Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits (LBDS) completes successful 2017 Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference.

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits (LBDS) was well represented at the recent Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference in Glasgow, Scotland May 29^th-June 1^st.   This event is held every three years with a mix of technical presentations, posters, interactive break-out sessions, tastings, tours and all things Distilled Spirits. As an indication of how fast the distilled spirits market is growing, this year’s conference saw a 20% increase in attendance with just over 350 producers and vendors gathering for the four day event.

The WDSC consisted of various international experts who spoke on some of the most pressing issues facing the distilled spirits industry, such as use of raw materials, fermentation, maturation, craft distillation, flavour analysis and identifying counterfeit spirits. Contributors come from across the globe, including the UK and the rest of Europe, Asia and North and South America. WDSC 2017 also comprised technical tours to distillery industry sites in Scotland, an extensive trade exhibition, novel social events and networking opportunities.

LBDS was a silver sponsor and was well represented with not only a stand, but also a couple of technical posters by Shernell Layne (The Making of Rum: A Global Spirit) and Andy Ekins (Flow Cytometry to Investigate Rehydration of Yeast).

LBDS and Mascoma were also able to display our talents and services in terms of a two featured presentations by Emily Stonehouse (Mascoma) who discussed “Developments in Yeast for the Beverage Industry”

We also had another presentation given by Annick Mercier (LBDS) who talked about the use of Flow Cytometry in terms of a production tool in the yeast factory.

One of the new additions to this conference is the addition of various breakout sessions to discuss various aspects of spirits production. LBDS was represented in these sessions by Shernell Layne talking about “The Rum Industry from the Caribbean Perspective”. These sessions were very well attended and we were able to showcase our knowledge not only the main stage but in these breakout sessions as well.

Our booth had lots of traffic. We had lots of inquiries about our new yeast offerings (DistilaMax NT and XR) and DistilaVite (nutrients) product lines. We have made some major inroads into the Scotch Whisky market and continue to grow as our products and services and establish a deeper foothold into the market.  In addition to manning the booth, LBDS was also able to attend a variety of technical presentations and networking opportunities; all of which were led by leading industry experts. We had many people tell us that they were very happy with the level of support and the presence that LBDS had at this event.

The final evening’s event was highlighted by a farewell tasting and entertainment event of some of the various categories of spirits such as gin, rum, and whisky with mixologists providing the delegates with some of their newest creations. In addition to the tasting, it was a wonderful opportunity for networking in a bit more relaxed and less formal setting.

This conference is the premier distilled spirits conference and is supported and run by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling – Scottish Chapter.