity of our brewery team – with lagers, there is nowhere to hide and nothing upon which to fall back. And as with every beer, it begins with the malt bill.

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permarket listing with Asda thanks to our relationship with Craft Beer Clan.

“Although we’re currently one of the youngest microbreweries in Scotland having just celebrated our first anniversary, this new deal is a great example of the supermarkets commitment to supporting Scottish suppliers no matter how big or small the brand.

“Scottish provenance and taste is important, but what makes our lager and ales stand out from the rest is that we put a modern twist on traditional brewing by using scientific knowledge of microbiology to

create modern hop strains, alongside state-of-the-art equipment.”

Chris Miller, director at the Craft Beer Clan of Scotland, explained that the company works hard to promote Scottish craft beer at home and abroad, and said it was “fantastic” that it has been able work with a major retailer such as Asda.

“The craft brewing sector is renowned for its collaborations, so to be able to bring so many new brand listings to the supermarket stores across Scotland has been a great opportunity as we continue to build on Scotland’s reputation as a worldclass producer of drink,” he added.

“We wanted our new lager to have a robust, full-bodied malt character upon which to layer the hopload, so have developed a balance of Pilsner, Munich, Cara and Pale Malts to act as the baseline for Kingpin.

“This all-malt bill sets the bar for everything that follows, allowing a showcase for the Germanic hops.

Nothing extra, nothing unnecessary.

“Speaking of which, Kingpin is then hopped with a huge amount of Magnum and Perle. It may sound like an 80’s Eurovision entry but this double act is a quintessential German one-two of floral notes and spicy bitterness.

“The Magnum in particular brings a high-alpha intensity to the lager, resulting in a classically assertive Pilsner-style biterness to the finish."

Petrus beers hit UK market James Clay and Boutique Bar Brands have teamed up to launch Petrus beers from respected Belgian brewery De Brabandere in to the UK market.

The brewery’s Petrus Aged Pale, Petrus Oud Bruin and Petrus Aged Red are now available in both 33cl bottles and 30 litre kegs.

De Brabandere’s Petrus Aged Pale is 7.3% and is a 100% foeder blonde beer and forms the base of the Flemish red brown 5.5% Petrus Oud Bruin and the sweet and sour 8.5% Petrus Aged Red. The range from De Brabandereis also being offered in the ‘Petrus Sour Power Pack’ that comprises the three beers in addition to a bottle of 7.9% Petrus 50/50.

July~August 2016 | The Brewer's Journal | 17

ne w s

bu sine s s

DIVESTS HAWKSHEAD BREWERY UTOBEER WHOLESALE BUSINESS COMPLETES EXPANSION TO JAMES CLAY

C

umbrian brewery Hawkshead has completed it expansion. The move by the business is part of a two year plan that will enable the brewery to boost capacity by 40%, increasing from 10,000 hectolitres to 14,000 a year.

The project is designed to boost efficiency, quality assurance and output.

This comprises a new cold conditioning room, extension of its fermentation room, and new fermentation vessels purchased from

Moeschle UK. Alex Brodie, owner and founder at Hawkshead explained: “The demand from both the traditional and modern craft markets for head brewer Matt Clarke’s innovative and full-flavoured beers continues to outstrip our ability to supply.

“This expansion is not just about brewing more beer.

It is about brewing more styles of beer, and giving us more flexibility to experiment and add to the already crazily wide range of beers we turn out.”

SCHÄFER LAUNCHES 30-LITRE PARTY KEG

U

tobeer has divested its wholesale business to James Clay.

Employees at Utobeer will be retained and the company is confident that the move creates “a stronger support structure” for customers.

The company explained: “The unique suppliers that Utobeer is grateful to have worked with over the years will also stay with the business and both Mike and Richard would like to express their thanks to everyone who has worked in partnership with them over the last 15 years.

“Mike and Richard will retain their direct relationship with a number of suppliers, and look forward to those who will join, as the separate businesses of Utobeer (Retail) move forward.”

ST. PETER’S BREWERY LAUNCHES BLACK IPA

S

t Peter's Brewery has expanded its beer offering with the addition of a Black IPA to its 'Crafted' range of

S

chäfer Container Systems has debuted a new 30-litre party keg.

Guido Klinkhammer, business unit sales director at Schäfer Container Systems said demand for party-kegs continues to increase.

This goes hand in hand with the breweries being more prepared to offer the kegs to landlords and their guests as a possibility for tapping draught beer at their tables,” he explained.

The manufacturer said the utlisation of such vessels also breweries and other business, a raft of new possibilities for individual brand

18 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

presentation, personalisation and differentiation.

Klinkhammer added: “Particularly abroad, we have seen significantly increased interest in this.

"However, German breweries, too, want their products distinguished visibly from those of their competitors.

“In addition to the size, a range of coloured design elements can also provide a striking improvement to the appearance.

"And with our labelling and printing processes, we can offer these businesses a variety of additional branding features."

beers.

The 7% beer offers a hint of “raisins, sultanas, sloes and damsons and has an aroma of dark chocolate with vanilla notes” according to the brewery.

Steve Groves, head brewer at St Peter’s added that the new beer is ‘the Rioja of Black IPA’s’.

The brand new 4.6% St. Peter’s Cider is a refreshing, dry and crisp cider, pale straw in colour carrying a fresh uplifted apple aroma and a slight fizz on the tongue.

“Our new Black IPA continues our 20-year-old tradition of making the highest quality real ales, while the new bottle size will help us compete in the now highly competitive crafted ale sector,” said Steve Magnall, CEO at St Peter’s Brewery.

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MEE T

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BR E W ER

FROM CONCEPT TO EXECUTION

Brewhouses

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Canning & Bottling Lines

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20 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016 www.brewersjournal.info

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March~April 2014 www.brewersjournal.info | The Brewer's Journal 52

camra

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Shape The Future

~ FACTS AND FIGURES ~

CAMRA is in the process of consulting its membership in a bid to revitalise the association. David Harris looks at the role CAMRA has, and can play, in 2016 and beyond.

O

the pubs, wholesalers and off-licences. There was no DEVELOPMENTS legislation inFROM place to prevent the vertical integration of the industry which had begun back in the C19. In 1971 TO 1971 2016 the type of beers preferred by many pub goers

ver the next year or so CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), will be consulting its membership and shaping its future and by inference having a big effect upon the UK brewing industry.

CAMRA was BEER founded in 1971 and BREWERIES AND now has over 175,000 members In the 1960s and early 1970s most major which makes it one of the biggest single issue brewers reduced their traditional cask consumer groups in Europe. CAMRA has launchedale production and instead filtered and “Shaping the Future” which it calls its revitalisation project.carbonated their beer and dispensed it Thefrom project is a review of CAMRA’s purpose, kegs.

The market became dominated focus and strategy. CAMRA has balloted all of its by a few large brewing companies which, members about its future direction and will be holding by spending millions consultation events across the promoting UK over the their next few brands and by closing their are, smaller months. Amongst the questionsdown it is asking who shouldrivals, they bedeveloped representing: Real ale drinkers, all beer a complex monopoly for drinkers, beerkeg andbeers. cider drinkers, all drinkers? their In order to understand why this has come about one needs to go back 45 years to 1971 when CAMRA CAMRAThe defined ale in was founded.

UK beerreal industry was1973 then as: in dire straits Beer with six large corporations controlling 80% of brewed from traditional ingredients, beer production UK as wellfermentation as owning many matured in bythe secondary inof the

container from which it is dispensed, and

BEER REPRESENTED

71% 1970

OF ALL ALCOHOL CONSUMED IN THE UK IN

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8 THE REVITALISATION PROJECT

were cask conditioned ales flavoured with traditional English hops.

Thiswithout type of beer to by CAMRA as Real served thewas usereferred of extraneous Ale in order to distinguish it from the inferior keg carbon dioxide. ales which the big brewery corporations were forcing Maturation is atkeg thebitters heartsuch of the pubs to sell. The Ind Coope Double definition.

If the beerTrophy is unfiltered, Diamond, Whitbread and Watneys Red Barrel were highly carbonated, alcohol beers made with unpasteurised and still low active on the yeast, adjuncts.

The big breweries wanted to get it is real ale. It does not matter whether rid theof Real Ale which was more expensive to produce and only container is a cask or a bottle. had a shelf life of a few days compared with the low Beerfiltered, represented 71 per of all cost, pasteurized, kegcent beers. alcohol consumed in the UK in 1970, CAMRA was founded in 1971 by a few Real Ale lovers and grew a powerful organisation compared with to 36be per cent in 2014.

Most which campaigned against the big brewers.

CAMRA was beer was served on draught in pubs, successful in that the big breweries could see that whereas today is bottled orpoor quality there wasmost now abeer market for real ale. The canned.

Although beer’s share of the keg beers were largely phased out and now 80% of the 51,000 pubs inhas thedeclined UK offer Real Alepast with usually on-trade market in the to (with five cask The 15three years anconditioned increase inbeers salesonoftap. wine

and cider), cask ale has bucked the trend,

COMPARED WITH

36% 2014 OF ALL ALCOHOL CONSUMED IN THE UK IN

July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 21

t he

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camra

consumption. There is a tremendous opportunity to majority of ale sold in UK pubs is cask conditioned educate lager drinkers and get them interested in with Guinness and other stouts accounting for most other types of beer. keg ale sales.

C) New Beer Drinkers. I use the term “New Beer” However, the world has moved on since 1971. rather than craft beer as there is no agreed UK In the UK today there are over 1500 breweries, definition of the term Craft Beer. New Beer drinkers almost all of whom brew Real Ale. CAMRA estimates are younger and include women and ethnic minorities. that that are now around 11,000 types of real ale They are people who enjoy the diversity of beer styles available in UK pubs. Back in 1971 ales accounted and want to try new beers offering new tastes and for 93% of beer consumed with lager only taking available at higher strengths than the traditional 7% of beer sales. By 2014 lager made up 75% of English session ales. New Beer drinkers are interested beer consumption in the UK. As well as ales being in quality and provenance and not that bothered in decline there has been a huge change in drinking about whether beer is served from a cask, keg or a culture in the UK. Over 50% of all beer is now bottle. They are also just as happy drinking at home or consumed at home as opposed to only 12% in 1980. in a bistro or specialist beer bar than in a traditional There has also been a big fall in the number of pubs pub. in the UK with 27 closing every week.

If CAMRA wants to know what the future looks like The UK beer market is now made up of three then they should look to the USA and the rise of their distinct groups. craft beer movement over the last 30 years. What A) Real Ale drinkers. These are largely older, white we have seen is the USA transform from the land of males who like to drink Real Ale (mainly 4% abv. Best bland lager brewed by mega corporations to a country Bitter) in a pub. These are the core supporters of with 4269 breweries of which all but 44 are classed as CAMRA and are intensely suspicious of keg or bottled being craft breweries. beers.

The definition of a Craft Brewery in the USA is one B) Lager Drinkers. These are primarily younger that produces less than 6 million US barrels (approx. males who drink lager because it is heavily marketed 4.3 mill UK barrels) and it is what their friends drink. The ~ canned variety AND FIGURES FACTS ~ a year, is independently owned and whose main business is the brewing of beer. Craft tends to be very cheap and popular for home

A GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE BETWEEN

16 AND 24 YEARS OLD ARE CHOOSING NOT TO DRINK ALCOHOL AT ALL, OR TO DRINK LESS.

BETWEEN

2009 AND 2013

3,800 COFFEE SHOPS OPENED

COMPETITION AND

22 | TheCONSUMER Brewers Journal | July~August 2016 PREFERENCES

Economies of scale and lower overheads

AND

PUB

4,500 PUBS CLOSED

culture (up 16%). Discounting has also cut the cost of eating at home. A VATwww.brewersjournal.info anomaly benefits supermarkets, where not all food

camra

Since CAMRA was founded, and despite our success in increasing the availability breweries include of micro-breweries and brewpubs who and variety real ale, the population of the make up over 38% of US craft breweries.

British Isles shifted beer-drinking In the USA therehas is virtually no from cask conditioned ale buttothere is an enormous range of styles strengths a more continental tastes: inand particular, of beer available both in keg or bottle. Craft brewing growing love for wine. in the USA was initially influenced by English beers. number of people ManyAn US increasing brewers had visited England and tried between our ales16and wanted to produce something similar for and 24 years old are choosing not the to home market. drink at all, or to drinking drink less.

There isalcohol no tradition of session in the US so Between beers were made stronger and brewers began to 2009 and 2013, 3,800 coffee experiment to produce more distinctive beers. This shops opened and 4,500 pubs closed. If has led to the rise of “Extreme Beers” such as Double theBarrel current trendbeers continues, the coffee number IPAs, aged beers, flavoured with or of chocolate, hoppy wheat beers, rye beers and numerous coffee shops could overtake pubs in ten other variations. The most popular style of craft beer aremuch beginning in years. the USA Coffee is the IPAshop whichchains is generally stronger to than its Englishby cousin and alcohol, flavoured with Westacoast diversify selling posing further hops. Craft beer has about 12% of the US market but threat to the traditional pub. in parts of the West Coast the market share is closer to 20%. The anti-alcohol lobby has made ever If we want to ensure the prosperity thedangers 1600 more strident claims about of the of breweries in the UK, the vast majority of which have alcohol long-term health.

Despite opened in thetolast 10 then theAND future has to ~ years, FACTS FIGURES ~ lie evidence outside of the traditional pub. This means that that moderate consumption, keginand bottled and beers regulated need to be more accepted by a social environment, CAMRA and the beer drinkers they represent. benefits both be people’s wellbeing and but There will always a place for real ale in pubs there should be more opportunities for restaurants their communities, the drinks sector and cafes to serve bottled and keg beers made by has struggled tooff develop an A GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE BETWEEN small producers.

Many licences andeffective supermarkets counter-message. already sell local beers but with so much interest in

16 AND 24

local foods there is great potential for small brewers to increase their market share. I am always disappointed LEGISLATION when I go for a meal and ask about beer, only to be told thatregeneration theYEARS restaurant just offers bottled lager.

OLD NOT TO DRINK The ofARE the CHOOSING British brewing Rather than focusing on the perceived threats to ALCOHOL AT ALL, OR TO DRINK LESS. industry was principally a result of beer brought about by pub closures and declining CAMRA’s campaigning.

Legislation alcohol consumption by younger people, CAMRAaround should be looking at opportunities.

Many UK impact: brewing and pubs has had a mixed breweries such as Brewdog, Beavertown, Thornbridge good,have some not sothey good. have andsome Harviestoun shown that can We produce BETWEEN beers that are just asvigorously interesting in(and termswith of style and campaigned some strength as anything that is coming out of the USA. success) when legislation has threatened The challenge is to educate people that there is to have adverse the beer a beer for every occasionconsequences and to ensure thatfor a wide range of beers is available in restaurants, cafes and off drinker or pub-goer. licences. It will be interesting to see how the CAMRA In the 1980s, six national consultations shape upwith and what they see as brewers being the future for beer. beer and pubs the government dominating To read more about the CAMRA project go to: became concerned about the lack of www.camra.org.uk/revitalisation

2009 AND 2013

3,800

COMPETITION AND www.brewersjournal.info CONSUMER PREFERENCES Economies of scale and lower overheads

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THE PRICE OF AN ON-TRADE PINT INCREASED BY

187% BETWEEN

1987 AND 2011 BUT ONLY BY

52% FOR OFF-SALES

PUB

4,500

competition, the limited choice available Davidhigh Harris prices. is a freelance writer who lives onby the and In 1989, a AND report Hampshire/Sussex border. He is a member of the British theofMonopolies Mergers Commission Guild Beer Writers andand has written for various beer publications.

He also aboutintegration radio, music and local found that thewrites vertical news and is a music presenter for a community radio between brewing and pub retailing, station. known as the tie, constituted a complex

COFFEE SHOPS OPENED

t he

PUBS CLOSED

culture (up 16%). DiscountingJuly~August has also 2016 cut | The Brewers Journal | 23 the cost of eating at home. A VAT anomaly REVITALISATION PROJECT 11 benefits supermarkets, where THE not all food

C o m m en t

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F u n ct i o n al i t y

Importance of Integration David Ashmore, director at Norriq UK, outlines 10 key things you need to know before choosing a new business system for your brewery.

W

e all know that the British beer market has changed massively over the last few years and that change is set to continue, particularly with the growth of the independent craft breweries and the increased consumer interest in high quality, craft beers.

In a marketplace where change is a constant factor and trading conditions are tough, having a state-ofthe-art integrated business system solution in place for your brewery is vital.

Choosing the right fully integrated business system means greater efficiency and profitability for your brewery and provides the scalable platform on which to grow and expand your business.

Ask yourself the question; do your current business systems empower your business or are they holding you back? If they are holding you back then it’s time to start looking for a new business systems solution, but what are the key things that you should look for?

Go for a brewery-specific turn-key solution that is optimised and developed for the brewing industry.

Make sure that it has out-of-the-box, best practice functionality that matches your own business processes and covers the breadth of functionality that you need for your business.

Make sure you know the actual cost. Think about the Total Cost of Ownership including both direct and indirect costs and evaluate this investment over a number of years. This will give you the true investment cost and help you to avoid the danger of any hidden costs.

Go for a modern solution that will stay modern.

Your new business software must be able to be updated and supported for many years to come.

Choose a solution that is developed in a proven, future-proof technology that will continue to be invested in and developed.

Look for one fully integrated business solution. Look for a business system that can integrate your finance processes with sales, production and distribution.

Avoid having to duplicate data entry into different systems and benefit from having one version of the truth in one system.

Does it embrace change? Change is inevitable and happens fast. Six months from now the market will have changed and your business will have changed.

24 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

You need a business system that is flexible and scalable enough to accommodate these changes.

Is it modular? Start small or start big, but make sure you choose a system that allows you to focus on the functional modules that will generate the greatest value for you. Look to optimise your most important processes step by step, module by module.

Think mobility. As the need for flexibility, speed and accuracy increases, having mobile access to your business system from a mobile device is no longer just a nice to have option. Embrace flexible working on the move and ensure you have real-time mobile access to your business system.

Get the bigger picture. Go for a solution that provides rich management reporting options and has the capability to integrate smoothly with proven Business Intelligence tools. Better reporting means better decision making.

What about the cloud? Find a solution that can be delivered both on-premise and in the cloud to meet your specific needs and has the flexibility to move from one to the other should your requirements change. Look for a one-stop-shop; a vendor who develops and supports the software, implements your project and has the competency to host your solution.

Ask for references. Now that you have narrowed down the technology options, it is time for the litmus test. Make sure that the solution provider has delivered projects successfully that have solved similar business challenges for other breweries like yours.

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- ANDREW LEMAN, TIMOTHY TAYLOR’S

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! Read more customer stories at byworth.co.uk/explore/case-studies

www.byworth.co.uk

01535 665225

c o m m en t

f und ing

Assess the Options Working with a reputable finance broker will ensure that the business looks ahead by at least 12 months and keeps your options open, explains Gary Walton from Premier Leasing & Finance.

H

owever much you have you will probably need more. What am I talking about?

Money and all the forms which it comes in, leasing, loans, overdrafts, crowdfunding and development grants, the list goes on.

According to a recent survey, in 2015 the majority of breweries invested capital in their business and more than 50 of the 400 breweries questioned invested over £100,000. The bulk of this investment was for increasing beer production, upgrading equipment and improving transportation.

For a brewery that has cash in the bank, the temptation might be to use some of that capital to pay for the equipment upfront. There can be tax benefits, you don't pay any interest and if it’s important to the business you get ownership straight away. However, cash flow is critical to businesses and it is not always wise to tie up capital in this way particularly in a depreciating asset. Cash is king and it’s important to maintain a healthy bank balance.

It would be interesting to know how much of that 2015 investment was planned in advance, was it a year, a month a week or the day something broke down? With the best will in the world a brewery’s financial requirements are difficult to predict and even harder to get completely right.

If you take a trip round any brewery you may well see examples of money wasted; it could be a bottling line that constantly breaks down, out of date technology or kit that seemed like a good idea at the time. If all this was paid for out of cashflow, it’s money that’s gone forever and a potential burden on the company bank account.

The requirement for new or pre-owned equipment will often come from the “brewing” side of the business and it will be the role of the “business” side to decide if the purchase is necessary and more importantly how it will be funded. This is where the planning will come to the fore as the business anticipates the needs of the brewery. You will have a beer plan so why not a finance plan?

Many successful breweries have increased their business by selling nationwide and exporting

26 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

abroad. The need to comply with strict hygiene regulations and the customer’s demand for quality can mean additional testing processes, using specialist equipment. If these equipment purchases need to be made quickly and were not part of the original plan then a finance option becomes the ideal solution.

Working with a reputable finance broker will ensure that the business looks ahead by at least 12 months.

Unlike a bank, brokers do not just act on behalf of one finance provider, so they can be confident of placing several deals across their range of funders in line with your projections and requirements.

It’s a little known fact that there are millions of pounds of funding available via brokers from highly respectable, established funders who don’t operate on the high street. According to the Finance and Leasing Association in 2015 UK companies secured over £29 billion of leases from these funders for assets such as vehicles, IT, food and beverage production equipment.

This type of funding has unique features the brewery sector can take advantage of: The interest charged is fixed so you know exactly how much you will pay back and when, unlike a bank overdraft.

There is no requirement for a deposit unless you wish to pay one to reduce the level of funding.

Unlike the banks it is virtually unknown for these funders to take charges on property as security, it is not the way they do business. Their security is considered to be in the asset.

New-start breweries and those with less than 12 months trading are not precluded from funding.

The broker will do all the work for you, liaise with your supplier, negotiate the deal that suits you and help complete the paperwork.

A small increase in a monthly rental can allow the higher specification more efficient piece of kit to come into budget.

And the best feature of all: Decisions in hours not days or weeks!

Of course as with any good brew the best brokers add some special ingredients in the form of sector expertise. They will know your industry, work closely with equipment suppliers, have a presence at trade shows and keep in touch with you the brewer.

Good luck with your financial planning in 2016.

www.brewersjournal.info

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Agein g

Sour Power Fresh from their success in the barrel aged sour beer category at the World Beer Cup in Philadelphia, Thornbridge is looking forward to these beers reachers drinkers in the UK. Here, Rob Lovatt, head brewer and production director at the brewery, outlines his mantras when it comes to barrel aged beer.

I

recently returned from the World Beer Cup in Philly with my best haul of awards there to date as a head brewer and I still cannot still quite believe I pulled it off. We won the Gold with ‘Love among the Ruins’ and Silver for ‘Days of Creation’ in the barrel aged sour beer category. These are two iterations of the same project; our barrel aged sours.

A friend of mine, Alex Troncoso, founder of the new Lost and Grounded brewery in Bristol, sent me a message after the win: “What an amazing achievement! It is not an easy competition to win a medal, this is simply phenomenal!”

For me, this pretty much sums it up. This is my

28 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

fifth time judging at the WBC and the overall quality and number of applicants has increased dramatically.

When I first started judging in the first round, it wasn’t unusual to be able to kick out at least a third of the entries because of faults.

This year, whilst judging American sours, I remember sitting there being incredibly impressed by the quality of the beers and thinking that we would be very lucky to win anything.

Rewind back 5 years ago. Myself and Caolan Vaughan (now head brewer at Stone and Wood in Australia), who was my right hand man at the time, were busy trying to ramp up production and implement stringent QA systems to a good team who were not used to that way of working.

Going into any brewery and increasing production and changing the working culture can be challenging to say the least!

So, in order to relieve the stress and inject even more creativity, we decided, as a pet project, to do some barrel ageing in a small room at Thornbridge Hall. Caolan wanted to go down the route of big dark beer in wood.

This resulted in the Heather Honey Stout and an Imperial Oatmeal Stout. I fancied trying my hands at American-style sour beers, as I had always loved the Lambic and Oud Bruin styles, but was particularity impressed when I tasted Russian River’s sour beers.

The balance and complexity of these beers was simply sublime.

There are two mantras which I have when it comes to barrel aged beer: The beer should be better than when it went into the barrel.

With barrel aged beers and in particular attempts at sours, this is obviously not always the case and consumers are expected to pay a high price for the resultant ‘beer’.

We shouldn’t ask our customers to pay for our mistakes.

When I discussed the sour beers with my boss, we agreed that if we weren’t 100% happy about the final beer, we would ditch it, because I didn’t want

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barr e l

anything sub-standard going out into trade. Give me the remit of producing a Wit beer, Weiss beer, Stout, Dunkel, Double IPA etc and I pretty much have it dialed in on the first brew. However, with barrel aged sour beers, I was extremely apprehensive of getting it right and more than aware I might make mess of it.

Over the next five years I produced three batches in all, including the winning beers.

Batch 1, which we brewed and matured at the Hall, was packaged into 500ml bottles and labelled as ‘Sour Brown’. This beer was really well received and went down brilliantly.

No-one else in the UK had really produced a successful American-style Sour Brown and it was a real leap forward. But personally, I felt there was scope for improvement, as by the time we had bottled it, I had learnt a huge amount about the process.

Each time I learnt something new and changed something, I wrote it down, whether it be the EBU, the storage temperature, the timing and pitching rates of the bacteria and wild yeasts, how often we topped up the barrels, how much fruit, what type of fruit, how much residual extract to leave, the humidity of the room…the list of details that affect the final product is endless.

Records for making barrel aged beers are so important as you don’t really get to know what the effect was of a subtle change until up to a year later, so we were fastidious about this.

I think what was really key though was the blending. Prior to packaging, we did numerous blends to get it right. There were some barrels which were really funky and I think on their own, they would have been picked out as having faults and only desirable by the real sour connoisseur. However, blended back, they really gave the overall beer an edge; they were like the magic dust sprinkled over the blend!

We also blended back some barrels from the second batch which were a bit less sour, which reigned in the final blend and improved drinkability. It would be wrong to think I achieved this all by reading books and trial and error.

I also had a lot of communication with Vinnie

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Cilurzo from Russian River, who really helped me out with so many of the questions I had.

I think anyone who has had the pleasure of his company, or even just tasted his sour beer range, can vouch for the fact he is an inspiration.

Back to the World Beer Cup. After three days of judging, I decided to move on to check out Sierra Nevada’s new brewing facility, which was simply out of this world in every respect. To get back from Asheville, it was two flights back to NYC and I didn’t really want to travel back for the awards ceremony in Philly.

Although I was hopeful we had maybe won an award, I didn’t really hold out too much hope owing to the sheer volume and quality of competition.

I think there were entries from 1907 breweries from 55 countries this year and in the barrel aged sour beer category there were something like 120 entries.

So to actually get the call from my old mate Caolan, while sat in the airport waiting to return to England, that we had won gold and silver in one of the toughest categories, just blew me away!

I did have an inkling it was a good beer and sent a few bottles to friends a month before, who were all pretty damn good brewers, but had heard nothing back, so I was assuming that they were being polite by not saying anything!

I also had a visiting Lambic blender comment when tasting one of the barrels that he thought the beer had gone too acetic. Although he didn’t brew a Flanders style, it still sowed a seed of doubt in my mind.

It’s pretty common as a craft brewer gets bigger and more successful that a certain crowd can criticise you for being no longer being craft or that your beers weren’t what they were.

So you must forgive me for having a little chuckle to myself, knowing we cleaned up in the probably the hottest beer category for hipsters!

We sold out of the first small bottling run of both beers with most going overseas, but we have bottled more of the same batches now so you can get your hands on it very soon.

July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 29

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bottl i n g

Style and Substance Whilst delivering on quality and flavour is a no brainer and the necessary first step for any brewer to achieve success, it isn’t always enough on its own, and increasingly brewers are having to become more sophisticated and creative in how they package their beers. And for Rebecca Cocking from Friends of Glass, the answer lies in the name of the community she represents.

T

he need to deliver on quality and flavour are prerequisites of a good brewer and their brewery.

However, companies are also improving their proposition with the sophisticated and creative ways they package their beers. For many breweries, particularly in the rapidly growing craft beer sector, the answer to this challenge could lie with the iconic glass beer bottle.

Of course brand owners have access to a whole range of materials to satisfy the thirst and lifestyle requirements of their customers, but we are certainly seeing a return to the use of glass packaging as producers realise that it is ideal for preserving taste and keeping contents fresher for longer, as well as being endlessly recyclable. On top of this, the latest technology in glass manufacturing means that a bottle can be lightweight, adaptable and customisable to suit a brand’s look and feel.

With such design and technological possibilities available, it is little wonder that a recent survey by Mintel found that nearly half (47%) of craft beer consumers believe that glass beer bottles best tell

30 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

the story of the brand (as opposed to only 19% for cans). What’s more, a further 59% said that glass beer bottles had the coolest art/looks*.

Looking more widely at the drinks industry per se and its frequent preference to use glass packaging, we are seeing a trend towards marrying style with substance - a quality look and feel that is sometimes retro in appearance with the practical benefits that glass has to offer (taste and sustainability). This view is one that prompted award winning brewer Martin Barrell, head brewer at Barrell & Sellers to choose glass as his preferred packaging.

For him, the classic beer bottle is an intrinsic part of his brand, which has a retro vibe. His company has won SIBA awards for both the beer and his label, and he believes that the label’s design is integral to the bottle they use. He says: “The bottle is a foundation for us as it’s a key part of what we are about.”

The company has chosen a bottle to really differentiate itself from others on the market and one that suits the style of the ales they are producing. It is conical in shape, which Martin says was ‘last in service for ales in the 50s and 60s’. He explains: “We wanted a distinctive bottle and one that would work on a

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bottl i n g

c o m m en t

Jane Peyton, leading beer sommelier and author

practical level too. It’s an imperial pint size, which we felt was important as it’s distinctive as well as ideal when it comes to filling up a pint glass in a pub.

“We also wanted to create a traditional look that’s a bit retro and which appeals to old and young alike, and the conical imperial pint bottle does just that.

It is perfect for our ales, which are a range of beers common in the 50s and 60s such as Mild ’n' Bitter or Brown Ale. We looked at that period and focused on its traditions and now we also use pint glasses with dimples to accompany the ales and have also developed wooden crates for the bottles to fit into.”

Sold in Fortnum and Mason, the Barrell & Sellers brand is a very British one. Like the British, it is quirky in nature but at the same time represents quality.

“Using a beer bottle also helps us appear as a very British beer. People are always asking us about our sourcing and the fact that our beer bottles are made in Essex is really brilliant and perfect for our image. It just adds to our appeal.”

The Barrell & Sellers story is just one example of what a glass beer bottle can help achieve for a beer brand. Relatively low cost and simple in design, the conical imperial pint bottle they chose is right for the product. But one of the positive features about the glass beer bottle is its versatility in design, and its ability to help convey such a wide range of styles from modern and contemporary through to the more traditional. It can come in all shapes and sizes and the latest technology means glass manufacturers can customise bottles and create an individual bespoke

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image.

Jane Peyton, leading beer sommelier and author explains the versatility of bottles when it comes to branding and communication: “Bottles can offer so much variety. The shape of the bottle can be used to convey a brand image with some brewers adopting distinctive shapes that really stand out from the crowd.

“Also, as we are seeing more beers becoming popular as accompaniments to food, a glass bottle on the table looks much more elegant than a can of beer. Some brands use champagne shaped bottles and champagne corks to seal them, which look fabulous.

The cork can also be sealed in wax for added distinction and an air-tight seal.”

Charlotte Taylor, marketing manager at Beatson Clark Ltd, which manufactures beer bottles, explains that beer bottles don’t have to appear to be traditional in style. “There are so many ways to decorate a standard bottle, such as screen printing which is proving very popular with younger craft beer brands like Bedlam Brewery who are moving away from the more traditional look. The wide variety of shapes and decoration techniques on offer enable brewers to achieve whichever style suits their brand without investing in bespoke packaging or requiring high production volumes - we even have embossed beer bottles available from stock, so a brewery can buy a 330ml beer bottle with ‘craft beer’ embossed on the shoulder from as little as one pallet.”

And it’s not just the range of designs that glass

July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 31

C o m m en t

bottl i n g

offers brewers that makes it so appealing - the very nature of glass also draws in craft beer marketeers.

Sharon Todd, head of marketing at Ardagh Group, Glass, Europe says: “Glass has superior aesthetic quality and visual appeal. Of course we face competition from other materials but we are still finding that when we present the full benefits of glass as a natural, totally recyclable, visually attractive presentation, craft brewers appreciate the quality parallels that connect with the value of their own product.”

Paul McLavin, marketing and new business lead at glass manufacturer, O-I adds: “The great thing about glass is its versatility, in shape, colour and decoration.

Recent developments include the possibility to offer beer containers in black glass. This alternative gives a brand a distinctive appearance, that communicates style and quality, while offering even better UV protection, than the excellent levels delivered by standard amber glass.”

The latest technological advances also offer added benefits for breweries when it comes to production of beer bottles. In an age where many organisations are working hard to adopt more sustainable practices, light-weight glass beer bottles are proving a popular choice for many brewers. These lighter bottles save on raw materials while reducing carbon emissions.

Fiacre O’ Donnell, head of strategic development at glass manufacturer Encirc, adds: “Glass is already one of the most sustainable packaging materials on the planet. It can be recycled infinitely and techniques such as light-weighting make it an event more environmentally friendly option for today’s beer manufacturers.

“Many of the major glass container manufacturers will use a process called narrow neck press and blow to produce beer bottles. This process has enabled glass manufacturers to increase overall productivity and reduce weight and variations in the thickness distribution of beer and beverage bottles.”

As well as light-weighting technology, today’s bottle manufacturers are also employing the latest techniques to offer an increasing range of sizes, shapes and colours, as well as innovative bespoke containers incorporating premium decoration such as embossing. Embossing is one area that is coming back into vogue and has been given added emphasis due to new design software and production technology.

Sharon Todd explains: “We can reproduce very complex embossing to almost pinpoint accuracy using freeform software, ensuring that the design is replicated accurately in the cutting of the moulds, and so achieving quality and consistency. We can also apply many other decorative techniques using special inks and substrates, designing the bottle to suit whatever finish is required.”

Whilst the case for the look, feel and design of a beer bottle is an important one in helping a craft beer stand out as premium, one should not forget what the beer bottle offers brewers from a technical perspective.

32 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

When it comes to extracting oxygen from the vessel before filling with beer, glass bottles are often seen as the most effective.

Rob Lovatt, head brewer at Thornbridge Brewery confirms the risks presented by oxygen when other packaging such as cans are chosen instead of bottles.

He says that when bottles are not used, overcoming this problem is expensive. He says that his brewery has invested in a high quality bottling line to make sure that “the beer is packaged in a format that gives the freshest tasting beer possible.”

What’s more, for brewers who choose to bottle condition their beers, bottles are a good option and preferred by many brewers. Barrell & Sellers is a brewery who does just that, choosing to not carbonate their beers as they believe bottle conditioned is better.

“The sediment in the bottom, which comes from bottle conditioning, is something our customers like, and is part of our beer’s charm. Because we naturally condition our beers, we can’t use anything else other than a bottle. We are not just about style but we are also big on flavour.”

So it seems a beer bottle has a lot to offer today’s brewers - both practically and aesthetically. It can provide them with a lightweight, adaptable, customisable, sustainable and taste preserving vessel for storing and selling beer. The latest beer bottle designs can provide a canvas for any image you want to portray - whether it’s a traditional one or a more contemporary design, which can be followed through from the bottle to the label and closure.

Today’s glass manufacturing and decorating techniques allow more freedom for design than ever before. They can be dynamic and innovative, helping individual beer makers find a point of difference for their premium ales. As the market continues to become crowded, bottling it really does seem to make perfect sense. * Mintel Consulting March 2016 for Choose Glass

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July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 33

c o m m en t

P rin t ing

Craft of Canning

Marvin Foreman is Tonejet’s worldwide sales manager, and has been busy supporting the growth of a company on the verge of disrupting the craft beverage market. Here he gives his take on the market and where he sees it going next.

F

ollowing his appointment in 2014 as Tonejet’s worldwide sales manager, Marvin Foreman has been busy supporting the growth of a company on the verge of disrupting the craft beverage market.

Craft beer is a rapidly growing market and an exciting one to be in.

The increased variety of craft drinks being launched shows no sign of slowing, from soft drinks and energy drinks through to ready-to-drink spirit based cocktails and more. - Craft drinks are fast becoming a significant and growing percentage of the overall worldwide beverage market.

With growth, of course, comes competition and larger breweries and drinks companies have taken a keen interest in this market. Some have already diversified their own offerings to capitalise on this trend, and all are looking for creative ways to increase brand/product recognition and most importantly, appeal to the consumer.

Small batch beers have been canned in the USA for some 20 years, and this is undoubtedly on the increase in the UK too. But it isn’t without its barriers. Minimum order levels typically in excess of 150,000, continue to throttle a brewer’s ability to cost effectively grow their business by moving from bottles to cans.

Long lead times of 1-2 months and purchasing of excess cans, has also meant that until now, canning craft beverages hasn’t been an option for small to medium sized breweries. New digital can printing technology is addressing these issues, opening-up a whole new world of opportunity.... and not just for smaller breweries.

In fact, with limited edition flavourings or oneoff special brews, digital can printing meets today's beverage demands head-on. From a cost perspective alone, digital can printing is roughly 15 times cheaper than the label printing of cans often used as a short term solution to move from bottles to cans. Cans are a better solution for preserving the beverage from light degradation, as well as storage and transportation.

With the inherent nature of digital print and minimum orders of almost one, brewers are now provided with virtually limitless personalisation opportunities. Not only that, but as the technology is capable of printing several batches a day, product

34 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

time-to-market is decreased too, enabling brewers to respond quickly to seasonal trends or produce and can special brews for events or social media campaign, opening-up new business opportunities.

The ability to digitally print directly onto cans, also opens-up huge opportunities for larger brands/ breweries too. They can now cost effectively package their beverages in smaller volumes, with the printing flexibility to version or change the messaging on their cans as required.

By example, a recent Tonejet customer in North America is setting up a contract can printing company, buying in blank cans and printing small run orders for local craft brewers. With no order constraints, even before the system is installed, its order book was full for several months. They are already expecting to invest in a second system to meet demands!”

Tonejet, the leading manufacturer of advanced electro-static drop-on-demand digital print engines, called upon Marvin Foreman to help utilise its unique and groundbreaking digital print technology. Foreman is responsible for Tonejet’s worldwide go-to-market sales strategy. Part of this strategy includes educating the industry as to the business building and profit generating benefits of its technology. Foreman will continue to drive sales of Tonejet’s 2-Piece Can & Tube Digital Decorator, while further developing the company’s worldwide sales and service network.

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BEING INDEPENDENT SHOULDN’T MEAN DOING IT ALL ALONE A recent trip to Philadelphia for the Craft Beer Conference demonstrated that brewers may be catching up fast in their beer, but their business approach isn’t, says Jonny Garrett, marketing manager at Cave Direct Beer Merchants and founder of the Craft Beer Channel

P

eople are always telling me that the American brewing scene is five or even 10 years ahead of our own. I don’t subscribe to that – international comparisons can’t ever be that easy. For example, we are light years ahead in our cask beer, and I’m yet to taste an American

lager I’ve liked.

But my recent trip to Philadelphia for the Craft Beer Conference showed me one way that America is about 10 years ahead – the business of beer. I wandered open mouthed around the equipment expo, which was bigger than any trade show I have ever scene in the UK regardless of the sector.

Thousands of companies, all off-shoots of the insane growth in good beer, flaunted their wares in true American fashion. Neon signs glowed from every corner, rows tap handle lined each side of the aisles, hop growers gave out free samples of obscure new varieties, and several engineering companies had wheeled whole brewhouses in to show off.

All around the main hall at the epic Pennsylvania Convention Centre were countless seminars, focus groups and spontaneous meetings. We saw the great Michael Kiser of Good Beer Hunting give a talk on storytelling, watched debates on managing distributor/ brewery relations and, frighteningly, a talk on how to get the best price when selling your business.

Several of the breweries and distributers we met with said that a lot of the year’s business was done

36 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

at this event, because all the people you could ever want to meet are there in one place. It was all business, but true to the industry it was all done over a few beers.

After a few days I got the opportunity to interview Bob Pease, the CEO of the Brewer’s Association that organises the event. He’s worked for this non-profit industry champion since the mid 90s, so he’s seen the huge steps brewers have taken in the last 20 years, from barely a dot on the macrobrewers’ radars to 25% of the market by dollar. That situation still feels like dreamland for UK brewers with our railway arches or small warehouses. But we have to plan for it.

The biggest takeaway I got as both a marketer and a beer filmmaker/writer was that our brewers may be catching up fast in their beer, but their business approach isn’t. Obviously infrastructures and markets take time to grow, and craft beer has been held back by the absurd pub ties that restrict bar space, but our beer quality is way beyond our business acumen.

In some ways that’s brilliant. The last thing we really want are seasoned business men making corporate choices for small, family businesses. That would take the joy and potentially the creativity out of craft brewing.

But in a growing industry if you stay the same size you effectively shrink. Somewhere along the line we need some business nous to come into the industry, whether it’s in the form of an industry representative or just a more business like approach to sales and support in breweries.

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I found it bizarre to watch people revel in its failure though – even those against a definition of craft beer should recognise the need for small businesses to receive support. The UCB was seen as “big craft” promoting itself and declaring their own selfimportance, but could have been of huge benefit to the smaller guys.

Say what you will of Brewdog and Camden, but their sales force, branding, marketing, daring and unique business approaches are as important as their beer. To some extent it is the difference between them and smaller breweries with equally good (or better) beer.

These great, less savvy breweries are riding on a wave of popularity at the moment, but when that wave breaks many might need help staying afloat. We need a way to offer connections, ideas and products to people who are so busy they struggle to escape the mist of their own mash tun.

An industry body as well intentioned at the Brewer’s Association would go a long way to doing that, connecting people, educating brewers and customers alike, and most importantly helping with export. Being independent shouldn’t mean doing it all alone

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C o m m en t

Bre wer s

A s s oc i at i o n

Why the Great British Beer Festival matters to the Brewers Association The Brewers Association’s Export Development Programme (BAEDP) will be participating in this year’s Great British Beer Festival for the 12th consecutive year, showcasing the quality, innovation and diversity of American craft beer in cask and bottle at the Bières Sans Frontières USA and Nordic beer bar. Bob Pease, President & CEO of the Brewers Association, explains why it is important for the BAEDP to participate in the festival.

T

he Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) is a seminal event in the whole craft beer movement because it gave rise to the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the signature event of craft beer culture in the States.

GBBF was the inspiration behind the American festival when the Brewers Association’s founder Charlie Papazian and the late, great Michael Jackson first visited GBBF over 40 years ago and shared a vision of an event like GBBF happening in the States. This year GABF celebrates its 35th Anniversary and it all started with the GBBF, which is one of the main reasons why we participate in the UK festival.

The UK is one of our top export markets and GBBF provides a good opportunity for our Export Development Program members to showcase their beers in this country. It allows us to highlight beers that are already in the UK along with those looking to gain traction over here. Established, well-known brands will be poured as will lesser-known, oneoff and seasonal beers from innovative, small and independent craft brewers who are rarely, if ever, seen in the UK. Some of the gold medal winners from the World Beer Cup held recently at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia will be available for tasting and they will be making their debut appearance in the UK. Product packaging is a big part of a brewery’s brand and craft brewers in the States put a lot into their

38 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

packaging design so it’s important for the beer drinker to not only taste the product but see the bottle too.

We would like to see cans eventually allowed as many of our members package exclusively in cans and this format is becoming increasingly popular in the States and around the world. The trade session of GBBF is an important occasion for the UK beer industry to meet with US brewery representatives and importers to sample and discover new beers and explore the latest innovations in flavours, styles, ingredients and brewing techniques. American craft brewers have long been perceived as world leaders in brewing innovation and the standard bearers for quality and consistency. This year’s representative breweries at GBBF will be no exception.

Last year, 30+ BAEDP brewery members were represented at the festival and this year will see a similar number. The entire gamut of beer styles will be available from saisons, sours and witbiers through to imperial stouts, export stouts and porters encompassing the most diverse range of flavours, aromas, brewing techniques and ingredients at the vanguard of the American craft brewing movement. There are now more than 4,200 small and independent craft brewers in the U.S. representing 12% of the overall beer industry and we are on course to achieve a 20% share by 2020. In 2015 global exports were up 16% and the continued success of U.S. craft beer overseas is testimony to the growing demand for diverse, distinctive and high quality beer.

We aim to ensure our trading partners understand

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proper storage and handling techniques, shelf life and quality management to deliver the freshest possible beer in a world-class condition every time. There is a wealth of (free) resources to help brewers, distributors and retailers understand and enjoy craft beer. They are available for download on our website www. brewersassociation.org. Further materials can be found at www.craftbeer.com This year our Craft Beer Ambassador, Sylvia Kopp, will host a tutored tasting of American craft beers for 70+ trade and consumers on the Wednesday of GBBF at 1.00pm. Tickets are available on the GBBF website.

We are organising a number of satellite events around GBBF too including a beer and food pairing dinner with our Executive Chef, Adam Dulye and a U.S. canned beer event at The Kings Arms in Bethnal Green. The BA enjoys working with CAMRA and is very grateful for their continued support of American craft beers and allowing us to showcase a wide selection of bottles and casks. We have built a mutually beneficial relationship with CAMRA over the years and we like to think we bring an element of interest to the Festival and that it contributes to a larger international presence from many other countries that helps attract visitors to the festival and creates appeal.

We value our relationship with CAMRA and as long as their interest in US craft beers continues, we’ll continue to attend. We look forward to welcoming the brewing industry to the Bières Sans Frontières bar to sample our dynamic, innovative and inspirational craft brewing scene.”

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Swing and a Miss Brewing in Britain: An Illustrated History – Ken Smith & The Brewery History Society. Amberley. 2016. 128 pp. pbk. £14.99.

T

here have been a large number of beer books published in recent years which have been aimed at educating the consumer about different types of beer. There have also been some academic studies of the history of the brewing industry.

Therefore a book about the history of British brewing which is aimed at the general public should be welcomed, especially when it was part produced by the Brewery History Society.

However this publications is a bit of a curate’s egg. It is effectively two publications: the first is a brief history of brewing in Britain from earliest times to the present. The second part is a collection of old captioned photos of pubs, breweries and brewing ephemera. Unfortunately the two parts are not connected in any way. It is almost as if someone found a pile of old brewery photographs and thought that these might make a good book if some text could be added.

What we end up with is a rather sparse history of brewing with the first five brief chapters covering brewing from the earliest times up to C18. Almost every book written on beer feels the need to have a chapter on the origins of beer. This does not seem to happen with other subjects. Cookery books do not start with a chapter on the cuisine of Stone Age man. Subsequent chapters deal with the C19 industrialisation of brewing and the invention of lager.

The last 50 years which is probably the most interesting period of modern brewing history is covered in just five pages. The rise of small craft brewers over the last 20 years has been completely ignored. The book concludes with a couple of short chapters on pubs and bottling and canning which seem to have been added as an afterthought.

I did not feel that there was much in this book that one could not have learnt by going to Wikipedia.

The 170 old photos are reasonably well produced but there is no index. If one was interested in Fremlins of Maidstone then the brewery is represented with some old pictures but one has to plough through the whole book to find them.

The history of British Brewing is a fascinating

40 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

subject as was demonstrated by the excellent Brew Britannia which was written by beer bloggers Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey in 2014 (Aurum Press).

This book takes 300 pages to cover just the period 1971 – 2013. I think it is possible to write a general history of British brewing which would give a fairly detailed coverage of major events and still be of interest to the average beer enthusiast.

Amberley are prolific publishers and currently offer 67 beer related titles such as Brighton Pubs and Brewing in Dorset. These local history books are well researched and illustrated, combining local history with descriptions of current pubs and breweries.

Unfortunately Brewing in Britain does not really seem to meet the needs.

Reviewed by: David Harris David Harris is a freelance writer who lives on the Hampshire/Sussex border. He is a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers and has written for various beer publications. He also writes about radio, music and local news and is a music presenter for a community radio station.

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July~August 2016 | The Brewers Journal | 41

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W at e r :

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Heavy Hitter Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers by John Palmer and Colin Kaminski

T

his book is not light reading, which is exactly why it is a must have on any brewer’s bookshelf. It assumes the reader is a capable, if not commercial brewer – or is at least someone who can digest and apply the science of water to become one.

It’s to the point, meaning there are no pretty pictures or soft facts to distract the reader from their task at hand. The result? It delivers on its primary goal of improving the readers’ knowledge – admittedly through daunting science at times – and rendering them a better brewer.

Although Water is extremely useful for the seasoned homebrewer, it is possibly the commercial brewer who will benefit most from the practical applications of the author’s comprehensive knowledge (John Palmer, author of How to Brew and distinguished metallurgical engineer and professional brewer Colin Kaminski). For example, it does not dwell on the history of water within the brewing industry. Instead, it is focused on assisting the brewer in implementing, measuring and understanding water across the entire brewery.

Following a brief but informative look at the importance of the brewer’s water source, the section ‘How to Read a Water Report’ offers a brilliant point of reference for guideline ion levels, ion effects on brewing (including taste) and ion removal techniques.

Moving on to alkalinity, acidity and the mash, it’s here the practical application of this book really comes alive. Hard hitting at times, but unapologetically so, the reader is introduced to the concept of residual alkalinity and is offered mash pH recommendations and mash variable effects on pH. The following chapter brings mash acidity in to the equation with an abundance of literature, illustrating the relationship between malt colour and acidity and a comprehensive means to predetermine mash pH. Logically, the authors then catalogue and explain the varying techniques to control alkalinity, heavily focusing on liquor additions, before offering up a chapter on ‘Adjusting Water for Style’. At this point – two-thirds into the book – the authors have affectively supplied the reader with the science, math, reasoning and techniques to be a better brewer, including sections on the flavour effect of particular ions and how to build water from scratch.

Not to fall short of a topic often glossed over, Palmer and Kaminski move on to the more commercial

42 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

issues of ‘non-liquor’ water. Although at times a tad beyond the capabilities of many smaller breweries, the remaining three chapters nevertheless form an excellent starting point to those brewers wishing to expand and manage their brewery more affectively and produce better beer. Initially covering filtration, reverse osmosis, removing contaminants and deaeration, the technologies covered will seam distant to the majority of microbreweries. However the authors move on to cleaning and rinse water, chilled applications and dilution, illustrating the potential benefits of properly managed process water.

Water concludes with a fitting section on wastewater management, an area that will become increasingly important as successful microbreweries grow. This further justifies the subtitle ‘A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers’, not forgetting an extensive glossary and appendix.

Its fair to say I’d highly recommend this book, as it will improve your beer and overall brewery water management. Beware of the often complex, overwhelming science on show but stick with it and reap the rewards.

Review by Daniel McColl Daniel McColl is currently Head Brewer at a 20 BBL Brewery in the North of England. Previously Daniel worked as a Research Assistant on numerous research projects whilst at Teesside University and cites this as a critical time in defining his approach to brewing – science. His wife’s purchase of a homebrew kit some 12 years ago as another.

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Well Hopped!

Hop Factors & Merchants Since 1865 • Brewing Aids • Malt • Technical • Yeasts Advice • Flavourings • Innovations • Hops

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Brewers Lectures London This December we launch the first in an exciting series of talks we are calling The Brewers Lectures. The aim, is simple. To chanllenge the status quo of the brewing industry by offering alternative, provocative and inspiring views of brewing.

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hen The Brewers Journal launched last year, there were approximately 1,300 breweries in the UK. Now, less than a year on, that figure has grown to around 1,600, and it shows no sign of slowing down

just yet.

At that point, we approached breweries with an idea for a magazine and how we thought it would interest, inform, and entertain readers. People were receptive and for that we remain very grateful. So thank you again to the Beavertown, Fuller’s and Weird Beard, among others, for letting us look around, chat, and learn move about these fantastic businesses, and what drives them, ahead of that first issue.

As evidenced there, the level of innovation and invention taking place across the sector is astounding, but these success stories do not take place overnight. The effort poured in to breweries to make them sustainable is surely rivalled by very few other industries.

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Part of that journey is characterised by the drive to learn more about the craft of brewing, and the art of business. And one of the key reasons UK brewing remains on its upward trajectory has been the sharing of knowledge forged by the community and camaraderie that exists within the sector.

The Brewers Lectures are designed to complement this. To inform, educate and inspire.

Taking place at four venues 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.

With this in mind, we have made the conscious decision to keep the presence from manufacturer and suppliers in the lecture programme in the minority.

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Tickets go on sale 1 August priced £25 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

The Brewers Lectures will, instead, feature speakers 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 first three confirmed speakers for the London leg of The Brewers Lectures are:

Matt Curtis

Csaba Babak

A full list of lectures will be announced on 1 August.

Csaba Babak is the author of the critically-acclaimed new book, Beer Means Business, which takes a holistic view of the beer industry today. He has also held EU and global management roles in public policy and regulatory affairs.

Csaba will discuss the key factors driving the beer market, the challenges and opportunities ahead, and the sustainability of different brewery business models.

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.

The London Lecture is sponsored by Simply Hops... Simply the highest quality hops and hop derived brewing aids around.

Whole Hops, T90 Pellets and much more.

Everything you need to make great beer!

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?

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staying power

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Shepherd Neame has been brewing for a good 400 years more than the majority of the breweries in the UK. Under the tutelage of head brewer Richard Frost, and backed by a team with beer in their blood, the company continues to make its mark on drinkers old and new.

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eing a brewer is a great job: you get to make beer; taste beer; go to pubs and beer festivals; visit barley fields; and stroll through hop gardens – all in a day’s work.

Of course it’s not without its headaches. While our technology and systems may be state-ofthe-art, we’re operating on an historic site that as never designed to cope with rigours of 21st century

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brewing," explains an articulate Richard Frost. The head brewer, who worked at Marston’s for more than 30 years, joined Shepherd Neame in early 2012 and swapped the Midlands for Kent in the process.

Frost, like the rest of the team at Shepherd Neame, demonstrates a genuine enthusiasm for the beer they produce, how it is received by drinkers, and its place in the growing, wider UK brewing landscape. And since his arrival, the Faversham, Kent-based brewery is producing more styles than ever before.

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A particular point of pride for Frost is the introduction of the Whitstable Bay label of beers two and a half years ago. A project he steered to allow the brewery to put out beers that, in his own words, were less “Classically Sheppy”.

“Our biggest seller at Shepherd Neame is Spitfire, that’s our biggest brand, followed by Master brew, then then its from Whitstable Bay. We have our core range, and that’s what we focused on when I joined four years ago. But the challenge was, with the way the beer market is changing, that consumers are looking for wider choices, more choices,” he enthuses.

“And our core range are very much Shepherd Neame beers, Kentish style beers. They reflect the fact that Kentish hops were around in abundant supply around the brewery, East Kent Golding, Challenger, but very much Goldings. But we try to reflect that consumers want variety too, so with the Whitstable Bay we are doing that. The challenge was to move away from the Kentish character slightly. So the Pale in that range has Kentish Challenger for bitterness but we then add Styrian Goldings for a more delicate hop character to it,” he explains. “Its about making changes, but ones that will result in a good beer too.”

While there is also a red ale addition to the Whitstable Bay family in the works, the brewery continues to enjoy success with the expanding Spitfire range. Recently, a lager made its debut. The 4% golden beer, available on keg, has a sweet vanilla aroma, that features lager and brown malts, as well as Herkules hops.

And last year, Spitfire Gold was introduced. With this, Frost explains, there was a concerted effort to deviate from existing formulas.

"The traditional Shepherd Neame beers such as Spitfire and particularly Master Brew, are fermented to a low PG so you end with a not overtly malt character but they are more about hops. With this, it has a slightly higher PG, up at around eight or nine, with a little bit of oat coming through. We dry hopped with some Centennial that I really enjoy. It gives some citrus and tropical fruit, too. We also dry hop in cask with a little of of Saaz that gives a sherbet and freshness to it. I think the two hops work very well together.”

And with more than four decades of brewing experience, Frost has learned that when it comes to picking a beer to drink, his preference is “to not have a preference”.

“I am a firm believer on the important of the occasion,” he believes.

“So if it’s sat at home in the winter months then you’re looking a heavier beer, a sipping beer. But fast forward to Summer and it’ll clearly be a Whitstable Pale or a Spitfire Gold. Lighter, more refreshing. And I’ll happily drink lagers too. It’s strange, when I started out brewing in 1978 with Wolves & Dudley, there was a huge amount of Mild Brew around in those days. I absolutely loved mild, drank lots and lots of it, and lager was very alien to me then. But now, it’s a style I really enjoy, be it Whitstable Blonde or Asahi, actually

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50% of our own brewing volume is for lager,” he recalls.

It’s lager that plays such a key part in the Shepherd Neame equation in 2016 thanks, in no small part, to the beers the brewery produce under license. Alongside Oranjeboom, the team brews on behalf of Asahi in Japan and the Boston Beer Company in the US. And it’s a facet of the business Frost enjoys being part of.

“Look at it this way. I would much prefer our brewery to be full of our own beers and from a commercial perspective, that would be a better place to be as there is always a risk with a license that the brand owner may bring it to an end for any number of reasons,” he says. “The upsides for me is that we get other brewers coming over to the brewery and we get to tap into their expertise. When you meet other brewers, you always learn something. Yes, brewing has been around for a very long time, but there are always subtle nuances to discover.”

Shepherd Neame agreed the deal with the Boston Beer Company to brew the world famous beer under licence in Faversham in late 2011, the first time that it has been brewed outside the USA. Frost explains: “Boston Lager is brewed in a very traditional way matching brewing techniques used in Germany for many centuries. The first stage of the process is a decoction mash where part of the mash is boiled and then added to the rest of the mash to bring the whole up to the correct temperature for starch conversion. German hops are used in the copper to give bitterness and dry hops are added to the fermentation vessel to give a delicate hoppy aroma to the finished beer.

“Another traditional German technique, krausening is used during fermentation – this is where a small

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proportion of actively fermenting wort from a new brew is added to an older brew that has reached the end of fermentation. The process is carried out at low temperature and is designed to reduce the levels of diacetyl, a compound produced by yeast that has a butterscotch aroma. The beer has a very long maturation period of 28 days before it can be filtered and packaged – this meant that we had a long wait before we could assess the effect of the changes made to each trial brew.”

A good reputation for consistency in the UK is a big deal for the US firm.

“We have a conference call every week. Every Wednesday, 2:30pm without fail. Every single beer we brew for them that sits in FV for maturation, we go through the full analyses for. The whole lot. It’s a real, detailed approached and until three months ago, their president, Jim Koch would taste every batch,” he says.

“We send samples, they have two big breweries, one in Allentown, PA and one in Cincinnati and they would put the beer through both sensory panels at both.

But three months ago, he finally said he didn’t need to taste the beer anymore. That was our man from Delmonte moment!”

This, is a marked difference from the approach adopted by Asahi. Not that quality is any lower down the agenda for the Tokyo-headquarted business.

He explains: “We learn from them too. It’s refreshing, and very, very clean. They actually want the beer to have very little flavour. We had a challenge once where our scores were being marked down because our version was too hoppy, as their tasters could actually taste hops.

“It’s very interesting though in the way that the two businesses tackle quality. Asahi tend to leave us

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Head brewer Richard Frost: "There are always subtle nuances to discover in brewing".

alone. We send over samples once a month where they carry out all of their analyses and put it through their sensory panel and give us feedback. Once a quarter we have a review with them over here so they can deliver pointers and ways they think we can improve.

“We brew a range of international beers at Shepherd Neame so we are used to working with brewers from other countries but one of the really rewarding aspects of this type of project is that we always find there’s something new to learn about this fascinating process.”

It’s this desire to experiment that drives the beers produced on the brewery’s significant pilot kit. With a team of three shift brewers, they collaborate to roll-out beers that would not fit within the traditional parameters of other Shepherd Neame brews. Under the No.18 Yard Brewhouse moniker, the brewery has rolled out styles such as a cherry porter and more recently, its Hog Island East Coast Pale Ale. The latter derives it name from an area of the brewery site that was previously a small island in the town’s creek. This has become landlocked over the history of Britain’s oldest brewery.

While previous additions to the No.18 Yard Brewhouse collection have featured ingredients such as chocolate, chilli and mulling spices, the Pale Ale eschews Shepherd Neame’s tradition for using Kentish hops, instead opting for Boadicea, Amarillo and Cascade hops.

“Hog Island is a really exciting addition to the No.18 Yard Brewhouse collection. It is a refreshing, zesty beer which retains the malty character of the typical East Coast pale ale”, says Frost. “We have a great deal of experience around this brewery, it makes sense to use it, alongside our younger brewers, to

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create these new beers.”

To have even only a single takeaway from the team at Shepherd Neame is that their respect for tradition is matched only by their desire to introduce new styles, as much as the confines of being a large brewery will allow them.

And its the brewery's irrepressible communications manager John Humphreys, and tour guide for the day, that ablu demonstrates the passion the team at Shepherd Neame have for the old, and the new.

“In the 60s, there was an old guy here who was the brewery's production director. He was from Sunderland, I think.

"During his time also as a shift brewer, he earned a bit of extra money on the side as he had a HGV licence. He delivered to pubs late on on Saturday morning. Brewing first then heading out for deliveries after that. Once he went to a working men's club that was part of a local pit. There was actually a beer tank under the ground, almost like what many big companies have now,” he explains. “So he’d drive there, plug it in and fill it up. But instead of rising as he was filling up, the meter was dropping. Regrettably and apologetically he went in and told the staff the bad news that they must have a leak in their beer tank. ‘Oh no, he’s told’. It’s shift change at the local pit. He went up to the bar to be greeted by 30 pumps, each one being pulled and pulled. With the workers come down the lane, the door propped open, you’re looking at around 500 pints being drunk in that short session alone.

“Incredible, just incredible,” he muses, as if he was there to see it himself. And it’s that enthusiasm of the old, married with the push of the new, that continues to ensure that Shepherd Neame remains in safe hands.

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Solid Foundations

Lost and Grounded Brewers opens for business this July, however this story is more than twenty years in the making.

Featuring talent from across the globe, the Bristol-based brewery, founded by Alex Troncoso and his partner Annie Clements, want to create a name that is known as much for its people, as it is for its beer.

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he point of Lost and Grounded Brewers is that it is not about us, but the entity. It’s about creation, inclusion, and recognising that everyone has something to offer.

Everyone is equal. We need to remember that we are not curing cancer, we’re only making bloody beer. But that’s not to say that the beer we produce shouldn’t be amazing either.” It’s the end of another long day in the world of Lost and Grounded Brewers, but despite literally just racing in the door to take my call, Alex Troncoso and his partner Annie Clements, the brewery’s founders, are in a considered and

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contemplative frame of mind.

It’s mid-June. Six fermenters and a bright beer tank from Krones had arrived earlier that day, ahead of the brewhouse and more cellar equipment due the following week. And although the manifestation of Lost and Grounded Brewers continues to take on an increasingly physical form, the duo are still able to draw a line in the sand between how they want their creation to work as a business and equally, how they want it to act as a place to escape, for the team itself and for the growing legion of eager drinkers the brewer is accruing. And that’s before their first beer has even been brewed. They are busy creating a universe for their beer. Oh, and everyone is welcome.

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While you get the impression that the weight of expectation on the seven-strong team is something the duo would sooner avoid, the anticipation and goodwill extended to the them, long before their core beers had even been outlined, is something they are both gracious and appreciative of.

“We are firm believers that what goes around comes around. If you treat people well then you hope that you will be treated well, too. Whether that is in the present or in the future,” explains Annie. “We are trying to apply everything that has annoyed us in our lives and ask ourselves: ‘What is the opposite of that?’ and that’s what we are doing with Lost and Grounded Brewers. Everything we do has a basis in

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what is important and what is the right thing to do.

That ranges from how you speak to someone in the brewery, on the phone, or in the way you respond to a CV from a potential applicant. Don’t get me started on CVs. People and companies that adopt radio silence on CVs is one of those things. It’s so rude, just don’t do it!”

The name, Lost and Grounded Brewers, is carefully selected. As Annie explains, the whole point is to bring everything back to the people. Granted not everyone in the team is a brewer by profession but in this world, they are. They all have the same purpose and that’s what the duo wants to do, give people a purpose.

“If you have a purpose you feel more grounded. As brewers, we all have a purpose, it’s not about having a hierarchy. We just want to create something. All we want to do is grow a respected regional business.

Something we can end up looking back on in a few years and believe that we have established something special, and given people careers,” she says.

And who are we to argue.

The Lost and Grounded Brewers journey started more than 23 years ago when Alex got in to brewing.

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Alejandro Troncoso, or Alex as he has long been known, was born in Guatemala to a Chilean father and American mother. He moved back to Australia aged 22, where he would eventually meet Annie, in Tasmania to be exact. The couple met 18 years ago and having travelled to 11 different countries together, Annie’s passion is also in beer, despite holding positions away from the industry. That didn’t stop her beating Alex in a hombrew competition, however….

Alex’s journey in beer has been long and varied.

Upon graduating as a chemical engineer, he had numerous jobs he disliked, carried out hundreds of homebrews and enrolled himself in a Graduate Certificate of Brewing, joining the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and completing his Diploma in Brewing.

“Over the years I probably got rejected for something like 20 or 30 jobs in the brewing industry.”

His break, as he puts it, came aged 29 at a small brewery in Melbourne called Stockade but upon making cream liqueur endlessly, it was a sure fire way to zap the motivation of a brewer that had already been on the receiving end of seven years of rejection.

Following a six month tenure there, Little Creatures Brewing in Fremantle came calling.

He explains: “Whilst I was lucky to get this job, it

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was a big gamble for my partner Annie and myself: I had to take a significant pay cut after already taking a pay cut to get my first job in brewing, for the most part (as it was a junior position) we had to fund our own relocation and we would now be living 3,500km away from our friends and family.

“Little Creatures was an amazing experience and a unique training ground as not everyone gets the chance to work in a former crocodile farm on a beautiful harbour. The hop back in the brewhouse, the precision bottle conditioning and the unwavering insistence for quality was demanding.

“For the first few years I worked long weeks: 12 hrs+ a day, normally five to six days a week, but it was a labour of love as for the first time I was learning whilst making something in which I truly believed. I worked for Little Creatures from 2004 to 2012 and during that time we went from ca. 10,000HL per annum up to around 100,000HL per annum.

“They certainly weren’t easy years and we certainly had our casualties along the way as that level of growth and intensity is not for everyone. Eventually we were fully bought by Kirin in 2012 (they always had a 30-odd percent shareholding) and we decided to make a move to London.”

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Following the move to England, and a stint at Camden Town Brewery, the cogs in Alex’s head started to turn, and the question of what a long-term future in this industry would look like was ever-present.

“Was a life in London for us, or do we belong somewhere else? What would my ideal brewery look like if I could build it? What would our ideal company look like if we could make it? What is important to us? Can we make something special if we believe in ourselves? Will we be able to leave a legacy behind one day, giving something back to the industry we love, that has been so good to us?” he recalls.

While Lost and Grounded Brewers start brewing this month (July), the idea of the brewery really started to take shape 18 months ago. In that time, Annie would bound up in the middle of the night with names for beers or how something at the brewery could work.

“We’d be waking up at 2am with beer names, I’d shout ‘Running with Sceptres’ and after Alex stopped wondering what on earth I was on about, we’d both get up and start putting together those ideas. We have learned a lot from the US, Belgium, Germany and we have a great deal of respect for those styles. Those leanings have informed what we are doing with our

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Building the dream: Lost and Grounded Brewers, Bristol, 2016

beers and we will do the best we can with those.” she explains.

It wasn’t only the naming of the beers that played a key role in the building of Lost and Grounded Brewers but the artwork, too. And the dripfeed of these assets have been greeted with a palpable enthusiasm from the industry.

“All of these beers have been influenced by our collective past and styles with which we are fascinated.

We aim to take everything we have learned in our studies, travels and experiences to head in new directions. The past is exactly that: we want to create something new,” Alex says.

He adds: “For us, Lost and Grounded Brewers is now a place to belong, and an adventure that we want to share with all. When thinking about our branding we knew we wanted an illustrative approach that would reflect what we aim to create: a world that is fresh, friendly and curious. We chose to work with independent artists and designers to do this project, and particularly wanted to work with people who had little to no experience with brewing; we didn’t want past experiences to constrain new ideas. We love the diversity of branding in the UK brewing industry and really wanted to make our own mark.

"We were very excited when we discovered Alexia Tucker’s portfolio (alexiatuckerillustration.com) and have had a great time working together to give our

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initial range of beers an identity. We had a very distinct idea of what we wanted to portray and Lex was able to translate our vision and crazy notions into what we think has become something very special.

For the finishing touches they used local independent graphic designer Sam Davis (samdavisdesign.com) and said it was great to have the diversity of the team and are really excited with the results. On the beer itself, travel has been an influencing factor that will help define the Bristolbased team. People have long asked what the duo intend on making at Lost and Grounded Brewers.

“For me personally I am excited by the challenge of not repeating history, but rather trying to make new beers which I have seldom been involved in brewing such as Saisons, Tripels and Bocks. It is not about trying to imitate these great beers, but rather to take influence from these styles to create something new,” Alex explains. That inspiration has been expressed in the form of an initial five beers. ‘Keller Pils: Hop Bitter Lager Beer’, ‘Running with Sceptres: Special Lager Beer’, ‘Hop-Hand Fallacy: Farmhouse Ale’, ‘No Rest for Dancer: Hoppy Red Ale’ and finally, ‘Apophenia: Tripel’.

Initially, Alex explains, the team were going to do two beers but that didn’t sit well with Annie who deemed the approach ‘boring’ with a wry laugh.

It then became three. Then four. But following a

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conversation with Moor Beer Co’s Justin Hawke, who declared four as unlucky in some cultures, the magical five were settled on.

“The way it is working is that we thought about doing things a bit different,” he says, “What are we fascinated about? What do we enjoy? Belgian and German brewing traditions are among those but we didn’t want to brand ourselves as that, either. None of us are German, none of us are Belgian, we can’t trade on that, we are Lost and Grounded.”

These beers will be produced at the team’s Bristolbased facility. At 13,000sqft and 12 metres tall in the middle, it’s a big space but the old engineering works is not something they ended up in by accident. Having come across the site last February, the duo “rolled the dice” and drove to see it, deciding to go for it after only seeing the outside. Once all of the kit is in, the company, with storage, will occupy between 60-70% of the space, giving them space to expand, which is key for the team.

The Lost and Grounded Brewers team is completed by head brewer Stuart Howe (formerly of Sharps), brewer Catherine Bates (formerly Flowerpots), brewer Marc Marc Muraz-Dulaurier (formerly Mad Hatter), Samuel Curley (formerly Strawberry Thief) in sales and Mikey Harvey (formerly Hop and Berry) who will be doing kegging, deliveries, sales. The lot.

“It was important to us, to actually get diversity,

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the right people with the right outlook. I know how to make beer, Stuart knows how to make beer, so it was about getting the cross section of personalities in the team. Those things are hard to replicate, the organic mix that is hard to get,” enthuses Alex.

From the off, kegging will be the focus for Lost and Grounded Brewers, with in-house bottling being arranged at the time of writing.

“We are pretty much there. We don’t want to pasteurise the beer if we can. As soon as you contract pack, your hand is forced on that front,” he says.

In terms of distribution, there is a strong focus on the local. The team is also in dialogue with wholesalers for the UK, too. Alex says he is lucky that he has the contacts that have opened doors, but also believes that the hard work put in over his career is paying off.

“The circle has turned,” he claims.

Annie, however, is more direct.

“Our dream has always been to do this. It’s an opportunity for us all to reinvent ourselves. Focusing on what’s important and what’s different. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before. We are all created equal, and we all have a future.

“What goes around, comes around. We’ve put in a lot of hard work over our careers and we hope that now pays off.” And with his classic dry humour, Alex adds some final words of wisdom “The world is a small place, so always be careful who you piss off.”

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Beer Labelling 101

We’ll let you in on a secret: making beer in not rocket science, people have been doing it for thousands of years. But getting beer sold, now that’s where the true science begins.

Velo Mitrovich reports from the West Coast, US

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ou’re at a pub watching customer after customer ordering the same craft brew. You’re not surprised they’re ignoring the big boys’ lacklustre beers, but still the beer they are buying is nothing to write home about. All it has is a snazzy name, a great hip-looking logo, a bit of attitude, and…and…it that it?

It just might be.

Our parents and teachers pounded into our young minds that looks aren’t everything; that what really matters is invisible to the eye; that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Our parents and teachers were obviously not trying to market a beer. If they were, they’d realise it’s all about perception.

Have two wine bottles with the same identical wine in each, but have one bottle stopped with a cork and the other with a screw cap. It’s easy to guess which one people will say tastes better after sampling both.

In a recent European test, apple juice, breakfast biscuits, and chocolates were labelled either ethically produced or not. Same exact food, but most thought the food labelled ethically produced tasted better.

Swedish researchers did a similar test – with similar results – using ‘organic’ coffee.

Research from 2013 showed that most people don't

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know what "organic" really means, but that doesn't stop them from demanding it. Not only do people prefer food labelled with ethically loaded terms like "organic," "fair trade," and "locally produced," they actually report that it tastes better — even if the label is totally fake.

Why is this? How can packaging alone get customers thirsty for your beer?

A Japanese study in 2009 found that images on food and drink packaging/labels may affect the way consumers perceive and remember flavours. According to the team of researchers led by Masako Okamoto, not only does imagery on food labels modulate flavour memory, but any perceived similarity between the images and the flavours plays a vital role in flavour memory. [Okamoto most probably never saw a Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale label.]

The team found that the information the brain remembers about food flavour can be as important as the perceived flavour itself. “For example, when people select and buy foods, they usually cannot sample them, but must rely on recalling memories of the flavour,” said Okamoto.

She stated that since many commercial food and drink products are sold in packages that consumers will see in markets, “there is growing awareness of the importance of understanding how labels influence

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memory.”

To test this hypothesis, the researchers used 10 water-based taste solutions consisting of two to three of the five basic tastes in different ratios and presented them to test subjects with one of these food names: “lemon,” “coffee jelly,” “caramel candy,” and “consommé soup.” Forty-six participants tasted samples presented with either food-name labels or random number labels.

“We found that participants who tasted samples with food-name labels rated tastes with significantly higher liking and familiarity scores than those presented with random numbers, especially when the names and tastes were perceived as being congruent,” said Okamoto. “As demonstrated, food identity information presented as food-name labels influences the liking, familiarity, and, in some cases, perceived intensity of pure basic tastes.”

If you don’t believe this, take your best craft beer, stick it in a grey can labelled ‘Beer’ and then put it up against the same beer in a can decked out like something in 1980s Miami Vice parrot colours and called ‘Wastin’ Time Ale.’ See which one people say tastes better – or if nothing else, see which one sells better.

For all your hard work in putting something great tasting in a barrel, bottle or can, it almost seems

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lab e l s

m a r k e t in g

Top Five Label Tips: Whether you have two beers or 100, you need cohesion with your labels. See a painting of a fish and you instantly know it’s Ballast Point.

Your label needs to be ingrained in somebody’s memory the first time they see it, ie, Stone Brewing.

You want to stand out – but for the right reasons. You can be too clever with a label or a beer name.

Are you looking at a line extension or is this a completely new product? Which retail channels are you looking at?

Figure out ways to express your mission and ethos in a creative way on your label. This will help your beer stand out on the shelf and allow to customers identify with you, ie, Green Flash and the laid-back California beach mentality.

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beer

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criminal that what’s outside the container can matter more. But look at these figures from the States. In 2013 there were 2,768 craft brewers; at the end of 2015 that number was 4,269, and this figure is expected to continue to grow at the insane rate of two new breweries opening a day. This is what you’re competing against; so you’re going to ignore your label?

“As a brewer it pains me to say that it’s more important than the liquid inside,” Kevin Selvy, who started Crazy Mountain Brewing Company in Colorado, told The Denver Post.

Harvey Shepard, who runs a beer label website called ‘Oh Beautiful Beer’, echoes this thought. “In any market you will find design trends and themes and beer is no exception. But overall, breweries are recognising that consumers want quality outside of the bottle as well as inside.”

To get somebody to buy your beer, you can try to create consumer awareness about your brand, spend a tonne on marketing, social media, free offers, etc, or put some of that cash into hiring a professional graphic design company to make your beer stand out and bring in new customers.

Your father and grandfather’s generation stuck with one brand of beer, which tended to appeal to one demographic and income. Today’s craft brew drinkers have a totally different DNA. Not only are they

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knowledgeable about beer, they like to experiment and explore; what they’re drinking this month won’t necessarily be what they’re drinking the next. As they scan 50 brands or more in a supermarket, that label in a few seconds is the one shot a brewery has in sharing its quality and personality.

While you might be feeling lucky that you’re in the UK and not dealing with the same level of competition as across the pond, go into any one of the growing beer speciality stores and think again. Ignore your brand label and logo at your own peril.

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C a nnin g

From canvas to can Cans are fashionable and offer brewers the whole package on which to promote their brand. But what are the best options for decorating a can of beer – and what is involved in the process of transferring artwork from pen to metal?

Daniel Searle reports.

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I

t's no revelation that the number of independent breweries has shot up in recent years. The Brewers Association in the US recently counted more than 4,000 active breweries in the country, approaching the all-time peak registered in the 1870s. The UK government recently highlighted the importance of the brewing industry, with more than 1,400 breweries across the country.

Of course, that's great news for the brewing industry as a whole – although not necessarily such great news for an individual brewery trying to stand out amongst the growing crowd. Great beer is important, but so is eye-catching branding – particularly for packaged beers, where sampling a prepint snifter of a brew at the bar isn't an option.

Cans have emerged as the primary packaging choice for craft brewers, for a number of reasons. They're lightweight and can't shatter, which makes them suitable for accompanying the outdoor pursuits with which many craft brewers associate themselves – and from a branding perspective, they offer a 360-degree, top-to-bottom canvas for promoting the brewery.

There are three primary methods of decorating a can: conventional printing; digital printing; and applying a separate printed substrate to the can, such as a shrink-wrap film or pressure-sensitive labels.

Each comes with its own advantages and

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limitations – can manufacturers operating conventional printing lines will usually only set up the printing line for a minimum order in the hundreds of thousands; digital printing could hypothetically produce a different design on every can but is currently much slower than conventional printing; while labels have a different feel and appearance to direct printing.

As well as selecting the optimum decoration method, brewers are also tasked with creating physical or digital artwork and then understanding the process of converting it into can decoration 'in the round' – and so may choose to call on the expertise of both designers and can manufacturers or printers.

the brewers' choice

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aniel Lowe, one of the founders at London-based craft brewer Fourpure, has seen the advantages and limitations of using cans as a craft brewer. There are clear quality advantages, he says, including filling with minimum touch points – and economic benefits too, if a sufficient number of cans are being filled in a run.

This, however, is a double-egded sword, with the setup costs and lead times of can decoration operations preventing conventionally-printed cans being used for

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small batches of innovative beers.

Fourpure currently packs its beer in a series of eye-catching cans printed by Rexam, but they initially experimented with other options, says Lowe: “Very early on, back in 2014, we did a couple of runs of over-labelled cans. We have considered and reviewed this method, along with sleeving, however in terms of presentation and customer experience, the way the can looks on the outside is a reflection of the care taken inside. Often these methods can require additional handling of the cans which can impact quality of the finished beer.”

Currently, Fourpure works closely with Rexam and the can manufacturer's graphic department to get the best result from the printing technology – including the use of some special finishes and over-varnishes to give a tactile effect, helping to make the cans stand out even more. However, the brewery will always be open to new approaches, says Lowe: “Things are always changing – for example when some of the print-to-can companies come on-line, such as Tonejet, we’ll be looking to use that route for some special cans.”

Five Points Brewing Company also uses cans, using artwork from freelance designer Kate Lyons. The brewery is based in a railway arch in London, and so took inspiration from the Golden Age of Rail - in particular the fonts and the paper ticket stubs and their associated colours used in the 1930, says head

brewer Greg Hobbs.

Five Points also works with Rexam, who assisted the brewery in converting its artwork into metal packaging, says Hobbs: “It turns out that printing on cans is very different from printing on paper - our can manufacturer, Rexam, worked closely with us and our designer to ensure that the final product met our expectations.

“We opted from the outset to have the cans printed directly as we think it a better finish. This did mean, however, that we had to commit to a large run of each of the brands.

“Cans are a great format to get a brand across and increase brand awareness - the large amount of surface area creates opportunities that otherwise aren't possible with conventional bottle labels. There are some really striking designs out there at the moment.

The designs do have to be well thought out though as the printing process itself is more complicated and there is a smaller error margin.”

the view from the decorating line

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he European arm of a can manufacturer explains the process step-by-step of how a design makes its way from artwork to can, when using conventional can printing.

Firstly, the filler contacts the can manufacturer

Fourpure recently redeisgned its range of canned beers

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with a request, including their volume requirement and can size. The brewer – or its artwork agency – also provides their can design to the company's graphics team. Colours, and any additional effects – visual or tactile – are agreed, with the can manufacturer's reprographic team creating three-dimensional visualisations of the cans and ends to illustrate how the effects would appear on the can.

Once this initial stage of proofing has been approved, printing plates are prepared and physical proof-cans are printed.

Following further approval from the brewer, a printing trial will be conducted if the design includes a new VAP (value-added printing) element to make sure the cans print smoothly.

From there, commercial production starts, and the can manufacturer also provides expertise from its technical service team to evaluate each filling line and, if necessary, offer suggestions for optimised performance of the cans – and further customer service is also available after this point, explains the company.

digital revolution

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s with seemingly everything, from books to cigarettes, there's also a digital counterpart to conventional printing.

Digital printing systems, such as the one developed by UK-based Tonejet, use electro-static drop-on-demand digital print technology, and enable brewers, can manufacturers and co-packers to produce short- to medium-size runs of cans – at relatively high speeds and with lower costs, says Tonejet's vice president of sales and marketing Simon Edwards.

“Can manufacturers don't want to print a run of fewer than 250,000 cans, typically,” says Edwards.

“But many craft brewers want to fill runs of 50,000100,000 cans.”

While many craft breweries aren't large enough to justify reaching the minimum order of printed cans from can manufacturers, this also means they may not have the means to order a digital can printing machine. Hence why Tonejet is currently preparing to fulfill a long list of orders from the network of mobile canners and label printers that serve the US craft beer industry.

“We have partnered with Patent Machine Builders in Jacksonville, Florida to produce the machines. The machines have a total capacity of 20-25m cans a year.

The first machine is near completion has ready to ship

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to a customer in Indiana for custom printing operations – they take an order from a brewery, print the cans from their stock of unprinted cans, and send them to the customer.

“In the US, we currently have more orders than you could possibly imagine. A digital printing machine has a minimum cost due to the necessary components in the technology, but it offers big cost savings. Printed shrink labels cost between 18-24 cents a can – digitally-printed cans cost around 0.25-0.5 cents a can.

“Shrink-film is based on highstrength material which makes it expensive, plus the applicator and heat-shrinking process represents an additional cost. For our customer in Indiana, we expect their return on investment period to be less than 18 months.”

Tonejet's machines currently operate at 50 cans per minute (cpm) for 16oz cans, up to 100cpm for 12oz cans – slower than conventional printing, but still fast enough for larger breweries to use the technology for smaller runs of promotional cans, says Edwards.

The aim for the future is to increase the speed of the machines to closer to 500cpm, he adds.

it's a wrap

T

here are more than 500 craft brewers using cans in the USA, and many are prohibited by the minimum order of cans required to be able to order from can manufacturers and therefore use conventional printing.

Resource Label Group operates across eight manufacturing facilities in the US and Canada, providing brewers with printed labels for application on beer cans.

“Some of our breweries have their own artwork completed and TTB approved,” says the company.

“They may work with a local designer who helped them establish their brand to begin with. We do have in-house designers that will work with brewers to create a custom design based on an idea that they may have. We are used to working at different levels – some need assistance and others prefer that we work with their designers. Regardless, our art department often has to adjust the artwork so that the design prints correctly based on printing process of the label, what substrate is being used or if there is different

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Tonejet technology: Disrupting the digital equation

embellishments that are requested.

“We always provide proofs to make sure it represents what the customer was looking for. When selecting the right substrate, printing capability and application of labels, we take the hands-on approach when working with brewers to decide what is the best fit for them.

There are many things that can affect how a label is printed – quantity, the environment that the label needs to withstand, application process, substrate being used, number of versions, and so on – so our staff provide recommendations on the best method to print based on the customers’ needs. This allows us to provide them an amazing label for their brew that meets their expectations.”

However, printed labels are not just for craft brewers with limited capacity, says Resource Label.

“Almost any size brewer can use printed labels rather than using only pre-printed cans. It allows breweries of any size to introduce into the market

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seasonal brews that have a limited release. For breweries that are just starting out and cannot commit money and storage space to a full truck load of cans with every brew, using labels allows them to can multiple brews with just one truckload of cans.

Our Brew Wrap label provides the feel and look of having no label – giving the customer the impression it was pre-printed.

“For example, our customer has been able to fill six different seasonal brews and limited releases with just one truckload of cans. This has allowed them to avoid buying the 1.2 million cans that normally would be required to put these six brews into the market.

It also provided them with the flexibility to only order the amount of labels needed for each brew; reducing the inventory space required and capital required.

“Buying the labels added a cost to the can but the savings come from being able to introduce small runs of cans into the market cost-efficiently. This helps

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with rotating seasonal brews and reaching a wider market.”

There are a number of technologies available within the process of printing the labels, explains the company.

“Digital printing has really allowed for smaller customized runs of labels. While digital technology is not new, a printer who has the more up-to-date digital presses can run a lot more efficiently, quickly and therefore more cost-effectively.

Our company invests in upgrading our technology – for instance we just recently updated many of our HP Indigo presses. One of our facilities expanded to three digital presses. Digital offers high-quality print, variable art, short lead times and no upfront plate costs.

“Variable printing allows the brewer to individually customize a label – sometimes with a code or even possibly a design. Breweries can print multiple versions of the same label on a single roll.

“There are a range of additional decorative options, including hot foil, embossing, screen printing, and so forth. Having many options for embellishments gives the customer the flexibility to explore different options and for the label manufacturer to provide the best option based on the design.

“Our production teams are also constantly looking at new substrates and how best to run them. We often will modify existing equipment or add a module to a piece of equipment to be able to run different substrates.

We keep abreast of the new materials coming out and the most cost-effective way to run them on press. Materials range from the no-label look of the Brew Wrap product, textured papers, real wood and holographic foils to name a few.”

brand assistance

F

or mobile canners and co-packers, being familiar with all the available can decoration options is key to providing the most suitable solution for brewers – and that includes offering advice and auxiliary services to assist the design process.

“There are a lot of passionate, brilliant brewers

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in the industry – but that's not just what sells beer,” says Andy Hughes, director at UK-based co-packing company WeCan. “Branding is a lot more important than some brewers realise. We do a lot of work not just in filling cans but also in branding at small volume – we say, give us the beer and the artwork and we'll do the rest.”

A popular option amongst craft brewers currently is pressure-sensitive labels. WeCan work with packaging supplier MPS to produce labels developed specifically for cans, designed to offer improved adhesion to metal. The labels can be digitally-printed and also have a specific texture – and can be applied by the company to silver, black or white cans, enhancing the overall effect.

“Two years ago, a pressure-sensitive label would have been seen as a subordinate choice – whereas now, it makes the brand stand out and emphasises the craft nature of the beer.

Even a major brewer like Fuller's, for example, which has the capacity to use runs of conventionallyprinted cans, uses pressure-sensitive labels for its canned craft beer brands.

“We supply the cans with the labels already attached - this gives much better adhesion and finish than if the labels are applied after filling, as cans can be wet after the filling process.”

WeCan also offer runs of direct-printed cans from its supplier Rexam, and also can provide shrink-wrap labels – although this option is more expensive, notes Hughes.

The issue of capacity and producing sufficient beer to justify a canning run is one that is borderline for many craft breweries, he says: “Whether a brewer opts for pressure-sensitive labels, direct printing, or shrink-wrapping, WeCan offers assistance on converting artwork into an eye-catching can, says Hughes: “We provide documents to guide the brewers on what is possible, what works well, and so forth – they can also work with an artwork designer for closer assistance. Particularly printing straight on to a can is a complex process, so we can take on the role of the designer for them.”

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h ygiene

Cleanliness is close to Godliness Starting later this year, The Brewers Journal will run a series of features that place the spotlight on areas of CIP, hygiene and sanitation across the brewery landscape. In this piece, we speak to some leading manufacturers and suppliers to focus on some of the key trends and developments taking place across this spectrum.

M

aintaining a clean brewery so that it can produce a consistent, top quality product is at the heart of the business, no matter what the size of the concern. From small micro breweries to the larger companies producing thousands of barrels a week, there are on-going hygiene, regulatory and business challenges that they all face,” explains Nick Edwards from Holchem.

And it goes without saying that regardless of the changes taking place in the industry brewery hygiene is still of paramount importance to breweries.

“Consistency is key and brewers need to ensure that the product they are delivering is in top condition, and meets the customers’ requirements. The pressure is high to ensure that this is maintained because if the end customer isn’t satisfied, then they will simply buy another product, and the repercussions will be clearly felt in the sales figures,” he adds.

Edwards says: “This isn’t a ‘trend’ confined to 2016; it’s one that is a constant in the industry.

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Contaminants in small numbers can become a bigger problem during the production process, and cleaning and disinfecting thoroughly will help deliver a high quality beer, delivering customer satisfaction and avoiding the potential for loss of revenue.

“There are a relatively small number of microorganisms which can spoil the quality of the beer, but the relatively small numbers have the potential to have a devastating effect on the end product, severely altering flavour and taste or causing the beer to go cloudy. It’s key to remember that there is no one solution to cleaning and hygiene and it can’t be bought ‘off the peg’.”

According to Edwards, the company works with its clients to ensure they have a sound bespoke hygiene management system in place, which is a complete, method to manage their hygiene operation on site, both for open plan cleaning and cleaning in place (CIP) and its system complies with all known industry standards.

“All parties have to understand that it is a package of the relationship, knowledge, experience, and quality products blended with application skills that solve problems. No mater what the size of the brewery

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h ygiene

we provide a full range of products and technical ‘know how’ to maintain the consistency that the end customer is looking for, and expects from their purchase,” he says.

“The industry is becoming more and more competitive on a daily basis with a high level of NPD and companies are fighting to gain the trust and loyalty of the end customer. A high standard of hygiene is a key factor in helping them produce a top quality reliable product that will help them gain the advantage, and create a product that is second to none.”

For Gary Shaw, managing director at Flextech Hose, the hose industry that it operates in is highly commoditised and price orientated. It’s full of mainly poor quality hoses that are not suitable for what they are suggested to be used for and are not fit for purpose.

“Many of the poor quality hoses are imported and sold/advertised as being suitable but are not. They don’t comply to legislation. Many people unknowingly buy poor quality hoses due to being Illy advised by hose companies or people who don’t actually understand hoses. They’re there to make quick cash,” he stresses.

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Shaw pinpoints PVC, which has been certified as safe to use for food and drinks production by European legislation, however this is a certain grade of PVC. He explains: “The PVC hose/tube people are buying to brew their beers etc is almost never this grade and so would not comply. PVC is a petroleum based product that leaches. Plasticisers are what make PVC hose flexible and when a PVC hose becomes stiff and discoloured it means the plasticisers and other chemicals have leached into the product being conveyed. The discolouration comes from the beer permeating the hose.

“The dangers of using non-hygienic hoses are well known. For example most PVC hoses are made from materials that can leach into your product. The plasticisers and Phthalates found in PVC hose can contaminate your products and even affect the look and taste. Furthermore it is also possible that your final product may be contaminated to the extent that it is not fit for human consumption which could have a significant impact on your business and reputation.

“However, new legislation is in place to help prevent this misconception of what is or is not a suitable hose.

This is because there are many types and variations

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of hose available in the current marketplace, some products are marketed and branded as FDA / Hygienic and can be manufactured from inferior compounds often as a result of importing cheap products from other countries.

“Cheap rubber hoses are also problem in the market. Manufacturers use fillers such as chalk to enable them to sell the hose cheaper. A simple test to see if a hose has chalk in it is to flex it and the chalk will start to come through the hose.”

One way the company is combating these issues is its Brewflex product, which was designed over an 18-month period to create, as he explains, a truly unique, high quality product.

It is manufactured in a clean production area on automated machines that use a 316L stainless steel mandrel. This results in a highly clean and pure mirror finish, smooth, butyl lined hygienic hose. It also has an exclusive anti-friction, easy-clean cover enabling it to be moved around a brewery easily, eliminating issues with cumbersome long lengths.

Shaw explains: “I had a conversation with the owner of a brewery who said to me: “In the end, a hose is just a hose isn’t it?” And I replied: “Isn’t that like me saying your beer is just like any other beer?”

Well, I certainly don’t believe this, and I know you don’t! So why is it that people believe a hose is just a hose?

“The look, smell and taste are all things that make a beer distinctive and the same goes for hoses: the ingredients they’re made from and the way they’re formulated defines the individual qualities they offer.

Unfortunately, to a person who doesn’t understand beer or hoses they would argue that they are all the same, however they couldn’t be more wrong. We know your product is special whether it’s a beer, a spirit, a wine, a cider or a perry and our brewery hose is too.

I believe the term ‘high quality’ has lost its value and has become a generic phrase for promoting hose products. If I were to tell you that many of the ‘hygienic’ hoses available in todays market were manufactured on dirty, uncleaned, greasy steel mandrels, where foreign particles have been found in the hose liner you wouldn’t believe me… but you should.

“We deal with about 200 or so breweries now.

We’re seeing an attitudinal change slowly emerging.

More and more brewers and breweries are opting for hygienic hose solutions.”

Elsewhere, come of the major challenges for brewers are to make safe quality beer that maintains consumer confidence, while meeting retailer expectations and minimising both costs and wastage.

This, Hygiena International explains, has been achieved in many microbreweries by using a simple rapid test, to determine the hygienic quality of their production equipment and working surface areas.

Langham Brewery has been using Hygiena International’s cleaning systems since 2008. ATP testing is a simple and affordable test method that verifies cleaning effectiveness in seconds.

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The brewery, situated between the West Sussex towns of Midhurst and Petworth, has used a raft of cleaning systems from Hygiena International since 2008.

Central to this is the range of SystemSure Plus that enables the brewery, run by Lesley Foulkes and James Berrow, to carry out quick and accurate ATP testing of surface areas.This simple method of testing verifies cleaning effectiveness in seconds, and is based on the detection of organic residues on surfaces and in water samples using a bioluminescent reaction.

The manufacturer offers pen-shaped test devices that contain a modified firefly enzyme that reacts with organic material to produce light. This is then measured in a handheld meter, a luminometer, which is about the size of a TV remote control.

The luminometer converts the light output into an RLU number (Relative Light Unit. The lower that number, the cleaner the surface, or less contamination in the water sample if a CIP system is being tested.

Langham Brewery relies on quick turnaround, and as soon as a tank is emptied it is immediately deep cleaned ready for the next beer.

Its ATP meter indicates what is clean and also, what is not clean. If occasionally a higher ATP level is indicated, another caustic cleaning cycle is undertaken.

This can take place until the score gives confidence that the vessel is clean enough to ensure the quality and consistency of the next brew.

The attention to cleanliness has resulted in Langham Brewery, established in 2005, being picked by the Food Certification Body SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) to trial a new brewery focused standard for beer, “SALSA plus Beer”.

The standard, launched last year, allows small breweries and bottlers across the UK to follow a dedicated standard that gives confidence to customers and retailers that their beer is safe, as well as of excellent quality and consistency.

SALSA helps raise quality and compliance standards within the sector while also providing increased confidence for both retailers and ‘on trade’ buyers.

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sc i e n c e

H op

P rod u ct s

HOP INSPIRATION Hop products can have a role to play in all sectors of brewing, from homebrew to craft to the multinational brands, to acheive brand consistency and balance, explains Colin Wilson, managing director at TNS.

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hen Totally Natural Solutions was founded just three years ago, the aim of creating high quality hop aroma products for craft brewers was a novel concept. The hop industry was at that point dominated by four main players, all active for many years, leaving hop products the domain of the industrial brewers, not adding anything of value to craft beer.

The initial perception of many craft brewers, some of whom experienced an emotional response to using hop products, was that use might compromise the ethos of craft, or de-skill the role of the brewer, or taste artificial.

This was almost the polar opposite of our thinking at TNS. In our minds, craft beer required the benefits of hop products to be innovative, consistent and cost effective. Just one issue stood in our path to create top quality hop extracts that delivered maximum impact. We needed to develop the thinking for extraction methods to deliver Hop Inspiration for Craft Brewing!

Like any new business our message took a while to take hold. Brewers, many of whom had no perspective of how and why to use hop products, operated in a world where hops were

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readily available and affordable. So the hard work began in earnest, spreading the knowledge and sampling the HopInspiration range of products to brewers, with attendances far and wide at brewing events such as Brau, Craft Brewers Conference, IBD, EBC, Trends in Brewing and many others.

Through our distribution partners: leading UK based hop merchant Charles Faram, Caldic in the Baltics, Hopco in Australia, Prodooze in Brazil, Ricardo Molina Group in Iberia: we were in a position to test the HopInspiration range of products far and wide, uncovering further the complex nature of hop aroma, and the global variation in hopping regimes.

The “Craft” industry is hard to define but we have observed trends such as: innovative hop breeding programs for flavour (rather than bittering), the consumer acceptance of hybrid beer styles, a wider use of a range of botanical extracts the demand on brewers to offer many beer styles in their craft portfolio.

Whilst TNS products across the HopInspiration Range address these needs for the craft brewer, some brewers remain sceptical about using hop extracts.

However, regardless of solid business plans, regardless of our best efforts to spread the gospel of hop, there are times in any business when things just

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H op

P rod u ct s

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Bitterness

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Hop Aroma

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Foam enhancement

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Microbiological stability

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need to evaluate

F

ast forward several months and the cyclical hop market is experiencing another shortage, just like it did in 2007, and 2003 before that. With only a few large merchants dominating the industry the games of supply and demand are played out and craft brewers with no contracts are put to the end of a long line. All their hard work in developing exciting new beers with proprietary owned hop brands comes back to hauntthere are none available.

And so the interest in hop products grows in all sectors of the brewing industry, but especially in craft brewing where aroma hop use is at highest levels.

Most new brewers haven’t had the need previously to contract for hops, purchasing on the spot market and as such developed flavoursome beers using all the high profile, in demand varieties, such as simcoe, galaxy, citra and amarillo.

But with demand sending hop prices soaring, many brewers have now to reassess how they hop their beers. Factors such as availability, security of supply and hop utilisation are all suddenly very important from an economic standpoint whilst a solid quality perspective needs to be retained.

The constant desire by brewers and consumers to drink flavoursome innovative craft beer is certainly

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Differentiation of beer types and brands

• •

fortuitously come together. Our watershed moment arrived with no prompt when Sierra Nevada, that beacon of craft, launched a new beer called Hop Hunter. The label proudly proclaimed the beer was made using hop oils and the office phone began to ring...

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Contribution to body & mouthfeel of a beer Improvement of haze and flavour stability

here to stay and means education in using hop products is becoming widely accepted as a further tool for many craft brewers to consider.

Used correctly, and in an informed manner, great quality, flavoursome beers can be made using hop products. Hop products can be used to replace, to add balance and top up aroma or flavour and also to improve consistency. They are also affordable and available, and with the hop shortages likely to continue for a few years yet knowledge is power.

hop flavour and aroma

H

ops, though only added in relatively small doses during brewing, have a very large impact on the sensory aspects of the beer flavour. Simplistically the hop α-acids impart their bitterness and the essential oil of the hops delivers aroma.

Whilst the chemistry of hop bitterness is wellknown and so the desired bitterness intensity can be specified in an accurate way, hop aroma is far more complex. The complex chemical composition of hop oil and insufficient knowledge of the behaviour of these hop oil components during the brewing process, means the hoppy aroma of beer is still ill-defined.

The aroma of hops, tested by brewers on the rub of cones, is clearly different from the resulting hoppy aroma in the final beer and moreover, the hoppy aroma can be attributed to the complex synergistic interactions between the various aroma active components in the beer flavour matrix. Brewing is part science but continues to be part art!

This is all very important when developing a hop product, to balance the science whilst still offering

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H op

P rod u ct s

Example of chromatogram of hop pellets (cv. Magnum)

the brewer a product they can create points of difference with. The use of hop products, with flavour contribution from different malt and yeast gives a near infinite spectrum of beer flavour and aroma.

So we can conclude hop products have a part to play in modern brewing across all sectors of the industry and it is of interest to note that currently 50% of all hops grown end up as some type of hop product (usually bittering extract).

what are hop products

H

op Products are essentially standardised liquid extracts of hops, added at various points in the brewhouse to improve utilisation and consistency. Hop products come in many forms with effectively 3 broad ranges available across the various suppliers.

All are designed with the same aim: namely to independently add reliable hop aroma, flavour and bitterness to beer. They all improve the utilisation of the hop components and so have an economic benefit also.

This increased hop utilisation has many advantages, even without the shortage currently in play in 2015a shortage that looks set to continue through crop 16 and maybe 17. Improved utilisation improves a breweries working capital in hop inventory. It can increase plant throughput and increased capacity in the maturation.

So doesn’t it make sense to evaluate what hop

74 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

products are out there and how best to use them in your beer?

As such we demonstrate how to use hop products effectively and flexibly to develop new flavoursome beer across a range of beer styles.

hop products - types of products

T

he Hop Cone contains the hop essential oil that imparts aroma and flavour to beer. Use of hops in brewing, traditionally in late and dry hopping, can be simply thought of as an extraction of these hop oils. A hop product, made only from hop cones, could be considered a further tool in the brewers kit, for strategic use in times of shortage, or to reduce production costs, or to add aroma to a beer where it might otherwise be lost in the brewing process.

Bittering extracts - these are extracts of the alpha acids of hops. They are added either to the kettle and boiled, or added post fermentation. Those added post fermentation already have the alpha acids isomerised and so can be easily added to give a standardised IBU. Problems with light struck flavour can also be avoided by using some of these extracts, as the iso-alpha acid has been further modified.

Aroma Extracts – these are the “dry hop” extracts, containing volatile hydrocarbons such as myrcene, caryophyllene, humulene from the hop oils. Noticeably they contain no hop polyphenols so have no haze forming capability. These hop aromas are best added

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Addition in the brewing process

post fermentation, where they are retained in the beer and can be added at concentrations to develop aroma consistency and intensity, without overpowering.

Significant advantages in replacing or reducing dry hopping include the removal of beer adsorption losses, the reduction in steep times and the predictability of the resulting aroma from an addition of hop product.

However, if overdosed to the beer an unpleasant metallic character can be detected, as the drinker experiences sensory overload of hops.

Flavour Extracts – these hop products, akin to “late” hopping, contain higher levels of the oxygenated components of hop oil and provide some hop aroma, but mostly a pleasant varietal hop flavour. They can also be a hop character such as citrus, floral or spicy, which alters that specific flavour independently within the beer, offering much tuneability. A further advantage is often increased mouthfeel and body perception. Perceived bitterness can also alter, whereby a “stronger” IBU may be detected by the drinker, allowing the brewer to reduce the alpha acids addition if desired.

Specialities – these range from specialist fractions of hop oil (high geraniol rose, tropical fruit esters, grapefruit/citrus) to blends of natural extracts with hop (such as elderflower, lime, blueberry, chocolate, coffee). They contain no fermentable sugars and so can be added post fermentation to the beer to impart

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the desired flavour. Coffee Stout, vanilla porter, Cherry sour, the list of possibilities is long indeed.

how to use hop products

A

ddition of a hop product is best made post fermentation to a holding vessel into which the beer is then transferred, resulting in adequate mixing. Addition can also be made direct to cask or firkin also.

Addition can be as simple as direct charge via a manway, or through a dosing pump.

Generally speaking post fermentation dosing to beer at 10-20grams per hectolitre equivalent is a solid start point. Depending on beer style this dosage can be altered, with lighter beers requiring often less and IPA taking up to 60grams/HL equivalent before losing the subtle hop flavours and aromas.

Using hop inspiration

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single wort stream can be differentiated in many ways.

For Homebrewers, HopInspiration takes the form of a 50ml foil pouch. Homebrew Solutions are widely available and offer a huge point

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Beer style

H op

P rod u ct s

Functionality

Hop Product

Dosage

Lager

Add hop flavour. In IPL beer styles aroma can be added using HopBurst.

Most suited to the HopShot and some light stable bittering from HopAlpha

Lager- HopShot Citrus, 20grams/HL. Or 10grams/HL HopShot Herbal and 10grams/HL HopShot spicy. Hoppy Lager (IPL)- try 10ml/HL of HopShot IPA, 5-10ml/HL HopBurst Floret.

Pilsner

All late hop flavour.

Add noble hop aroma

HopShot and HopBurst

HopBurst Saaz Type, HopBurst Howitzer, 5-10ml/HL

Wheat Beer

Add classic orange and HopPlus coriander notes, Other variants such as lemon and ginger, or chilli could be considered.

HopPlus Witbier 20gram/HL.

Pale Ale

Hop Flavour

HopShot Spicy, Herbal

10gram/HL each of the 2 HopShots

IPA

Hop Aroma intensity.

Bitterness.

HopBurst Uncle Sam, HopShot IPA. HopAlpha Rho or Iso

As all esters yeast strain dependent production. Higher temp. fermentation > more ester. High yeast pitch rates - less growth > more esters.

Other yeast stressors affect levels.

Stout/Porter

Mouthfeel, hop aroma

HopPlus, HopShot

HopSensation Midnight Blush at 15gram/HL

Speciality

Natural fruit flavours and blends of botanical extracts with hop.

Natural Sensations, HopPlus

Dose into seasonal at 10-20gram/HL Xmas Ale, Pumpkin Spice, Gooseberry Sensation, Elderflower Sensation.

HopPlus SourKraut for cherry flavoured sours at 10-15gram/HL.

of differentiation for the homebrewer. Using a simple bucket arrangement the HopShot or HopBurst can be directly added to the brew vessels and gently stirrer to mix. The addition to the fermenting wort can result in some interesting fruity esters being developed by yeast bio-transformations, but addition post fermentation will give a rich hoppy aroma in the end beer. A single base beer can be changed in individual bottles by addition of the desired hop product direct to bottle prior to crown capping.

In brewing craft beer anywhere from 1hectolitre to several hundred hectolitres a post-fermentation addition of HopShot and HopBurst can take beers into a new dawn of flavour and aroma consistency and intensity. Initial work needs to focus on balance in the beer and hence optimising dosage rate within the complex beer flavour matrix. Initial steps usually involve a bench top dosing of a breweries base beer.

Results can be obtained in an afternoon with fine tuning then required depending on process steps such as pasteurisation or filtration (or their absence).

A popular introductory step for newcomers is to dose hop product direct into a barrel for a beer festival- for example taking the brewery standard Pale Ale or Lager and altering the flavour and aroma profile. See table for some ideas to get started with.

For regional brewers and industrials the addition

76 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

and use of hop products usually employs specialist equipment to control dosing rates across the beer volume. Additions in line offer god mixing and dose rates can be administered accurately. Sensory evaluation and analytical data can then be collated for the final beer.

results

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reating a balanced beer is an aspirational goal, often hard to achieve. When balanced a beer has a drinkability that means consumers drink more, sales increase, and a brewery becomes successful. Hop products can have a role to play in all sectors of brewing, from homebrew to craft to the multinational brands, to achieve brand consistency and balance. They key measure of success is simply is the beer one a consumer wants to buy a second pint off.

The new advances in processing technology allow volatile hop components, often lost in brewing, to be retained and so offer a wide spectrum of interesting natural hop products for innovative brewers to use.

Given hop shortages and ever increasing demand for hops awareness of hop products offers brewers a vital tool in their armoury.

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sc i e n c e

P e d i ococc u s

Friend and Foe Pediococcus is a genus of Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria (LAB), belonging to the family of Lactobacillacea. They are, as Timothy Woolley, technical director at Pura DX explains, considered facultative anaerobes, and will use aerobic respiration to produce energy if oxygen is present but will switch to fermentation when oxygen is low or absent, they are non-motile and do not produce protective spores.

P

ediococcus are homofermentive, in which they utilize glucose to produce lactic acid (using the Embden-MeyerhofParnas pathway). However metabolic end products vary according to the conditions provided, typically beer spoilage Pediococcus produce diacetyl as a major byproduct.

The genus Pediococcus consists of the following species: P. acidilactici, P. pentosaceus, P. damnosus, P. parvulus, P. inopinatus, P. halophilus, P. dextrinicus, and P. urinaeequi. Of which P. damnosus is considered the major beer spoiler.

Pediococcus as with some other LAB have been used as probiotics for many years both as food preservers such as in sauerkraut, kefir, khadi, soy, and dry sausage, as well as a pre-culture and flavour

enhancer in some cheeses and yoghurts. Off flavour properties which include the production of a butter and butterscotch is actually used to enhance the flavour of some beverages e.g wine (esp chardonnay) and cider. Pediococcus is also a major component of a lambic beer culture and can be bought either as a sole inoculant or in a sour beer inoculation mixture along with Lactobacillus.

In addition to their acid producing properties LAB also produce antibacterial proteins known as bacteriocins which have been found along with pH to act as affective preservatives, and since the safety of chemical preservatives have been questioned the use of LAB and their metabolites is generally accepted by consumers as something natural and healthy. As such fermented foods are currently seeing a resurgence in popularity.

There are about 20 gram positive lactic acid

Pediococcus Domain: Bacteria Phylum: Firmicutes Class: Bacilli Order: Lactobacillales Family: Lactobacillaceae Genus: Pediococcus

1: Pour 3-8ml beer/wort directly into the FastOrange tube 2: Incubate tubes at 20-27oC for 2-7 days 3: Beer spoilage bacteria turn the broth orange/yellow

78 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2016

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P e d i ococc u s producing bacteria that have been identified as beer spoilers, of these Lactobacillius brevis is the most common, however Pediococcus species and especially P. damnosus are also a major issue, even more so as its presence in spoiled beer been under reported.

Pedioccocus damnosus was originally named Pediococcus cerevisiae, this was later changed to damnosus, by Claussen in the early 1900’s. A further species of Pedioccocus called claussenii has recently been described as a new beer spoiler as has Pediococcus inopinatus.

Approx 60-90% of beer spoilage incidents are linked to LAB, among the most prevalent of these is Pediococcus damnosus, which between 1992-2002 accounted for anywhere between 3-31% of spoilage incidents per year. It must be noted however that Pediococcus species can be hard to cultivate using traditional microbiological media and either media that has been optimised for Pediococcus or the use of DNA technology is now being used to improve detection rates.

Beer Spoilage by P. damnosus is often characterised by diacetyl formation along with lactic acid production, the amount of diacetyl is often very high and detectable even at low bacterial levels. Because of its ability to grow even at low temperatures spoilage can occur in the fermentation and maturation stage of beer production as well as in bottled products.

Pediococcus contamination is also a problem in pitching yeast, as the bacteria is thought to bind to the yeast cell and is difficult to remove.

Some Pediococcus bacteria are now so specialised as a beer spoiler that some forms cannot live outside of the brewery.

direction

P

ediococcus are difficult to detect using traditional culture methods and often require specialised media, because of its propensity to grow at low temperatures the optimum culture temperature is 22-25, unfortunately Pediococcus can in fact often fail to grow even on specialised media including de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) as well as Raka-Ray media, the media often recommended for beer spoilage LAB. Therefore new types of liquid culture media are now being widely used. This type of chromogenic media (colour changing) relies on the ability of the bacteria to produce lactic acid which turns the media from one colour into another, making detection easier and often quicker (FastOrange), than waiting for the bacteria to form visible colonies.

Other LAB detection methods include the detection of gas produced by the bacteria (SpeedyBreedy) and probably the gold standard, the detection of Pediococcus DNA and/or the beer spoilage genes themselves that are only found in spoilage LAB (BrewTek).

Highly specialised bacteria such as those found in the brewery are now known to be very fastidious

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and exhibit hard to cultivate characteristics, it is therefore suggested that incident reporting has been underestimated and in fact P. damnosis could be far more prevalent than current data suggests.

Similar to other beer spoilage LAB, Pediococcus are are perfectly adapted to the brewing environment, there is some evidence that certain elements in the brewing process actually promote the growth of these bacteria. In some cases the bacteria have lost the ability to utilize a wide range of sugars and rely on the brewery almost as their sole environmental niche.

Several factors appear to be critical for the inhibition of Pediococcus is beer samples, of these pH and Hop Acids are amongst the most well known, low pH promotes the antibacterial affects of hop acids, however it has also been found that a tiny increase in pH (0.2) can reduce the efficacy of hops acids by as much as 50% and therefore closely monitoring pH can aid in the reduction of beer spoilage opportunities.

Carbon Dioxide levels are also critical in the reduction of Pediococcus infections, beer with low levels of CO2 have been found to particularly susceptible to spoilage, e.g. cask or Nitrogen gassed ales. However the usual rapid use of this type of product may mean that the product is used before an infection becomes obvious.

hop resistance

B

ecause beer spoilage bacteria can be hard to culture and the fact that beer spoilage can often be caused by a mixed population bacteria, often only those bacteria that are easier to grow that are identified. In addition to this some bacteria that will grow on media may not actually be beer spoilers and the brewer must rely on the experience and judgment of the microbiologist to tell them if the bacteria grown will produce off flavours.

Because of this there maybe some over reporting of spoilage attributed to one or two types of bacteria and under reporting of others.

However the discovery of ‘hop spoilage’ genes carried almost exclusively by beer spoilage LAB has meant that even if the type of beer spoilage LAB is not known the brewer will at least know if the bacteria found is a spoiler or not. The advent of DNA technology now means that those species carrying the genetic markers of spoilage can be quickly and accurately identified even if they have not yet been described in the literature.

Those genes, termed horA and horC, give protection against the antibacterial affects of hop acids, and are therefore critical in the bacteria survival, however their role in spoilage may be wider than is generally accepted and these genes may also enable bacteria to survive in high alcohol environments.

Because of this, spoilage gene detection technology such as that being used by Pura Diagnostics means that beer spoilage bacteria can be quickly identified,

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P e d i ococc u s

results can often be ready in 48 hours which is several days ahead of even the best culture methods.

There are a fair few theories to how hop resistance came about, and depending on what level you want to go to, it can either be quite logical or a little mind blowing. In essence the environmental pressure, of existence in the brewery forced the bacteria that could gain a foothold via their presence in raw materials used in beer to adapt and survive in the brewery.

Breweries are full of sugar, protein and carbohydrate, as well as vitamins and minerals.

They are also wet and warm, an ideal habitat for a bacterium. However in amongst this there is the anti-bacterial hop acids, alcohol and low pH to deal with. Therefore bacteria have in a relatively short evolutionary time period (a few 100 years) opted to develop resistance and maintain it in the form of hop resistant genes.

This process is energy intensive, however as there is a plentiful supply of sugar available this isn’t an issue at the outset. Yet as soon as you take the LAB away from the selective pressure of the brewery the bacteria begin to loose the genes. So this is a case of the bacteria cutting its cloth.

Now to go a little deeper you have to accept that in the dim and distant past, cells and genes lived separate lives. Single celled organisms at the time (primordial soup period) were the highest life form,

and possibly preyed on genes and other free-living entities, that are now incorporated into cells.

There was probably a period where the cell and the gene fought it out for dominance until eventually they entered an equilibrium, the hardy bacteria protected the delicate gene, gave it a place to stay, food and mobility as well as a low energy means of replication via entry into other bacteria, and the gene gave the bacteria novel proteins that enable it to quickly overcome environmental hurdles.

This hasn't just happened with genes, the organelles our cells use to produce energy, the mitochondria are a classic example, at some point these organelles lived as separate creatures. The mitochondria have their own DNA and are easily recognizable within the cell, they take the glucose we eat and making energy via respiration. They get a safe place to live, they replicate independently and we get the energy to preserve life (a fair deal).

Anyway I digress, the point is that the gene and bacteria were separate living things that saw the possibility of a successful partnership, this deal was so successful that now genes are no longer capable of living without bacteria, and visa versa. So important are these genes that when one type of bacteria meets another type they can often swap genes, which is one way that antibiotic resistance genes can be passed onto different bacterial species.

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the KNOWLEDGE OF the professional brewing industry

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6-9 October Indy Man Beer Con Victoria Baths, Manchester www.indymanbeercon.co.uk

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