On a recent trip to Germany, Mzansi’s queen of craft beer, Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, got a taste of growth and innovation in the international beer scene. She shares some of her most memorable moments at this year’s Drinktec trade show.
Attending the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. The Drinktec trade show was hosted in Munich, Germany last month and I finally got to attend.
From when I was a trainee brewer, I would marvel at the stories told by senior brewers who attended this prestigious affair on the global beer calendar.
When I received an invitation to judge at the European Beer Star Awards held in Munich mid-August, I was extremely excited that I would finally set foot in Germany. Unfortunately, due to visa issues, I could not attend.
My visa sadness was brief, though, as I changed all my travel plans to 12 to 18 September, which was the week of the Drinktec trade show, and the weekend start of the annual Oktoberfest. Finally, I was about to cross off two major events off my bucket list.
So, just a bit of background on Drinktec: the trade show is the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry and has been held in Munich, Germany since 1951. It is hosted four years, and has been since 1985. The last show was in 2017 as the 2021 edition had to be postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Drinktec trade show is a big deal in the global beer community. Manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes and from all corners of the world link up at Drinktec with producers and distributors of beverages and liquid foods to shape the future of the industry.
This year’s show saw a total of 1 002 exhibitors from 55 countries presenting over 700 new products and solutions for the beverage industry.
Exhibit areas covered anything from energy drinks, tea and coffee, wine, beer and spirits, juices, milk, and even yoghurt-based drinks.
Over the five days the trade show was hosted, nearly 50 000 visitors from 169 countries attended. Most attendees were not from European countries and came come countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Japan and India and South Africa.
Beer, German bread rolls and pretzel rings
Over the course five days I went from hall to hall and stand to stand. I must say, I was highly impressed by the quality of the exhibition, proving that Drinktec is an international platform great for networking. It was great to see all the wonderful things currently happening overseas, which with time will reach our shores as well.
I was in awe of what the industry’s interpretation of beer culture really meant. Almost every single beer exhibitor stand had at least two beers on tap that people could drink for free throughout the day.
Every exhibitor served something to eat. Either some Brotchen (German bread rolls), pretzel rolls or rings. Most of the stand hosted after parties – some by invitation only and others open to anyone – where the beers were free flowing.
Of course, I attended a few and I’m convinced, now more than ever that Germany is the land of beer and beer drinking.
In Germany, a healthy beer culture seemed really entrenched within people. As free flowing as the alcohol was, no one abused the product, and everyone enjoyed responsibly.
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Health trends shaping beer industry
With a total of 12 halls, each focusing on specific topics, I found the innovation hall quite interesting. The one trend that I was quite happy to see continuing globally – which many in the industry thought was just a phase – is the growth and innovation within the non-alcoholic (NAB) market.
Close to every beer stand I visited had their own version of either a non-alcoholic or low alcohol beer. Two of my favourite were the No Alcohol Sour Beer by Fermentis and the range that was available at the Yakima Chief Hops stand.
One things for sure, NABs are no longer just plain lagers with no flavour. Brewers are experimenting with various styles of base beers, hop aroma and flavours. Another favourite was the No Alcohol Stout from Pure Malt and how the beer is made is quite a story.
The rising trend of NAB was further confirmed when I attended the European Beer Star Awards ceremony where there we categories like “New Style Non-Alcoholic Ale”, “Non-Alcoholic Hefeweizen” and “New Style Non-Alcoholic Lager”.
All the winning beers were so much deserving and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this category continues to grow globally and in South Africa as well.
Another highlight was Lallemand and Fermentis showcasing their new offerings on yeast. Based on innovations by these yeast companies I can tell you that sour beers and no, or low-alcohol beers will continue to be a growing trend.
With consumers getting more and more health conscious, it was exciting to see the Fermentis strain for lower carb dry lager beers.
Liquid dry hopping
There were a few hop growers’ associations and distribution companies as well. I spent some time at the US Hop Growers stand and returned to Mzansi with a bag full of different hop varieties to try out on a home brew scale.
Hop France Association also had some amazing hop varieties on display, with an overall trend still towards more aromatic varieties. Noble hop growers like Bohemia Hop, Charles Farm were also there to showcase their varieties. Hop distributors like Yakima Chief and Barth Haas were also in attendance to showcase their range and other new varieties.
New trends within the hop industry were also shown by a few companies. The Cryo hop offering is a trend that will continue for a few years, with more hop varieties now being offered as cryo hop pellets.
Another big trend within the hop industry is use of liquid dry hopping to enhance the hop flavour at improved brewing yields. I tasted a few beers by Barth Haas and I was really impressed.
Milkshakes with malted barley syrup
A few malt houses were also exhibiting, some already widely available in South Africa like Weyermann, Vikings, BestMalt and Castle Malting. I also got to meet a few new ones like BoortMalt and United Malt.
BoortMalt makes the best milkshakes, well at least in my opinion, because it’s made from malted barley syrup. Apparently, this is not a new trend in Europe. I must admit, I’m looking forward to trying my own version of the MaltShake.
Meanwhile at the BoortMalt stand I was introduced to the Creative Series of Infusion Malts which the company dubs as the latest technology in malting innovation. These included sage and thyme infusion matl; Apple Pie Infusion Malt and even Gingerbread Cookie Infusion Malt. Beers made with these malts tasted amazing.
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Automated beer dispensing in SA
Another trend that dominated the innovation hall was automated beer dispensing, which was heavily influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The “Self-Pour Revolution” by REDL is really revolutionising how pubs operate throughout Europe and the US. Basically, the patron uploads funds on a card and pour their own drink. The first time I saw this was when it was installed at the Hogshead Pub in Illovo, Johannesburg a few years ago.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take off, partly because South Africans are so used to having their beers poured for them and brought to their tables. It will be interesting to see whether this trend picks up again in Mzansi.
At the RevolMatic stand, they were showcasing a fully automatic beer system. You programme this machine for the size cup you want (either 330ml or 500ml), it dispenses the cup, automatically fills the cup with beer (no foam) and can do about 450 beers per hour, now that is crazy! Imagine a machine like that at a soccer or rugby match.
It was such a surprise to visit the ADAPT stand and see South African brands on display. I didn’t know this global supplier of mobile vending solutions and outdoor event branding equipment is actually based here in Durban and we got to meet so many kms away from home. It was great to see a fellow South African exhibiting at such a prestigious event.
The next Drinktec will be held in 2025, I for sure will be attending and highly recommend the tradeshow to anyone within the food and beverage industry.
- Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is a South African brewmaster and the first black woman in South Africa to found a microbrewery.
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