occupation of the hostelriesof the nearby and famousRose Street on Mondayevening, the lecture hall was

filled at 9am the followingday when the theme was raw

materials supply chainopportunities.

Raw materials – supply chainopportunitiesPhilip Morrall(pictured) , of BairdsMalt, presented apicture of the Britishmalting industry withparticular reference tothe roles of the HomeGrown Cereals Authority and theMaltsters Association of GreatBritain. He emphasised theuniqueness of UK malt in terms ofquality of assurance, food safety andsecurity of supply. Falling farm prices and premiumsare creating some stress in thesupply chain but at least in the UKthere is a fortunate balance betweenthe specifications of brewers,distillers and the export market,which means that the range ofnitrogen levels emerging from aharvest can all be accommodated.

Plant breeding has madesignificant increases in HWE andyield and dramatic reductions inglycosidic nitrogen levels ofdistilling varieties like Decanter.Husk adhesion remains an issuewhich he thought merited attentionin breeding programmes. Whilethere was a system for assessing newvarieties through to theRecommended List stage, a plea wasmade for more industry data onvariety performance in the mashhouse as this would help to supportan export drive based on the inherentadvantages of UK malt.

The speaker conveyed aninfectious level of enthusiasm for his

subject and this trait was also thehallmark of Prof.Wayne Powell’s(pictured) lecture onbarley geneticsresearch carried out atthe Scottish CropResearch Institute atDundee. He reviewedmethods of varietal developmentconcentrating on the traditionalrather than the transgenic plantapproach. Genetic control ofepiheterodendrin production couldcome into prominence if a furtherreduction in EC levels is required.

The need to breed forfermentability as well as extract washighlighted and the discovery of agene linking HWE andfermentability would present abreakthrough. Unravelling thefunction of the unknown genes inbarley and converting thisknowledge into value presented thereal challenge at SCRI.

Prof. Powell touched ongenetically modified maize andsuggested that market opinion andthe size of the crop would hold backsimilar developments with barley.The emphasis in the transgenicbiology debate in Europe, but not inUSA, has concentrated on risk ratherthan benefit; some popular benefits,perhaps in the health arena, areneeded to help redress the balance.He concluded that the rate ofprogress will be enhanced withbetter target definition and productdriven research. Strongerpartnerships with industry will beneeded if the fruits of genomicscience are to be maximised.

The diversity of the programmewas underlined as we moved fromthe cutting edge of genetics totequila production in Mexico. Thispaper was presented by Rafael Ayalaof Allied Domecq, in the unfortunateabsence of its author, Miguel Cruz of

Tequila Herradua – a wonderfulexample of the cooperation amongsttechnical competitors, which is sucha feature of brewing and distilling.

There are two types of tequila –neither made from cactus! Specialtequila uses only agave juice, whilestandard tequila can use up to 49%of other sugars (mainly maize andcane). The raw material is the agaveplant which used to take 8 – 10 yearsto mature and is currently in shortsupply due to disease. Thiscircumstance has focussed effort onincreasing resistance to disease andusing micro-propagation to reducethe cycle time for the crop to aboutfive years.

The complete plant is harvested,stripped of leaves and then cookedbefore milling and fermentation. Thekey starch of the agave is inulinwhich breaks down to give fructoseand the fermentation usually uses S.cerevisiae, occasionallysupplemented with lactic acidbacteria. Distillation is in pot stills orcontinuous columns and spirit isaged in oak barrels for somecategories of tequila.

James Bryce of Heriot-WattUniversity, who will collate andpublish the proceedings of theconference in a few months time,spoke on the role of limit dextrinasein distillery fermentations. It is nowclear that this enzyme survives bothkilning and mashing and its activityis enhanced at pHs in the region of4.4. The use of the backsettingtechnique may be important inmaximising its effect, though thishas adverse effects on amylaseactivity.

Japanese work on brewers yeastwas presented by Arika Wanikawa ofAsahi Breweries. Brewers yeast canhave both a direct and an indirecteffect. Volatiles from brewers yeasthave been found to give cookednotes (methional) and oily/waxycharacters (ethyl 9-decanoate). Onthe other hand, sweet/fatty flavouredcompounds (oak lactones tododecalactone) arise fromunsaturated fatty acids resultingfrom autolysis.

The morning sessionwas completed byGraeme Walker(pictured) of theUniversity of Abertay,Dundee, who explainedthe importance of Mgand Zn ions infermentations. S. cerevisiae isstimulated by magnesium addition;

18Volume 2 • Issue 10 • 2002 • The BREWER International • www.igb.org.uk

CONVENTION REVIEW

“The need tobreed for

fermentability aswell as extract

was highlightedand the discovery

of a gene linkingHWE and

fermentabilitywould present a

breakthrough.Unravelling thefunction of the

unknown genesin barley and

converting thisknowledge into

value presentedthe real challenge

at SCRI.”

RIGHT: From left – AlanMcColm and Billy

Mitchell – both fromCameronbridge Distillery

with Edward Atkinson,Gin & Vodka Association.

Another Cameronbridgedelegate, Amanda Burke.

more ethanol activity per cell is theresult and therefore less yeast isrequired.

Zinc utilisation is more straindependent but may eliminatesticking fermentations caused bycell stress. Of course additives arenot allowed in Scotch whiskyproduction, but this knowledgecould be utilised in yeast factorieswhere propagations could be carriedout using mineral supplements.

To Glenkinchie . . . The rest of Tuesday was devoted toposter presentations and visits. Thevisits covered malt and graindistilleries, a yeast factory, aresearch centre and packaging plants– indeed the tour to Auchentoshanand Glengoyne must have seen a lotof Scotland as well – I understandovernight accommodation wasdiscussed at one point!

There were 19 posters, all wellpresented with perhaps the goldmedal going to the clutch fromSWRI. In keeping with the lectureprogramme an international blendwas maintained.

Brazil was well represented withthree posters dealing with differentaspects of cachaca production.Posters on flavour attracted a lot ofinterest. SWRI and Heriot-Wattmounted work on the descriptorsused for gin and their links toindividual botanicals. Monica Leehad a poster describing the revisedflavour wheel for whisky developedat Strathclyde University. SWRIdisplayed the importance of aheterocyclic sulphur compound,MMFDS (methyl 2-methyl 3-furyldisulphate), with a phenomenallylow threshold level.

WEDNESDAY, 11TH OCTOBERThe longest day – 8.30 am to 5.15pm in the lecture hall. Chairsdesigned for easy stacking cannotalways accommodate the broadspectrum of international cheekspresented to them without pain.

I will be disappointed if there isnot a poster at the next conferenceinvestigating the three-waycorrelation between chair design,length of session and retention oftechnical detail!

Technology transfer andingenious inventoriesMas Minabe (pictured), Suntory,opened proceedings with a review of

developments in Japanand the Far East.Shoshu continues togrow steadily and itsproduction process wasoutlined. Innovations,which have improvedquality, includespecifications for the wide range ofingredients, low pressuredistillations, and treatment withactivated carbon, ion exchange andchill filtration before packaging.

The major brewing companieshave moved to capitalise on thisgrowth and many small traditionaldistillers will struggle to survive.Maturation in cask is likely toexpand as the search for exportmarkets is pursued. In Korea sojuhas developed at a similar pace.

One of the issues simmeringbelow the surface at the conferencewas the absence of fuel ethanolproduction in the UK, and the lackof any government lead in the area.This was rocketedinto prominence by adramatic presentationby Pearse Lyons(pictured) of AlltechKentucky, whoforsook the podiumand stalked the hall inevangelical mode!

With two thirds of world ethanolproduction already going into fuel,he outlined the rapid growth that iscurrently underway in the USA.There the compound used forcleaning petrol, MTBE, has beenbanned and its replacement withethanol will require 5 billion gallonsper annum, consuming one third ofthe US corn crop.

Huge distilleries have been built inthe Midwest and thirty or so arecurrently under construction. Similar

development is occurring in Asia andAustralia and of course Brazil hasbeen a major producer for decades.EU has a production target of 2billion gallons by 2010 and Spain isin the forefront of this push.

Dr. Lyons’ concept for fuel ethanolproduction is one of a bio-refinerywith the process being viewed as oneof protein enrichment for there is ahuge output of animal feeds. In thiscontext he saw major possibilities fordark grains enhancement. He wenton to outline a number of challengesand opportunities, includingproduction of ethanol from celluloseand hemicellulose. Concluding apaper, which stimulated muchdebate, he highlighted theopportunities for the distillingindustry in terms of using itstechnical know-how in thisexpanding field.

Indian and Brazilian industrieswere described by Binod Maitin ofUB Group and Prof. HenriqueAmorin of Fermentec, respectively.Indian whiskies are categorised intomalts and blends but the majordifference with Scotland is thatblends use neutral spirit frommolasses and have addedflavourings. Economy whiskiesconsist of neutral spirit withflavourings.

Brazilian ethanol production runsat 12 billion litres per annumemploying 1 million people, andwhile much of this is fuel ethanol,cachaca, based on molasses, is amajor drink in the world league.Using continuous fermentation withhigh yeast biomass to give a wash at10% abv after 10 hours, the processhas experienced problems withcontamination and the methods usedto address this were described.

Cachaca was the subject of a

RIGHT: GrahamStewart with his partnerSheila Stevenson andBrian Pegnall.

19The BREWER International • www.igb.org.uk • Volume 2 • Issue 10 • 2002

further paper, whichdealt with itsdevelopment and thecontrasting situationcreated by a few majorplayers positionedamongst many smallproducers. Export

markets are a priority in thecurrent climate.

GordonSteele(pictured) ofSWRIreviewedprogress on the

understanding offlavour in Scotchwhisky. GC-olfactometry shows thepresence of about 90 different aromacompounds creating a complexflavour profile. The interaction ofaroma compounds is significant andthis was demonstrated with referenceto phenols and esters.

Sulphur compounds areresponsible for a wide range offlavours, not all of which areundesirable (for example somefruity/floral/ solvent descriptors havebeen linked to them). Some esterflavours can be masked by thepresence of sulphur compounds andonly emerge during maturation.Maturation in bourbon and sherrycasks produces the same aromacompounds but at different levels ofintensity.

Dr. Steele described someapparent anomalies such as phenolsbeing extracted from oak and vanillinbeing detected in some new makespirit. There is much that is still not

understood but the proposition wasput forward that while sensibleproduction changes may alter thebalance of flavour compounds theextent of the change is unlikely to bemajor. On the other hand, oncechanges have occurred it will provedifficult to back track and rediscoverthe original flavour.

Work on lactic acid bacteria wasdescribed by Prof. Fergus Priest,Heriot-Watt, and TakataniToshihiko, Suntory. Lactic acidbacteria enter the distillery on maltand while early growth can reduceyield late, lactic fermentation canproduce an impact on flavour(increased levels of herbal/floralnotes from damascenone and ethylhexanoate and octanoate).

Surveys of Scottish distillerieshave identified different strains ofbacteria, and a new species namedL.ferintoshensis. Almost everydistillery has its own distinct flora,which is reasonably stable, andduring fermentation differentspecies and strains can dominate atdifferent times. Lactic acid isinvolved in esterification andcontrol of lactic acid bacteria couldlead to different spirit characters.

Future state of distillingThe last session of the conferencewas moderated by Prof. GrahamStewart (pictured at top of page),ICBD Heriot-Watt, who had beenresponsible for the lectureprogramme and without doubt hehad assembled an impressive blendof academic and industry speakersfrom around the world. There weremany links to ICBD throughcontributions from its formerstudents, which was good to see.

Michael Delevante, a consultantto the Jamaican rum industry, was aninstant hit with the audience.Speaking through his normal siestaperiod, he rejected the Powerpointapproach using a modest collectionof acetates in a presentationpunctuated with amusing asides.

He covered the rum process withits three alternative distillations – potstill, Coffey still or continuouscolumns – to give spirits of differentflavour intensities. While much ofthe rum drunk in Jamaica is unaged,maturation is employed for thedarker premium rums. Thetemperature of maturation meansthat a deep colour is obtained afteronly six months but evaporationlosses are high at 6% in the first yearand 3% thereafter.

Theo Lioutas of Brown-Formanrelated the development of theLabrot and Graham Distillery inKentucky. Distilling on the sitebegan in 1812 and the distillery hasbeen rebuilt to revert to the originalstyle of pot still using tripledistillation – a process which isunique for bourbon today.

The stills, which weremanufactured in Scotland, operatewithout a mash tun so all grains enterthe wash still. The challenge hasbeen to produce a quality premiumbourbon using pots rather thancontinuous stills. Comparisonsshow the pot still spirit to be higherin fatty acid esters but lower in fuseloils and phenylethyl alcohol.

Dr Lioutas went on to describework based on his company’s BlueGrass Cooperage. The heat profileduring toasting and the flavourpotential of the oak have beenstudied and are now harmonised.These changes and the introductionof automated stave jointing meanthat casks arriving in Scotland in afew years time are going to beslightly different.

The final paper, delivered byJohn Corrigan of Hiram Walker,comprehensively reviewed thestrengths and weaknesses of thespirits industry. The technicalchallenges of energy conservation,environmental issues, packagingwaste, and GM crops will continueto require much thought andinnovation.

Rapid ageing, reduction ofethanol losses and maximisation ofby-products income wereconsidered to be high on theagenda, together with the role forthe industry in fuel ethanol. Hepredicted the creation of largeplants delivering fuel, industrialand potable ethanol streams.

But the social challenges are noless significant and the emotion inthe alcohol consumption debate isnot easily countered with facts.The future employment ofadvertising is another difficultissue, though the speaker was ofthe opinion that advertising hadlittle impact on overall levels ofconsumption.

Fewer larger companies werelikely to dominate the global scenewith beer and spirits companiesmerging to reflect the blurring ofcategories, which RTDs haveachieved as they have eaten intobeer territory. John Corrigan endedwith an up-beat view of the future

20Volume 2 • Issue 10 • 2002 • The BREWER International • www.igb.org.uk

CONVENTION REVIEW

TOP: The sample tablewith whiskies most

generously donated byso many distilleries.

for the industry as long as itremained innovative and waspeopled with a mix of those whohave grown up in the industryworking alongside others bringingnew skills from outside.

The ceilidhThe conference concluded with abanquet sponsored by Mauri

Products Ltd. This included thesampling of a huge array of drinks,an address to the haggis, somespirited piping and a lively ceilidh,which continued until the earlyhours. The other conferencesponsors were Tatlock andThomson, Bairds Malt, Crisp,Greencore, Muntons, Simpsons,Forsyths, Quest International,

Diageo, and Belhaven Brewery. The event was an undoubted

success and we were promised thatwe had attended the first in a series!The frequency of repeat conferenceswill need careful consideration and,if the standard is to be maintained,the interval is unlikely to be less thanfour years.

Other well established conferenceshave struggled for numbers in recentyears and hard thinking will berequired to decide on its scale, itslocation, and its ownership.

For the moment however weshould acknowledge the achievementof the organising committee;Douglas Reid, chairman, JamesBrosnan, James Bryce, Tim Dolan,Alistair Donaldson, AlisonGalbraith, Roger Jones, IsabelMacaulay, Tim McCreath, EmmaNegus, Jennifer Newton, BrianPegnall, Jeremy Spouge, GordonSteele, Graham Stewart and JanetThornton. ■

LEFT: Graham Stewartand Alan Rutherfordsharing a professorialjoke!

21The BREWER International • www.igb.org.uk • Volume 2 • Issue 10 • 2002

“The final paper,delivered by JohnCorrigan of HiramWalker,comprehensivelyreviewed thestrengths andweaknesses of thespirits industry. Thetechnical challengesof energyconservation,environmentalissues, packagingwaste, and GMcrops will continueto require muchthought andinnovation.”