Library

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A look at Botanix in Kent – part of the Barth-Haas group

By: Steve Curtis

01/11/2014

For longer than most local people can remember, Paddock Wood has been the centre of the Kentish hop industry. This small town, population of just over eight thousand folk and the location of the former Whitbread hop farm (which is now The Hop Farm Family Park and The Hop Story Museum) has for long been regarded by brewers from the UK and afar as being a significant part of the British hop industry. Indeed, just a few metres away from Paddock Wood railway station and situated along Hop Pocket Lane, from where locally harvested hops were despatched by train to London and beyond, you can find the headquarters of Botanix Ltd, the UK arm of the well-respected Barth-Haas Group.

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The EBC Symposium 2014

By: Caroline Walker

01/11/2014

Purists look away now. Following a long tradition of adulteration by the bartender to produce beverages such as Radlers, Shandys, Panaché and Micheladas, the beer mix drink has now moved on to become a staple offering in small pack. But this transfer to premixed beverages has not been without its technical challenges, and the recent EBC symposium in Vienna highlighted not only these problems but also the wide range of opportunities for creating new products that need to be grasped if you wish to compete in this market.

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Keg filling lines - Monitoring and improving core plant performance

By: Justin Walshe

01/11/2014

For lean, efficient, hygienic operation of a complex critical machine like a keg line, it must first be set up for optimum running. Sounds obvious, but even in 2014 most lines have significant opportunities to improve operations and save cost. How so? Largely because critical information from inside the keg (where it matters most), is either not available, or is not being understood and used. The line must then be constantly monitored for hygiene, performance and problems. Anybody involved with a keg filling line (owners, managers, engineers, operators, line and utilities suppliers) should read on.

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Indian Creek Distillery ... an American legend

By: Missy Duer

01/11/2014

Rye whiskey, the frontier in the Ohio Country, destiny, Native Americans and medicine men...just a few of the many interesting words that describe my family’s storied heritage of distilling in America. Journey with me now as I enlighten you with the true saga of my family, the Staleys, and the continuing flow of whiskey in our lives, then and now.

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Brewing up greener transport fuel

By: Ian Smith

01/11/2014

Bioethanol is produced from plant starch by enzyme conversion to sugars, followed by fermentation to a 12% ABV ‘beer’. This beer is then concentrated through a two-stage fractional distillation to produce azeotropic ethanol at 95% ABV, before further processing through a molecular sieve to produce anhydrous 99.7% ABV ethanol.

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A giant reborn - Huge new investment at Guinness in Dublin

By: Gerry McGovern

01/11/2014

Guinness at St. James’s Gate in Dublin has been around so long that it has become almost synonymous with the city itself. Since its foundation by Arthur Guinness in 1759 it has rung the changes wrought by technological developments in every era, but no change has been as profound as what has happened in the northern section of its 57-acre site in the last 18 months.