introduction

Dear colleagues in malting and brewing,

On behalf of the organizing and scientific committees, it is our great pleasure to invite you to the international malting and brewing symposium “10th Trends in Brewing”, which is jointly organized by KAHO Sint-Lieven Association K.U.Leuven (Gent, Belgium), Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland), and Technical University Berlin (Berlin, Germany). This 10th Trends in Brewing will take place from 1-5 April 2012 at the Technology Campus KAHO Sint-Lieven, situated near the exceptionally beautiful, historical centre of Ghent city.

On account of fast growing, hard competition in the beverage industry, to provide and improve beer quality in a practically feasible and economic way, may be considered as the major challenge for breweries all over the world. Therefore, “Beer Quality and Cost-effective Processing” was selected as the central theme of this symposium.
In accordance with the overall aim and approach of previous editions of Trends in Brewing, i.e. ‘moving science into practical solutions’, highly relevant topics, emerging technologies and novel practices related to the raw materials (including new alternatives for malt), the brewing process, and final product characteristics will be treated.

Each session will be organized in such a way that it provides state-of-the-art from the scientific/technological and practical points of view. Key lectures will be given by prominent invited speakers, followed by selected, more specific oral presentations on practically oriented matters. In addition, novel findings and technologies will be presented through peer-reviewed posters and an extensive technical exhibition. The symposium also offers the possibility to visit local industrial maltings and breweries, and, evidently, to discover the richness of Belgian beer culture by tasting its unique specialty beers.

Being convinced that the coming “10th Trends in Brewing” will be a great opportunity to exchange knowledge and new ideas on malting and brewing, we look forward to meeting you.

Prof. Luc De Cooman                                                                        Prof. Guido Aerts