Shipments of beer and quasi-beer alcoholic beverages in Japan in January-September hit a record low as price hikes sapped demand, Jiji Press communicated on October, 10.

According to the data provided by the nation’s brewers, shipments totalled 353,623,000 cases, 2.7% less than in the same period of 2007. One case contains the equivalent of 20 633-millilitre bottles.

Beer shipments fell 6.7 pct to 185,818,000 cases, it is reported.

Asahi Breweries Ltd. ranked top in terms of market share, followed by Kirin Brewery Co., Suntory Ltd. and Sapporo Breweries Ltd.

Barley consumption for malting in France was 1.441 mln tonnes in July/June 2007/08 versus 1.497 mln tonnes in the previous year, according to the recently published malt production statistics.

Germany’s malt production in July/June amounted to 1,894,900 tonnes versus 1,739,800 last year, it is reported. Wheat malt production reached 90,600 tons vs. 89,800 in 2006/07.

United Kingdom used 1.5 mln tonnes of barley for malting during July/May 2007/2008 – 0.9% more than last year.

Total EU malt exports in the first month (July) of the new crop year were 140,000 tons, which is below the licence bookings figure of July 2007, experts said.

North America barley crops in the U.S. and Canada were larger and of better quality than expected at the beginning of the harvest season, experts reported earlier this month.

Both countries are uncompetitive in feed barley markets, analysts state. According to reports, Canada offers malting barley to China at US$ 340 FOB Vancouver, but Chinese bid ideas are lower.

However, the situation is different in Argentina, as it has recently become known. The nation reported that lack of rainfalls endangers the crop potential, it is unlikely that an earlier forecast of a 2 mln tons barley crop will be achieved.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture will hold a tender for wheat and barley imports totalling 57,200 tonnes on October, 10, Reuters informed this week.

The tender will be reinstated after calling a halt last month in the wake of a scandal in which tainted rice from abroad was used illegally in food products.

The ministry is seeking to buy 26,200 tonnes of food barley and 5,500 tonnes of malting barley via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) tender with a minimum lot of 1,000 tonnes. The SBS system allows users and trading firms can negotiate the grain's origin, price and quantity in advance, and then place a joint bid.

All shipments are due between when contracts are made and the end of December.

Michiko Kobayashi, Toshinari Hiroshima, Keisuke Nagahisa, Hiroshi Shimizu and Suteaki Shioya

Abstract

J. Inst. Brew. 111(2), 128–136, 2005 Apparent extract concentration, which is defined as the apparent total dry matter concentration in the media calculated by measurement of the specific gravity, is a very important variable in the process of beer and low-malt beer fermentation. In the present study, ethanol formation and the residual apparent extract concentration were estimated using the CO2 concentration in the exhaust gas. A simple mathematical model involving the CO2 production rate, temperature and cell activity was constructed and a novel system for on-line estimation and control of apparent extract concentration was developed. In the control system for the residual apparent extract concentration, cell activity was estimated by monitoring the differences in actual CO2 production rate. In addition, the future trajectory of the apparent extract concentration was predicted. The degree of fermentation, i.e., the residual apparent extract concentration trajectory, was controlled by raising or lowering the temperature, taking into account the estimated cell activity at that time. The residual apparent extract concentration reached the target value at a given time, using the on-line estimation of apparent extract concentration and temperature control. Key words: Apparent extract, CO2 production rate, control, lowmalt beer, on-line estimation. Load full article, 9 pages, 1039 Kb, PDF file