The Brewers Journal Mar-Apr 2016, iss 2 vol 2

the magazine for the professional brewing industry

Brewers T H E

J O U R N A L

Mondo Brewing company Two americans, brewing in battersea, ready to take on the world

March~April 2016 ISSN 2059-6669

P.28

hop contracts: merchants speak

P.48

hambleton ales: the next step

P.52

printing: its role in beer branding

- ANDREW LEMAN, TIMOTHY TAYLOR’S

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

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l e a d er

United Cr af t Bre wers

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s far as recent beer festivals go, few have catalysed as much debate as the one held to mark Beavertown’s fourth anniversary. Held at its Tottenham Hale brewery last month, Be(aver) my Valentine brought together 30 international breweries for a free-to-attend event. No small feat.

As I’ve written previously, the Beavertown team did a fantastic job in putting the event together. They assimilated dozens of brewers and, as importantly, attracted an army of excellent volunteers that had a collective, infallible, enthusiasm that failed to wane throughout both day and night.

Lots of people got to enjoy the day and lots didn’t.

I hazard a guess that a fair number of those attending knew what to expect, though. Yes, many were left disappointed, but had more been let in during peak time, the already busy tents and amenities would have been stretched further. The brewery’s founder, Logan Plant, acknowledged that such decisions needed to be made, and that it was a wrench to do so.

In their own words, the Beavertown team are often self deprecating with regards to how they’re doing.

They figured it was going to be a popular event, but were unable to predict just how popular it would be.

The proceeding reaction to the event pointed out what went well and what didn’t. There was a great deal of praise levelled towards the beer, staff, and atmosphere. But strangely, there was a fair bit of sniping and criticism from people around the country that didn’t attend, nor had planned to. Clearly, taking to Twitter to pass judgement where it’s not warranted must constitute a good Saturday night for some. Each to their own, I suppose.

Criticism from the drinking community towards the organisers, and on occasion, the volunteers, for the event being oversubscribed is a blameless task. They realised it was busy and are planning accordingly for next time. Having spent most of the day there, I can honestly say that Logan Plant; creative director Nick Dwyer; head of sales and marketing Lauren Lister, and everyone in-between, barely had time to catch their breath. At one point, head brewer Jenn Merrick, fresh from unblocking a toilet, proclaimed: “And I said I wasn’t going to be doing any plumbing today.” Quite.

And for those that didn’t get in, many are being sought out and contacted online so they can be thanked, and apologised to, personally. So, well done

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Editor's choice One of the prevalent and inescapable issues dominating the modern brewing landscape is that of hops and more pertinently, their supply - Page 28

to all involved, and I look forward to seeing what you do next.

That so many people sought great beer on a cold, wet, and windy February day should be championed, and is demonstrative of the industry's upward trajectory. In this issue, on page 38, we speak to one brewery that is well and truly on that journey; Mondo Brewing Company. A brewery founded by two US natives, based in London, brewing beers influenced and inspired by global styles. And they’re doing a great job of it, too.

While Mondo is a relative newcomer to the UK brewing scene, Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales has produced consistently good beers for more than 25 years. But, as the industry changes and develops around him, Stafford has never been as enthused and confident about the future of brewing. Read our interview with him on page 48.

I hope you enjoy the issue.

Tim Sheahan Editor

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 3

C o n tac t s

Brewing Services & Consultancy Ltd

contacts Tim Sheahan Editor tim@brewersjournal.info +44 (0)7815 574 830 Jim Robertson Head of sales jim@rebymedia.com +44 (0)1442 780 593 Randolf Krings European sales randolf-krings@t-online.de +49 611 5324 416

Brewery performance audits Quality assurance audits Microbiological and analytical sampling Production and product development New brewery start-ups Troubleshooting Training

The Fundamentals of Mini-Brewing The brewing course designed by Brewers for Brewers

Courses running in March and November 2016

www.brewingservices.co.uk david@brewingservices.co.uk +44 (0)1904 706778 | +44 (0)7970 629552

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c o n t en t s

c ontent s

48

24

28

52

26

Cover story

38 - Less than a year after opening, Mondo Brewing Company is already making its mark in the UK

news 7 - Industry news 14 - Beer news Comments 18 - Finance Yorkshire talk opportunities 20 - Rob Lovatt from Thornbridge on bottling 22 - Brewers Association focus on 2016 trends 24 - Jonny Garrett discusses acquisitions show review 26 - The lowdown on February's record-breaking Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fair in Dublin The Big ISSUE: hops 28 - The UK's biggest merchants set the record straight on supply, forward contracting and the challenges that lie ahead

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brewery tour: hambleton ales 48- While the UK brewing sector has changed considerably in the 25 years Hambleton Ales has been in business, its founder Nick Stafford says he is more invigorated and enthused about the industry than ever before technology: printing and labelling 52- With print technology more advanced than ever, there is an even greater wealth of options available to breweries looking to revamp their small-pack branding across bottles and cans. We speak to some of the UK's leading printers.

SCIENCE 58 - Lactobacillus: How infection can occur at almost any stage of the brewing process 62 - BDAS discuss how important the input of raw materials are in contributing flavour to beer

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 5

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Mexican breweries reach UK

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eers from Cerveceria de Baja California in Mexicali and Atlixco de Puebla’s Cinco de Mayo (C5) Brewery are now available in the UK. Supplied by Heathwick, the four beers from the two breweries are available in 355ml bottles.

The distributor is offering three different beers from Cerveceria de Baja California’s Cucapa range.

4.5% ‘Cucapa Clasica’ features Cascade and Amarillo hops and pairs well with spicy foods or salmon. It was awarded a silver medal winner at 2009 World Beer Championships.

Another 4.5% number, ‘Cucapa Honey Amber Ale’ combines Columbus and Goldings hops with honey.

It scooped gold at the World Beer Championships and LA County Fair Beer Competition.

Finally, ‘Cucapa Chupacabras American Pale Ale’ is a 5.8% beer that has a reddish-amber colour, and features Colombus, Chinook and Cascade hops as well as flavours of caramel and malt.

Heathwick is also supplying ‘C5 Saga Spiced Blonde Ale’ from the Cinco de Mayo (C5) brewery, which was founded in 2012.

The 6% golden beer is fruity and

fresh with citrus notes, and has a base malt and spiced with orange peel and coriander.

Graham Richardson, general manager at Heathwick, explained: “The thriving Mexican beer scene is an exciting newcomer to the global craft beer renaissance having gathered pace over the last three years.

“Ever on the look out for the next big trend, we have identified a niche in the UK market for Mexican craft beers after high levels of interest from our customers.

“The two new Mexican breweries we are launching have been carefully selected for their unique, high quality beers and their ability to pair well with foods, particularly TexMex and Mexican style dishes.

“We urge the trade to get behind this exciting opportunity and include Mexican beers in their craft beer line-up.”

Heathwick has also expanded its Saugatuck Brewing Co offering with the addition of the brewery’s new ‘Backyard IPA’.

The Michigan company’s 4.5% beer, which is available in both 355ml and 30 litre kegs, features an amber gold colour and ‘citrus and pine aromas’.

‘Backyard IPA’ complements the distributor’s existing Saugatuck Brewing Co range. This comprises the 5.5% ‘ESB Amber Ale’, the 5% Oval Beach Blonde 5% ABV, and ‘Neapolitan Milk Stout’ a 6% dessert stout that has flavours of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

North Bar group opens brewery

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eeds-based North Bar has made its foray into brewing after joining forces with Belgrave Music Hall and Headrow House to open North Brewing Co. The 15bbl brewery, which will also have a 200 person capacity taproom at its Leeds location, will initially provide beer for the eight bars operated between both groups.

Former Golden Owl brewer Seb Brink and Darius Darwell, from Bristol Beer Factory, have produced the recipes of the beers.

Christian Townsley, director of

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North Brewing Co and North Bar Ltd explained: “We’ve been talking about opening a brewery for over ten years, to finally see it become reality is amazing and we’re all really excited about the future.”

He added: “We see North Brewing Company as the next logical step in our business growth, but it doesn’t come without a challenge as over the last eighteen years our customers have come to expect only the best from us.

“We believe that even in the current competitive climate in British brewing there’s an opportunity for a

team willing to produce well crafted classics as well as more challenging beer styles.”

John Gyngell, director of North Bar Ltd, said: “In our group of bars we have commercial customers ready and waiting for our product, giving us the opportunity to develop our products quickly and under the scrutiny of the most refined palates."

“In the tap we have an exciting new venue that we worked hard to ensure still felt like a part of the brewery, we wanted that ‘Willy Wonka’ feel.”

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 7

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Cask Force unveils new keg washing and filling platform

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ask Force has introduced the KEG-2000, a new standalone keg washing and filling platform.

The manufacturer is offering two models, the KEG-2000, which is a washer/filler and the KEG2000W, which is a twin-head washer.

The former can clean and fill 28 30l kegs or 20 50l kegs per hour, while the 2000W is capable of washing up to 48 kegs an hour.

On the washer/filler, kegs are placed on the flat bed and when the operator presses the start buttons, both kegs are clamped to the bed plate and the heads insert automatically.

The system follows a similar principal to the company’s standard machines. On head one the wash cycle consists of de-ullage, a pulsed pre-rinse, caustic wash, hot acid wash and post rinse finished with a CO₂ purge and pressurisation. The wash cycle status is displayed on the panel by LEDS. Head two is used for filling the clean keg that has previously been

transferred from head one by the operator. The beer is metered via a batch controller and the status is displayed on the instrument, while flow rate and pressure is controlled automatically.

Following completion of the washing and filling process, the heads retract and the kegs are released, which is then lowered down the output slide by the operator to floor level before the process can start again.

The machine features self CIP, with the filling head capable of being cleaned and sterilised without the need for additional equipment.

Elsewhere, the new

KEG2000W follows the same wash process of the of the washer/filler but both heads offer washing functionality. It features automatic level control, digital temperature control with heat hold function.

Cask Force’s design engineer, Keith Trenton, explained: “We are getting a growing number of requests from breweries for keg equipment and the sales of our dual keg and cask machines are steadily increasing.

“As a result of this we felt we had to do something to offer an option for breweries focussing on kegging so we developed the KEG2000 series.”

The company expects to launch the new platform in the coming months.

Thornbridge gets hitched

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fan of ‘I Love You Will U Marry Me’, the strawberry blonde ale from Thornbridge has used the beer to ask that very question.

And the answer was yes!

Ian Batterbee used the 4.5% beer, launched last summer, to pop the question to his fiancé Sinead O’Connor on Christmas Day. The couple, which met in a pub in Didsbury, are now planning their wedding for next year, which will no doubt feature some quality beers.

“It wasn’t a surprise to walk there on the morning “but opening my final present and reading the

8 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

label was a fantastic surprise,” says O’Connor.

Thornbridge brewed ‘I Love You Will U Marry Me’ to support S1 Artspace’s ambitions to create a major new cultural venue at Park Hill for Sheffield, with funds raised from the sale of the beer will go towards this development.

The beer’s name originates from a marriage proposal when the words ‘I Love You Will U Marry Me’ were painted onto a Street Bridge at Park Hill.

It is an urban romantic gesture that has since become famous throughout the city.

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March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 9

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import-export firm links UK and EASTeRN Europe

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new import and export company specialising in connecting eastern european breweries with West Europe, and vice versa, aims to showcase the level of innovation taking place across the continent.

Brewave is the brainchild of Jeno ‘Jenci’ Zsembery and Peter Varga.

Zsembery, who is currently manager of venerable London pub The Rake, said the business will help showcase how far breweries in eastern Europe have come in the last few years.

He explained: “As the EU expanded, there has obviously been an influx of eastern Europeans experiencing the UK, and what it offers.

“When people return home, permanently or otherwise, they are bringing with them ideas and appetites borne from their experiences in the UK. The desire for good beer is reaching parts of Europe a lot quicker than people are aware of.

“Drinkers from the Eastern Bloc do not necessarily only want Pilsners anymore. There are dozens of fantastic breweries springing up in countries such as Hungary and they are producing quality beer.

“Just as the UK has been influenced by breweries from other countries, parts of eastern Europe are now, in turn, being influenced by people’s experiences in the UK and beyond.”

Zsembery’s business partner Varga explained that Brewave is not just another wholesale company, but one founded on a passion for beer and promoting innovation across Europe.

“Because we are from the other side of Europe, we have experienced how the brewing sector has developed from both sides of the coin.

Drinkers over there are now enjoying even more great beer, something that didn’t exist four or five years ago,” he said.

Vargas added: “We don’t want it to be a simple back and forth deal but a flow, connecting these great breweries across Europe, from East to West and back. We are getting into business with breweries that are underpinned by quality.”

Brewave is currently working with breweries from Hungary, Croatia and Austria, with companies from Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia on the horizon, too.

“Our tradeline runs from London, Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and to Croatia, with warehouses in London and Budapest,” said Zsembery.

The company, which exhibited at Craft Beer Rising last month, is also is in final discussions with a number of breweries across the UK. Zsembery added: “People are eager and people are keen. This generation from places such as Hungary is taking on positive influences, and multiplying it. Something we are seeing that in beer, too. It’s an exciting time.”

Schafer Container Systems hits keg landmark in 2015

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chafer Container Systems is targeting growth in export sales after it surpassed more than one million keg sales last year.

The company, which has now sold more than 20 million kegs in its 30-year history, is placing a particular emphasis on its Plus Keg line, which are currently used by compa-

10 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

nies such as Meantime, Beavertown and Camden Town, among others.

This range features high-quality PU coating and enables the brewery to present its brand in a variety of different ways, whether completely coated in your company colours, with a coloured printed logo or coloured rings: Head of sales, Guido Klinkham-

mer, explained: “We are extremely pleased that our kegs are becoming increasingly successful on the market for reusable containers. In 2016, we would like to continue where we left off in the previous year. Expanding exports in emerging markets is just as much a pillar of this strategy as the individuality of our products.”

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OCME introduces new palletiser and shrink-wrapping systems

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CME has introduced a new family of palletising and shrink-wrapping systems designed for breweries and other manufacturing sectors.

The new ‘Advanced Range’ comprises Pegasus Advance (robot palletiser), Orion Advance (in-line palletiser) and Vega Advance (shrink-wrapping machine).

The manufacturer’s Pegasus Advance can reach output speeds of 630 layers per hour and enables palletisation at low level.

Designed specifically for the beverage industry, the Orion Advance is said to combine “accessibility, compactness and speed”.

The system can meet palletising speeds of 570 layers per hour and uses brushless motors and energy recovery.

Also new is OCME’s Vega Advance shrink-wrapping machine.

This product can reach 150 cycles per minute with film or 120 cycles per minute with tray and film.

According to the manufacturer, the film cutting and automatic film splicing of the reels are carried out

by OCME patented systems and combines “energy saving and safety” with “high level performance and easy maintenance”.

Federico Sartori, OCME machines business unit manager explained: “A rapidly evolving market needs a palletising solution that is just as fast, the Advance Range has been created to overcome the current speed limits at the end of a production line and gives our customers the fastest solution on the market, so meeting the ambitions of our customers.”

Kammac in UK’s first ‘Rent to Own’ Cask & Keg scheme

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s owned keg logistics uk has launched, in conjunction with Kammac, the UK’s first ‘Rent to Own’ casks and kegs scheme. Keg Logistics has proven this concept in the USA with over 480+ craft brewers currently utilizing the rent to own option to expand their draft sales and strengthen the brewers balance sheet while supporting the brewer’s capital needs.

Keg Logistics and Kammac see this same need today in the UK and hope together the companies can further support their customers and the growing Craft Brewing community.

The new initiative allows equity to be built up in the kegs and casks

12 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

from the first payment. Both vessels can be rented from one to six years. The company offers 30- and 50-litre kegs or 9 and 4.5 gallon casks. The brewer can purchase all or part of their assets at any time after the first year and can continue to reorder more as sales expand at any time.

Rates decrease depending on the length of rental and clients also have the option to return the kegs, at the end of the term at no extra cost, with their deposit refunded.

One customer, Alex Bull, head brewer and founder of By the Horns Brewing Company in London said: "Craft beer in keg is forever growing in popularity, and the Keg Logistics rent to own keg scheme has enabled

us to have our very own kegs without the huge initial capital outlay, meaning we can get our tasty beer into good local pubs. The decision was a no-brainer.”

Ged Carabini, business development manager for Keg & Cask, explained: “By only supplying kegs and casks from the major EU Keg manufactures, we are focused on providing the brewing community with the highest quality casks and kegs available in the industry. At Kammac, we are continuously improving our procedures and looking for ways to offer added value to our customers. Our partnership with Keg Logistics and our buying power of steel allows us to pass on real savings to our clients."

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March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 13

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Siren Craft Brew lifts lid on ‘Proteus’ series

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iren Craft Brew has detailed its new Pale Ale series of beers, ‘Proteus’, which will roll out across 2016.

First up is Proteus Volume 1, which features Motueka, Amarillo and Citra hops. According to the brewery, there will three brews of this combination, each experimenting and refining how they are used and when they are added.

Three of the Siren team, Steve, Felix and Alan have been tasked with developing the first ever Proteus brew.

They explain: “The thought process behind this one is to try and keep everything well balanced to provide a good basis for experimentation and tweaking of the next two developments, although the brewers have decided to lead with Motueka, so it’s roughly a 40% / 30% / 30% split across the whole brew.

“We’ve used Citra and Amarillo in the first wort. First wort hopping means adding hops while the kettle is still being filled, and therefore

while the temperature is still rising.

This extracts oils (and therefore flavours) in a gentle way, as well as developing bitterness and aroma that is smooth and well rounded.

“We use the same technique in Soundwave. The reason for using Citra and Amarillo at this stage is to try and extract floral and tropical notes at an early stage, as all three hops in Volume I are very citrusfocussed and we think that this will come through strongly later on.”

Motueka and Citra were used at the 40 minute addition in the boil, so most of the bittering came through here while picking up aroma at the same time.

Amarillo was featured again late on at the 5 minute addition, for maximum pick up of the more floral side of tropical fruits which won’t be provided from the other two hops.

They added: “In terms of dry hopping, nothing was planned until we could taste the beer and see where additional and complemen-

tary notes could come into play. As expected, a really juicy and limey profile had come through strongly from the Motueka, so the first dry hop was largely Amarillo to balance this out somewhat.

“We then did a second dry hop of all three hops in equal proportion, the idea being to lift everything up a final level before release.”

The debut kegs and casks of the Proteus series shipped from 8 February.

Oakham Ales broadens ‘Craftworks’ range with seven new beers

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akham Ales has expanded its keg output with the addition of seven new beers.

The Peterborough brewery has introduced the 4.5% ‘Blonde’ and a 6.5% ‘Export Stout’ to complement its existing ‘Green Devil IPA’.

Oakham plans to broaden the range further later this year, and into 2017 with five new beers. These are ‘Robust Porter’, ‘IPA’, ‘Pale’, ‘Rye’ and ‘Red’.

Adrian Posnett, managing director of Oakham Ales, said: “The demand for craft keg, particularly in London, continues to increase, demonstrated by the ongoing success of our craft keg Green Devil IPA. “With the recent appointment

14 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

of a dedicated London based Area Sales Manager, complementing our current distribution routes into London, it makes sense to extend our bespoke keg range to ensure that we can meet this demand and offer our customers a wider choice of beer styles.

“We have a reputation for producing Ales that are second to none and we aim to do the same with our Oakham Craftworks range.”

Recent expansion to the brewery’s team also include the addition of Neil Galloway, operations manager, Dominic Leighton, national sales executive (North),, Lindsey Faull, brewery administrator (parttime), Steve Corry, Drayman, Mike Simpson, off-trade and export (part-

time) and Talia Karim who began as an apprentice and will now become a full-time Sales Support Assistant at the brewery.

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BrewDog debuts Jet Black Heart

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rewDog has introduced its new milk stout, ‘Jet Black Heart’, the winner of the brewery’s 2015 Prototype Challenge.

The beer, which features eight different malts, including Black, Dark Crystal, Highly Kilned and Extra Pale, is complemented by Magnum and Sorachi Ace on the hop front.

The company explained: “Jet Black Heart, as a true people’s champion, is available in bottles and also – in a first for BrewDog – will be available on Nitro in every one of our bars.

“This dispense method elevates

Fuller’s launch 5.3% ‘IPA’

the richness and the mouthfeel of a stout to a whole new level; the smaller tighter bubbles of gas rising slowly yielding a creamy head and an utterly smooth experience. If you thought you had tasted Nitro stout before – good things come to those who…well, you know the rest.”

Moorhouse’s adds 3.9% ‘White Witch’ cask ale to core range

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oorhouse’s Brewery has added its ‘White Witch’ cask ale to its core portfolio.

Forming part of its ‘Pendle Witches’ line up, the 3.9% beer joins existing numbers that include ‘Black Cat’, ‘Premier Bitter’ and ‘Blond Witch’.

The beer features Brewers Gold hops along with the ‘noble’ German origin Tettnang variety in an ale that has ‘refreshing fruity flavour, with a touch of citrus, flowers and rich peppery spice’.

Managing director David Grant explained: “White Witch has proved to be such spellbinding ale that we simply have had to keep bringing it back for extended seasons over the past couple of years.”

“At the end of our 150th year, and in time for Christmas, it seemed fitting to add it to our core brews.

It is wonderfully tasty, well balanced and satisfyingly refreshing beer- really bewitching ale that

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Fuller’s has made the latest addition to its keg family with ‘IPA’.

The new 5.3% beer follows on from the launch of its’ Montana Red’ ale late last year.

Launched in January, the beer is the strongest Fuller’s keg number to date and features “intense hop bitterness balanced by complex cereal malt flavours, creating a satisfying and refreshing beer”.

Opting for a straightforward IPA moniker, the brewery teamed up with artistic collective, ilovedust on the branding side.

Fuller’s Brewing Director John Keeling explained: “I am continually delighted by our ever-extending keg range, it’s important that whatever the format, our beer has the best, most natural flavour.

“It’s also great that our UK market can now enjoy IPA alongside our cask and bottled IPA as well as Bengal Lancer”.

Shepherd Neame turns to US hops for new Pale Ale

firmly demonstrates that there is still a healthy demand for easy drinking session brews.

“Blonde and golden ales are now popular through the year and White Witch is already our second top selling brand.

“We expect it to further spread the word nationally that we are brewing top quality beer in Lancashire with real provenance.”

Kent-based Shepherd Neame has introduced the latest beer under its ‘No.18 Yard Brewhouse’ moniker.

Hog Island East Coast Pale Ale is a 4.8% beer and the first Americanstyle to be launched under the new banner. The recipe originates from the Shepherd Neame pilot brewery but eschews the company’s tradition for using Kentish hops, by instead opting for Boadicea, Amarillo and Cascade.

Head brewer Richard Frost explained: “Hog Island is is a refreshing, zesty beer which retains the malty character of the typical East Coast pale ale.”

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 15

ne w s

beer

Weird Beard unveils Bexar County collaboration

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eird Beard has teamed up with Peterborough’s Bexar County Brewing for ‘A Lemon Tree My Dear Watson’.

The 3.7% beer is described as a ‘Lemon Meringue Pie in a glass’ and features Sorachi Ace and Citra hops, as well as a biscuit and amber malt bill.

According to Weird Beard, the idea behind the beer was to de-construct the dessert and make a beer that featured a little bit of all the components that make up the pie.

The zest, and flesh, of 30 fresh lemons was added to the boil, while a “hefty” amount of dried lemon peel was added prior to fermentation.

The brewery explains: “We wanted a balanced beer, so afterwards we loaded the kettle with lactose for more sweetness and to create a creamy body to subdue the tartness of all the lemons.

“For the hops, there had to be Sorachi Ace. Firstly, we love that hop and really don’t need much of an excuse to brew with it and secondly, it gives huge lemon refresher flavour.

“This works with what we were going for, but we also added Citra, for more natural citrus-fruit notes.

Then, a hefty amount of dried lemon peel was added as the beer made its way to the fermenter, which adds layers and complexity to the flavour profile of the beer.”

Brakspear revives Mild Brakspear is once again brewing ‘Brakspear Mild’, a 3% beer last brewed in 1996.

The beer is available exclusively through Brakspear pubs and is the latest beer recreated at the Henley microbrewery by its head brewer, Malcolm Mayo.

Brakspear chief executive, Tom Davies, explained:: “We opened the Bell Street Brewery in order to bring brewing back to Henley, and it has been a delight to restore some of the most popular Brakspear beers and allow drinkers locally to enjoy them again.

“Both Brakspear Special and Old Ale have been hugely popular, and we’re expecting Mild to be a similar success.”

Thornbridge unveils Eldon Thornbridge has released ‘Eldon’, an 8% Bourbon Oak Imperial Stout. The beer, named after one of the seven wonders of The Peak District, The Eldon Hole, comes in at 8% and in 330ml bottles.

‘Eldon’ is a smooth, roasty stout brewed with Demerara sugar with added complexity from the addition of Bourbon soaked oak. Caramel, coffee and chocolate flavours are married with a hint of vanilla and fine Kentucky Bourbon.

Brains partners with Stereophonics on Pale Ale

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elsh brewery Brains has teamed up with Stereophonics to create a 4.1% Pale Ale. The beer, which has a “complex citrus, fruit and floral hop character with sweet biscuit and caramel malt flavours”, was created to celebrate the band’s last album, ‘Keep The Village Alive’. Phonics is a vibrant pale ale with complex citrus, fruit and floral hop character with sweet biscuit and caramel malt flavours, balanced with a crisp bitter finish.

Brains’ head brewer, Bill Dobson, said: “We at Brains are massive

16 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

Stereophonics fans so imagine our excitement when the opportunity to brew with them came our way.

“Brains beer and Stereophonics are two of Wales’s most well-loved icons and we can’t wait for our customers and music fans to give it a try.

“The band was involved from the beginning and really got stuck in with the brewing process. Kelly, Rich, Adam and Jamie spent the day with us choosing the ingredients, refining the recipe, adding the grains and hops.”

“We can’t tell you how over the

moon we are in launching this very special ale with Wales’ most wellloved band.”

Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones, said: “We’ve grown up with Brains, starting our early years with performing in many pubs in the Valleys.

“We’ve all enjoyed Brains beer too and we’re looking forward to taking a taste of home with us when we tour later this year and we’re excited to be able to offer fans the chance to enjoy something we’ve created with Wales’s best known brewery.”

www.brewersjournal.info

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C o m m en t

f in a n c e

Investing in the future Alex McWhirter, chief executive of Finance Yorkshire discusses the opportunities available to expanding companies in the sector, such as Leeds Brewery, which is using a recent investment to triple its weekly production capacity.

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he increase in popularity of craft beers and traditional ales has led to the emergence and growth of several exciting brewing businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber. We have supported a number of breweries with financial investment, which have enabled them to invest in their facilities to increase brewing capacity, create jobs and enhance marketing and distribution.

When we discover an opportunity to invest in a brewing business, the first things we look for are a robust business plan and an experienced management team.

The brewery may, for example, have developed a core range of beers and a strong customer base for its products but is now looking to take that next step to expand capacity or drive export sales.

The stumbling block for companies looking to

18 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

invest for growth can often be access to finance. Our message is that support is available.

Finance Yorkshire provides business loans of up to ÂŁ250,000 depending on how established and profitable the business is. Our investments help companies that have identified a gap in funding capital expenditure where traditional sources of finance are insufficient or unavailable.

This funding can be used for working capital, expansion projects, commercial premises and asset acquisitions. It can free up brewers to concentrate on what they do best – producing excellent beer.

One example of this at work is with Leeds Brewery, which is set to triple its weekly production capacity following investment from Finance Yorkshire.

The independent brewery, best known for its Leeds Pale cask ale, is adding two tanks to its newly-tiled brew house, which will help to meet growing demand from drinkers for keg beers. The expansion has been

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f in a n c e

part-funded by a £50,000 Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire.

Leeds Brewery was established in June 2007 by University friends Sam Moss and Michael Brothwell.

It is now the city’s largest brewery with a turnover of around £9m.

When speaking to us, Sam said the injection will enable to business to grow in the long term.

“We have been close to capacity so we needed to invest in extra tanks. This investment gives us the confidence to push ahead with our expansion plan.

The new tanks mean we can triple our capacity from 70,000 to more than 200,000 pints a week. We are putting the foundations in place to grow the business over the longer term,” he explains.

The brewery produces Leeds Pale, Leeds Best, Yorkshire Gold and Midnight Bell alongside keg beers including Leodis lager and Monsoon.

Sam adds: “It is a great period for independent breweries and that is driven by consumer demand for beer in pubs and bars. Leeds is a great example of that with a booming independent sector serving quality 22/07/2015 14:45 Page 1 beers in interesting locations. Competition is fierce and getting fiercer but our business strategy hasn’t changed – we want to brew beer in Yorkshire for Yorkshire people to drink.”

John Ellis, Finance Yorkshire’s portfolio executive, concludes: “The ale market is going through a renaissance and Leeds Brewery’s beers are highly popular with drinkers. We were pleased to be able to

C o m m en t

About Finance Yorkshire Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, UK Government and the European Investment Bank.

Finance Yorkshire is also supported by the Regional Growth Fund.

support Sam and Michael as they expand capacity and prepare the business for a prosperous and sustainable future.”

“To date, Finance Yorkshire has invested £100 million in Yorkshire and Humber, enabling companies to increase their turnover by £366 million and attract a further £257 million from other private sector sources.

Through this activity, Finance Yorkshire investment has helped those SMEs to create and safeguard more than 11,000 jobs in the region.”

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March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 19

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Stick to youR guns Rob Lovatt, head brewer at Thornbridge, discusses why the company has taken the decision to avoid the canning route and instead, invest heavily in its bottling setup. He also gives an insight into some of the new beers Thornbridge is launching in the coming months.

Professors, has only compounded my view.

Here is the transcript of what was said on the subject of canning lines:

G

iven it’s the beginning of the year, I thought it was an opportune moment to let you know what myself and the rest of the brewing team are hoping to achieve in 2016.

Arguably the most significant event of this year will be the installation and commissioning of a brand new KHS Filler. It has been a long process and I have spent many an hour sat round a table persuading my fellow directors that this was the right decision.

The decision making process began early last year.

We had numerous options on the table, including a cheaper machine, a less dramatic jump in capacity of the new filler and the most contentious option, which was purchasing a canning line instead.

In terms of the canning option, I have had even good friends in the industry question if this was the right decision to make.

I have written on canning lines previously and I have not changed my view. In fact, listening to this recent podcast with Dan Gordon, a Brewmaster who opened his first brewpub in 1987, and Charlie Bamforth, arguably the most well-known of brewing’s

20 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

Dan Gordon: Oxygen is super critical. We measure oxygen content during bottling and anything over 25ppb we consider unacceptable. What’s interesting is the movement in the craft sector towards cans.

Theoretically for quality and environmental stability, in terms of light getting through, oxygen is the worst enemy we have and the best can filler cannot get values that are less than double that of a bottler.

Host: Really?

Dan Gordon: Yeah. You can’t vacuum a can.

Host: Oh, I see.

Dan Gordon: It’s one of those things they call the crafty brewing sector. They’re going for image and not on quality as if it were really driven by quality there wouldn’t be any craft beer in cans.

Charles Bamforth: No-ones saying oxygen can get into a can, the original level is higher but it wont pick up over time Host: So what surprises me about this is that the big brewers seem to be dedicated to quality, so i’m surprised that cans are their vessel of choice.

Dan Gordon: The sales and marketing department drive the package. Not the brewers. You can buy a very cheap canning line cheaper than a very cheap bottling line.

Host: You know this is different to what all our other guests come in and say?

Dan Gordon: It’s just fact. We’ve analysed lots of beers that come into our place for trouble shooting and the main problem is always oxidation. If you spend 3 million dollars on a canning line then yeah, you’re going to have a pretty damn good product.

But it’s not going to be as good as a 3 million dollar bottling line.

Host: You’re saying they can’t get to the 25ppb level in a can?

Dan Gordon: No how, no way.

So while cans are fashionable and are easy to carry around, we have to do what is best for our beer, which is why we have decided to invest in the KHS Filler.

It is the Rolls-Royce of bottling lines; its technology will enable us to achieve extremely low levels of

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dissolved oxygen in the bottle, it will future proof the growth of the brewery and will prove to be an extremely robust piece of kit with greatly reduced downtime. The bottom line is that we are putting our beer first.

One thing we don’t do here is grow exponentially and then allow the beer quality catch up, so although we plan to install even more fermentation and maturation vessels this year, we will be able to keep up the consistency and quality for which we are known, and our famous maturation times will not be affected.

Recently we have been experimenting with dryhopping schedules and temperatures and are looking into the use of improved separation techniques to complement the centrifuge. Hopefully this will lead to even tastier, more stable beer than we already have.

Looking ahead to new releases, you may have heard rumours of Project Serpent… a few years ago, we embarked on a large project with Brooklyn brewery with the aim of producing a totally unique and novel beer.

After months of hard work, this beer has finally been packaged and all our hard work has finally come to fruition. (See The Brewers Journal Issue Three) As hard as it is to try not to produce more beers, we invariable end up with more! Although we have brewed lots of German styles already, my brewing team have all caught the bug for these beers and have all made pilgrimages to Bavaria in the last couple of years.

So in tank at the moment, sleeping the long sleep of the righteous, is our Helles, a style myself and Dominic have been wanting to make for a long time.

Despite this being harder to sell than trendy hoppy or sour styles, I love this kind of beer and so we brewed it anyway. And no, we won’t be dry hopping it with Citra!

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Speaking of fashionable hops, with the arrival of several tonnes of Mosaic from the US, we will be making a new double IPA, despite already having Halcyon in our stable. Regarding its recipe and production process, I won’t copy any text or graphs out of books to bore you with on this blog, but I am pretty sure the hopheads are going to approve.

So basically with the Helles, we’ve brewed a beer for myself and with the Mosaic IIPA, one for the hopheads!

It’s been a while since we made a new strong dark beer, something I feel we’re pretty good at, so we’ve re-brewed the extremely popular Raspberry Imperial Stout and also come up with a new one. Some time ago, Will, one of our brewers here, came to me with a beer he had brewed on the pilot kit; a bourbon oakaged vanilla stout.

Normally I am not a fan of dark beers, but this was simply delicious, so we decided to make a couple of big batches of it. This will be bottled next week and I’m sure fans of strong dark beers will love it. Moving back to the brewing team, last year we added two new faces: Chris Lewington from Daleside Brewery and Sam Russell, who joined us from York brewery.

Bearing in mind we’re a much larger operation these days and there is absolutely no room for errors here, as the consequences are far more costly in terms of beer loss and monetary value, the lads have proved themselves already to be brewers of the highest calibre and they have fitted in extremely well into the tightknit brewing team we have here.

So going forward into what will be an extremely busy year in terms of production, I am confident we will be making the best beer in the country. Hopefully soon I can grab a spare half hour and write some more about our expanding barrel ageing programme, but for now I’d better get back to work.

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 21

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Dare to be Different Sylvia Kopp, Craft Beer Ambassador at the Brewers Association sets out why the US continues to lead when it comes to the development of new beer styles, and what trends she expects to see more of in 2016.

IPAs IPAs are the rock stars of the craft beer world and account for 26.5% of the overall craft beer market (in the U.S.) and are increasing rapidly, dollar sales were up 43.9% in 2015. But despite their unassailable position, new innovations in the IPA world are coming to the fore eg. new hop varieties or the use of hop oils, and more variations of the style such as session IPAs, barrel-aged IPAs and single hop variants (or SMASH beers – single malt and single hop).

Watch out for fruit-infused IPA – beers brewed with fruit - that add another level of character and taste. In the States, Green Flash Brewing Co has recently launched Tangerine Soul Style, a tangerine IPA and Victory Brewing Co has released Anniversary 20 Experimental IPA using a rare and experimental hop called Idaho 7.

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Brewers association

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merican craft beer continues to lead the world in the development of new beer styles, new flavours and greater diversity.

There are now 4,114 small and independent craft breweries in the States with at least two new ventures opening daily.

In the U.S. craft beer sales account for 11% by volume of all beer sales and the Brewers Association predicts a 20% market share by volume by 2020.

So what is driving this upward trajectory both in the States and beyond? Firstly, the beer drinker is at the heart of craft beer’s rise, secondly, the skill of the brewer. Beer drinkers are highly adventurous and discerning and demand ever more distinctive and diverse beers.

In a recent Nielsen survey commissioned by the Brewers Association, 33% of craft drinkers in the U.S. they would purchase more craft beer if there were more varieties available and over half (51%) said when selecting a beer to order at a bar or restaurant that it was very or somewhat important to order a beer they had not tried before.

American craft brewers have spent the last 30-40 years honing their skills in perfecting craft beers and this is reflected in the high quality and diversity of their beers. Craft brewers are also adventurous and discerning and like nothing better than to discover the next big style.

Here’s what to look out for this year:

Lighter and session beers The trend towards lighter beers including session IPAs, cream ales, pilsners and lagers is growing. Blonde, Kölsch and golden ales are also up, and because these styles are lighter tasting but still full in flavour, they serve as a stepping stone up from mainstream beers.

They often have lower alcohol levels providing a good entry point for new craft beer drinkers and several can be enjoyed at a single sitting.

Sour beers Sour beer, particularly in the States, has been growing for a while and the interest in fermentation in general is increasing. Brewers are now experimenting with wild yeasts, lactobacteria, spontaneous fermentation and other sour mediums as well as wine yeasts and barrel-ageing.

American craft brewers are re-discovering historical styles like Gose and Berliner Weisse from Germany.

Indeed, in the States, Sierra Nevada is launching new Otra Vez, a Gose style beer brewed with the fruit of the prickly pear cactus and grapefruit.

These sessionable sour beers are popular with brewers because they can put their own flavour stamp on them and they do not require extended ageing time needed by more complex wild ales such as lambics or qeuze.

Sour beers are temperamental to brew and are more likely to be one-offs than national favourites but

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Brewers association

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they are highly appreciated by discerning craft beer drinkers. Expect to see greater volume and diversity in this style in the future.

Nitrogen In the States, brewers are experimenting with nitrogen-infused draught, bottled and canned beers.

The use of nitrogen creates smaller bubbles and a smoother, creamier mouthfeel giving a dramatically different taste. Left Hand Brewing Co is considered to be the first craft brewer to master the art of nitrogen in a bottle in 2011 with its famous Milk Stout Nitro and has recently launched two more variants in Nitro format (Hard Wired Coffee Porter and Wake Up Dead).

Traditionally, more stouts and porters have used nitro than IPAs because maltier beers carry nitrogen better, but in this golden era of experimentation and change anything is possible.

A bad experience may put off a potential craft drinker for life. Beer quality is measured by a complex set of sensory characteristics including appearance, aroma, taste and texture. Understanding how the sensory profile can deteriorate with age is critical to delivering a consistently fresh product. Generally, beer stored unchilled for one day is the equivalent of one week chilled.

The perception of craft beer continues to rise and over the last couple of years over three quarters of drinkers (Nielsen) say it is better than it was before.

Craft beer is a perishable product and should reach the beer drinker looking and tasting as the brewer intended. Quality and freshness lead when it comes to choosing a craft beer.

A wealth of free downloadable resources regarding brewing tips and techniques. can be found at our website below.�

www.brewersassociation.org

Notes

Barrel-ageing Bourbon barrel-aged beer is already popular but the trend is on the way up – expect to see more gin, tequila or even Chardonnay barrel-aged beers in 2016. Beer is being infused in barrels together with fruit or spices in various style categories to add further layers of taste and complexity and look out for the use of herbs, vegetables and roots instead of hops and alternative cereals such as rice, rye and spelt.

Dare to be different Those brewers who offer greater differentiation and diversity will stand out but, remember, consistent product quality is absolutely crucial. It is no good discovering the next big flavour if a beer is warmstored half way through the supply chain and reaches the beer drinker in poor condition.

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T

he Brewers Association defines a craft brewer as being small, independent and traditional.

Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3% of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.

Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

Traditional: A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 23

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Crafting an opportunity There has been a great deal of negativity and trepidation surrounding the glut of brewery buyouts taking place recently. However, these acquisitions and partnerships should be viewed as an opportunity, explains Jonny Garrett, marketing manager at Cave Direct Beer Merchants and founder of the Craft Beer Channel.

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t may feel like the dust is settling after the latest series of brewery buyouts, but I can assure you it’s still a warzone out there.

The lawyers at AB Inbev and SAB Miller are busy juggling their new pseudo-monopoly, and at the time of going to press it seems they have sold Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime to Asahi for £2.5bn.

Poor Meantime have gone from steering their own very successful ship to being buffeted about like a life raft in need of rescue. Even if the deal goes through, any supposed common ground between the directors and SAB Miller could well be thrown overboard. Will Asahi make the same promise of “business as usual” when it was not a business they would have usually considered buying? It’s their foray into quality beer, and potentially a distraction from their spirits and macro lager pedigree.

Meanwhile, AB Inbev’s Camden are probably gearing up for a titanic expansion, but growing fast has huge technical brewing challenges, not to mention marketing ones. Their new place in the beer world is going to present them with huge opportunities, but also restrictions. And the same is true of independent breweries, because in an industry this compact, shocks are felt by everyone.

The most obvious issue is going to be increased pressure on bar space and pricing. There is no doubt that the recent mergers will help these beers spread rapidly, particularly through the bigger chains that macro brewers focus on. It’s very unlikely that Hells is going to be pushing Stella off the bar, so something else is going to have to make way.

In pubs that don’t rotate their brands that often and are very focused on accessible price, it’s probably

24 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

going to be a small brewer that loses out. Despite Brewdog founder James Watt’s valid assertion that Camden will no longer get any Small Brewer’s Relief, prices will tumble too – and Hells and London Lager were already cheap compared to most craft lagers.

But at the same time these mergers could open up space in some pubs. It’s not just Brewdog that have taken it off the bars, it’s just that they were the only ones zealous enough to film it. There will be opportunities in former Camden and Meantime accounts for those who also sell a hoppy British lager or pale ale.

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Bre wery

Another issue could be hops. Already there is huge pressure on the volumes of hops, particularly the American C hops that dominate most recipes in the craft beer world. The quick expansion of the breweries and the buying power they will have from joining forces with macro brewers is going to make buying hops harder. Changing your old recipes might be a lot to ask, but it’s certainly something to consider for future beers.

There will also be a challenge in the marketing as the concept of craft beer shifts. I realise that most breweries don’t even have a marketing person, let alone department, but how your business puts itself across to the consumer is the most important thing for a brewery to consider after the beer, and just like the beer world, your marketing has to shift too.

We may still not know what craft beer is, but there is no doubt that elusive definition has changed hugely over the last few years. In America their official definition is falling apart in their hands. Founders, Ballast Point, Lagunitas and Elysium have all lost their craft badges, but are still producing exceptional beers.

The constantly expanding definition keeps the bigger guys in the fold but is slowly eroding its meaning, and over here we’ll see the same thing happening.

Camden was one of the stalwarts of the scene, yet now most definitions would exclude them from the club they helped create. Where does this leave companies that identify themselves as craft breweries?

Well, despite running a company called the Craft Beer

B u yo u t s

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Jonny Garrett Jonny Garrett is the marketing manager at Cave Direct Beer Merchants and founder of the Craft Beer Channel, which can be found at www.youtube.com/user/ TheCraftBeerChannel

Channel, I hope that the word becomes redundant.

I hope we will be able to just have good and bad beer; micro and macro breweries; local and imported beer; accessible and experimental beer. Increasingly these will be the marketing touch points and sales pitches. It’s a famous writing tip that if you have to call something “famous”, then it probably isn’t.

The same goes from “craft” – if it’s on the label, it’s probably not in the bottle.

Brewery sell-outs and “partnerships” should be seen as an opportunity by brewers. Target accounts where spaces may arrive and focus on our local markets, concentrate on innovation in our recipes, and then make sure that our branding and approach is unique, concise and truthful. Because part of the charm of craft or micro brewing is the unique story and noncorporate process.

The craft movement has grown against extreme competition because we can be agile, exciting and adaptable. When the dust settles we’ll brush it off.

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March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 25

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irish innovation More than 10,000 visitors descended upon Dublin’s Convention Centre last month for the latest iteration of the Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fair. An event that served as an effective barometer of how far the Irish brewing industry has come during the last few years.

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or an event that only started in 2013, the Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fair has come a long way in a short period of time. Much like the industry it’s celebrating.

Taking place at the Convention Centre Dublin in February, the show’s fourth year featured more than 60 Irish exhibitors, as well as a number of international breweries such as Redwell from Norwich.

In excess of 10,000 visitors filled the halls in Dublin, with The White Hag Brewery, Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company, Brehon Brewhouse and Kinnegar Brewing proving especially popular throughout.

“For a barometer on the health of brewing in Ireland: When we started this festival back in 2013, it was with just a handful of exhibitors. Ireland now has more than 100 craft breweries, and we are welcoming more than half of them to the Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fair this weekend,” explains Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech. “As an Irish brewer, I could not be more delighted personally to see the growth, the excitement and the innovation within our craft.”

In addition to the main event, visitors to the show helped break the existing Guinness World Record for the world’s largest beer tasting. Ireland now holds the record with 729 people simultaneously tasting three beers, with the record was previously held by Mexico with 714 participants.

Going forward, Gearoid Cahill, European director of brewing science at Alltech, expects the craft brewing industry in Ireland to bore witness to a number of trends in 2016.

“There will be further proliferation of beer types available in the craft sector,” he explains. “IPA’s are doing particularly well at the moment and this will continue, however, there will be a broadening of

26 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

beer offerings driven by craft brewer’s ingenuity and consumer curiosity.

It is likely that there will be further developments in speciality ales, lagers and the premium craft sector of barrel aged beers.”

He also believes that following a period of explosive expansion, the rate of new entrants will decrease.

“Ireland is a market of finite size but it has good export credentials for craft beers so we can expect the levels of exports to rise, however.”

According to Cahill, the standard of craft beer in Ireland in terms of quality, consistency and presentation is increasing all the time and bears up very well compared to international craft brewers.

He believes this raising of the bar will continue through 2016.

While he expect an increasing availability of draught craft beer in pubs as opposed to just bottled beers, Cahill also says technology will have a key role to play in the industry’s growth.

“Engineering, technology and brewing knowledge will continue to advance and brewers will be the first to apply these positive changes to enable them to make their beers even better and also to enable them to make innovative and novel beers for their consumers,” he says.

“Craft brewing in Ireland is in a great place and is recognised for its entrepreneurship and its impressive craft beers. However, craft brewers need to have a clear long term vision for their business.”

He explains: “Are they going to stay local and therefore limit their expansion or will they embrace national distribution and the export market and expand to meet these demands for their beers?

“This vision will be heavily influenced by the brewer’s ability to source funding for expansion and to manage the risks or indeed the opportunities of expansion.”

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Supply and Demand As the the number of breweries in the UK and Ireland continues to grow so, unsurprisingly, does the demand on hops. While brewers are increasingly turning to diverse, forgotten or so-called unfashionable styles to broaden remits and counter shortages in their hop inventory, varieties such as Citra, Amarillo and Cascade continue to stay in incredibly high demand. So what do the UK’s biggest hop merchants have to say on the matter?

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longside brewery acquisitions and mergers, one of the prevalent and inescapable issues dominating the modern brewing landscape is that of hops and more pertinently, their supply. Hop shortages, of varying severity, have been well documented, while the adage of necessity being the mother of invention has ensured that brewers are increasingly turning to yeast and malt to express themselves through their beers.

According to Ann George, executive director of Hop Growers of America (HGA), 2015 was a tough year worldwide. Not quite an annus horribilis, but one that resulted in a defect in alpha production all the same.

In the association’s 2015 report, released last month, she confirmed that high summer heats and water restrictions resulted in mixed results for crops, with earlier harvest aroma varieties being hit.

While in Europe, where the majority of the crop’s water needs are supplied by rain, drought in Germany and other continental European countries bore witness to dramatically reduced yields. Germany had 34% of the world’s hop acreage, 4% lower than the US at 38%, but it contributed 33% of the 2015 crop while the US provided 42% of the global hop supply.

“The unusually high temperatures experienced this past summer were unprecedented, and we do not anticipate a repeat of an early and persistent heat wave,” she explains. “While we are waiting to see the final snowpack situation in the spring, we know we are already far better off than last year, so we anticipate higher yields along with more acres going in to meet contract demands.”

And going forward, George is bullish about the sector’s fortunes.

“Going through our statistics, it is clear that growers are putting more hops in the ground to meet the needs of both domestic and international brewers. It was promising to see the Brewers Association report that so many of their members are contracting, coming in at around 95%,” she says.

“While that definitely leaves uncertainty for those who are not contracting, the more contracts growers and merchants have, the better they can serve the domestic and global brewing industries. For those relying entirely on the spot market, that’s a pretty big gamble, especially considering the current market.”

interesting. There will be a healthy level of breweries in operation, while some will fall away and some will be bought. But the ones that remain will deserve to be there, in my opinion,” explains John Willetts, director at Kent-based hop merchant Simply Hops.

As the brewery landscape develops and transforms, the demands and requirements these operations place on hop merchants will change, whether people like it or not. And for Willetts, this is where breweries will need to play even closer attention to the role hop contracts play in their business.

“There are some dangerous messages going out.

And these messages are at the detriment of other breweries. If people are contracting 20% more than they need. Then you could argue there are around 200 breweries in just the UK alone that could be at risk of missing out,” he argues.

“So is contracting essential? On certain varieties, yes. If you want some of these big varieties such as Citra, Centennial, Mosaic, Cascade and Amarillo, as well as popular Australian and New Zealand offerings, then you need to contract ahead or it is quite likely you will not be able to get them.

“More than 80% of Citra in the ground today has already been sold through to 2019.”

Simply Hops doesn’t specify that breweries stick to sole hop variety in a contract, but rather a minimum package across all required varieties of 800kg a year. It currently caters for around 1,400 breweries and 2,000 customers across Europe, with its biggest market being the UK, by far, accounting for 50% of its current market, while growth is taking place in Italy, Iberia and Scandinavia.

Willetts is keen to point out that contracting isn’t essential for all hop varieties. “But do you lose anything by contracting? Not really. Although prices do fall sometimes, but at the moment, supply assurance is the greater risk, and you may actually save some money contracting ahead, although this is not guaranteed. But if you are basing your beers on single hop varieties then it is essential.”

The company doesn’t want breweries to be in situations where they end up with more than they need and then end up having to pay for them, he stresses.

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illetts also points out that the business rarely shorts people on their demands, unless there has been a significant problem with the crop.

He explains: “You have to remember that we are dealing with a sensitive natural product here that only has one harvest per region each year. We only sell 85% of what we plan to get, so there is a 15% buffer, which is usually enough, so with that in mind, over ordering is dangerous.

“And from a merchant’s point of view, these contracts effectively take the form of us offering a

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nd in the UK, it IS this issue of hop contracts, or forward contracting, which is guaranteed to catalyse fiery debate among the brewing sector that often rely on them.

As the burgeoning industry continues to bloom, placing increasing pressure on frequently strained supply lines, the dialogue between merchant and brewery is more important than ever.

“The next four years are going to be very, very

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loan and one that’s at 0% interest. Say we spend that £100,000 in March or April to secure the brewery’s hops, the brewery then pays us back over the year as they call off the stock. It’s a high-risk proposition for the merchant, which is why it is so important that those communication channels are effective.

“This is why it’s imperative to be in the right position. And know the correct information. We are only small, yes we have our bigger brother Barth Haas, but Simply Hops is still small. We always get asked about a minimum contract level, but if we are going out, buying the hops and holding them in cold storage, then it’s about finding the break even point so it works for all parties concerned.”

It is this cold storage factor that plays a key role in the contracting proposition. Cold storage, below 5C, is expensive to run and with that in mind, Willetts argues that if a client was to contract 30kg, but allow the brewery to call this offer over the year, then it would prevent a merchant from realistically being able to offer both a premium product and retain any profit in the process.

“This is a loan. We are lending you hundreds of thousands of pounds. We have great customers, and we service them well, but there will always be people that won’t get their own way, unfortunately,” he explains. “It’s not always possible to contract such low levels, but they are available on the website whenever possible, and new technology is on its way to allow customers to pre-order through that portal. You have to be flexible, on both sides. This is why we set up Simply Hops, in short, so to bridge that gap.”

He adds: “We converse with brewers and work out how we can make things better. And there will always be ones where we fall short despite best efforts and intentions. We are trying to encourage brewers to try different hops, to work with them. We are working with them to show off their skills and show them how to work with their beers in a way that does not leave them unnecessarily exposed to risk.”

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ut as demand continues to outstrip supply of the most popular hop varieties, companies such as Simply Hops are looking at the ways that they can further promote other hop types to breweries.

“So, why not try Equinox to replace Citra in the beer, while some of the new experimental varieties such as EXP431 offer those orange stone fruit flavours.

German Comet and German Cascade are a fruit fest, and different enough to their US counterparts that you will find something new with which to brew.

Australian Ella and German Mandarin, too,” he says.

Willetts also points out that the other geographies are also bringing through, and back, hop varieties.

“Endeavour is growing in popularity, but then there is Toyomidori which has lovely pineapple notes coming from it, UK Chinook, and the newly resurrected

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Bullion, not forgetting the greatest underdog of them all, Target. It was traditionally a bittering hop but now finding a place as a dry hop. People aren't looking at these as they have a reputation of being unfashionable and for a certain use,” he explains. “Remember that Citra was originally bred as a bittering hop, and look at that now. Target as a dry hop gives great mandarin flavour and it’s £6kg compared that around four to five times that on some of the bigger hitters. We are simply saying to people to give it a go.”

He, however, recognises that you are not going to get American flavours out of European hops, but you can get something different, instead.

“There are thousands of IPAs made from the same hops. Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, Galaxy, and Mosaic. The opportunity is for brewers to find a new beat,” says Willetts.

It is a sentiment shared by Russell Taylor, cofounder of Bucks-based XT Brewing, who also questions how all the new breweries opening will get by.

“We are now only allowed what we had before so it’s not like what we had in the earlier days. These days you get what you given, and with trendier hops, we only have what we own and what we ordered before, so with Amarillo we’ll get some but for Nelson Sauvin, no chance. The same applies to Simcoe, he explains. “We try and keep stocks of the limited varieties. Then for others, we go to our suppliers and ask what is available and take it from there.”

Taylor, however, is understanding of the situation.

He says: “The harvest had a double kicking in 2015 as it was reduced with less coming out, despite more being grown. And with this, there is a more demand, with the home market is growing but this is coupled with a growing boom in craft beer in Russia, China, Brazil, Italy, and Spain. These are not hop growing regions so they are eating into existing supply lines.

“There will need to be more and more grown but I understand and appreciate it is a big investment. So for breweries such as ours, you have to do what you want to do and see how you go.”

changing landscape

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or Paul Corbett, managing director of Charles Faram, the contracting situation is one that has developed significantly in the 26 years he has worked in the field, and echoes many of Willetts’ sentiments.

“When I started in this industry only the big breweries contracted and stock was generally available.

But over time, we started to work with breweries on an estimated requirement scheme and in more recent years, as it’s grown, volumes have grown larger, too,” he explains. “Then we were only dealing with 15-20 breweries but these days we are contracting millions of pounds worth. But now, smaller breweries want us to hold on to it, as well as wanting popular varieties such as Citra, Centennial and Simcoe.”

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Challenges and Opportunities, by Alicia Munoz technical specialist at Simply Hops

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verybody has heard about it. 2015 hop harvest has not been good in some regions. While many of us enjoyed the nice weather during the summer, swimming in the beach or even drinking beer, the German hop fields were having a bad time with it.

And being fair, who wants to work when the thermometer reaches 35C and above?

Hop cultivation requires a particular environment. Long light periods during plant growth (up to 18 hrs/day) and temperate weather (sufficient warmth and moisture) are the conditions in which the hop plants like to grow.

Normally, July is the month with the highest precipitation values in Central Europe. This together with the moderate temperature makes countries such as Germany, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Poland privileged for the growth of hops. But something totally different happened this year.

This summer has been described as the summer with the most “heat days” on record and it had less precipitation than normal, even surpassing the record year 2003. This combination allows us to describe the 2015 crop as the worst crop for the central European hop industry within decades. At the end of August, the German hop industry association described the crop as significantly belowaverage in all European hop-growing regions due to the hot and dry conditions in the months of July and August.

In spite of an increase in acreage by 540 ha, the official harvest estimation commission’s forecast is down by 25-40% versus a normal crop in Central Europe. Also, experience shows that poor yields go hand in hand with low resin and oil contents which increase the problem exponentially. Fortunately, the US is expecting a more or less average crop so that at least the supply of US flavour hops should not run into any serious problems. The UK crop is looking good with an increase around 5% versus a normal crop. However, it’s not just supply that’s causing the problem. The huge demand increases that we have seen for aroma hops and continue to see will only make the problem worse. On the plus side, the supply situation in the high alpha segment is far more relaxed.

This year will be the year of creative solutions. Brewers and hop traders should work together to achieve the targeted results. Some recommendations are for example to look into prior year inventories. Good hop traders keep their products under cold conditions (0-5°) and under vacuum or controlled atmosphere to ensure a good quality of the products over the years. The important value here is not the harvest year but the Hop Storage Index (HSI), which indicates the freshness of the hops. The HSI measures the amount of α- and β-acids lost over a period of 6 months at 20C.

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This value, which aims to estimate the future α-content, depends on the analysed variety, the time of harvesting and the packaging among others. The conditions and moment in which hops are harvested have also an influence on the initial HIS. The combination of these influences develops in that even older hops may have a better HSI than younger hops. This in combination with the hops contracted for crop 2016 may help to bypass the shortage in some varieties.

Of course, those who have worked with and on their recipes and the sensory characteristics of the hop varieties contained in them will be at an advantage and well prepared for the hard circumstances.

Looking into new varieties to substitute or to prepare mixtures of different varieties to achieve the desired aroma profile offers a good solution. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is no one to one substitution of any hop variety. We have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in this field in recent years and can assist brewers in finding the optimal solution with the help of brew trials, sensory panels and flavour analyses.

Also optimising the recipe by using CO2 extract or bittering products such as IKE, Isohop… may help to save in other products used to give aroma to the beer.

Or maybe considering the usage of PHAs or other hop oil products to kick the aroma and flavour of your beer to balance the final desired sensory perception.

Summarising, hop harvest 2015 is thus anything but “business as usual” and will require the willingness of suppliers and brewers to cooperate in the search for the most suitable solution.

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What is easy to forget, explains Corbett, is the cost this places on the merchant. “It’s a cost to us, with storage proving expensive and also, we pay our growers by February for their September crop.”

He adds: “People are reserving them so we have to contract. We are dealing with a significant number of breweries and many, many hops. Of course, growers do have problems occasionally too and there are clauses in our contracts with them so for any reason in the year, if a crop can’t be fulfilled, then there is no liability for the grower. It’s a long-term thing, and you simply can’t turn the tap on. But it’s important to understand that contracts give us visibility and allows us to plant the right thing. We can see the problems of knowing what recipes will be best sellers in a few years time but we have to start somewhere.”

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ut even then, a contract, which starts at 40kg from Charles Faram but requires all stock to be taken at once, isn’t a failsafe way of guaranteeing the hop varieties required to support your brewing schedule for the

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coming months.

“Look at Nelson Sauvin, where there is only a limited amount grown. We have actually taken the view now that it is distributed on a basis where, if you took it last year then you can have it next year and if you don’t want it, then we can contact others,” says Corbett. “For other varieties, when there is a drought, we pro rata across the contract and acreages are being grown sold in the first year. But a cold spring won’t produce what you thought they would. People have been expecting three quarters of a crop but we are looking down and thinking, crikey, we are going to be short.”

He concludes: “Yes, we are getting shortfalls frequently with these popular varieties. But the problem will come along where a shortfall is predicted, and there will be a full crop. That’s why it’s important to only contract what you need as you may end up with too much at a cost to you. Very soon, the crop will be big enough and at that stage, somebody carries the can, and it’s the person that contracts.”

“There have been a lot of hops planted this year.

But then I look at the number planted, and the speed of the industry growing, and part of me asks if there will be enough, and part asks if we have planted too many!”

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Malt Extracts in Brewing Muntons New Product Development Brewing Technologist Sophie de Ronde explains the role malt extracts can play in the brewing process. You can learn more from de Ronde at Beer X in Sheffield – 16th-19th March 2016.

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or many brewers, brewing life started out with homebrew and cans of hopped malt extract. Since becoming commercial you will most probably have shied away from malt extracts and are producing everything from grain malt as your raw material.

Because let’s face it, malt extract has had a dodgy past.

Well, times have changed! Malt extracts are not just made for the food industry made with high protein in mind. With new technologies, brewing quality malts and better process understanding Figure 1 - From left to right: control, 0.5% XD 3 addition, 1% XD3 addition

Next seminars Friday 11th March – Fermentation and Yeast Management Friday 10th June – Beer stability, consistency and packaging.

Friday 9th September - Compliance and Quality Control

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homebrews are turning out pretty well. However, this article will be concentrating on malt extracts for the commercial brewer, now don’t all go turning the page please… If you really think about it, in the brewhouse all you are doing is creating a dilute malt extract from your mash and so the additions of bought in malt extract is not really much different.

Cederex is a malt extract that has been made from 100% top quality brewing malt and can easily be used as a brew extender. Most brewers would probably just use sugar – but this could introduce cider notes and leave you with a thin beer so why not use a natural product that is comparable with your own made product? Cedarex makes for a 100% natural brew extender for those hard to reach maximum OG’s on speciality beers and without compromising on the flavour and body.

It’s not just pale malt extracts that are produced these days. There is a great range of coloured extracts including ultra-filtered roast barley extract and heat darkened pale extracts to add unique flavour along with the colour.

Starting with roast barley wort these are highly ultra-filtered products made to a variety of specifications. Muntons Clarimalt range is made so that the large astringent particles are filtered out leaving only the gentle roast flavour and high colour.

The range covers the colour range from 680 EBC to 1400 EBC (in a 10% solution). Amounts as little at 0.5-1.5% can be added to a beer to impart colour without additional flavour pick up. In image 1), the samples were from a beer made with 100% pale malt and the use of Clarimalt XD3; as you can see there is a distinct difference between the samples where additions have been made at 0.5% and 1% XD3. The 1% addition gives a beautiful and rich dark brown/ almost ruby hue. If you had some other coloured malts in there you can imagine the possibilities!

Muntons Clarimalt is useful way to adjust for minor colour deviations in a standard recipe to creating a dark style beer with minimal astringent, roasted notes.

As you increase additions above the 1.5-2% range, you will start to notice some roast flavour pick up. The

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maximum advised addition rate is 3% but why not have a play to create a unique beer – go on, test the boundary.

There is also a range of heat darkened extracts that can help enhance flavour and colour. The Actimalt EXD range is made from a base pale extract then heated. The heat darkening effect creates a range of complex Maillard products to give us unique flavour and colour attributes (see image 2). As the colour in these products darkens, flavours turns from a simple fruity, liquorice characteristic to complex roasted, treacle and almost fruit cake like characteristics. Dosed in the right quantities in the right beer styles can give you another layer of distinctive flavour to your beers.

Both the Actimalt EXD and Clarimalt XD ranges can be used at any point in the brewing process, including post fermentation, making precise adjustments easy.

Alongside this, the odd cask addition to create a new and different beer isn’t unheard of!

All of these products are made from 100% natural ingredients and make ideal replacements for caramel, molasses and sugars; as brewing additions they can be used to make your beers stand out from the crowd.

Sophie de Ronde, New Product Development Brewing Technologist will be at Beer X in Sheffield – 16th-19th March 2016.

Muntons are hosting a series of events (see box, left) to help brewers learn more than they already know to seek further perfection. There are limited spaces left, please see www.muntons.com/seminars for more information and registration.

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About Muntons Muntons Malt is a division within Muntons plc currently selling over 210,000 tonnes of malt annually to the world’s brewing, distilling and food industries. The Company is independently owned and one of five major maltsters located in the UK. Muntons was established in 1921 manufacturing Malt and liquid malt extracts for the Brewing, Distilling and Food Industries.

During the intervening years the company has established itself as a key supplier to these industries, both in the UK and overseas.

Our Mission: To make, distribute and sell the finest quality malt and malted ingredients with a continued commitment to work with our customers to meet their requirements for innovative, sustainable, traceable and ethical products. www.muntons.com t. +44 (0) 1449 618300 Twitter: @muntonsmalt

Figure 2 - Flavour wheel of the EXD liquid range

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mondo goes global Beer is not confined by geographical boundaries, and Mondo Brewing Company is testament to that. Founded by two US natives, the Battersea, London-based brewery is both influenced and inspired by global styles. Now the team want to make their name by perfecting them.

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alance in beer is so important.

A truly good beer should have that balance so not to take away from what else is in your glass,” explains a focused Tom Palmer, cofounder and brewer at Battersea’s Mondo Brewing Company. “Look at a Double IPA for instance, the guidelines that surround that beer are wild enough, but if you make a good version of a beer like that, and it’s balanced, then you don’t notice it being 8%. You don’t notice 100 IBUs and instead, you appreciate how everything fits together perfectly. Balance is conducive to your enjoyment of a beer and that’s why we place so much focus on it.”

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Palmer, like the brewery’s other co-founder and brewer Todd Matteson, is serious about his beer.

Brewing is in his DNA and it is something he strives for perfection in, not just a good attempt at.

Both he and Mattterson are US natives. The former grew up in a family of brewers in St Louis, Missouri, and in his youth he was, by his own admission, a “rambunctious individual”. But it was this….outlook that potentially catalysed his own career in brewing.

“I was kicked out of school and every so often I was taken to work with my father who worked for Budweiser. There’s a part of St Louis where the overwhelming smell of yeast from the brewery just hits you when you get close. You don’t forget that,” he enthuses. “I didn’t know it was yeast at the time until

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he told me, but walking into that, seeing the big tanks and vats sitting there, as well as a big control room, it was like a Homer Simpson setup.”

The difference being Palmer’s father actually did some work.

He has fond, vivid, memories of his father getting into the massive aging tanks, as well as the big devices that look liked torpedoes, and were called torpedoes, but were instead packed with the beechwood chips synonymous with Budweiser.

“They would push these chips into them before they filled the tanks with soon-to-be conditioned beer.

Then, when the yeast settles out onto the beechwood chips, this is where they claim to get their distinct flavour from,” he explains.

In addition to troubleshooting across the brewery, Palmer’s father was also responsible for steam cleaning the chips, as well as controlling brewery yeast. And prior to the operation was outsourced, he was also involved in the control of bread yeast that was supplied to a local breadmaker.

“We have lots of good photos of him in these roles across the brewery and I suppose that is where it started for me. That brewery has some of the best talent in the world, and more than anything, they’ve taken large steps in modernising the process. Large parts of that information has been shared publicly, so the brewing industry at large owes them a debt of gratitude for the work they have done to advance the science,” says Palmer. “Now on the other hand they pushed a lot of small players out, making it difficult to get into the market, so there are two sides of the coin, of course.”

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or Palmer, he was never much of a fan of the Budweiser brand anyway, instead favouring the European stylings of Michelob instead. “When you’re getting cases and cases free each month, being shared by my friends and I at the age of 12, then that’s probably not that much of a surprise!

While his future business partner Matteson developed his beer education through brewing in New York and Germany, Palmer believes his passion for beer, through drinking beers such as Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, led to a desire to travel.

“That type of beer doesn’t probably doesn’t have the same impact here in the UK, but in the US it simply blew my mind. I didn’t know a beer could look and taste so rich, so black, so beautiful. Me and my friend looked forward to every delivery of it. So that, Heineken and Red Stripe represented these exotic foreign places in my homeland. But it was Japan that ended up being one of the first places I visited, back in 1996, so it ended up being a choice of Asahi, Kirin Ichiban, Sapporo and Suntori as the only things available. But they very distinct beers all the same.”

Palmer had several stints in Japan, which included lecturing as well as brewing under the tutelage of Chris Poel, lead brewer at Baird Beer and a “big influence” on the former’s career in the field. But in 2011, Palmer’s tenure in Japan came to an end after he chose to leave the country after it was struck by

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the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the March of that year.

Following a time brewing in Spain, Palmer moved to London permanently in 2013, though continuation of his brewing career wasn’t, surprisingly, top of his agenda. Instead, he planned to further his education in the UK following previous experience lecturing a wealth of subjects including anthropology, language and ethics during his time in Japan.

learning Experience

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owever, his attendance at an event held at London Fields Brewery, barely a week into his time in London, saw his passion and organisational mindset kick in. Wanting to run the operation as set out his his head, he called the owner to offer his services and before long, was hired as lead brewer and head of product development. This is where he met Todd Matteson, and they hit things off very quickly.

“We met many people during our time there, it was a learning experience and one we are better for as a result. Tom and I met in the July of 2013 and I quit the following year to work on our business plan for Mondo,” says Matteson. “Talks had become longer, and more frequent, so it made sense to leave that April to work on it. Tom would work his shift then after that, he would come over and work on the plan for another good three or four hours each night. We set out our plans early on and we wanted to stick to them. He and I knew we didn’t want to be in an

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archway so we were looking for standalone places that would allow us to grow. We didn’t want to fall into a mould and we wanted somewhere we could impart our personality. We have nothing against these choices, of course, but this was the path we wanted to take.”

He adds: “We also live close to this site and compared to places such as Hackney and Bermondsey, it was the fit for us. When we saw this place, in July 2014, we immediately saw the potential and that it was right for us. Though it looked nothing like it does now!”

Both Matteson and Palmer, alongside an investor, put money into the deal in order to help turn Mondo from a name into reality.

“The investor could see something in us, what drove us and what made us want to strive in a crowded market. We told them that with right equipment, the right plant, and personality, we could succeed. It was the last point, that hit home and resonated with them but ultimately, it was a vetting process from both sides as we needed to be sure they were right for us, too. But here we are,” says Matteson.

This investment helped secure the site, kit investment, and construction of the taproom adjacent to the brewery itself. With the beers and brand hitting the market at last year’s Craft Beer Rising, the first official beers from the brewery’s current system saw the light of day in May 2015.

This system, commissioned and installed by Hungarian manufacturer Zip Technologies, is complemented by a bottling line from Italian firm Framax. The Hungarian business, in Palmer’s words,

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worked with the team every step of the way to help maximise their space, moving around tanks on CAD drawings, responding to demands for more storage, and ensuring no pathways and loading bays were compromised.

“We always told ourselves that if we were going to brew professionally with our own company, then we would do it properly. We spent months putting together this plan so we were not going to settle for second best. Call it the OCD in me!” says Palmer. “I hung out with a group of ex-pat brewers in Japan.

They were so meticulous, so passionate. They would talk about their setups in detail, about cleaning, sanitisation and for me, this matched my own outlook.

I had received some brewing textbooks from my father and from reading them, re-reading them, and reading them again, the main point that came across was the importance of the setup.”

He continues: “Yes you can make good beers from a standard setup, but doing that over and over, with that repeatability, is helped no end by a quality setup.

With Todd having worked in Germany, and with my own learnings, we knew that if you want to make a wide variety of beers, that you need control over the mash. You need a homogenous wort each and everytime, and you need the least amount of ability for microorganisms to get into the process during transfer and movement of the beer.”

inspired investment

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nvestment in the brewery’s setup didn’t come cheaply, but the team was adamant that it didn’t want to cut on this side of the business in order to save up for a later date in the chance that they became more popular.

“We wanted control, it was imperative that we used the money available to express that, so we bought something that represented our passion to make the best beer possible, regardless of our size,” he says.

“Yes it’s a longer road to profitability, and we knew we might receive some flack about the size of the investment but that’s natural, and to be expected. But if the beer is good then the beer is good, and that’s what we set out to do,” explains Matteson. “But if you see the walls on our office, you’ll see where we’ve spent the money, at the detriment of our own comfort elsewhere! We came from an environment before where the answer was often to throw more people at a problem, and it didn’t make any sense. We always knew investment in quality equipment was key and paramount for us. So that’s the route we have taken.”

Mondo Brewing Company in 2016 is, at the time of writing, a four-strong team. Though the addition of a new driver is imminent. Along with Matteson and Palmer the team is completed by brewer Joe Bevan and operations manager Andrew Turner, trusted allies they met during their collective time at London Fields.

For Bevan, however, his initial role at Mondo was that of a delivery driver, but after a van "mishap" on

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his first day, and upon reversing, doing it again, his duties were aligned to the brewing side, and they’ve never looked back. “It was all premeditated!” states Bevan. During our visit, Bevan is undertaking a wealth of tasks across the brewery alongside Palmer.

The setup, in the most part is semi- to near fullyautomated. Something they take great pride in. Once they decide on the brew sheet, the mill grinds the malt, which is usually a mixture of barley, wheat and rye, pushing it in to a pre-masher, mixing with water before it goes into the mashtun.

Spent grain is taken by a company called Bio Collectors that use it for animal feed. Bevan is undertaking the brewery’s grain-out process, and once the grain is crushed, mashed and lautered it ends up in a position ready for collection. It contains little sugar but in its final vessel, it will spontaneously ferment so when it gets to the farm the animals get a good buzz of it. “The cows love it. So when they are lying down, it’s not because it’s raining,” he laughs.

While the cows are enjoying the fruits of Mondo’s labours, their beers are being enjoyed by drinkers across London, and beyond, too. Core beers include the popular London Alt, a 4.8% Dusseldorf-style ale, while Kemosabe IPA ups the ante, complementing its pale James’ Brown Ale. However, it’s the All Caps!

Classic American Pilsner that comprises the bulk of the brewery’s output, accounting for more than half.

Featuring a “massive dose of Czech Saaz hops for bitterness and American Cascade hops for flavour and aroma” the beer has been recently commissioned by the Burger & Lobster chain for supply across the growing number of its restaurants. Mondo also supplies the ‘Indian Pale Ale’ for the incrediblypopular Dishoom portfolio of restaurants, a beer it developed specially for them and one that leverages Southern Hemisphere hops, more than they’ve ever used in a beer before.

respecting tradition

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n terms of output, both keg and bottle account for 40% of its supply, with cask making up the remaining 20%. Although it accounts for the least of its output, cask is something the brewery is keen to continue with.

“Cask is in neither of our deep beer traditions but it’s something we want to appreciate and maintain.

But we are brewing many different styles from around the world that suit keg more. Since my first experience with real ale, it continues to highlight a variety of favours, and it’s great to be able to put our stamp on it, and push the boundaries with it, too,” says Palmer.

“We are looking at higher alcohol beers, hops you wouldn't associated with cask. But if we can put the smile of the face of a real ale drinker with our ‘Rider’ or our brown beer, then we are doing something well.

It allows us to see how different a beer can be.”

While Mondo Brewing Company is still a relative newcomer in the UK, the team is already looking at

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opportunities further afield. Distribution is currently around London but they’ve just signed a deal to export their beers with Crafted to New York City in Spring. “Our roadmap told us to take a right turn in two or three years, but this opportunity popped up earlier than expected and it felt right. The team taking our beer over are on our wavelength, with cold storage during transportation, and they are passionate about it,” says Matteson. “We know the beers they bring here too, and know they take care of them, so it works both ways. With roll-out initially in NYC, then Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago with the West Coast within a couple of years, it’s very exciting.”

You get the impression however that the team at Mondo want to take every step as it comes, as long as it doesn’t compromise the quality of beer they produce.

“For both of us, coming from a home brewing background, steeped in American Culture, there is one home brewing book, ‘Brewing Classic Styles’, that sums up what most US home brewers felt in the States at the time. This was centred around brewing as many styles as they could get their hands on,” explains Palmer.

“People had taken a trip to Germany, Belgium, England or France, tasted great beers and wanted to get their hands on them again. So they turned to brewing them themselves. It’s like in Japan. I looked high and low for beer styles I wanted, so I started brewing them. So for us here, with our plan, it was about making the styles we want to drink, and see how well we make it against a classic style.

“It has become increasingly clear to us that we passionately have something to offer, brewing as many styles as our hearts desire and to excel each style we turn our attentions to. I’m confident we can do that.”

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HUMBLE HAMBLETON The brewing sector in the UK has changed considerably in the 25 years Nick Stafford and his brewery, Hambleton Ales, has been in business. But rather than looking upon the waves of newer breweries with a sense of consternation and scepticism, he says he is more invigorated and enthused about the industry than ever before.

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ooking back, it must have been in the early 2000’s. It was pretty dull, and rather sweet, but we worked at it and worked at it. I love to get to grips with a problem, and we wanted a beer that tasted as good as we knew it could taste, and here we are,” explains a vindicated and satisfied

Stafford.

He is speaking about the brewery’s ongoing success with its GFA, or Gluten Free Beer, which recently took the top Europe and UK award in its category at the World Beer Awards. The beer, which also won the Tesco Beer Innovation Award in 2006, has enjoyed a positive momentum in what is a burgeoning field.

And last month, the North Yorkshire family-run brewery brought, what Stafford believes is, the first gluten free cask ale to market. The cask conditioned gluten free beer is the culmination of years of research by the brewery, which was eager to produce a beer that would prove attractive to all drinkers, not just those requiring the a beer without gluten.

They opted to take one of their existing beers, Stud Blonde, and made it gluten free. According to Stafford, the beer is brewed the same as it always has, with malted barley grown locally on the Yorkshire Wolds. But the gluten is then subsequently removed, with each batch independently tested and certified as

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containing less than 20ppm gluten, which meets the UK’s definition of ‘Gluten Free’. The beer isn’t filtered, either.

“Stud Blonde has been a staple of our range for many years now, and is a very popular beer across Yorkshire and the North East. With many pubs and restaurants now offering gluten free options on their menus, this innovation means that they can complement these with a proper Yorkshire cask ale that can be enjoyed by all customers equally,” he explains.

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tafford seems genuinely excited that the brewery has reached another milestone on its quarter century anniversary. “I’m thrilled, we are thrilled. The beer is consistent and it’s cask, I can’t name you one in cask, I don’t know of any but I could be wrong, of course,” he says. “We had a go not for the sake it, but because there is an increasing number of coeliacs being diagnosed and I think it’s only right that they have another option when they go to the pub. I don’t think the disease is necessarily a problem that’s got worse, but one that has been more prevalent in its diagnosis.”

While many breweries are making forays into new

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styles, and venturing into different markets, Stafford speaks with a confidence, and palpable enthusiasm, about his own company’s journey, and its place in the brewing landscape of 2016.

“It’s lively, youthful, and I am full of pride to be part of it. To see people enthusing about beer, not just generally, but as a market, and one that is constantly growing, is exciting. It always seemed to be such a battle in the early years, to get the pub companies to listen to us, but now you find the younger brewers and brewery owners are maybe finding it a lot easier to sell beer. And that’s a good thing of course,” he muses. “It’s indicative of the marketplace, an increasing number of drinkers have grown up with the unknown around them, and they are much more promiscuous. More than they ever have been. I see the ‘older’ end of the market where that style of drinker consumes what they know, and what they like. But they are mingling, and drinking next to their in-laws, friends, and others that are on the look out for the newest beer on tap, or in the fridge of their pub.”

Stafford hasn’t seen the development in the UK brewing sector solely through the lens of the public house. He and his 12 staff are far more intrinsically linked, owing to their contract brewing, bottling and kegging operations that comprise 50% of the brewery’s business.

“We are proud that we are part of a fantastic

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brewing scene that is well respected. There are plenty of old hands about in the industry, and I like to think that we are the glue that holds the industry together.

Or something like that! It’s about staying relevant, you need to move forward to stand still and working with others, while developing ourselves is a way of doing that,” says Stafford. “We don’t keep secrets from those we work with. Provenance is everything and we are happy to experiment for them, brewing scores of different beers, and packaging thousands of them as a result."

He adds: We have been lucky as we can experiment with other people’s ideas, and they want to talk to us. In the last 12 months we would have packaged for around 50 breweries. If they are successful, then you’d like to think that we will get more business from them. But for how long who knows, but you need to take a wide view rather than one that focuses on making a fast buck. I’ve been around for 25 years, I want to be around for 25 more.”

strict discipline

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rewing output of Hambleston Ales’ own beer meets a figure somewhere around the 5,000hl mark, while the beers it packages for others hits the “thousands of hectolitre

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mark” each year, with a standard bottling run of three and a half thousand litres for its clients.

And while Stafford is a self-confessed “sucker for innovation” he’s yet to be convinced by the attraction of canning lines, instead opting for a focus on cask, bottle and keg. It’s an approach that’s served him well thus far. In 2007 the company commissioned a £250,000 filtration and bottling line complementing the opening of a £700,000 new brewery near the village of Melmerby, between Thirsk and Ripon. And in 2013 the company installed keg washing and filling equipment, as well as a broadening of the choice of bottle styles it offers it contract customers.

"You need to invest, I was fortunate that I found the discipline when I was younger, and was lucky, to invest in equipment and a building. But I had no choice! I suppose I was unemployable, you could even say an obnoxious bugger! And I love being self employed, but this has taken time to get to this point.

People should not be discouraged by the apparent lack of funding out there for their venture. You need to be driven, and you need to have broad shoulders, but you also need your nearest and dearest with you as it can turn you into a fairly unpleasant person at some times. It is unavoidable.”

The brewery operates a 20bbl brewplant but is looking at a 40bbl setup, too, opting for local fabricators where possible on the brewing side as the company gets satisfaction and value from giving them the commission. “We are always changing so if we give them big jobs as well as the little ones, then it works for both of us,” he explains.

With a setup the team is happy with, for now at least, Stafford and his colleagues that include head brewer John Morgan continue to refine the brewery’s own recipes while helping others get off the

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ground, too. This development has involved moving Hambleton into 750ml vessels with its ‘Legend’ series of beers that comprise ‘Thoroughbred’ ‘Nightmare’ and ‘As Good As Gold’. Each of the three beers are higher ABV versions of their keg counterparts. But underpinning each beer, regardless of vessel, is quality, states Stafford.

He says: “Everyone talks about quality as if it’s a statement of the bleeding obvious. But there are some brands of beers around where they should be cloudy, and there’s some that shouldn’t. It’s about making sure that what you do to a beer is done for a purpose.

And done for a reason.

“I was once told ‘detail, always look at detail every step of the way’ so it’s great to read now about quality, how people are taking it more seriously, and delivering on it too. It’s the future of craft brewing, in my opinion. I say to my customers, there are multiple retailers out there putting pressure on quality, so you need to show that you are meeting these quality levels and being able to do that isn’t always cheap, either”.

It’s that commitment to quality that has aided Hambleton Ales’ longevity. Upon opening in 1991, the company was, by Stafford’s reckoning, the 250th brewery to have opened in the UK, an achievement not lost on him.

“We are here in 2016, and I’m committed to the wellbeing of every brewery in the country. I am loving being swept up by the great wave in beer we are having. Brewers need hope for the future but I, hand on heart, have huge hope for the UK brewing industry due to the massive impact the youth is having. When you lose the ability to dream, and the vision of your ambition, then you are at a dead end. But I am encouraged, more than ever, no doubt about it, so roll on the next 25 years.”

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Apply Yourself With print technology more advanced than ever, there is an even greater wealth of options available to breweries looking to revamp their small-pack branding.

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he consensus that you consume a beer before you actually drink it arguably relates to the appearance, and aroma, of the drink itself. But the same increasingly applies to the packaging of small-pack sales, too.

Most of us have been guilty, I’m sure, of buying a beer because of the eyecatching, attractive, or divisive, look of a particular bottle or can.

It’s an approach that’s far from exclusive to beer.

Good packaging sells a product, so it’s far from surprising that breweries are placing an increasing emphasis on the way their bottles and cans look when they go out into the wild. That there’s no one size fits all approach for the way beer types should, or must, look for consumers, makes packaging proposition all the more exciting.

A cursory glance at some of the standout UK frontrunners in recent months and years demonstrates the level of diversity emanating from breweries and their designers. On one hand you have the hypnosis of Magic Rock’s burgeoning can offering to the ethereal and effortless simplicity of Cloudwater and its seasonal bottle range. On the other, the direct and efficient, yet iconic, brown-paper stock approach from

London’s Kernel to the often uniform, but reassuringly consistent, take on bottle labelling from Thornbridge, XT and Siren.

While design is of course key, the interplay between the design itself and the ways these creations can be realised on the bottle label, can label, or can itself, continues to diversify and impress. And that’s only a positive for breweries looking at varying ways to help ensure their beer stands out.

“People are buying beer in the same way they are buying wine now. It’s arguably still very much price sensitive, to a degree, but if you position yourself in a certain bracket, you will always look at the beer in that bracket above,” explains Stuart Kellock, managing director of labelling and packaging printer Label Apeel. “Price is obviously not the sole deciding factor on why someone will buy a beer. If they want a beer, and agree with the price, then they will make that investment. But for those unsure of what they want, premium branding and packaging will help the consumer make that decision.”

He adds: “That is why it’s also important to work with good designers, and not to follow a trend, but to forge your own path and have that drive to do something different and something memorable. On a print side, different textures, contrasting textures

HP Indigo digital print technology is a popular choice with printers

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help with this, so for instance you could maybe complement a matt finish with a gloss varnish to offer a tactile engagement.”

finished products

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ellock believes the increasing takeup of cold foiling, hot foiling, embossing, laminating, and flexographic finishes is ensuring that those that put the extra effort in on the packaging side of their product are frequently seeing the dividends on the sales front.

“It’s only a matter of time before the bigger guys need to up their game as they are recognising that they are under pressure to improve their labelling and packaging,” he says. “They can’t keep getting away, in my opinion at least, with putting cheap paper on bottles. People are perceiving quality in the touch, so high-grade stocks, foiling and laminating finishes, are all helping that cause.”

It’s a point echoed by Andy Hodd, digital director at Lemontop Creative. “Stocks are changing, and there is a diverse variety available,” he says. “People are also realising that shapes are far from standard, too. You don’t need to stick to certain rectangles or the like.

Which is great from a branding point of view.”

He explains: “Standing out, especially when people pick up a bottle, is important. If it feels different, and if they are not familiar with it, then it's more memorable and could be the difference in buying that beer. People are willing to give it a go, more than if they were non-plussed by the experience.

“Some want work done as cheaply as possible, while others that are more clued up and are willing to spend more to get the highest quality possible. That also extends to pump clips, too. Clients want to be known for quality, and for their vision of the brewery.”

Elsewhere, Richard White is the business development manager of Label.co.uk, a company that has carried out work for breweries such as Hop Stuff and ELB, among others.

He believes that keeping labels cost-effective and the quality high is always a key demand from its client

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base. “Generally keeping lead times short and above all, delivering labels when you say you’re going to deliver, tends to keep the world turning, he explains.

“In Jan 2014 we launched an Express Production service - labels delivered within 24/48hrs. We’ve found this service particularly popular where breweries have needed labels extremely urgently in order to keep bottling lines and such running.”

cost effective

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hen it comes to looking at particular label stocks and finishes, standard paper/PP stocks continue to remain very much its core offering due to the fact that they are cost-effective and they work.

He adds: “Naturally we have variations in the carrying material that we supply these labels on some operations prefer PET liners that can contribute

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Label Apeel leverages MPS flexo press technology in its printing operations

towards speedier application. Where customers are looking for something a little different we’re able to borrow ideas/materials from our wine label production. On a similar note we’ve also noticed more demand for matt/tactile varnishes on PP materials that work toward replicating textured stocks.

“The breweries that we serve tend to differentiate themselves through well-designed artwork and increasingly through a small amount of premium finishing such as hot-foil, spot varnish or embossing combined with digital printing. A well designed label that keeps the premium finished elements of the label constant across all designs is key; this keeps tooling costs low and labels cost effective.”

But for those breweries going the extra mile with their financial commitments, how do clients juggle the increased costs that come with higher quality stocks and finishes with the, hopefully, improved return on investment their beers will return?

“Over recent years, digital label printing has been slowly but surely working it’s way into the brewery scene. We’ve taken on a consultive approach to supporting both our new and existing customers, educating on the benefits of digital printing," says White. “Digital printing is great for two reasons;

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firstly, there are no plate costs so we have the ability to produce multi-versioned runs with ease, combining IPA, Stout and Pilsner for example; Secondly, the relatively low set-up costs in comparison to other methods of printing mean that labels for limited edition brews can also be realised much more costeffectively.”

Simon Smith, managing director of CS Labels, which uses Xeikon print technology, echoes this.

“The market is very diverse. competitive and dynamic and if you look at the recent microbrewery explosion you can see how it has changed over the past few years – extensively,” he explains. “Breweries really want their labels to stand out more than ever. Cost isn’t as much of an issue anymore. In our experience I have seen the market change, if you would have asked me five years ago what breweries wanted, I would have said they normally ask for a wet glue label as cheaply as possible. Now they are asking for all kinds of extras; embellishments, consecutive numbering, special label stock, seasonal editions, personalisation and even wanting augmented reality on their labels so people can scan a label image and be sent to a webpage or other interactive content.”

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interactive experience

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ccording to Smith, the label is part of an interactive experience, with consumers sharing their beer stories on social media channels, including taking pictures of the

brand.

“It’s becoming a lifestyle choice to be a fan of real ales, pairings of food and beer is becoming more and more prevalent, and all of this is lead by a strong brand that is complimented by an appropriately strong label,” he enthuses. He highlights the work the company did for Brixton Brewery last year. “We helped them to select a fashionable textured effect base paper that had a nice warm grain behind it. We’re often asked for label stocks like laid paper or Tintoretto.”

And for Smith, he expects breweries to continue to spend more on their branding going forward. “The successful ones tend to invest in their marketing which goes right through to the packaging. Packaging, including the label, isn’t something they want to skimp on as they know consumers make a lot of buying decisions based on quality packaging in this market,” he explains. “Plus most brewers are proud of

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their work; they genuinely love their craft and why spoil a fantastic beer with a cheap label? Also if you look at many of the recent award winning labels, they were either gins or beer. The gin market has quite rapidly followed suit where packaging quality is concerned.”

Marvin Foreman, worldwide sales manager at Tonejet can take up the debate from a different angle.

Tonejet is readying its 2-Piece Can & Tube Digital Decorator for market, a system designed to meet the needs of short to medium print runs for a range of applications, and beer cans are a key application in this space.

change as and when required,” he says. “It allows us to move away from that traditional approach, and move away from months and months of planning. The goal is that if you need 20,000 cans then you can have that in weeks, rather than months.”

Digital can printing’s benefits are not restricted to short to medium run economics, rather this is a fact of the technology. What is also attractive is the ability to change the design of the can at ease.

The domestic use of full colour digital inkjet printer in homes or offices enables the user to print a different document or image on each individual sheet.

Leveraging the Tonejet technology, the same idea can be applied to cans, which can be used for orders of small to medium can runs, where the design for each can could be different or even personalised to an individual.

According to Foreman, the company’s Digital Decorator allows for different images to be printed one after the other without the need to stop the production line, change printing plates, or change printing inks. The high resolution digital imaging process also means that high quality photo images can be printed as well as traditional graphics.

While the benefit of cans providing an opportunity for brewers to use the full container height and the full 360 degree circumference is well known.

It’s significantly larger than a label can provide cost effectively, which arguably allows brewers in the UK and Ireland to increase their branding coverage.

“You are looking at around a tenth of the cost of a pressure-senstive label with this type of digital print technology,” Foreman adds. “That’s where this can win, it’s all about offering breweries that flexibility.”

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raditional analogue printing process that have been used for decorating cans, coupled with the economic crossover point of the suppliers, has meant that minimum order quantities of more than 100,000 units, have effectively resulted into monumental barriers to entry for smaller breweries requiring printed cans.

The company’s electro-static drop-on-demand digital print system is designed to enable canners and brewers to produce short to medium run can jobs with the USPs of high speed production coupled with high quality print, and at a low cost.

“From our point of view, people want to be more flexible with their branding and their marketing. So rather than being locked in for runs of hundreds of thousands of the same design, you are looking at the flexibility of printing fewer then having the option to

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Build it and they will come: lactobacillus Although beer is a microbiologically stable beverage, there are a limited number of microbes that can survive, and unfortunately thrive, in both the brewery and the beer.

Because of this infection can occur at almost any stage of the brewing process, explains Timothy Woolley

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t Is well known that beer is a microbiologically stable beverage, in addition to its inherent anti-bacterial properties (ABV, low pH, hop acids, lack of nutrients etc.), many stages in the brewing process also reduce the potential for bacterial contamination e.g. mashing, wort boiling, pasteurization, filtration, and cold storage.

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There are however a limited number of microbes that can survive in, and unfortunately thrive in both the brewery and in beer, because of this infection can occur at almost any stage of the brewing process.

Contamination can originate from the raw materials e.g. malt and hops, from brewery processes e.g. bottling, canning or kegging or from issues with brewery infrastructure e.g. vessel design, cleaning

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regimes, Quality Control regimes, personnel etc.

Although bacteria and yeasts are everywhere, most do not survive the brewing process. Likewise there is evidence that although raw materials are a major source of bacteria they do not act as a major reservoir for potent beer spoilers.

It is important to note that while process hurdles e.g. wort boiling, are important in preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria, they do not prevent the growth of the spoilage bacteria, especially the most common spoilers, Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), so its critical that the brewer have a handle on where spoilage bacteria come from, where they are likely to be found and why.

Of the main beer spoilage bacteria, LAB are responsible for most beer spoilage events, and of these, Lactobacillus brevis, L. lindneri, and Pediococcus damnosus are the most commonly identified strains.

lactic acid bacteria

The Lactobacilli are as very diverse group, encompassing species with a large variety of biochemical, and physiological properties. Most species of lactobacilli are homo-fermentative, that is they utilise glucose to produce a single predominant byproduct i.e. lactic acid (lactate) but some are heterofermentative. In this instance they produce a number of by-products that include lactic acid, CO2 and ethanol.

The bacterio.net website states that there are 218 different lactobacilli species, these can largely be divided into three major subgroups. Group I lactobacilli are obligately homo-fermentative and

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ll LAB have a common genetic and molecular homology, however, a definitive description of LAB is still to be agreed. The typical LAB is considered to be a Grampositive, non-spore forming rod or coccus, it will lack the catalase enzyme and it will produce either a mixture of lactic acid, CO2, acetic acid and/or ethanol (heter-fermentation) or simply lactic acid (homo-fermentation) as the major end-product of metabolism.

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Lactobacillus Kingdom: Bacteria Division: Firmicutes Class: Bacilli Order: Lactobacillales Family: Lactobacillaceae Genus: Lactobacillus Species: e.g. L. brevis

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produce lactic acid (>85%) as the major end product of metabolism; examples include L. delbrueckii and L. acidophilus.

They grow at 45oC but not at 15oC. Group II, also homo-fermentative, grow at 15oC and show variable growth at 45oC, examples in this group include L. casei and L. plantarum.

Group III lactobacilli are hetero-fermentative. The end product of metabolism is a mix of lactic acid (approx. 50%), along with CO2 and ethanol, of these L. brevis is the most common beer spoiler.

L. brevis is the most commonly identified beer spoilage bacteria, causing approx. 50% of all cases.

Due to its versatility, being generally resistant to hop acids, tolerant to wide temperature and pH ranges as well as having other beer related adaptions such as being able to use maltose as well as starch as a food source, it appears to have selected breweries and beer as its preferred environmental niche.

Unfortunately because of this it is detected at high frequency in beer and breweries, and although it presence is likely related to the accessibility of beer, its persistence is probably related to some strains being able to produce biofilms, protecting it from many sanitisation methods.

Because of the heterogeneity of the genus there can be problems trying to identify differences in the same bacterial species, for example, some strains of L. brevis are well known beer spoilers, whereas other strains exhibit no beer spoilage activity at all.

Outwardly however they may appear similar if not identical, but biochemically and genetically they differ in some key areas.

a growing problem

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nfortunately traditional culture methods are often unable to evaluate the differences in beer spoilage ability.

In addition novel beer spoilage species occasionally emerge, as seen in 2004 when L. paracollinoides was identified. Until that point this species appears not to have been described in the literature, however it was found to be a potent beer spoiler, even comparable to L. brevis.

The species may actually have been noted before but incorrectly identified as its close relative L. collinoides (99% homology), however L. collinoides is not considered a beer spoiler. As such, incidences of infection from the species may have been under reported.

Finally some Lactobacillus bacteria such as L. acetotolerans are difficult to grow using culture media and can enter a viable, but non-culturable state (VNC).

In this state bacteria are still alive but will not grow on culture media, meaning that again beer spoilage events may be being misreported. There is evidence that the same state can be induced in other

60 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

Lactobacillus strains including the more damaging L. paracollinoides. In which case a potent spoilage bacteria may not be picked up using culture methods.

Therefore newer technologies such a DNA/PCR, are now being used to help brewers better manage bacteria in the brewery.

evolution of a beer killer

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op acids (actually Iso-alpha-acids) have various biocidel effects including increasing bacterial cell wall permeability, as well as detrimental affects on protein, DNA, and RNA synthesis. Simply put hop acids are extremely reactive and because of this they damage the bacterial cell leading to cell death.

Recently however two genes, horA and horC, have been identified in beer spoilage LAB. These genes appear to confer protection against the action of hop acids, giving some LAB the ability to thrive in the brewery environment.

Of the raw materials within the brewery grains are possibly the largest microbial contributor to the brewery environment, with hops and yeast coming in second and third, however bacterial presence on these ingredients does not necessarily lead to infected beer.

Research by Bokulich et al (2015) found no beer spoilage bacteria on the hops they tested. Likewise beer spoilage LAB are not commonly found in normal malt flora.

So where do beer spoilers come from, unfortunately you probably wont like the answer, especially as it looks like they arose from the brewery itself. To fully understand this it’s useful to think in terms of evolutionary pressure.

Evolution is driven by the need to survive; sometimes an environmental niche arises that allows a species access to a huge as yet untapped food source.

Slowly this species adapts itself to that environment, it becomes a specialist.

Breweries are full of sugar; they are also wet, and usually warm. So for a bacteria like L. brevis that can already withstand a wide range of temperatures and pH, if it can also adapt to using a wide range of sugars, including maltose, and counteract the affect of hop acids its got more or less a free ride.

Beer spoilage LAB probably developed the same way antibiotic resistance bacteria such as MRSA have done, in our case rather than people being given inappropriate courses of antibiotics its likely that ‘harmless’ LAB had access to sub lethal amounts of ‘loose’ beer around the brewery which allowed them to develop defensive hop resistance genes.

In other words, LAB might have been introduced into the brewery via the raw ingredients, however it was the presence of hopped beer that created the evolutionary pressure towards resistance and produces beer spoilage bacteria.

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s c ien c e

Raw

mat e r i a L s

Raw materials as contributors to beer flavour While it is true that fermentation creates the greater proportion of the flavour attributes in beer, around two thirds of more than 1200-1500 chemical components, the precursors to many of those flavours of course start with the input of raw materials and water; hops, malts (and adjuncts and sugar syrups) and other ingredients such as spices and fruit or fruit extracts too, explains Gary Spedding, Ph.D. Brewing and Distilling Analytical Services, LLC

A

few years back the author created three short articles in a “Brewing Quality” series that started with the raw materials.

These articles were picked up by the Scandinavian Brewer’s Review and detailed quality factors to look for in water and its treatment and for malt and hops selection. Here, an expansion of this topic covers some of the flavour notes to be expected from carefully selected raw materials and from the brewing liquor used in the modern brewhouse.

These materials need to be assessed for quality and it is simply not a matter of trusting the supplier and throwing them in the cauldron and expecting great beer at the end. Once again sensory evaluation will play a huge role in the process. Let’s start – we begin with water.

water

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y now every brewer knows why and where world class beer styles originated or were best produced; many articles are available for brewers on this topic. Water supplies can carry taints sometimes not removed in any processing steps or that do require a “clean start” treatment of the incoming supply.

The term “taint” (as opposed to off-flavour) refers to the presence of a substance considered totally alien to all foods and may include components imparting atypical flavours or odours from external sources such as air, water, packaging materials and processing lines, etc. (Spedding and Aiken, 2015). While an interesting topic in its own right we only state here

62 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

that microbes for example can metabolize certain compounds derived from disinfectants and sanitizers to generate undesirable flavours such as chloroanisoles (mouldy or musty accents) from reactions involving chlorophenols in water supplies or by the production, by cyanobacteria, of a strong (very low threshold) earthy/beetroot like note called geosmin.

Furthermore, interaction of chemicals in the brewery environment or with nylon or rubber hoses and pipes for example can also generate taint compounds. Such powerful notes are totally undesirable. So water chemistry and quality needs to be assessed from a taints viewpoint and sanitation systems or purification schemes should be appropriate to task in creating a suitable quality brewing liquor. A number of pure compounds for sensory training can be obtained from Cara Technologies in the UK (AROXA flavour standards) and we recommend consulting their website for further detailed sensory information on this topic.

Assuming there are no taints in the water another consideration of course is the mineral content that plays a big role in overall flavour perceptions, via ensuring efficient fermentation, optimal conditions for enzymatic reactions involved in flavour production and in extraction of desirable or undesirable components from the brewing raw materials (such as phenolic and complex acids from husks for example).

The calcium ion concentration, largely added from brewing water (though 30-50 ppm. comes from malt), of 20-150 mg/L (according to beer type) will help reduce pH, stabilize and stimulate enzymes during mashing and, importantly for quality of final product, will precipitate oxalates preventing haze formation and gushing. Calcium in the final beer is good for overall stability and quality.

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Raw

M at e r i al s

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Table 1

Recommended concentrations of some ions for brewing (in water & levels) – some (negative) quality issues briefly mentioned.

Calcium: 20-50 mg/L according to beer type – see text for roles – mainly positive. Along with magnesium a primary contributor to water hardness (water hardness an important topic but not discussed here).

Magnesium: Avoid concentrations above 30 mg/L Excess can cause bitter flavor. Along with calcium a primary contributor to water hardness.

Sodium: Maximum concentration is about 150 mg/L. Above this > sour and salty perceptions.

Potassium: Potassium is mainly from malt so water levels rarely considered to be significant. High levels saline/salty.

Iron – ferric (Fe 3+ and ferrous Fe 2+): Maximum recommended level Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ in brewing water 0.2 mg/L – see text for roles – mainly negative! Causes taste, discoloration issues and contributes to hardness.

Copper: Keep below 0.1 mg/L in brewing water. Below 1 mg/L colloidal/flavor instabilities. Above 10 mg/L inhibits enzymes and is toxic to yeast.

Zinc: Between 0.15-0.5 mg/L recommended range in brewing water. See text for positive and negative roles!

Manganese: Keep below 0.05 mg/L – high levels impact colloidal stability. Causes taste, discoloration issues and contributes to hardness (though not as potently as for iron).

Sulfate: Between 10 and 250 mg/L. Gives beer drier/more bitter palate but can lead to SO2 and H2S formation.

Chloride: Maximum 150 mg/L. Aids beer body/palate fullness (can reduce palatability) but can inhibit yeast flocculation and fermentation at higher levels. Toxic to yeast above 300 mg/L. Stress corrosion issues with stainless steel. Contributes to permanent hardness.

Nitrate and Nitrite: Max. concentration nitrite 0.1 mg/L/nitrate 50 mg/L. Nitrite can indicate contaminated water (wastewater) and is toxic to yeast. Nitrates can come from malt and hops final content in beer should not exceed 50mg/L. Nitrate and Nitrite: Max. concentration nitrite 0.1 mg/L/nitrate 50 mg/L. Nitrite can indicate contaminated water (wastewater) and is toxic to yeast. Nitrates can come from malt and hops final content in beer should not exceed 50mg/L. Silicate: These ions usually originate with malt. May cause haze in combination with calcium ions. Above 40 mg/L fermentation issues, haze formation during Pasteurization.

Phosphates: –positive roles in general but max concentration recommended at 1.0 mg/L. Fluoride: Max. concentration fluoride ions 1.5 mg/L though up to 10 mg/L regarded as exerting no adverse effects on brewing processes.

H2S (Hydrogen sulfide). Avoid – affects taste and odor. Found in groundwater and is produced by bacterial metabolism of sulfur-containing minerals or decomposition of organic matter. Detect via aromatic qualities – sewer-drains, rotten eggs.

Other ions play positive and negative roles (the negative issues pertaining mainly to off-flavour generation or taints) but, apart from zinc and iron, these are not discussed at length here (see Table 1 for recommended levels). Iron levels should be low to avoid incomplete saccharification, haze formation (metallic hazes), inhibition of yeast, impaired beer colour, flavour and colloidal stability, oxidation issues

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and discolouration of foam. Zinc in trace amounts is a yeast nutrient, stimulates fermentation and limits H2S formation. At higher levels it can inhibit enzymes, yeast growth and catalyze beer oxidation reactions leading to haze and flavour quality issues.

Mineral ions are considered here from the viewpoint of the effect on quality of final beer through the numerous processes on the way to finished product.

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 63

s c ien c e

r aw

mat e r i al s

The information should be reviewed when considering quality issues at each step in the brewing process but many other substances can impact efficiency and quality of beer production. However, following reports obtained from the local water authority or lab specializing in water chemistry and microbiology, together with an understanding of water purification systems, along with simple mineral adjustment calculations will generally be sufficient to ensure a good start and continued positive impact throughout the brewery process towards a high quality and consistently produced beer. Recommended for brewing salt adjustments is a calculator at the Probrewer.com website – look for Tinseth’s water calculator (http:// www.probrewer.com/tools/water-chemistry-calculator/) Lager beers are best made with the use of soft waters (low mineral content and low in carbonates) to bring out the more delicate flavours of this class.

Reduction in pH is important but calcium ion levels are not as important as for other styles due to the use of lightly kilned malts.

For Pale Ales and Bitters bicarbonates should (arguably – different authorities have differing opinions) be below 60 ppm. and the calcium concentration above 125 ppm. Sulfates higher than chlorides to enhance bitterness and hop flavour. Mild’s and Stouts require carbonates to be less than 60 ppm. and calcium at 75 ppm. for mild’s and 30 ppm. for stouts.

A full understanding of bicarbonate, carbonate and hydroxyl ions dealing with alkalinity are not presented here but a basic understanding of water chemistry and mineral ion adjustment will aid in quality considerations at this raw materials stage of operations. Noting the impact of water on malt derived constituents leads us into looking at maltderived flavour notes.

malt

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alt types are addressed here. Not addressed, in any depth here, are adjuncts (other cereal grains) including syrups and other “flavourings”. However, all such raw materials can carry taints or contamination flavours into beer and also provide for a potentially diverse, desired and flavourful host of characteristics to beer.

Different sugar contributions from syrups and cereals and husk components from grains all impact flavour

64 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

Table 2

Typical malt types and flavours (a wider variety now available from the main malting companies).

Green malt: Green, grassy, green pea.

Lager malt: Green, malty, nutty, sweet. [Vienna: malty, biscuit notes.] [Munich: sweet, malty, biscuit, toast and graham cracker] Pale ale malt: Malty, nutty, biscuity, sweet, toasted. [Mild malt: toasty and biscuit character] Caramelised: Caramalt - Sweet, caramel [Carabrown: toastiness with biscuit, nut and graham cracker notes.]

Crystal (Caramel in the US) - Sweet, caramel, stewed fruit, toffee, black treacle, burnt. {Different types at different degrees color from kilning – different flavor spectrum. High Lovibond color leads to pronounced caramel flavors of burnt sugar, raisins and prunes}.

Roasted (dry): Amber malt - Biscuity, baked, malty, bitter Chocolate malt - Dark, chocolate, cocoa, bitter, burnt, sharp Black malt - Burnt, black coffee, roasted coffee, sharp, acrid Roasted barley - Burnt, sharp, acrid, dry, black coffee, dark chocolate Smoked malts: Strong wood smoke aroma – flavor- sweet, ashy, smoky and earthy. [Cherry wood, Apple wood etc., conveying different nuances.]

Acidulated malts: [Note historically used to alter pH of brewing water in German brewing] Sour, tangy, tart and lactic –e.g., for sour beer styles

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r aw Table 3

Aroma qualities of Hops (A general profile of flavours conveyed by different hops and fresh and aged hops.) The descriptors will be presented in hop profiles by any reputable hop supplier. The terms may also form the basis for a hop essential oil-aromatic flavour wheel.

General Profile Term

Flavor Note

Fruity

Citrus, berry, tropical, pear, apricot.

American

Grapefruit (rind) -, citrusy, tomato leaves, juniper and catty (blackcurrant).

Herbal

Minty, dried culinary herbs, tobacco or black tea.

Floral

Roses, geranium, chamomile and coriander.

Herbaceous

Grassy, hay-like, vegetal and green.

Resinous

Balsam, piney, lacquerlike (furniture polish) and mineral (engine) oil (in high alpha hops).

Spicy

Black pepper, allspice and cinnamon.

Noble

Cedarwood/ sandalwood, curry, woodsy, complex spice.

Off -Old/Aged/Oxidized

Onion/garlic – cheesy/ rancid, musty and woody (pencil shavings). Older/late harvested hops can show these and other sulfury notes.

through extraction and reactions taking place in the heating stages of the brew process and through yeast fermentation etc. As noted above these can be affected by the water composition and so all factors should be considered in designing great beers.

So all malts, adjunct cereals and syrups etc., should be addressed from a quality and flavour production viewpoint.

Many brewers focus on hops (sometimes on water) but often overlook malt which is unfortunate as the malts form the backbone or the soul of beer. Recently, however, a number of books on malt have started to

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mat e r i al s

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appear in the craft literature which address the need to really choose and assess this base component for its rightful contribution to beer and to flavour and to the diverse styles beyond the current craft obsession with hop-dominated beers (see the US Brewers Association for an excellent volume by John Mallett for example and most malt suppliers’ websites for detailed characteristics of their malt listings).

Malts used in brewing come in a myriad of types depending on the degree of kilning and roasting in the malt house. Many chemical reactions take place during the germination and later heating steps in malting and specialty malt production.

These reactions are classified under the term Maillard reactions and include the formation of compounds (amino acid and sugar combinations and rearrangements) similar to the toasting or “burning” of bread. So the Maillard reaction occurs during cooking and is a non-enzymatic browning of foods – it can occur at room temperature but is optimal between 140-165 °C. Hundreds of products are formed which contribute to the flavour and aroma of foods including melanoidins –brown, polymeric pigments (those richand distinctive “sweet” flavours associated with Bock beers for example).

The different classes of compounds lend “cooked, roasted, toasted, bready, cereal-like, nutty, bitter, burnt, astringent, cracker-like, sweet, caramel, meaty, biscuit, even coffee-like, pretzel and chocolate-like, green and woody” flavourful notes which can be conveyed to beer though judicious use of the myriad of specialty malts (see Liscomb, et al, 2015 for a recent summary review).

Table 2 provides a summary of malt-types and some flavour notes. Making cold-steeps or teas with the malts in varying proportions can convey a lot of information on flavours along with indications of taints from mouldy grains etc. All malts should be chewed and evaluated for flavour before use, during selection or when designing new grist formulas.

hops

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n explosion in the development of new varieties of hops gives the brewer today much more choice and subtle direction in flavour production in their beer styles. That said there are still classical descriptors which define most base hop flavours. Again cold steeps and boiled teas (boiled hop-containing light sugar solutions) can convey a lot about what to expect in final flavours and these tests (subject to sensory evaluation) along with hop rubs are still used today by hop producers and clients during their selection of hops for brewing.

Table 3 provides a listing of the general “classes” of hop flavour notes. These flavour descriptors will hopefully help the brewer when reviewing hop specifications from their supplier or when looking at newer hop varieties.

March~April 2016 | The Brewers Journal 65

dat e s

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e v ent s

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Breweries including The Kernel, Magic Rock, Brew By Numbers, Pressure Drop and Fourpure were among the breweries pouring at last year’s London Craft Beer Festival. The 2016 iteration promises to be even better.

2016 8 - 10 April The Brighton Tap Takeover Various Venues Across Brighton www.taptakover.co.uk

11 - 15 August Great British Beer Festival Olympia, London www.gbbf.org.uk

3 - 6 May Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA 19107 www.craftbrewersconference.com

12 - 14 August London Craft Beer Festival Oval Space, Bethnal Green www.londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk

18 - 19 May Brewing and Equipment Technology Birmingham NEC, UK www.brewingevent.com

66 | The Brewers Journal | March~April 2016

13 - 17 August World Brewing Congress Denver, Colorado www.worldbrewingcongress.org

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