Dr. Stéphane Dupire (Interbrew, Belgium), Mr. Francisco M. Ferreira do Amaral (Central de Cervejas, Portugal) and Mr. Glen Sörlie (Ringnes, Norway) had been nominated new Council Member. They succeed Mr. E. van den Eynde, Mr. J.M. Machado Cruz and Mr. S.E. Kjekshus, respectively.

The Council adjusted the Mission Statement of EBC to fit the new focus: cooperation with 'The Brewers of Europe' (CBMC). The direction of EBC is changing from exchanging information only internally for technical people and sharing information to drive the brewing science forward, to influencing a broader spectrum in Europe. The new Mission Statement reads as follows:

"To be the pre-eminent expert organisation of choice in Europe for all brewing, governmental and technical organisations acting co-operatively in pre-competitive areas of brewing and malting science and technology for the benefit of the brewing industry, consumers and the community."

The objectives have been adapted in accordance with the Mission Statement. The full text is available from the EBC Secretariat (secretariat@ebc-nl.com).

EBC will increasingly connect its activities with those of CBMC. A close interface between EBC and CBMC should ensure that proper and speedy action can be taken to prepare status reports that can serve to lobby for and to defend the industry at EU level. EBC's core business will be to supply scientific/technical arguments to do so. To achieve that EBC will start building up expertise in new topic areas (safety, mycotoxins and environmental issues are examples) to support CBMC, while also maintaining its traditional activities. To better cope with this EBC's structure will be adapted, e.g. by re-shaping the Technology & Engineering Forum.

The EBC Congress in Dublin (17-22 May 2003) will offer a good opportunity to inform delegates of these new developments. In addition, a joint EBC/CBMC half-day lecture programme will be arranged on the Wednesday afternoon; papers will a.o. deal with trade-related issues like for instance alcohol, market and environmental issues, preceded by a general introduction on the objections and organisation of CBMC and the co-operation with EBC.

A joint EBC/CBMC Working Group HACCP has been installed to develop an 'Industry Code of Practice'. In view of the EU Food Law and the requirement for traceability it was thought to be of great value if such a guideline could be developed to give methodology for quantifying risks in site-specific processes. The outcome of the work undertaken will be presented at the Dublin Congress.

The official Invitation Brochure with detailed information on the exhibition and a registration form has been distributed. Copies are available from the EBC Secretariat.

The lecture programme has been assembled. Areas covered include Beer & Health (3 papers), Consumer Issues (4 papers), Flavour & Flavour Stability (6 papers), Packaging (2 papers), Raw Materials (4 papers), Yeast & Fermentation (7 papers), Risk Management (4 papers), Processing (7 papers). Professional update sessions are included as a new feature. These are meant for 'learning and refreshing knowledge' and comprise of instructive rather than original scientific papers. Topics covered by these parallel update sessions are Raw Materials (7 papers), Hygiene (5 papers), Product Quality (7 papers) and PCR-based methods (7 papers).

The 'Call for Posters' is still open. Anyone wishing to submit a contribution for consideration is invited to inform the EBC Secretariat before 1 December 2002. Details can be found on EBC's website: www.ebc-nl.com

The provisional congress programme with registration information is expected to become available in January 2003.

Symposia

Topics for future EBC Symposia will include 'Mycotoxins and other Contaminants in the Malting and Brewing Industries' (26-28 January 2003), 'Environmental Issues', 'Sanitary Engineering', 'Quality Systems' and 'Sensory Evaluation & Drinkability'.

Zoeterwoude, November 2002

The E.B.C. Analysis Committee has a long and successful track record in preparing and standardising analysis methods for the brewing and malting industry. Analytica -Microbiologica -E.B.C. is the essence of the E.B.C. Microbiology Subcommittee’s knowledge. All methods to be found on this CD-ROM were prepared and recommended by this subcommittee.

The publication was produced in electronic format only, due to the need of updating a document like this on a regular basis. For the first time, Fachverlag Hans Carl uses a code-key protected installation procedure. The CD-ROM file of Analytica-Microbiologica-EBC is based on Adobe’s Acrobat Reader and uses all features of this wide-spread document handling software.

The CD-ROM reflects the best and most practicable methods of microbiological work in the brewing industry, covering all aspects of production, from raw material to packaging.

The Index is divided into four sections, each with numerous sub-sections.

Sections are as follows:

Section 1: Microbiology

Members of the EBC Microbiology Subcommittee:

Tore Hage ( Norway )
Alan Kennedy ( United Kingdom )
Siegfried Hoffmann ( Austria )
Hilary Jones ( United Kingdom )
Marta Orive ( Spain )
Raffaele Sbuelz ( Italy )
Erna Storgaårds ( Finland )
Gudrun Vogeser ( Germany )

The CD-ROM can be ordered at a price of EUR 99,– (exclusive of postage) from:

FACHVERLAG HANS CARL GmhH
Andernacherstr.33aPostfach 990153
90411D-90268 Nürnberg
Germany
fax +49 911 95285-61
e-mail: fachbuch@hanscarl.com
internet: www.hanscarl.com

Executive Summary

Standard varieties

For harvest 2001 trials, Scarlett and Barke have been used as standards for spring varieties, and Esterel, Tiffany, Clarine and Regina for winter varieties

Results

• Of the year 2 varieties, in regions Central and West, VANESSA is highlighted for its high kernel size and yield. It also shows particularly high DP in region Central trials and high extract in region West trials. In regions South and Central, LADOGA shows improvements in grading and a high yield, but has low DP.
• Of the year 1 varieties, there is no noticeable improvement in yield. Nevertheless, in region Central, LEONIE and MADOU are pointed out for their extract, Kolbach index, viscosity, beta-glucan content at least equal to all standards. Moreover, LEONIE shows the highest fermentability. METEOR is noted for overall good malting quality.

Spring varieties

As the trialed spring varieties varied from region to region, comments are relative to a specific region.

• In region West, of year 2 varieties, CELLAR is particularly highlighted, with improvements in viscosity, beta-glucan content, extracts and yield, and good grading and DP. COUNTY and NERUDA also show yields higher than SCARLETT, but with a lower extract, and higher viscosity and beta-glucans content in the case of COUNTY.
  Of year 1 varieties, ADONIS, SPIRE and PRESTIGE show the highest yield. PRESTIGE is pointed out from these three varieties by its higher malting values.
• In region North, of year 2 varieties ALLIOT is highlighted for having a higher DP. ASTORIA and PRESTIGE are also pointed out for their overall quality.
• In region Central, of year 2 varieties, NORDUS is highlighted, showing all traits equal or better than standards, except fermentability and DP. BODEGA is equal or slightly better than standards in all respects, but with a slightly lower fermentability. EXPRESS shows improvement in beta-glucan content, and ASTORIA has a noticeably higher yield than standards, although it shows a lower kernel size.
  Of the year 1 varieties, HAVANNA and ROXANA have improvements in beta-glucan contents and DP, with a good agronomic yield, but a lower extract. ROXANA also presents higher fermentability. PRESTIGE and JERSEY are highlighted for their lower viscosity and beta-glucan content. LANDORA and NERUDA are improvements in agronomic yield.
• In region South, of the year 2 varieties, ASPEN combines an improvement in yield with a lower viscosity and a good DP. HANKA shows higher grading, extract, fermentability, lower viscosity and protein content. However, this variety is too late for the southern countries.
  Of the year 1 varieties, PRESTIGE and BODEGA are improvements in agronomic yield, grading and extract, the latter showing also a lower protein content. CELLAR is also pointed out for its yield and overall good quality values.

 

For more detailed barley and malt data on the above named varieties, please refer to the publication ‘Results Field Trials Harvest 2001’. Available on request through the national members of the EBC Barley & Malt Committee or from the EBC Secretariat, P.O. Box 510, 2380 BB Zoeterwoude, The Netherlands (tel +31 71 5456047/5456614; fax +31 71 5410013, e-mail: secretariat@ebc-nl.com).

L. Didierjean

Vice Chairman EBC Barley & Malt Committee

August 2002

The European Poker Tour is one of the most prestigious card game events in Europe and as such European beer producers fight to sponsor the event. In America which has a longer tradition of major beer companies sponsoring all sorts of events such as sports or games, Budweiser is the most noteworthy among all beer sponsors.

Europe is starting to follow this tradition, both with games, poker and beer. The EPT is a major poker tournament event created by PokerStars and they needed a beer sponsor. It is not recommended to drink beer while you playing poker, or whenever you do a sports competition - except maybe the Oktober Fest, but the beer is for the fans. And there are plenty of poker fans in Europe.

Pokerstars is the leader of online poker with their pokerstars bonus code and they are sponsoring tons of events all over the world. The EPT Dortmund in Germany was won by poker star Sandra Naujoks who took home €917,000 first prize. The beer sponsor for this event was delighted with the attendance. Germany is certainly a prime country as far as beer is concerned, but other EPT tournaments taking place in England and France are promising too.

March 2010