The CIBD Sustainability in Brewing Conference 2025

I recently attended the CIBD's Sustainability in Brewing Conference in Nottingham. I was working so though there was plenty of networking and CPD I didn't take notes. I did take some pictures though:

This is meta or something

And a few things have stuck in my memory.

Nominative determinism from Tom Brewer

Tom Brewer from ABInBev is a big fan of cranking it up on high gravity brewing: 20-22°P (1.083-1.092 for those that use a more sensible non-sucrose based scale). My inner microbiologist was pleased to hear that despite being an engineer he accepted it might not be fermented at this gravity. He was also a big fan of simmer and strip, where instead of a rolling boil the beer is simmered and gas sparging is used to drive off unwanted volatiles. This will save a lot of energy but I've never been impressed by beers I've drunk that were boiled using energy saving techniques like this. Still, I'm sure they know what they're doing and as many of their brands are not exactly overflowing with flavour they'll have to get it right or it will be very noticeable. 

He's clearly very dedicated to his job. I would even say passionate if that wasn't something that only craft brewers are capable of feeling. He seemed disappointed that they're not making faster progress on their sustainability goals but I was impressed that 13 of their breweries have got their liquor to beer ration below two.

Greg Rachon, one of the last people still working on the brewing side at Campden BRI, gave a talk with Connor Bartlett from Adnams on research into pasteurisation optimisation and how they're looking to reduce the amount of pasteurisation units used in Adnams' beers. 

More papers on pasteurisation than you can shake a stick at

Klara the hop goddess gave an update things at Wye Hops and detailed the use of genetic markers in hop breeding. 

Klara the hop goddess

Chatting to her afterward I learnt that she's not named a hop herself yet, though she did express disappointment that Wyggle, the working name of the wilt-resistant Fuggle, was not used. 

The thing that most amazed me though was about malt not hops. Dave Griggs from Crisp Malt said that to lower water usage they're looking to reduce the number of steeps in the malting process. The greatest success of the Brewing Industry Research Foundation* was the introduction of air rests into steeping, thus increasing the number of steeps from one to two or three. This makes malting faster and more efficient but greatly increases water use, which is why they're now trying to find ways of going back to one! Science eh? Isn't it amazing!

The talks were all videoed so hopefully will be online in the not too distant future. 

*Which ended its days at the Nutfield site of Campden BRI until the bastards closed it down. The abrasion process, which also came from there and the late great Geoff Palmer was immensely proud of, failed to pass the test of time. 

Levelling up as a #PubMan

There are two career paths open to #PubMen and #PubWomen. Pub ticking is the most prominent on social media, as it lends itself well to blogging and microblogging. The struggles of Retired Martin and BRAPA Si to tick the entire Good Beer Guide are the stuff of epics, and Martin well deserves his coverage in the national press. My own achievements in that area are somewhat more modest (Isle of Man compleator 2017) which unsurprisingly didn't even make the pages of the Manx Independent. 

But though the path I follow as a #PubMan may lack the glamour and excitement of pub ticking it is no less worthy. The hours still have to be put in, the pubs visited and beer drunk. Well, pub singular actually. For I am a regular. 

The Crown is not the easiest pub in which to become a regular, the regulars' committee only meeting bi-annually to decide who should be awarded this exalted status. If they're not satisfied with your application it's come back in six months! And regular's status has to be constantly worked at to be maintained, as being stuck off can be considerably faster. Woe betide any regular that is away for a week without first filling in a leave of absence form! 

But what an achievement if you make it, the kudos of being a regular is the envy of all. Who can fail be impressed by someone being greeted by name in a pub? Or even having their drink start being poured before they've ordered it? And of course you get to hang out with the other regulars, so no more do you have to make arrangements to visit the pub, you can just turn up on your own and still have people to chat to. 

There is however a higher status that after many years of hard regularing I have finally attained: I was asked to help behind the bar. Yes, I have finally reached the pinnacle of my #PubMan career and become one of the elite that are asked to help out when they're short handed at the pub.

They were understaffed for the beer festival they had last weekend and I had the honour of being asked if I could put in some shifts serving from the stillages put up in what's normally the smoking shelter. 

Me and John the pub landlord behind the bar on the occasion of my elevation

I've previously looked on with awe at people trusted enough to be turned to in a pub's hour of need, but never having worked in a pub didn't think that one day I might be one of them. The simpler set up for the beer festival suited my limited skill set though, so I immediately stepped up when the call came. There were obviously responsibilities with my new status, for keeping the pints flowing is a sacred task. But my experience volunteering at CAMRA festivals paid dividends and I was up to the task. It was a bit odd when I served beer to people that normally serve me in the pub, and asking for what you had last time is not ideal at a beer festival, but mostly everything went well. A long held wish was achieved: I had successfully levelled up as a #PubMan.