Past Issues
April 2006
COVER STORY - Richard Rushton
India is, despite its considerable promise as one of the world's great growth markets, a difficult environment for brewers to do business in at the moment. There are issues with interstate tariffs, high taxes and limited routes to market. Grappling with these multiple challenges is Richard Rushton, who heads up SABMiller India. Interview by George W Russell
Features
COUNTRY PROFILE
India's beer market has been growing at a healthy mid-single digit pace despite obstacles thrown up by interstate taxation, high prices and competition from unlicensed alcoholic drinks. The country's brewers have responded, increasing capacity and introducing innovative products. George W Russell reports from Bangalore
MALTING BARLEY RPORT
Industry observers were surprised by the latest barley harvest figures from the Australian government, with its calculation of a near record harvest greeted sceptically. In Europe the picture isn't so promising for maltsters with below production cost prices and over capacity suggesting consolidation as a possibility, writes Roger Martin
HOPS MARKET REPORT
Many crops face cyclical conditions, none more so than the world's hop producers. Of late, following a drought in 2003 in Germany and shortages in the US and Chinese crops in '05, brewers should consider afresh the security of forward contracts, avoiding the vagaries of spot markets, urges Doug MacKinnon
GUEST COLUMNIST
There's a trend emerging that brewers would do well to heed, a globalised beer culture of knowledgeable consumers who are demanding more challenging taste sensations. In this new reality brewers will have to adapt - or not survive. It's time to get on board, says Garrett Oliver
March 2006
COVER STORY - CARLSBERG BREWERIES
Not so much a global power six years ago as a Danish brewer with postcards in his pockets from various holiday stops, today Carlsberg boasts a clerly focused stragety for the growth markets of Russia and Asia as well as cutting costs in western Europe. Editor Larry Nelson met with CEO Nils S Andersen to discuss their 21st century vision
Features
first person
It's been a year since Mike Short took up the reins at Plzensky Prazdroj, the Czech Republic's leading brewer. Central European correspondent Katka Krosnar recently travelled to Plzen to ask Short about licensed production, domestic competition concerns, and how his background in the nuclear industry is an asset today
Bottles vs. cans
Not so long ago The Can Makers issued a press release boasting of their product's economic advantages over bottles in the supply chain. It was the perfect opportunity, thought Brewers' Guardian, to debate the merits of bottles and cans head-to-head - Simon Gresty and Doug Workman argue the case for their smallpack champions
beer chill haze
With the industry push to have colder serving temperatures become the on-trade norm, Ellen Norman, head of analytical development at Brewing Research International, provides timely review of chill-proofing beer, either by removal of proteins, of polyphenols, or both
GUEST COLUMNIST
Women do like beer, and something can be done to attract them to the drink through unisex marketing and a willingness to embrace more sophisticated routes to market, writes Kamini Dickie. And, if you're discussing women and beer, please don't invite an all-male panel!
February 2006
COVER STORY - MOLSON CANADA
Lost amidst the sound and fury of the Molson Coors merger and the exit from Brazil has been an on-going battle in Canada to reverse market share losses, particularly for troubled premium lager Molson Canadian. Larry Nelson met with Molson Canada president and CEO Kevin Boyce to review the progress to date
Features
BREWING IN CANADA
The Great White North sometimes is perceived from afar as a stable, earnest, arguably dull country, but none of these adjectives apply to the country's brewing industry. Journalist Paul Brent, author of Lager Heads, sheds some light on the industry's marketing wars
LABELLING TECHNOLOGY
Long has been the quest to improve bottle dress, with lables set at various angles and stuck on with too much glue a thing of the past. Larry Nelson reviews the latest product and process innovations from the industry's suppliers
EFFECTIVE LABELLING
You've only got one chance to make a first impression, and nowhere does this chestnut of an axiom apply more than to beer labels. Fear not: marketing consultant Pete Brown offers a seven-step approach to labelling nirvana
LABELLING LEGISLATION
Before handing over bottle dress to the design agencies, brewers must satisfy a myriad of legal requirements. As David Fordyce of Brewing Research International illustrates, what is allowed in one jurisdiction certainly won't be acceptable elsewhere
GUEST COLUMNIST
Publicans and brewers should be open to the possibilities presented by a ban on smoking in pubs, as a fresh opportunity to welcome back non-smokers, writes Brian Glover. And, after all, who wants to be in trouble with their mum?
December/January 2006
Cover story - Ridna Marka
Think world-class wheat beer, think Bavaria: this is the immediate assocation for consumers, but of late there's arrived a world-class challenger from the Ukraine that's changing perceptions. Editor Larry Nelson reports from Kiev on the rise of Weissbier Etalon
Features
Beer dispense
It's a truism that British consumers prefer their beers served warm. That's all changed of late, with standard strength session lagers back in growth for the first time in decades as brand owners and retailers invest in extra cold - super chilled - dispense. It's a trend that's here to stay, writes editor Larry Nelson
Forecasting the Future V
UC Davis professor Charlie Bamforth drapes the black cloth back over his crystal ball, but not before a final gloomy assessment of the future of traditional brewing. Could it be that alcohol production will be a fermentation plant with extracts added both up and downstream?
Environmental management
Wastewater treatment is a matter that demands more time and attention as environmental pressures mount on a water-hungry brewing industry. John Brauer, a project manager at Brewing Research Interntaional, reviews the options for wastewater treatment and reminds that the necessary first step is a water usage audit
Guest columnist
Beer lovers worldwide have been in an uproar in the wake of the news that InBev plans to shut Hoegaarden, the brewery and beer mde famous once again by Pierre Celis. Tim Webb, author of the Good Beer Guide to Belgium, argues that Celis' contribution, the revivalof wheat beers of his childhood, remains intact
November 2005
COVER STORY - SIERRA NEVADA
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company came to life a quarter century ago, stoked not so much by money but by the drive and imagination of founder Ken Grossman. Today it's a prosperous and expanding regional brewer with a reputation for both product quality and environmental citizenship. Ben McFarland reports from California on what's next for this innovative brewer.
Features
Forecasting the Future IV
UC Davis professor Charlie Bamforth gazes once more into his crystal ball to find that the brewery of the future may well become a lonely, automated, sensor-driven place. But who, he wonders, will taste the beer?
DRINKTEC REVIEW II
At the risk of offending many by offering the highlights of a few - there were 1,400 exhibitors in Munich, all with stories to tell - here's the second half of our wrap-up of what was new, improved or just plain interesting
MALTING BARLEY REPORT
The European harvest offers possibilities for exports and with a wet Canadian harvesting season there is an opportunity in China. But the window may not be open for long, writes Roger Martin of RM International, as Australian farmers prepare to harvest their crop
Guest columnist
One of the first impressions of the Great American Beer Festival, writes Pete Brown, is that the US national brewers are there and in force. But their inclusion allows the GABF to reach out to a broader audience: could this approach be adopted elsewhere?
September 2005
Cover story - Schneider Weisse
Wheat beers have been a favourite of Bavarian drinkers for centuries, and now its brewers are attempting to win new fans both within and without Germany. Can they succeed? Conrad Seidl, der Bierpapst, meets Georg Schneider, the head of a most modern yet traditional brewing business.
Features
Country profile
The German beer market has been in the doldrums for some years now, as evidenced by declining consumption and a shift to economy brands. But the industry is fighting back with new products that appeal to younger drinkers and by developing export markets. Report by Simon JonesForecasting the Future II
Left adrift in London without a pint of cask ale, Charlie Bamforth is jarred into asking tough questions: does brewing tradition matter to today’s consumers? And if it doesn’t, what are the implications for brewing beer?Plastics packaging
The next big thing in packaging beer is making progress, especially in larger one-litre and up sizes in developing markets, but has yet to become the resounding success that was predicted five years ago. Ian Martin takes the measure of fantastic plasticsGuest columnist
There are lessons aplenty to be gleaned from attending the boisterously jolly Oktoberfest, writes Conrad Seidl, but the key insight is that much-maligned German consumers will pay more for their beer – in the right milieu.Plus: drinktec 2005 supplement
Avoid making a Herculean task out of negotiating drinktec, the four-year Olympics of brewing trade fairs: instead make the most of your time with our handy exhibition guide.July/August 2005
Cover Story: Royal Unibrew
V8, Mach III: aggressive terms, these, denoting energy and speed. These are the names given to the strategic plans of Royal Unibrew, the brewer with big ideas for financially sound expansion. Editor Larry Nelson met chief executive Poul Møller to hear his vision of the future.
Features
Forecasting the Future I
Professor Charlie Bamforth of UC Davis returns, and this time he’s packing a crystal ball, examining the technical and marketing challenges facing the industry. To kick his new series off, this month he examines the science surrounding genetic modification and its application to the brewing industryTraining & education
As the brewing industry has been transformed in recent decades, so too have the world’s training and education facilities moved with the times. Graham Stewart,
director of the International Centre for Brewing & Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, takes a personal look back at how educationalists have reinvented themselves
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