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Online Workshops

Workshops organised by the EBCU for delegates and members

Do you wish to suggest a future workshop?

The workshops are run by the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU) and are open to members of all affiliated organisations.

“Beer and Chocolate” by Anikó Lehtinen and Christine Cryne

20.00 CET Thursday 9th May 2024

One of the best combinations of tastes is beer with chocolate – honestly! 

Anikó and Christine will be offering people a chance to see how the complexities of the flavours in beer marry with the luscious flavours in chocolate by going through the fundamentals of how it is done and giving examples.

The workshop will cover:  How we taste, the three C’s: Cut, Complement and Contrast, why beer and chocolate work so well together, the four beer and chocolate combinations, and people’s favourite: beer, chocolate and combination.

To get the best out of the session, the presenters suggest you have some beer and chocolate with you for the session so that you can follow the talk. The suggested beers are Belgian Witbier, such as Hoegaarden; East Coast IPA or a premium British Bitter; Stout or Porter; and a Belgian Triple or Barley Wine. The suggested chocolates are White, Milk and Dark chocolate and a milk chocolate with nuts and/or fruit.

Download the tasting sheet before the presentation

Tickets

“Beer, Health and Wellbeing” by Claus-Christian Carbon

Held on 14th November 2023 – Watch Now

Beer has some undeniably good basic ingredients, primarily when ecologically produced and sustainably processed. Even the calories are not that high compared with standard soft drinks. Politics, however, focuses on health-related issues with beer, for instance, problems with alcohol, overweightness and unbalanced diet. This strict focus on measurable and also undeniably negative health factors comes at a price: We will forget other factors which play an important role in as so-called secondary or indirect effects which are linked with cultural values, social aspects and further values such as identity. All these effects can be subsumed under the concept of well-being. This wider view on beer from a well-being perspective is important to capture a consumer’s holistic experience but still does not neglect negative factors which should be treated professionally and with an open mind.

Claus-Christian Carbon is an academic with an interest in the social aspects of beer. He is a psychologist by training, working in the field of sensation and perception as a Full Professor at the University of Bamberg in Bavaria, Germany. He is a Beer Sommelier and a former executive member of the EBCU.

“An Introduction to the European Beer Consumers Union” with André Brunnsberg and Chris Welsh

Held on 11th April 2023 Watch Now

A chance to hear from the chair of EBCU and members of the Executive Board on the activities and campaigns the organisation has been involved in recently and has planned for the future. There will be an opportunity to put your questions to André, Chris and other members of the board and project coordinators.

André Brunnsberg is the chair and Chris Welsh is a member of the executive board of EBCU.

“Challenges to the Brewing Industry from Climate Change” with Tim Webb

Held on 21st February 2023 Watch Now

EBCU and Climate change

So, finding myself accidentally in the company of a global expert, I asked him, “Is there an easy way to avoid catastrophic effects from climate change?”, and he said, “Sure. Be under 50.” That was ten years ago. Since then the incline has got steeper and the path become lined by large corporations bent on securing their continuing financial success. Brewing is around 4% of the global economy and its carbon footprint is significant. The way it carries out its business must change in line with the needs of our grandchildren. Greenwashing won’t work. This seminar will analyse the problems, the proposed solutions and the issues that are still unaddressed.

Tim Webb  is an EBCU Project Coordinator, beer consumer champion and author.

“Beer and Food” with Anikó Lehtinen from Olutliitto

Held on 10th October 2022. Watch Now

How to combine beer and food? How to use beer as a food ingredient? The workshop advises easy and good tricks on how to make beer and food taste good together and what advantages beer has when used as a food ingredient.

Anikó Lehtinen is a beer journalist and the Chair Person of Olutliitto, the Finnish Beer Consumer Union.

If you want, you can reserve the following snacks and beers for the workshop, or you just come and listen:

    • IPA and Gouda cheese
    • Sour beer (flavored with berries) and milk chocolate
    • Stout/porter and blue cheese

 

“Is the beer industry unwelcoming?” with Christine Cryne (Master Trainer and an accredited EBCU beer judge), Jing Chen (Black Lab Brewery), Gordon Keen (Laine Pub and Brewing Company), Anikó Lehtinen (Olutliitto), Cian Duffy (Beoir)

 

Held on 23rd September 2021. Watch Now

Despite some improvements, there is still a lack of women involved in the European beer industry. Although it cannot be proved (no figures are available), the Brewers Association in the USA quotes  from a survey in 2019 ‘about 7.5% of the staff of reporting breweries employed a female in the brewer role’ although this grows to 14% in the “production, non-brewers” staff roles. Perhaps then it is not surprising that UK’s Dea Latis says that only 17% of women drink beer at least once a week (compared to 53% of men). They also add that male-oriented advertising is the main barrier to over a quarter (27%) of women drinking beer – rising even higher for the 18-24 year-old female group to almost half (48%). The situation is equally bad regarding people from a non-white background. Again, no figures are available for Europe but the USA report that only 12% of their craft breweries are owned by non-whites and there are even fewer when it comes to brewing staff (11%). If you think these figures for diversity are poor, the involvement of LGBTQ people seems even worse although no one at all seems to report on these! All of these three sectors have people who drink beer and many feel that the industry does not reach out to them. What are the barriers to engagement? What has been tried and what worked and didn’t work? And what can drinkers do to make the beer industry truly inclusive?

This workshop will be chaired by Christine Cryne Master Trainer, accredited EBCU beer judge. She will be joined by three people from the beer industry including Jing Chen, co-owner of the Black Lab Brewery and Bistro in Barcelona, Gordon Keen, Head of Marketing at Laine Pub and Brewing Company, who introduced the ‘All For One Apprenticeship Scheme’, Anikó Lehtinen who is a beer journalist and the Chair Person of Olutliitto, the Finnish Beer Consumer Union and Cian Duffy, a pub historian who is active with Beoir (Ireland).

“The Beer World after the Pandemic” with Tim Webb (World Atlas of Beer), Simon Spillane (Brewers of Europe), Claus-Christian Carbon (Professor of Psychology, University of Bamberg) and Ina Verstl (Brauwelt Magazine)

Held on May 20th 2021. Watch now

By the start of 2020 the beer industry in Europe was showing strong signs of renewal. The number of small independent breweries had broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in seven decades, the 21st century’s slow fall in beer sales was starting to reverse, traditional and modern beer styles were appearing in abundance, and there were even some signs of larger and smaller breweries starting to work together to mutual benefit. Then came COVID. With bars and restaurants being locked down all over Europe for much of the last year, shaking hands and hugging outlawed in most countries, and many people fearful to leave their homes, what now is the future for hospitality and how will this affect the brewing industry? What breweries are affected the most? Those dependent on bulk sales or smaller ones making a precarious living from a small number of accounts? Have brewers been looking out for each other or is there a battle for survival? How will beer and brewing move forward as the dust settles and the masks are removed? And how can consumers help?

This workshop will be hosted by Tim Webb, beer consumer champion and co-author of The World Atlas of Beer, and will include on the panel Simon Spillane, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Brewers of Europe in Brussels, Claus-Christian Carbon, Professor of General Psychology at the University of Bamberg and Ina Verstl, brewing economics journalist from Brauwelt magazine.

“Tips for a new era of online beer events including tastings and judging” with Markus Raupach

Held on 18th March 2021 Watch Now

The beer industry has gone through considerable growth and change over the past 20 years, particularly in the areas of digital marketing and the use of digital events such as online beer tasting and judging. The 2020 pandemic has intensified this trend. There are many challenges in adapting existing and implementing new event concepts such as beer festivals, competitions and tastings into a digital format. In this workshop, Markus Raupach will give an overview of his experiences as an online tasting and judging provider and offer essential insights from his experience in developing the Deutsche BierAkademie and as German chair of the World Beer Awards judging team. In addition, Anita Ujszaszi, Awards Director of the World Beer Awards will be participating as a speaker. The following questions (and more) concern all those who want to move into the world of online tasting:

  • What software and hardware is needed?
  • How do I behave correctly as a trainer or tutor?
  • What equipment do I need?
  • What else do I need to consider in the field of digital beer events?

Markus Raupach is President of the German Beer Consumers Union and founder of the German Beer Academy. He is also a beer sommelier, brandy sommelier and cheese sommelier, an experienced international beer judge, member of the British Guild of Beer Writers and the North American Guild of Beer Writers as well as a recipient of the Bamberg Beer Order, board member of Bierland Oberfranken and the Association of Bavarian Brandy Sommeliers.

“Learn & Discover” with Alex Metcalfe, CAMRA’s Learning & Discovery Manager

Held on 1st December 2020 Watch Now

You are invited to attend a presentation by Alex Metcalfe, who will outline the beer education programme being rolled out by the Campaign for Real Ale to which EBCU members may gain access in 2021.

The online presentation will show how the programme can benefit EBCU member organisations and will include:

  • Discovery Zones: which are spaces at beer festivals for anyone who loves beer, cider and perry and wants to find out more. Activities are focused around brewer/maker-led comparative tastings and ingredients aimed at learners with a variety of experience, from beginners up to experienced connoisseur drinkers.
  • Learn & Discover: is an online learning platform with 42 items of audio, video, text and photo content targeted via three tiers of learning content from beginners to enthusiasts and connoisseurs. 48 more items of content planned for 2021.
  • Educational content from volunteers, drinks sector professionals, educators, brewers, journalists, sommeliers, bloggers and vloggers such as Emma Inch, Roger Protz and Pete Brown.
  • Further info…

To register for an online event, please go to https://www.ebcu.org/events

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