13 minute read
Supplier News Updates from SIBA’s Supplier Associate Members
Track Brewing invests in QCL’s VeriFlow PCR system
The summer of 2021 saw a move to a new location for Manchester’s Track Brewing, a new production facility and taproom all under one roof where customers can enjoy a wide range of beers in the shadow of the brewery tanks.
Wanting to enhance quality control and product security the brewery purchased the VeriFlow PCR system from QCL with the specific aims of checking yeast prior to pitching and testing beer for Diastaticus before packing. The speed of results from VeriFlow allows for positive release of product, without slowing the process down and reducing capacity, which is not possible with traditional methods or outsourced testing. Veriflow is a PCR based rapid microbiology system that allows brewers to check the microbial status of beer at various stages of the brewing process. The system detects beer spoilage bacteria (Pediococcus. Lactobacillus, Megasphaera and Pectinatus) and wild yeasts (Saccharomyces Diastaticus, Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Dekkera/Brettanomyces). Sample preparation and operation is simple and results are available in less than 4 hours, a much faster time to result when compared with outsourced or traditional microbiology, meaning final products can be released in a timely manner and with greater confidence. Using Veriflow at critical control points can prevent wastage of ingredients, energy and time, and avoid product loss or recall, protecting brand reputation.
Find out more at www.qclscientific.com WBC has been printing an increasing number of beer bags for retail customers and breweries alike. With a host of street markets and speciality food and beer festivals throughout the year, there’s no time like the present to capitalise on the nation’s beer drinking with a beer bag or carrier specially designed to showcase your brand and products.
Boost your brand with WBC’s beer bags and carriers
Here’s WBC’s seriously simple 3 Point Beer Plan: 1) Pick 6 of your best craft beers 2) Offer them in any of our 6-bottle re-usable beer bags 3) Buy them plain, or with a pre-printed design, or WBC can print your logo in just 7 to 10 working days with its personalisation service. You can charge for the bag or give it away as a freebie when people visit your store. How much does a beer bag cost? That depends on whether you’re buying your bags plain from stock, with a pre-printed design or personalising them with your own design. To purchase your own beer bag with your company logo is remarkably affordable with prices starting from just £3.21 a bag based on 1 colour, 1 side (Ex VAT). For up to date pricing visit the WBC website.
Find out more at www.wbc.co.uk/drinks-packaging/ beer-carriers/
LalBrew NovaLagerTM is a new premium yeast selection for modern lager beer styles.
Lallemand Brewing, in partnership with Renaissance Yeast, develops new yeast for lager styles
The yeast is a true bottom fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus hybrid from a novel lineage that has been selected to produce clean lager beers with distinct flavor characteristics and superior fermentation performance. It is a robust lager yeast strain with ideal brewing properties, including fast fermentations, high attenuation, and high flocculation. The distinct flavor profile is very clean, slight esters over a wide temperature range. LalBrew NovaLagerTM is the result of the research and development work of Renaissance Yeast (Vancouver BC, Canada) in partnership with Lallemand Brewing. It was selected using classical and non-GMO breeding methods to obtain a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae x Saccharomyces eubayanus hybrid strain that defines a novel Group III (Renaissance) lager lineage, different from any other traditional Saccharomyces pastorianus strains. This strain is a low VDK/diacetyl producer and utilizes patented technology from the University of California Davis (USA) to ensure no hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced, therefore reducing the maturation time associated with lager beer production. It is available in 500g packs, with 11g sachets coming soon. LalBrew NovaLagerTM has a recommended pitch rate of 50-100g per hL of wort.
Find out more at www.lallemandbrewing.com
Anton Paar devices measure CO2 without the influence of other dissolved gases
Are you thinking of switching from CO2 to N2 to save money? Did you know that conventional pressure/ temperature CO2 measurement does not work if there is nitrogen present?
Anton Paar has the solution with the CarboQC and CBoxQC. CarboQC and CBoxQQC measure the true dissolved carbon dioxide content in beverages without the influence of other dissolved gases such as nitrogen. The amount of CO2 gas in a beverage is a critical quality parameter in production. Many different test methods have been developed over the years including both chemical and physical test methods. Over time the physical methods of measurement have become the preferred methods for beverage testing. In their basic form these rely on the measurement of the temperature and pressure of gas in the headspace of the can/ bottle, and use the ideal gas laws to convert this into a CO2 content. That is fine when the only gas present is CO2, but when other gases such as air, or nitrogen are present then these methods will give false readings. The total pressure reading obtained is a sum of the partial pressures of each different dissolved gas, but these simple instruments treat the total pressure as if it all comes from CO2, leading to erroneously high results, and potentially to out of specification product. Anton Paar has the answer to this problem. Uniquely amongst producers of dissolved gas test instrumentation, our instruments use a patented multi-volume expansion technique. This allows the CarboQC, CBoxQC or CarboQC ME models to test the true CO2 content in a beverage container without any influence from other dissolved gases – including Nitrogen purge gas. In addition to a true CO2 content, the CBoxQC will also measure the Oxygen content in the container. All three models will measure the gas content directly from the can or bottle when used in combination with our PFD piercing device or PBA beverage analysis systems.
Special Offer: During the rest of 2022 Anton Paar will offer a 15% trade-in discount for every old dissolved gas measuring unit replaced by a CarboQC or CBoxQC. Find out more at www.anton-paar.com/uk-en/
Konvoy set to transport UK and European keg management to 21st Century
The leading keg rental firm in Australia and New Zealand is about to shake up the brewing and hospitality industries by launching operations across the UK and Europe.
Konvoy, which will enter the UK and Europe market in early 2023, is the world’s only stainless-steel keg pooling provider that is promising a fully cutting-edge smart keg management solution. The new business will lead with its sharable keg rental offering at its core, with long-term rentals, also referred to as leasing, and its proprietary IoT tracking technology. Even if brewers choose to remain keg owners, Konvoy can help them track their assets and become a better business as a result. The technology captures encrypted data that can pinpoint each keg’s precise location, enabling things like better rotation, fresher deliveries, faster collections, and greater reusability. In addition, the device logs other important data, such as temperature, to create a fleet of smart kegs that can keep getting smarter to meet the future demands of the drinks supply chain. It also removes the need for manual tracking, scanning and administration while helping to minimise theft and losses, which is a global keg problem estimated to cost between $300m-$500m per year, according to a 2020 article published by ‘IT In The Supply Chain’. Konvoy is providing an ecosystem of assets, hardware, software, firmware, and connectivity that can also be fitted retrospectively to existing keg fleets to achieve the same results. In advance of this expansion with short- and long-term keg rental and technology solutions, Konvoy has announced a series of strategic, high-level appointments to scale the business forward and disrupt the market. Christian Barden will head up the new UK and Europe business as CEO. Chris Beardow has been appointed Operations Director. Richard Atkinson and Tom Meakin have both been appointed Business Development Director for the UK & Ireland. Heiko Wiebel has been appointed Business Development Director for Europe where he has made considerable progress over recent months. Adam Trippe-Smith, managing director and founder of Konvoy, said: “I am incredibly proud to announce this series of appointments, which runs along considerable growth plans for the Konvoy business. “We are excited to launch officially in the UK and Europe in early 2023 as we continue to disrupt the global keg industry one keg at a time. “Europe, particularly, has been a hard nut to crack in terms of convincing brewers of the huge potential cost reductions, improved margins and reduced carbon footprint involved in leasing and renting kegs rather than buying your own. We are setting out to change all that and help bring the beverage industry into the 21st Century.” The firm’s innovative keg pooling and tracking business model vastly increases environmental sustainability as Konvoy customers effectively share the ‘pool’ of kegs that they rent on demand across cities, regions and between countries for export. Christian Barden, former CEO of Kegstar and global beer industry veteran, who previously worked alongside Adam when they launched Kegstar into Europe in 2016, said: “It will be incredible to get working with such a great team and technology platform and evolve the world of keg management with Adam Trippe-Smith again. “Drinks and hospitality have always been so innovative, and we’re excited to be ‘here for your beer’, wherever we can help customer supply chain experiences. We have a great team full of beer industry expertise, a ton of keg know-how and a pool of smart kegs available to help customers become more efficient, more effective and more sustainable.” He added: “The automatic collection of data through IoT systems like ours helps make monitoring and tracking frictionless, helps to improve the demand and supply process of draught drinks whilst eliminating human error. The connection of vehicles, equipment and devices enables all parties to see a complete, end-to-end supply chain picture from brewery to bar.” Following continued customer wins in the ANZ market since its launch in 2019, Konvoy is growing its fleet there with new keg investment of around A$10m. The move comes hot on the heels of the appointment in August of new CFO Michael Campbell, formerly CFO of the Rockpool Dining Group. Michael said: “Konvoy has achieved impressive market share in Australia and New Zealand since launch and its technology will be a key differentiator for expansion into new markets.”
Find out more at www.konvoykegs.com
Beer Box Shop enters new phase of development with new premises
It’s been a busy year for Beer Box Shop as the team prepare for the next exciting stage of their business development.
Beer Box Shop, part of Drinks Packaging Ltd (DPL) moved into their new purpose built 18,000sqft warehouse in June and is quickly making use of the additional space. Simon Hulse, DPL Director, said: “There have been an unprecedented number of raw material price increases over the last few years which kicked-off during the pandemic due to the surge in demand for home delivery packaging. Although raw material costs now seem to be stabilising, we’re not expecting to see any reductions soon due to factors including the increasing utility costs that our suppliers are now facing.” The additional warehouse capacity allows DPL to combat higher costs by manufacturing in much larger volumes, with all products then being held in-stock, and available to order for next day delivery through the Beer Box Shop website. The increased capacity also means that DPL can offer storage space for its customer’s bulk packaging orders allowing them to benefit from the production efficiencies and lower costs. Simon said: “‘From meeting our customers and visiting the breweries we understand that storage space for bulky items such as packaging, glass and cans can be a big issue. DPL can now offer a free storage facility for our customers so they can then call-off their packaging as needed.” Beer Box Shop is continually developing new products to expand their already extensive in-stock range; this includes the launch of bagin-box, free standing pouches, and exciting and innovative retail and gift packaging. And to support its small-medium sized customers Beer Box Shop has reduced MOQs across its range. Simon said: “We want to make our range accessible to all businesses and encourage our customers to trial new products.” In addition to in-stock supply, the creation of bespoke artwork and packaging has always been a key part of the Beer Box Shop proposition, and its designers have never been busier, working closely with customers to create unique and eye-catching packaging concepts.
Find out more at www.beerboxshop.co.uk
Beer craft – cask x keg
Myles Pinfold from WPA Pinfold argues that cask needn’t be keg beer’s unfashionable cousin, if it would just get its branding and positioning right…
“Craft beer drinkers seem to have an insatiable appetite for new flavours and styles. The repertoire of beers on offer appears to be inexorable and yet the traditionalist cask brewers largely ignore this and stick to the same formula of ales, as if they haven’t been invited to the party. Which is ironic if you bear in mind that craft’s most popular beer style, India Pale Ale, was first brewed almost two centuries ago. The lament of those traditionalists tends to be about the woes of cask and how craft keg reigns supreme. This differentiation is a misconception, the reality is that any brewer can play in the craft sector, it’s all about positioning – forget the ‘grandma dancing’ scenario. The current dilemma is exemplified on visits to the GBBF and LCBF (London Craft Beer Festival). GBBF, with an age profile upwards of 45 and the champion of all things cask, was happily serving ‘live craft keg’ beers this year. For LCBF, with an age profile largely under 45, keg dominated but cask was also available. In both cases, for the large part, no one seemed to notice or differentiate between the two dispense formats. In fact, the reality is that the majority of drinkers, especially the younger generations, do not appreciate the difference between keg and cask – neither do they care – they are just there for the beer. Cask has as much potential relevance to future craft drinkers as it does for the old-school traditionalists; brewers such as Verdant, Deya and Cloudwater (to name but a few) are proof that cask, in the right style and presentation, can appeal to a contemporary audience. Even the American craft brewers (who ‘invented’ craft beer) would love to brew cask, if only the bars over there were set up to serve it… From a brand strategy perspective it is all about market segmentation and targeting, which ultimately is about the type of venue where the beer is available and the profile of the consumers it attracts – the more traditional versus the contemporary. In the world of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) we talk about category cues and semiotics – for the on-trade, craft beer and traditional ales form their own separate categories and each have their individual language of communication and market appeal. If you saw Timothy Taylor and Dark Star on the same bar, you would have a reasonable idea of what to expect from each beer. It’s all about being fit for market and for traditional brewers there is every reason for them to brew contemporary cask beers too, as long as they are on market. Cask needs to lay claim to its rightful place in the world of craft beer, it already has a foothold, the opportunity is there. So embrace the moment, grab those hops and other flavour ingredients and brew some shout-out cask IPAs (there are over 20 different styles of IPA out there, and counting) or whatever else takes your fancy. Just make sure you get the branding right.”
Supplier Viewpoint
