Do you know your Rauchbier from your Altbier ?

The last few years have seen huge changes in the brewing industry. 

There has been a rise in the number of small microbreweries, with over 2000 now brewing across the UK.
The styles and types of beers produced from these breweries is very varied, from Rauchbiers to Altbiers, American hop forward IPAs to classic English Ales, the list is almost endless.

The London brewing scene is at the forefront of this new revival with some of the head brewers now having almost rock star like frame. The Beavertown Brewery   is a good example of this new style of brewery, run by Logan Plant, the son of Led Zeppelin’s lead singer Robert Plant, the brewery produces a range of funky young trendy beers.

Along with this growth in the number of breweries and the huge variety in the styles the general drinking public is becoming much more educated and expects bar staff and licensees to be much more knowledgeable about beer, and be able to guide them and support them in their choice of drink.

This can be a potential problem in some pubs as the knowledge of the staff is not up to the standard that these new customers expect. It is no good these days just serving a pint of beer without any real understanding of the type and flavour of the beer.

Successful licensees understand this and have put into place training sessions for their staff to ensure that they have a sound knowledge of all the beers that are available to the consumer.  They have done this by utilising the services of local Brewers and beer experts who can put together bespoke training packages for the bar staff that takes into account their previous knowledge and develops them over time to acquire a full and varied understanding of the beers on sale.

If a more advanced standard is required the services of the Beer Academy  can be used to train staff up to become Beer Sommeliers, which gives them the ability to describe and recommend a variety of beer styles to the consumer.

As the consumers’ knowledge of beer increases they are also very keen to understand and try different beer and food matches. This is a wonderful opportunity for licensees to showcase their food offer. Events can range from simple beer and cheese matching to beer and local produce, beer and chocolate, and even food cooked with different beers. The list is endless and is a proven way to “add value” to the beer offer of a pub.

The message is simple, if you train and support your staff to understand the beers that they are selling they will enthuse and encourage your customers which ultimately will result in increased sales.

For those who don’t know both beers are from Germany, a Rauchbier is a smoked beer from Bamburg and an Altbier is a top fermented beer brewed around the city of Düsseldorf.

For further information on training and support please contact Mark on mt@thebeerhub.co.uk