Stammtische

The double m and the sch ending (the e just makes it plural) gives it away as a German word. Tisch means table, which gives the idea of a reunion of friends around a table. If they were businessmen, they might be having double martinis. The brewers would more likely be having cold cuts and beer. Stamm is a little trickier. Those who studied in Germany might remember Stammwürze, i.e. original gravity of the wort which originated a given beer, which might lead us to something holding us together, a background, maybe a profession or at least an industry.

Our district has been holding meetings, some seven per year, where we first mingle and talk for a couple of hours, then sit and eat a regular meal, which might be meat and sausages or a regular menu with three choices. These are our Stammtische. These meetings are hosted by a co-sponsor, a supplier of goods or services, who generously puts up about three quarters of the cost, with the assisting members, most with their spouses, paying a fixed fee. This section of our WEB page will be dedicated to commenting on our Stammtische, future and past. Prosit!

Future Stammtische

The next Stammtisch in Caracas will take place Thursday November 26, 2009, at the Hereford Grill in Las Mercedes. The event will be kicked off with a presentation by Bengt Ohlsson of Viking Malt titled “Malt Makes the Difference”, on brewing barley in general and special malts and the beers that can be brewed from them. We hope to start off at 6:30 P.M.

Past Stammtische

March 26th, 2009: This Stammtisch took place at the Hereford Grill in Las Mercedes with a total assistance of some 45 colleagues and guests. There was a presentation of photos taken at the Colonia Tovar convention in October, which made those who could not attend that event really sorry. District President Michael Bruns went over the events of the past year and Treasurer Armando Dreyer presented the financial details of the convention and the general state of affairs. Michael presented a few ideas for this coming year. We then passed on to the election of the new District President. Carsten Zufall of Cervecería Polar, Caracas, was the winner (25 votes), followed by David Alegre of Cervecería Polar, San Joaquín (7 votes) and Alex Hernández of Cervecería Regional, Cagua (3 votes). After a long welcome pause for friendly conversation we were served with a variety of Hereford Grill specialties. [ Note: Besides President Zufall, the new Board is composed of Vice-President: Michael Bruns, Secretary: Florian Kleber, Treasurer: Martin Dubrowsky, Technical Chair: Jorge Aguirre (Cervecería Regional, Cagua), Membership Chair: Verónica Benedetti (Sulca Trading Corporation). Dr. Zufall, M. Bruns, F. Kleber and M. Dubrowsky work in different areas of Cervecería Polar, Caracas).

December 3, 2008: This Stammtisch in the Hereford Grill in Las Mercedes had a great turnout, principally because there was a big meeting in Caracas of brewing executives from the different breweries of Cervecería Polar, as well as a good number of Cervecería Regional colleagues. We all appreciated the chance to greet old buddies, though it was generally felt that there were a lot of regulars missing. It was a very festive occasion with extraordinary conviviality. A meal to remember.

April 3, 2008: Stammtisch at the Hereford Grill en Las Mercedes. Sorry folks, I wasn’t able to attend and my reporters were having too much of a good time to take any notes.

June 28, 2007: This Stammtisch at the Hereford Grill began with a presentation given by Luis Angel Perez, former Manager of Manufacturing at the Barquisimeto Plant (biscuits) of Kraft Foods de Venezuela C. A., on the production of the two general categories of biscuits, cookies (Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, etc.) and crackers (Club Social, Ritz, etc.). Both categories are produced from the same variety of wheat. The great variety of biscuits they produce (they now produce all of the former Nabisco line in Venezuela) causes problems of logistics and they must adhere to very precise temperatures and duration in the ovens. Once more we note that everyone has their particular brand of difficulties. The talk was followed by many get togethers over cold beers, and then to the dining table. We were pleased to have with us several representatives from Cervecería Regional, including Victor Herrera, Director of Production and our new Vice-President of District Venezuela of the MBAA.

April 26, 2007: This Stammtisch at the Hereford Grill began with the election for District officers with Michael Bruns facing a serious challenge from Dr. Carsten Zufall; but overcome it he did. (See “Board Members” for make-up of the District Offices). We were later treated to a profesional talk by Mr. Bengt Ohlsson of Viking Malt on general aspects of the barley and malt markets worldwide. Although the competition for land for biofuels has not as yet affected the Scandinavian markets, it is beginning to affect the markets in Europe. The tight market would indicate that Long Term Agreements are the only possible answer. The evening was capped off by a hearty meal laced with great brews. This Stammtisch was co-sponsored by

February 01, 2007: We held our first Stammtisch of the year at a new venue. the Hereford Grill, with an informative talk by our colleague Armando Dreyer who visited China in September of 2006 with IESA, an institute for advanced studies. He focused his talk on the commercial aspects, having visited five cities and 14 companies in 17 days. One of his visits was to the Yanjing Brewery (the main plant of a group of 20 breweries and 8 soft drink plants), a brewery that has 11 % of the chinese beer market. At the conclusion, there was a show of fotos taken in his trip. This Stammtisch was co-sponsored by Sulca, leading provider of specialized products and services, with ample experience in processing machinery and equipment, handling and packing of foods and beverages, casting of metals, carbon dioxide technology and brewing installation assistance. Its director is our Membership Chair, José M. Magro (jmagro@sulca.com or http://www.sulca.com).

November 30, 2006: Stammtisch in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. We held our last Stammtisch of the year with a presentation by Enologist José Gregorio Hernández of Pomar on the different types of wines, the grapes used and their characteristic notes. This was followed by a wine tasting session with four Pomar wines, two white wines and two reds. After clearing up some doubts with a Q & A session and a pause to accustom our taste buds for a change of pace, a dinner was served with the accustomed seasonal “hallacas” on the menu.

July 27, 2006: Stammtisch in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. The meeting was preceded by a talk of great interest to many of our attendees, on “Ice Cream – A Sweet Indulgence to be Enjoyed”, given by Raiza Sánchez, Manager of Quality Assurance at Helados Efe. She expertly covered the details of production and of the different types of ice cream produced, pointing out their differences and how and with what they are made. Not quite as simple as one would imagine. It was an extremely interesting talk, enjoyed by a full house requiring two extra tables for the dinner served later. Mr. Andrea Saturno, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Universidad Panamericana del Puerto (UNIPAP) informed us that the first group of Brewing Technicians graduated this year. Cervecería Regional was well represented, as were the retired brewers and brewing engineers, headed by our colleague Franz van Rooijen; we also were pleased to see Cesar Montero who came over from Maracaibo We stoically received the bad news that Raquel Adam, who had made the initial arrangements for our trip to Pomar, was leaving us for a well-deserved post in a large company Her leaving is being the main reason for having had to postpone the visit.

April 27, 2006: Stammtische in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 6:30 pm. The meeting was preceded by a talk of general interest related to beer – on this occasion it was about the production of glass bottles by Ing°. Pedro Dávila of Owens-Illinois de Venezuela. The Q & A session following the talk was quite extensive, centering partially on the posibility of light protection for colorless bottles. Among those present were Rafael Altuve of O-I, Jorge Paisano of Cia. Rockwell, Robert Johnson of S. S. Steiner Inc., Willi Meister of Hopsteiner and José Magro of Sulca. Old-timers were well represented by Thomas Maier & wife Christa, Eric & Petra Sturm, Nelson & Leticia Alvarez, Dr. Michael Forch and Jürgen Ritter.

January 26, 2006: Stammtische in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 6:30 pm. The meeting began a bit earlier than usual because we were treated to a talk of general interest on “The Montreal Protocol and the Ozone Hole”, given by Engineer José Ignacio Pons (Spray Quimica C. A.), an extremely interesting and informative talk on a subject we should all be interested in. The assistance was a bit disappointing, in that we had thought that the full house at our November Stammtisch was a harbinger of future support of our activities After the semi-technical presentation, we drank great beer, had enjoyable conversations and were treated to a delicious dinner.

This Stammtisch was co-sponsored by Sulca, leading provider of specialized products and services, with ample experience in processing machinery and equipment, handling and packing of foods and beverages, casting of metals, carbon dioxide technology and brewing installation assistance. Its director is our Membership Chair, José M. Magro (jmagro@sulca.com or http://www.sulca.com).

November 24, 2005: The was the last Stammtische of the year in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. We had a greater presence of colleagues and invitees than usual, with a pervasive Christmas spirit throughout the evening. District president Michael Bruns poke of the planned visit to the Pomar Wine Co. vineyards and production facilities in Carora, Lara state (the visit, originally planned for march, has been moved tentatively to the second grape collection to be held in September or October). He also mentioned the possibility of having short semi-technical talks at future Stammtische.

Those present received a CD with the snapshots taken at the Master Brewer’s Day event in the Colonia Tovar, as well as copies of the papers given by Carsten Zufall, Martin Beckmann and Olau Nielsen.

This Stammtisch was possible due to the collaboration of Viking Malt, represented by Mr. Beng Ohlsson who pepped up the evening by playing songs on his guitar, happily joined in song by most of those present. This was the crowning moment of a great evening where we shared a typical Christmas dinner and those present, brewers and associates and invitees, parted wishing one and all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

This Stammtisch was co-sponsored by Viking Malt Viking Malt is a progressive malting company supplying malt and services globally to the brewing and distilling industry. Viking Malt continues the long tradition of malting of Lahden Polttimo, Svenska Malt and Litmalt.

August 25th, 2005: Stammtische in the Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. The assistance was below normal, perhaps because of vacations. Ms. Raquel Adam of Sulca was presented as the person who is organizing the Brewer's Day event at the Colonia Tovar (see "Future events"). Webmaster Ray Young informed the group as to the district web page, asking the members for their cooperation in expanding the pages to include more information as to existing breweries in Venezuela and eventual biographies of master brewers, past and present.

April 28th, 2005: Stammtisch at Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. We were able to visit with colleagues whom we had not seen for some time, like now retired Engineer Franz van Rooijen, as well as Jaap Luursema and his colleagues Cesar Montero and Suyin Perret-Gentil, all of Deltagen (co-sponsors of the Stammtisch in Maracaibo in September of last year. Juán Carlos Cadremy and José Terán of Regional made the long trek from Cagua to visit with their fellow brewers. Jorge Hernández, ex-Director of Brewing at C.A.C.N. and Barquisimetan entrepreneur also visited for a while. We had an opportunity to talk to Andrea Saturno, Dean of the Engineering Faculty of the Universidad Panamericana del Puerto (UNIPAP), which includes a six semester course in brewing (and fermentation industries) for supervisors and a ten semester course in Mill Engineering. The directors of the district plan to visit this university in the near future.

This Stammtisch, with 45 people in attendance, was co-sponsored by Bühler AG, a Swiss company in the field of design and manufacture of food processing plants, represented in Venezuela by Paul Burkard ( buhlercaracas@cantv.net ó http://www.buhlergroup.com ).

January 20th, 2005: Stammtisch at Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. This was the official assembly of members charged with electing the board of directors that would guide the destinies of the district during the following two years. The total assistance to the event was 48. This Stammtisch was co-sponsored by Sulca, leading provider of specialized products and services, with ample experience in processing machinery and equipment, handling and packing of foods and beverages, casting of metals, carbon dioxide technology and brewing installation assistance. Its director is our Membership Chair, José M. Magro (jmagro@sulca.com or http://www.sulca.com).

September 22nd, 2004: Stammtisch at Mi Ternerita Restaurant, C. C. Ventura, Maracaibo. Quite a few members from Polar Oriente, Los Cortijos and San Joaquín were present to join their colleagues from Cervecería Regional and Cerveceria Polar Modelo for this special Stammtisch co-sponsored by Deltagen de Venezuela, producers and suppliers of speciality ingredients and processing aids for Brewing and Food Industry, with more than 20 years of experience in Latin America and Central America ( venezuela@deltagenbiop.com).

August 26th, 2004: Stammtisch at Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. We had a full, house, what with Don Carlos Roubicek, old timers Norbert Glass and Engineer Clemens Metzner, brewer Angel Albornoz of Cervecería Tovar, Ice Cream man Ralf Kotter, together with many of our friendly suppliers. This meeting was co-sponsored by Simoparma Andina, a service company in equipment for foods and beverages, offering diagnostics, sales, training, consulting and after-sales integral services to our clients in the Andean and Caribbean Regions. angel.lupi@simoparma.com.ve

July 1 st, 2004: Stammtisch at Tarzilandia Restaurant, Altamira, 7:00 pm. This could be considered the first of our Stammtische, augmented with the aid of co-sponsors paying a large part of the expenses. We were honored with the presence of one of the founders of District Venezuela of the MBAA, Don Carlos Roubicek, former brewer (starting in the Antímano plant in 1942) and Director of Cervecerías Polar. This meeting was co-sponsored by Ziemann.