Seven more employees at Coopers Brewery have earned international qualifications in brewing and distilling, bringing the total of qualified brewers at Coopers to 13.
Working across various areas of operations at Coopers, the staff members have all graduated from the UK-based Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD), with the IBD Diploma qualifications recognised internationally for its technical rigour.
Coopers have argued it makes the company “the most technically qualified brewery in Australia per litre of beer produced”.
Managing director and chief brewer at Coopers Brewery Dr Tim Cooper said the company places great importance on ongoing professional development.
“We encourage all our people to continue to develop and broaden their skills and knowledge, so we remain at the leading edge of our industry,” said Cooper.
“The art of brewing has become far more technical and involved over the years, particularly as the beer industry evolves with the introduction of advanced manufacturing processes and the entrance of new products and styles into the market.”
The seven diploma recipients at Coopers are:
- Paul Askew (quality control technician)
- Tim Blight (services engineer)
- Gurpreet Brar (laboratory technician)
- Mark Elverd (maintenance manager)
- Lucas Holman (brewhouse operator)
- Daniel Osborne (maltings operator)
- Bettina Pickering (control systems engineer).
The course covers brewing science in depth, from malting and fermentation to maturation and packaging, incorporating relevant aspects of biochemistry, microbiology, engineering and other disciplines.
A further two Coopers employees are mid-way through the diploma course.
