Bio

Dr. Charlie Bamforth became Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis after retiring as the first Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting & Brewing Sciences at UC Davis in December 2018. He has been part of the brewing industry since 1978. He is formerly Deputy Director-General of Brewing Research International and Research Manager and Quality Assurance Manager of Bass Brewers. He is an Honorary Professor in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, England and was previously Visiting Professor of Brewing at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Charlie is a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. Bamforth served for 18 years as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists. He is also a long-standing member of the editorial board of the Journal of the Institute of Brewing. He has published innumerable papers and articles and has written or edited more than 20 books, several of which have been translated into Portuguese, Russian and Italian. Two of his books have been recorded by actors as audiobooks and his is the voice on the seven CD The Brewmasters Art. In 2020 he recoded Everyday Guide to Beer as one of The Great Courses. He has written even more prolifically on soccer since 1985, his most recent contribution being co-author of the autobiography of Alan Hinton, entitled Triumph and Tragedy. He writes regularly for the nostalgia site www.wolvesheroes.com. His latest scientific contributions have included a 6-part series on beer quality simply called Practical Guides for Beer Quality as well as editing Brewing Materials and Processes: A Practical Approach to Beer Excellence (Elsevier) and (with Nick Bokulich) Brewing Microbiology: Current Research, Omics and Microbial Ecology (Caister). He was a member of the Advisory Board and a contributor of many entries in The Oxford Companion to Beer (2012). In 2020 Charlie released In Praise of Beer (Oxford University Press). In October 2010 he was on The Honor Roll as one of the 20 professors who are changing the classroom in the US (Playboy magazine). Charlie has featured extensively in the media, including the BBC, Discovery Channel, NPR’s Science Friday, PBS, New Scientist, Popular Mechanics, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Popular Science, Brew Dogs and many more. His credits at IMDb include The Art & Science of Beer, How Beer Saved the World, How Stuff Works, Ultimate Factories and Kings of Beer. He has presented at innumerable venues including Google, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian, the National Press Club and Xerox Parc Forum. In 2011 Charlie was honored by the Award of Distinction from the American Society of Brewing Chemists for “exceptional contributions and long diligent service to brewing science and the brewing industry”. He has been honored by the students of UC Davis as one of the top three educators in his college. He is a Past President of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, the world’s leading professional society for brewers and distillers. In January 2014, he was the star of the film that won the Food Awards gold medal in Hollywood for viewers’ choice, short documentary. He received an Outstanding Service Award for the academic year 2012-2013 from UC Davis Extension. Charlie was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2015 “in recognition of his leading contribution to advancements in the study and practice of brewing science over the course of a long and distinguished career”. In 2016 Charlie was given the Lifetime Achievement Stewardship Award by the UC Davis Foundation. In 2018 he received the Recognition Award from the Brewers Association in recognition of “his inspiration, enthusiasm and support contributed to the American Craft Brewing Movement”. Bamforth was awarded the Horace Brown Medal by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) in 2018. The award is “for eminent services on the scientific or technical side of the fermentation industries” and is the highest accolade in the world of brewing science and technology. He was also presented in 2018 with the Award of Honor by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. Further, in 2018 he was presented with the Award of Distinction by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis. In relation to this he received a California Congressional Commendation and a California State Legislature Certificate of Recognition. In 2019 in recognition of his years of service to the brewing industry, the ASBC, and his students around the globe, the American Society of Brewing Chemists announced the creation of the Charles Bamforth Student Travel Award. The award recognizes Dr. Bamforth’s teaching, research, and publications by providing a contribution to young researchers. In 2021, the IBD unveiled the Stewart-Bamforth Educators Award, a competitive award seeking to “identify malting, brewing, distilling, packaging and cider educators who have made sustained and significant contributions to the global education of brewers and distillers”. In June 2022, Bamforth was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the MBAA, which is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves in the advancement of the association, the art of brewing, or the interest thereof. In January 2019, Charlie took on the role of Senior Quality Advisor with Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, a role that he continues to enjoy. In March 2023 Bamforth received the award of Craft Beer Pioneer from the Brewers Cup of California as “an individual who has propelled the craft beer industry over the years and helped shape it into what it is today”.