Concentrated beer knowledge was in demand on Saturday at the Graefelfinger Brewing Academy Doemens.
The aim was to determine the German master of beer sommeliers.
Graefelfing
- Michael Friedrich will be the German beer sommelier champion for the next two years. The Chemnitz, trained brewer and maltster, convinced the three-member jury at the final of the German beer sommelier championship in the Graefelfingen Doemens Academy on Saturday. With Alicia Muñoz Insa from the hop trader BarthHaas, Julia Bär from the Doemens Genussakademie and Nicola Buchner, managing director of the Association of Certified Beer Sommeliers, this was firmly in the hands of women. The three experts from the industry were impressed by the overall high quality of the final.
The championship participants first had to recognize beer styles and typical beer aromas and pass a small multiple-choice test. In order to qualify for the final, the semi-finalists then had to describe a beer that was unknown to them. The finals took place this year in the new Graefelfingen Doemens building in Lohenstrasse, due to the corona, with only 30 participants. The six best - including a "Lucky Loser" - advanced to the finals, where they presented a beer that had been awarded to them. In their decision, the jury assessed not only the performance of the finalists at the beer presentation, but also the storytelling of the beer, i.e. what story the sommeliers told about it, the sensory description and, if applicable, the "food paring", i.e. an explanationwhich other foods go well with the beer - for example a meat dish.
“All finalists were able to convince with a brilliant presentation. Michael Friedrich managed to stand out again from the best and to win the jury and the audience on his side, ”says Domens spokesman Andreas Hofbauer. Friedrich presented the "Eisbock" drawn to him from a Kulmbach brewery. The Chemnitz managing director of the Stonewood brewery was able to convince with his great knowledge and an emotional lecture. "Today was a perfect day for me and I'm proud to have been wearing this title for two years now," said Friedrich after his success. Christian Küppers, self-employed beer sommelier and until 2016 worked for the Doemens Academy for a total of 14 years, came second in the championship. Third place went to Mareike Hasenbeck, freelance journalist and specialist blogger.
The entire championship played out on a very high level, judges Michael Zepf, who is responsible for the organization and implementation of the championship as head of the Doemens pleasure academy.
“The extreme performance density was already apparent in the preliminary rounds.
In the semifinals and the finals, only nuances made the difference.
All participants were perfectly prepared and impressed with their in-depth specialist knowledge, ”said Zepf.
The ten best-placed beer sommeliers in the championship will represent Germany at the world championship next year.
It will take place on September 11th as part of drinctec, the world's largest industry trade fair for beverages, in Munich.
At the last World Championships in Rimini in 2019, Friedrich took third place.
