Speaker Mr Richard Sharpe 

“HOPS  the KEY to Beer Flavour” 

Richard Sharpe obtained his first degree in Chemistry. He then studied for his PhD at the Brewing Research Foundation where he investigated the chemistry of beer flavour, hop oil and the extraction of hops with liquid carbon dioxide. He joined Whitbread plc in 1979 and worked for Heineken, Interbrew and AB - Inbev. After a twenty-one year career in commercial science and technology he left his position as Director of Beverage Research and Development for Interbrew to join the Board of The Brewing Research International (BRI) as their Technical Director. Following the merging of BRI with Campden he became Chief Technical Officer reporting to the Director General of the newly formed company Campden BRI.

Richard left Campden BRI to form his own consulting company Techno Lynk. 

Techno Lynk consults for numerous companies in the food, drink and particularly brewing sectors.

Richard is the author of 82 publications including books and patents. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Chartered Chemist and a Chartered Scientist. He is also a Fellow of the Institute Brewing and Distilling and was Editor of the European Brewing Convention’s - Analysis Methods (EBC Analytica). He has worked as a visiting Professor of Food and Beverage Safety at the University of Bedfordshire and his science interests and areas of expertise include beer flavour, hop chemistry, beer safety and due diligence, food and beverage analysis, energy and water saving, new product development and brewery troubleshooting.