European Beer Star grants Future Award for the first time

The world-renowned beer competition European Beer Star has presented an award for exemplary and sustainable business management for the first time.

"Protecting our environment also means safeguarding our future. Issues such as energy efficiency, sustainable raw material supply, and employee satisfaction have long ceased to be trivialities and have long been a focus of corporate governance. For this reason, the European Beer Star is presenting the Future Award for exemplary and sustainable corporate governance for the first time this year. In the spirit of the European Beer Star, the sensory quality - i.e. the appearance, smell, and taste of the beers - is also included in the evaluation in addition to sustainable management," says Stefan Stang, General Manager of the Association Private Brauereien Bayern, about the newly created award.

Multilevel evaluation

All breweries registered for the European Beer Star 2022 were able to participate voluntarily in the Future Award in addition to the familiar tasting. Based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, a questionnaire tailored to the
brewing industry was developed together with sustainability experts from the Bochum University of Applied Sciences, experts from the brewing industry, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders from the brewing sector. Several aspects from the areas of ecology, economy, social and cultural issues were queried by the breweries. A team of experts from Bochum University of Applied Sciences then selected the 10 best applications from the questionnaires submitted. As in all other categories of the European Beer Star, the brewery was not disclosed to the jury.

The 10 finalists selected were re-evaluated on September 14, 2022, by an interdisciplinary jury of sustainability and beer experts as well as media representatives and subjected to a live European Beer Star tasting at drinktec. The sensory evaluation criteria of a regular European Beer Star tasting were applied.

Proud award winners

The three winners of the Future Award were honored during the Winners’ Night of the European Beer Star on September 14, also during drinktec in Munich. The breweries Neumarkter Lammsbräu, Brauerei Kundmüller and Westerwald Brauerei were able to convince the final jury the most - both from the point of view of sustainability and product quality - and can thus look forward to receiving the Future Award, which was presented for the first time.