Developing a domestic centre of excellent for brewing and distilling

The aim of the National Centre for Brewing and Distilling (NCBD) is to develop a domestic centre of excellence for brewing and distilling, with resources and expertise to allow these industries to develop. Lisa Ryan, Manager of NCBD, tells us more.
Currently in the first phase of development, the focus is on the testing of raw materials for malting and the production of small batches of specialised malts for the craft beer sector, and of test batches for the malting and distilling companies.
Plans for the second phase are underway, which includes securing additional funds for equipment to support a full suite of facilities to support pilot scale brewing and distillation research, as required by industry.
In addition to targeted research projects, funded via public/commercial funds, the ambition of the NCBD is to support the education, training, research and innovation within the drinks industry - encompassing all stages and stakeholders from education, agronomy and production to a finished product.
As the Irish drinks industries continue to thrive, the country has seen significant growth in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink sales. One area of significant growth is Irish whiskey and competitors are exploring ways to innovate and gain further market share.
In the past few years, many distillers have tried to resurrect old heritage grains and also heritage mash bills in an effort to diversify. The NCBD will play an active role in this type of innovation with the use of the pilot plant to optimise flavour profiles, yields and overall process ability of different mash bills for the industry. This will in turn build additional demand for more rye, oats and wheat to be grown in Ireland.
The current research collaboration called ‘DABBING CAP’ is a major Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funded project - with Teagasc and SETU, working with TUD - aiming to produce and to process Irish wheat and novel grains such as rye, maize grain and spelt as a direct replacement for imported maize. Great progress has been made on optimisation of wheat for distilling and further work is planned for pilot scale testing once the second phase of the NCBD is complete.
Crops and Cover Crops Cultivations
Teagasc and the Irish Farmers Journal have teamed up for the major tillage event of the year - Crops and Cover Crop Cultivations, which will be held at Oak Park on Wednesday, June 21st.
This biennial event will incorporate machinery demonstrations, as well as the Teagasc Crops Research programme, which will be on display across field trials and active demonstrations at the Carlow site. For more information on this event, click here.