Master of his craft, he serves up expert brewing insight for customers

Christian is officially qualified as a ‘Brewmaster’, a person who is responsible for overseeing the brewing process in a brewery, a role that combines elements of science, art, and craftsmanship to produce high-quality and flavourful beers. 

Brewmasters have a deep understanding of brewing techniques, ingredients, and the microbiological aspects of fermentation, ensuring that all aspects of the brewing process adhere to quality standards, hygiene and safety regulations. Christian, as Senior Brewing Project Manager at Alfa Laval, brings that knowledge to bear when working with his customers. 

He trained as a Brewmaster with the Scandinavian Brewing School between 1998 and 2004 and has now been with Alfa Laval for 13 years, following roles within the industry with Alectia and Danbrew, working on projects that help customers to increase yield, improve quality, diversify their beer – and do it all sustainably. 

So, for Christian, International Beer Day on August 2nd and Danish Beer Day on the first Saturday of September are just like Christmas Day! 

“Beer is so important that you cannot just have one Beer Day!” laughs Christian, who always marks Danish Beer Day by taking family members and friends to local craft breweries and bars to talk about the finer points of making a great beer.  

It’s an ethos he takes into his work as he is always ready to talk beer with customers. “One of our customers in Belgium was upset because Belgium had lost in a football game, and that, plus the fact that it was raining and cold, meant his sales of beer had gone the wrong way! This is all he wanted to talk about, and this, for me, is the key to the best relationships that you can have with customers where they feel comfortable with talking to you – even when they don’t actually need any product or service from Alfa Laval!” 

Alfa Laval’s core products – heat exchangers, pumps, valves, pipes, fittings – are all used in conveying beer around the brewery, so where Christian and his team’s expertise is brought to bear is between the brewhouse and the filling line, which involves fermentation in larger fermenters, managing the yeast, pitching the yeast into the wort and the filtering and blending of that fermented wort.  

While Christian is ‘not a sales guy’, he explains that he will get more involved in the sales process than other suppliers might do to ensure that his expertise is guiding the customer towards the right solutions.  

“Alfa Laval has a reputation for frontloading – i.e. putting the effort into a holistic approach and creating bespoke proposals addressing the distinctive requirements of our customers. 

 – and we are great examples of that,” he says. “Our customers do not necessarily come to us and say they want two valves, a pump and a heat exchanger. What they want is a solution; they want a line, and they want to make sure that they can keep it clean. We offer the guidance to help deliver that.” 

Cleanability is always high on the list of priorities for brewing customers, and Christian’s team will put together a process instrumentation diagram to show how the Alfa Laval equipment can drive the brewing – and clean up afterwards, with the right selection of valves, ensuring the whole pipe is flushed, which is vital for efficiency and quality. 

Christian says: “It’s an ever-changing world in brewing, especially for craft brewers; one minute it’s late hop products that are popular, then it’s ales, top fermentation is all the rage, then it’s bottom fermentation, and then suddenly everybody loves stouts and porters! So there is far more volatility in the market, which challenges customers’ expertise, their ability to replicate beers over time, and the cleanability of their kit – which is why having an expert partner like us is so valuable.” 

It’s this need for flexibility and agility to ensure diversification that makes Christian excited for the future of brewing, which, he says, Alfa Laval is ready to shape, working alongside its customers. 

“Luckily, the spirit of brewers is to remain open and to share new things, and there is still that heritage of the brewing community, which we are proud to be a part of, especially as brewing sustainably is now so important for brewers of all sizes,” he says.  

In a sector where around 25% of the cost of producing a bottle of beer goes on energy, Alfa Laval’s solutions can make a huge difference, and Christian is at the forefront of innovating those solutions – to save on energy, CO2 and waste. 

“There are huge strides we can make in sustainability,” he says. “We are very aware of the need to do more, and we offer our customers full visibility of the options open to them to ensure they go into the decision-making with their eyes open and with the knowledge that they are dealing with a team who know what they are talking about.”