General information

Theme and sessions

This edition’s conference theme ‘Beer & Society’ is focusing on aspects beyond solely the technical aspects of malting and brewing. The lectures and poster presentations are organized into 4 thematic sessions:

Sustainability

Maltsters and brewers have always implemented environmental measures to reduce the footprint of their activities such as reduction in water usage & energy, recycling packaging and valorization of side streams. In this session, we explore new and innovative ways on how improved sustainability is tackled by the malting and brewing industry.

Diversification

Diversification of their portfolio has become key for breweries in order to target new customer groups and increase market presence. This session broadly targets research and developments in flavor technology, the use and application of non-conventional ingredients and brewing technologies, alternative lagering methods (including wood lagering) and new products (hybrid and infused products like for example cannabis-infused beer).

Well-being

A large part of this session will focus on (the brewing of) non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beers (NABLABs) since their market share is steadily growing and their development is a prime focus of many breweries. We welcome abstracts covering all aspects related to NABLABs including (adapted) ingredients, brewing process, perception of NABLABs etc. Aspects related to labelling, obesity, GRAS status and allergies are also part of the Well-being session.

Experience

Brewers strive to create the ultimate consumer experience with their products. This experience is not only created by the beer itself (including sensory perception) but also by other factors such as branding/marketing and packaging. Aspects related to online beer (rating) platforms, big data analysis, beer pairing and beer quality are also part of this thematic session.