Patents have influenced the beer that has been drunk around the globe. In this discussion, historian Peter Symons highlights some game changing patents that endure to this day, through the styles that have been defined. The presentation will cover what is a patent, a brief history of patents, and the types of patents affecting beer – Process, Ingredients and Recipes. Included are some example beer recipes to illustrate the effect of the patent.

Peter Symons is a homebrewer with an ongoing passion, perhaps bordering on obsession, with discovering and recreating old beers. He has been brewing since 1998, and brews on a self-made 1V system, experimenting with both process and ingredients to recreate old beers. Peter has a Graduate Certificate in Brewing from Ballarat University, completed the Siebel Institute’s WBA Concise Course, and has judged at many competitions as a BJCP Recognised Judge. He is a member of the League of Historians of the Chicago Brewseum and has published three books on recreating historic beers.