Global Beer and Malt with Dr Axel Goehler – BeerSmith Podcast #343

Dr Axel Goehler, the CEO of Bestmalz joins me this week to provide a global perspective on the beer market and also talk about malts.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (44:19)

This week I welcome back Dr Axel Goehler, the CEO of Bestmalz in Germany. Dr Goehler did his PhD in Switzerland on German family breweries, and worked at Boston Consulting group for 10 years. He is the grandson of the founder of Bestmalz, Max Goehler, and has spearheaded the company’s international expansion since 2014 to over 85 countries.
We start with a brief discussion of some of the developments in the 2 years since I last had Axel on the show.
Dr Goehler gives us his thoughts on the recent Craft Brewer’s Conference (CBC) held in Philadelphia, where Bestmalz was chosen as the malt for the Official Commemorative Beer of CBC 2026!
Axel provides us with his thoughts on the current global beer market, which has faced some challenges in the years since COVID, including the Craft Beer decline here in the US.
We talk about changing consumer preferences including the trend towards less alcohol consumption in the new generation, and shifting consumer preferences.
Axel shares his thoughts on the German beer market which is surprisingly seeing a drop in volume consumed as well as a lot of consolidation in the brewing industry.
In spite of challenges in both the US and many European markets, the overall global beer market is expected to grow by 2030. We discuss which countries are still growing.
Shifting gears we discuss some of the innovations at Bestmalz starting with the new line of smoked malts.
Axel tells us about his new line of Ultra-pale malts which have an incredible sub 3 lovibond color rating, and provide a blank slate for brewers to work with. These malts also comply with the Reinheisgebot (purity laws) in Germany.
Axel has also started a related biotech company to work on new research lines. We discuss this development.
Dr Goehler gives us his closing thoughts.