Breweries are as keen to win European Beer Star medals as restaurants are to gain Michelin stars. With 2,151 beers from 46 countries, the renowned beer competition experienced a new participation record for the 14th year in succession, thus being this year’s most important beer competition worldwide.

On September 13th, 2017 the third Ludwig-Narziß- Award for brewing science was bestowed at the drinktec trade fair in Munich. In her opening address, Dr. Lydia Junkersfeld, Editor-in Chief of BRAUWELT International, emphasized that the Award, endowed with EUR 2,500 and a trophy of Sahm GmbH & Co. KG, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany, is designed to honour authors for publications in the scientific journal BrewingScience the results of which are particularly relevant for application in brewing. The most important criterion is the transfer of science to brewing. The Award was initiated mainly by former PhD students of Prof. Ludwig Narziß. The price money is managed by Weihenstephan Jubilee Foundation 1905 in the Association of Weihenstephan Alumni of the Department of Brewing (VeW).

The skilled occupation of brewer and maltster is already quite multifaceted. German training for brewers enjoys a very good reputation – rightfully so, thanks to the commitment of the training organizations, instructors and, of course, the teachers at the vocational schools. Journeyman brewers from Germany are sought by breweries around the world, even while they are still finishing their training. There is a wide range of possibilities for getting journeymen a position at a brewery: one of those is the YEAST Project.

The time is drawing near. In less than a month, drinktec will once again open its doors to visitors from the beverage and liquid food industry. Anyone expecting a trade fair similar to those of the past will be in for a pleasant surprise. A great deal has changed. “The show is bigger and more diverse than ever,” declares Petra Westphal, Project Group Leader for Messe München GmbH and Project Manager for drinktec. BRAUWELT International interviewed Petra Westphal, Christina Maier, Assistant Project Manager, and Johannes Manger, Press Officer, to find out more about the new target groups, ideas and concepts awaiting us in the halls of Messe München in September.

EBC Congress premiere in Slovenia: For the first time ever in its 70 years of existence, the Congress of the European Brewery Convention was held in Slovenia. The picturesque city of Ljubljana was a worthy host for approximately 480 brewers in attendance from Europe and around the world, including many first-time EBC visitors, who came to learn about the latest findings in brewing research on May 14th-18th 2017.

Imagine you are a brewer or a chef and you are expected to create a sophisticated and memorable beer-and-food taste experience for a large and expert assembly of beer enthusiasts at an event that runs over two days in Washington, D.C.

More than 300 brewing experts from Southeast Asia, Europe, and North and South America attended the 5th Brewing Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 11 to 13 June 2017. The event was jointly organized by the Thailand Beer Industry Guild (TBIG) and VLB Berlin for the fourth time now.

The 78th annual meeting of the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) took place this year in Fort Myers, Florida/USA from June 3rd to 7th. 349 participants from twelve countries were presented with a wide spectrum of scientific and practice-oriented research in nine technical sessions Omics, Hops I and II, Analytics of aromas, Yeast, Sensorics, Stability, Quality assurance and Microbiology.

The Craft Beer China 2017 Conference and Exhibition took place in Shanghai from 17th to 19th May 2017. The exhibition was organized in cooperation with NürnbergMesse China and The Beer Link, Germany, and targeted mainly brewmasters, craft brewers and craft beer enthusiasts.

Microsoft has crowned the Austria-based software manufacturer for industrial automation, as its global Microsoft Partner of the Year in the Internet of Things (IoT) category. The award was presented at this year's Microsoft Inspire, the company's worldwide partner conference, which was held between July 9 and 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C., USA. This award is a recognition by Microsoft of Copa-Data's innovations and software solutions based on Microsoft technology.