How many PHDs does it take to brew beer?
It’s really not that hard to brew something that won’t poison you and whose taste resembles that of beer. There are a number of home brewing kits in the market that allow any beginner to try his hand. Things however become increasingly more difficult as one moves away from beer kits and starts experimenting with various raw materials and techniques trying to brew beers that are inherently more complex to produce. As if these obstacles weren’t enough, sooner or later one comes across what must be universally accepted to be the two most critical factors separating amateurs from professionals, scale and consistency.
Brewing small quantities over a weekend with the benefit of time and the trip to the liquor store for a 6 pack as the only penalty, is quite different to brewing two consecutive batches of two thousand liters within the same day. As production scales up the artistry of brewing needs to be supported by hard science in order to be able to produce consistently good beer and to do so in a timely, consistent and cost effective way. Hardware to a certain extend helps, the machinery that is utilized in such scale of production takes some of the burden but even it needs to be complimented by professionals who understand its complex nature and interactions.
The team associated with Humor Beer comprises of no less than 2 PhDs and a number of Masters Degrees ranging from Engineering, Physics and Chemistry to Finance and Law. They all readily admit that the real life problems posed by producing industrial quantities, of high quality beer, over and over is quite a challenge. That’s even before we touch upon the sales of the product and generation of positive cash flows which will allow the business to survive. In Europe there are more than 9500 breweries producing all sorts of types and quality of beers. For a new brewery to survive it needs to significantly invest in Research and Development in an effort to create unique characteristics both in the flavor of its various beers but also in the presentation of its brand through its labels, packaging, marketing and distribution methods.
We do believe that there is much to be gained by applying scientific knowledge of to what has been for centuries, traditional know how, adding where possible innovative touches to differentiate and improve our offering. Below we present some specific examples of our current and future Research and Development projects:
- R&D for Innovation in the design and production of new and exciting beer recipes incorporating tastes and flavors from Cyprus.
- R&D for Innovation in the production techniques to increase the efficiency and reduce costs
- R&D for Innovation in the distribution and promotion of beer locally and internationally
- R&D for Innovation in label design and PR