Brewing is a creative, maybe even spiritual process. The fragrant drama of the brewhouse, and cathedral-like quiet of fermentation and maturation are food for the soul. Beautiful natural ingredients are transformed into a delicious and sustaining product. Packaging is not viewed by many with the same reverence and is often seen as a necessary evil. Due to the fast pace, noise and at times monotony, for many brewers, working in the packaging facility is either best avoided, or just something to get on your CV. However, unless we sell all our beer in the brewery from a tank, our success as brewers is determined as much by the effectiveness of our packaging operation and packages, as it is by our skill as a brewer. Without packaging, our beer is naked and out of reach for most consumers.

Good packaging enhances our reputation and can give consumers rose-tinted glasses through which to view our beer. Bad packaging destroys our beer and with it our hard work and reputation. The best brewers understand packaging and the effect of the packaging process on their beer.

The latest CIBD short course - Packaging for Brewers - is designed to give brewers this understanding. Although it is a short course, it is comprehensive in scope covering everything a brewer needs to know from how cans are manufactured and tested to the advantages and disadvantages of the palletising options for full large pack containers. The course leads you through the package manufacturing process, it explains each package design feature and provides you with the knowledge required to specify and measure key quality parameters for all package types. It describes each step in the packaging process from container delivery to pallet wrapping, detailing the technology used and how quality and cost can be optimised. The course is not designed to turn you into a packaging professional but to give you the inside knowledge to ensure that your beloved beer leaves the packaging facility unscathed. It should also help you to understand the world of the packaging professional and maintain a mutually beneficial working relationship with them.   

The course should enable every brewer to develop another string to their bow and to become a better brewer in the process. To a prospective or current employer, it also demonstrates your commitment to continuing professional development.  

Author: Stuart Howe, Technical Development Manager, CIBD