Russia | Russian liquor store chains have adopted the Starbucks strategy: they have opened outlets in suburban areas close to where shoppers live. This year, specialised liquor chains have maintained their opening rates at almost last year’s rate, the Russian newspaper Delovoy Petersburg reported on 2 November.

World champions | A highlight of this year's drinktec in Munich was certainly the World Championship of Beer Sommeliers, in which the know-how of the participants is tested and evaluated in various rounds. The winner will be the one who best conveys the message of beer culture and its diversity. Markus Fohr took part as a participant and was able to qualify for the final. He has summarised his experiences for BRAUWELT International.

Extensive programme of talks | Every four years the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) and Master Brewers Association of the Americas hold their joint Brewing Summit. This year the brewing industry met in beautiful Providence, Rhode Island (USA), from 14–16 August 2022, to discuss the latest trends, developments and challenges in brewing today.

Coveted awards | After two days of intensive tasting, the winners of this year's European Beer Star have been decided. A total of 2168 beers from 40 countries competed in 73 categories for the coveted awards. These included internationally known beer types such as Pilsner, wheat beer or India Pale Ale, but also specialties such as wood and barrel-aged strong beers, Belgian Dubbel or sour beers were tasted and judged. Only the best three beers in each category are awarded gold, silver and bronze.

Innovations and personal interaction | The beverage industry has been meeting again this week in Munich at drinktec, the leading international fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, from 12–16 September 2022. 65,000 visitors from 170 countries met 1000 exhibitors from more than 55 countries.

38th EBC Congress in Madrid | After a one-year delay, the 38th EBC Congress took place from May 29 to June 2, 2022, at the IFEMA Exhibition Center in Madrid, for the second time together with the Brewers’ Forum of the Brewers of Europe. Approximately 1000 participants faced a very extensive program with up to six lecture tracks running in parallel. The following article offers a brief summary of selected research topics of the EBC program. Naturally many other topics would have also deserved to have been considered here.

Successful new start | Around 200 brewing experts from Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and America attended the 7th Bangkok Brewing Conference, which took place from 12 to 14 June 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. This year, the visiting programme led to the Thai Spirit Industry Co. The event was jointly organised by the Thailand Beer Industry Guild (TBIG) and VLB Berlin for the sixth time since 2009.

Plenty to celebrate | There was indeed plenty to celebrate in Madrid! After a three-year break due to the pandemic, the European brewing industry, as well as representatives from other continents, met for the 38th EBC Congress in Madrid, which was held for the 2nd time in combination with the Brewers Forum of the Brewers of Europe (BoE). The EBC celebrated its 75th anniversary and the Spanish Brewers Association its 100th anniversary at the same time. Also taking place was the EU Green Week 2022, for which Brewers Forum and EBC acted as official partners with their numerous sustainability talks.

Denmark | With a two-year delay due to the pandemic – which makes it six years after the previous event – the Danish Brewers Guild welcomed an impressive 120 brewing industry professionals from the Nordic countries to the 28th Nordic Technical Meeting on Beer & Beverage Technology at the downtown Copenhagen venue of DGI Byen on 11 and 12 May 2022.

Spain | Take it as a sign of the times that ESG targets will dominate brewers’ lives for years to come: The Brewers Forum, the annual shindig organised by the Brewers of Europe, which took place in Madrid (30 and 31 May 2022), devoted one of its four lecture tracks to the “E” (Environment) in ESG.