Keynote:  Sustainable malting and brewing: evolving technologies and practices

All sectors of industry are under increasing pressure to minimise the use of resources and generation of waste. The alcoholic beverage sector in particular has to demonstrate efficient stewardship of water, energy and raw materials in order to have a clear license to operate.

The malting and brewing industries have made significant advances towards sustainable operations over the past 25 years. For example, the specific energy usage in a brewery has reduced from an average of 239 MJ/hL in 2003 (BBPA; worldwide efficiency survey) to current ‘best-in-class’ in the region of 50 MJ/hL. This has been achieved through a variety of measures which can be considered under the 4 R’s: Rethink Reduce Reuse Recycle.

This talk will review key engineering solutions and technologies that are helping to transform resource use efficiency in malting and brewing, with a focus on recent developments and with reference to current research at the University of Nottingham.

About the speaker:

David Cook is Professor in Brewing Science at the University of Nottingham, UK and has more than 25 years of experience conducting research and teaching relating to brewing, analytical food chemistry and flavour technology. He is currently Nottingham lead for two doctoral training centres focused on sustainable agriculture and crops for the future in partnership with the University of Dundee, James Hutton Institute and the Scotch Whisky Research Institute.

The Cook group specialises in applied research and interacts extensively with the malting and brewing sectors. Current research activity focuses on malting science and technology, functionality and efficiency of advanced hop products, beer flavour formation and stability and the reduction of primary energy usage in malting and brewing. Sustainable bioprocessing of raw materials and co-products is a further interest of the group. 

David is a Fellow and Trustee of the CIBD and member of the Worshipful Company of Brewers.

Session 2: Artificial Intelligence in Brewing: Current uses and future directions

AI can be used in several constellations within the brewing industry, for example, helping the brewer to better control brewing processes, to obtain guidance in maintenance or in the prediction of future problems.

This presentation will explain some typical cases which can already be implemented and what will follow. 

It will explain how AI modules can be used “out-of-the-box” and where you will need data scientists to develop this kind of model.

About the speaker:

Werner Hasenschwanz is “Technical Account Manager for Breweries” at Siemens. His task is to create end-user solutions based on Siemens products and to find the correct technical and technological requirements for a brewery. These solutions cover the whole brewery supply chain as well as MES or LIMS integration.

Werner has worked within Siemens for 38 years, most of that time in Food & Beverage. For 15 years, he managed projects, mainly on the MES layer and then as a consultant, where brewing and technical expertise is required, on behalf of Siemens and for the customer.

In his current role, he is part of the Weihenstephan work group, where interfaces to packaging machines (WS Pack) or to the brewing process (WS brew), are defined.

Session 3: Driving circularity through next generation Anaerobic Digestion (AD)

Each year, the UK food and beverage sector spends millions of pounds tankering trade effluent off site for treatment — emitting tens of thousands of tonnes of CO₂e from HGVs alone. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a well-established process that transforms this waste into clean, renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions and treatment costs while helping to power operations.
 
However, AD plants have traditionally been limited to large sites with considerable space and resources required to operate them. This talk explores how WASE uses electro-methanogenesis to drive efficiencies in on-site effluent treatment and biogas generation, unlocking the next generation of AD and bringing compact, modular solutions to manufacturers of all sizes.

About the speaker:

Andy Ensor, Business Development Manager at WASE Limited, has over 25 years’ experience delivering engineering solutions to the food and beverage sector. 

Over the past decade, he has specialised in anaerobic digestion (AD), focusing on energy efficiency and sustainability, and now working with manufacturers across the UK to implement WASE’s next-generation waste to energy solutions.

Session 4:  Joint Integrity in the Brewing and Distilling Industry

The presentation will focus on the current challenges faced by industry in terms of the mechanical skills shortage and specifically, the effects seen across all process industries (including the brewing/distilling sector) in terms of mechanical joint integrity.
 
The speaker will discuss the current industry standards and guidelines as well as details of industry approved training courses relating to the mechanical joint integrity of bolted flange joints.

The talk will cover regulatory compliance, process safety, and mechanical engineering competency. 35 years of industry experience has enabled the speaker to address the UK's engineering skills gap and the current 'state of the nation' regarding competency and compliance issues within industry. 

About the speaker:
 
Chris Mellows is Managing Director of Zulu Joint Integrity and Training Ltd., he is also a Board Member of the IMechE Process Industries Division, the IMechE Education and Skills strategy group and sits on the Editorial Panel of the IChemE “Loss Prevention Bulletin”

Chris began his journey in mechanical engineering as a craft apprentice with BP Chemicals in 1990. Since then, he has accumulated extensive experience across the oil and gas, chemical, and petrochemical industries. His expertise in flange inspection and mechanical joint integrity—particularly in HF Alkylation plants on oil refineries—alongside quality assurance and process safety, inspired him to establish a company that advocates for best practices and compliance within all process industry sectors.

In 2009, Chris launched his business to support high-hazard process industries with mechanical joint integrity management, inspection, and training support services.

Forever ‘beating the drum of compliance,’ Chris is a dedicated engineer focused on raising awareness and driving improvements across all hazardous process industry sectors.

Chris has experience of delivering compliance audits at a number of large whisky distilleries in Scotland. The presentation will show photos of bad practice etc., found during these audits at distillery sites.

Session 5: Current & Future CIP Trends For More A More Sustainable World

Kersia UK has grown to become a market-leading supplier of hygiene solutions across the UK & Ireland in the brewing sector. Continual investment in the best technical solutions ensures the Company leads the field.

Now in its fourth decade, Kersia UK continues to deliver hygiene solutions through technology and a commitment to service levels.

Kersia UK’s presentation will showcase the current trends in CIP, and how CIP is evolving to provide more sustainable practices whilst also achieving real savings for the breweries. 

A focus will be made on CIP fundamentals, new chemicals, software and engineering developments providing real change in a more sustainably-minded era.

About the speaker:

Matthew Lloyd has been working at Kersia for 5 years as a Technical Sales Consultant, working with some of the largest beverage sites in the UK.

Prior to working in chemicals, Matthew had 10 years experience, working in brewery production at various sites in the North West, including two posts as Head Brewer at award winning breweries.

Session 6:  High efficiency output, low energy input, how far can you go?

Meura, a Belgian Brewery equipment manufacturer founded in 1845, has been at the forefront of Brewing technology for nearly two centuries with famous inventions such as the Mash Filter, Meurabrew and Carbomill. 

The Company is recognised for its brewing technology expertise worldwide. Their main claim to fame is that 25% of the world’s beers are processed using Meura equipment. 

With current pressures to maximise efficiency and reduce energy consumption, what is possible now? and what might we expect in the future?

The presentation covers “A view from milling to wort cooling and all that lies in between”.

About the speaker:

David Clifford is the UK Operations Manager of Meura, 

David Joined Meura in July of 1979 as a trainee draughtsman, qualified with an HNC in Mechanical Engineering…..now achieving 47 years with Meura.

Involved with multiple projects too numerous to mention, covering Brewing, Distilling, Malt extract, Plant-based beverages and Maltings, his work involved site survey, quotation, design, Installation supervision, site management and commissioning not just in the UK, but also in Australia, Poland, Nigeria, Thailand and the USA.

Session 7: Green Hydrogen Production and the Future of Sustainable Chemicals and Fuels

The sustainable production of chemicals and fuels has the power to revolutionise the UK's energy landscape, with wide-reaching impact in aviation, shipping, long-distance transport, and the chemical industry. 

These hard-to-abate sectors cannot be easily electrified and therefore require energy conversion and storage solutions to transform renewable electricity into storable chemicals and fuels. Hydrogen is a critical component in decarbonisation, but until recently, demonstrations of ‘green’ production from purely renewable electricity have been limited. 

This talk will focus on how Keele University has recently established a fully green hydrogen production system linked directly to the solar and wind farm on campus, acting as a testbed for scale-up and widespread deployment. Alongside the challenges of installation, operation, and use, a wider perspective on the role of electrolysis in the energy sector will be provided. Opportunities for emerging electrolysis systems that transform carbon dioxide and different waste sources into valuable products will be introduced to outline how such technology can play a pivotal role in the Net Zero energy transition.

About the speaker:

Charles Creissen is a Senior Lecturer in Electrochemistry who specialises in electrocatalytic transformations. 

He has experience in materials for carbon dioxide conversion, controlled oxidation of biomass-derived molecules, and design and development of flow devices for high-rate, selective electrolysis. He is the lead PI for HyDEX (www.hydex.ac.uk), a £5M Research England Development Fund aimed at establishing a hydrogen economy in the Midlands, for which he coordinated the installation, operation, and partnership plan for a large-scale hydrogen electrolyser powered by curtailed electricity. 

Charles obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2019, where he developed solar-driven devices for hydrogen evolution using a combination of molecular and solid-state components. He subsequently worked as a Postdoc and Research Engineer at the Collège de France, Paris (2019-2022), where his research focussed on gas-fed flow cells for heterogeneous carbon dioxide conversion and the development of water oxidation catalysts. 

In 2022, he established his research group at Keele University with a core research goal to defossilise chemical production through electrolysis of carbon dioxide and biomass.