Dr. Wolfgang Stempfl

Spiritual father of the Beer Sommelier Education

Brewing and Beverage Technology Education,
Consulting, Seminars, and Sommelier Education

Doemens Brewing and Beverage Technology Education

Doemens Academy provides leadership training for top positions in the brewing industry and offers exclusive certification programmes and professional development opportunities by covering the wide spectrum of topics, designed specifically for the brewing, soft drink and food processing industry. Besides the several German State Approved Master Certification programmes for brewing, beverage and food technology, Doemens is also internationally famous for the World Brewing Academy (WBA) as a Partnership with the Chicago, based Siebel Institute of Technology. Within the WBA, Doemens offers English language courses as campus-based and online-based training with a final Master Brewer certification.

Doemens Consulting

In addition to onsite consulting, which involves one of our consultants visiting your facility in person to review and assess your production processes, Doemens also offers a wide range of laboratory services. These include chemical, technical and microbiological analysis, all orders from our yeast bank, NIT calibration services and Flavor Standards as well as participation in collaborative trials. Research and development is, of course, also an integral part of our spectrum of services and is carried out on-site on our pilot malting and brewing systems, at our Packaging Pilot Plant as well as at our own Food and Beverage Development Center.

In 1895, Dr. Albert Doemens wrote in the register of the newly founded First Munich Doemens Brewing Academy: “An understanding should be ingrained in the students that practical knowledge, observation and a sharpening of the senses form the essential foundation for a successful career as a brewer.”

With this vision, Dr. Albert Doemens laid the groundwork for what Doemens has become today: A leading light of the international brewing, beverage and food industry and operates internationally as a training and consulting center.

Doemens Seminars

All relevant topics are covered, such as facility maintenance, quality control, hygiene & sterile procedure, consumer and legal issues. We also offer basic training and professional development in dispensing equipment technology. Hands-on training is made available for course participants, who all have unlimited access to the unique pilot research facilities. These include an experimental brewery, malting station, bottling and packaging technology as well as fully-equipped laboratories for microbiology and technical chemistry research. Additionally, also in-house trainings are offered with obvious benefits: cost-effective scheduling, flexibility, relevant on-the-job-training in your own facility, custom-tailored content and focus on confidential issues pertinent to your company. Work with us to design a program that’s just right for you!

Doemens Savor Academy

Sommelier School for Beer and Mineral Water
Only in Munich: The first and only professional Sommelier School worldwide, dedicated for building knowledge about the variety of genuine tastes available in various beers and mineral waters and how they can be paired and presented in a perfect way.

Beer Sommelier Education
In 2001, the idea for a training as a Beer Sommelier was called “crazy” from most of the brewing industry insiders. But the spiritual father of the idea, Dr. Wolfgang Stempfl CEO of Doemens believed in it and developed the concept. Finally, in 2004 the program starts with 15 beer-freaks in the worldwide first Beer Sommelier course at the Doemens Savor Academy in Munich.

Already the first courses showed a trend that would become apparent again and again. There is an immense enthusiasm for the subject of beer and a great demand for qualification as a Beer Sommelier. It also soon became clear that the participants came not just from the gastronomic target group but from backgrounds as varied as the subject itself. Along with bartenders and waiting staff, brew masters and sales reps from small and large breweries as well as chefs, journalists, home brewers, beer enthusiasts, museum directors and beer shop owners became inspired Beer Sommeliers.

It was soon obvious that a good idea cannot be held back by borders, national or linguistic. During the last 10 years, the Beer Sommelier Program arrived in many countries. Actually, Doemens delivers the 2-week Beer Sommelier education with national partners in 10 countries on 4 continents and in 6 different languages. Meanwhile there are more than 2,500 certified Beer Sommeliers around the world. All two years the best of them search their Champion in the Sommelier World Championship for Beer powered by Doemens. After the 4th edition in Sao Paulo in 2015, the 5th edition with 65 participants from 16 different countries will take place in September 2017 in Munich during the drinktec.

Water Sommelier Education

In 2010, the next unique step in the Sommelier education was developed through the internationally recognized water expert and Doemens management team member Dr. Peter Schropp: The Water Sommelier Program, which transfer next to a theoretical knowledge about the widely varying water types and their characteristics also many sensory trainings, group tasks and field trips.

A Water Sommelier is focused on the cultural beverage mineral water, and also acts as a competent consultant for other water types. He presents the mineral waters to guests in a restaurant and helps to choose the matching water to ordered dishes as well as wine or coffee. He is also responsible for the perfect presentation of the beverage to the guest, the purchase and the development of a water card. In a beverage store the Water Sommelier acts as a contact person, to inform clients about the differences in “natural mineral water”, “natural curative water”, “spring water” and “table water” and explains the positive effect individual waters can have on the human health. He helps the clients choose the best water for his, personal needs. Furthermore, the Water Sommelier is in charge of presentations and sales promotions in the beverage store. In a mineral water plant, the Water Sommelier is mainly focused on their marketing and distribution. He informs and advises clients from gastronomy and trade about the special characteristics and merits of their own water brands. By active water marketing he boosts sales and increases acceptance for the mineral water supplier.

Beer and Water Sommelier Education soon in India!

There is a big demand for both Sommelier educations in many countries. Of course, also in the world’s second-most populous country. Especially because of an enormous increase of popularity of craft beer and the importance of water in India. With the experience of transferring the Sommelier courses to many different countries and the help of our India based partner Mr. Pradeep Verma, Doemens is doing all efforts to make both Sommelier educations also available in India. In the second half of 2017! So please stay tuned for more details and news coming up in the next months!