Dry January 2022 – my experience with some non-alcoholic beers

I completed Dry January for the third consecutive year and used this opportunity to try out some non-alcoholic beers (NAB) brewed in Germany. My friend and neighbour Andreas Krennmair (@der_ak) suggested that I write a blog post to share my tasting notes of some of the more interesting NABs that I sampled. As a brewer, …

Golden Pints 2020

Despite a pretty bleak year, there have certainly been some great beery experiences. And Golden Pints seemed like a fun way to briefly sum some of them up. Happy 2021! Best brewery In summer 2020, I moved to Berlin and immediately fell in love with the Hausbrauerei Eschenbräu, tucked away in Berlin-Wedding. I have been …

MSc Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University: a review

Earlier this month I submitted my dissertation and completed my Master’s degree in Brewing & Distilling at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) at Heriot Watt University. Now seemed like an apt time to reflect upon the past 12+ months of study and share some thoughts. I hope that this information could be …

Braumeister Syndrome

A friend told me recently about a conversation he had with some craft brewers that he met at a local brewery. My pal is a German Braumeister and introduced himself to his fellow industry colleagues as such. Apparently, they retorted with something along the lines of: "Braumeister is an outdated concept and we don't like …

A guide to becoming a brewer in Germany

Germany has an apprenticeship scheme like any other that allows young people to gain work experience, learn on the job and earn a bit of money and a qualification. However, the two unique aspects about the German apprenticeship schemes are the prestige it holds compared to similar schemes in the UK, for example, and the …

Transparency in German contract brewing

Transparency is, in my opinion, a key factor that sets small breweries apart from macro breweries. Transparency manifests itself in numerous ways, whether it's a brewery that offers tours to its visitors or whether we consider transparency as an open and honest dialogue between brewers and drinkers about the brewing process, raw materials and industry …

Golden Pints 2017

So this seemed like a fun way to sum up a beery 2017 and reflect a little on what's been in my glass. (Apologies that Golden 'Pints' doesn't quite seem so apt in a German context but any potential alternatives would most likely lead to confusion.) Best German bottled beer – Schönramer Helles Perhaps the …

A couple of things CAMRA and the Reinheitsgebot have in common

In my time working in beer in the UK and Germany I’ve had some interesting dealings with customers and industry folk alike regarding CAMRA and the Reinheitsgebot. When working at the BrewDog bar in Bristol, we’d often get real ale traditionalists who would come to the bar and turn their noses up at the broad …

A conversation with World Champion Beer Sommelier Stephan Hilbrandt

I recently sat down and had a beer or two with Bonn resident Stephan Hilbrandt, the current World Champion Beer Sommelier. In September 2017, Stephan won the beer sommelier competition run by the Doemens Academy, Munich that is held every two years. He competed alongside 69 other beer sommeliers from 15 different countries to win …

Hopfendankfest at Bäm Bäm Bräu in Cologne

German brewers take their hops seriously and this festival was organised to celebrate the 2017 hop harvest. Bäm Bäm Bräu is a nano-brewery collaborative in Cologne Ehrenfeld run by 6 incredibly passionate home brewers. They kindly invited Ale-Mania to pour beers last night at the third annual hop harvest festival and to get a little …