Registered Association – Founded in 1951

Chairman: Burghard Meyer (Berlin)
Deputy Chairman (executive): Jan Biering (Berlin)
Treasurer: VLB Berlin, Financial Accounting
Auditors: Manfred Staruß (Berlin), Michael Solkowski (Potsdam)

The current board was elected during the General Assembly in Berlin on July 5, 2025.

The „ehem. VLBer“ (VLB Alumni Association)

Since the foundation of the VLB in 1883, there were numerous initiatives to bring together both current and former students of the VLB. These culminated in 1951 in the founding of the Vereinigung ehem. VLBer e.V. (VLB alumni association) as an association of former students under the umbrella of the Institut für Gärungsgewerbe und Biotechnologie zu Berlin (IfGB) in Berlin. Initially based in Dortmund, the ehem. VLBer have been located at the VLB in Berlin since 1975.

In order to better address our international graduates, the name of the association was extended to „Vereinigung ehem. VLBer / Brewers of Berlin“ in 2023.

Objective: To promote our community

The purpose of the association is to promote the closer union of all VLB alumni and all other graduates of the brewing and biotechnology-oriented studies in Berlin. In our statutes these goals are defined:
1. the maintenance of relations with the Institute
2. the exchange of experiences and the cultivation of fellowship and social networking
3. the professional networking
4. the promotion of young academics and science

How do we achieve these goals?

Our members maintain regular contact with each other. District groups organize trips to breweries and lectures. For our international alumni, we organize meetings at international brewing conventions or trade shows around the world. As an annual meeting place for all our members, we support the VLB Summer Party, which attracts hundreds of guests to Seestraße 13 every year in June/July. This is also where our annual General Assembly is usually held.

Since the summer of 2023, our District Group/Chapter Berlin, which emerged from the former Berlin Brewers Guild, has also been in charge of the Guild House on the VLB campus, which has become a popular meeting place for students, friends and alumni of the VLB in recent years.

As we do not publish a separate newsletter, international members receive two copies of the English edition of our journal „Brauerei Forum“ free of charge.
Last but not least, ehem. VLBer also support their alma mater with the purchase of equipment or the modernization of laboratories or lecture halls. In this way, we make an active and continuous contribution to improving the educational conditions at Seestraße 13.

Support us and become a member!

Membership does not cost the earth for the individual - but in the aggregate it has a great effect! Our organization is very lean and our board is volunteer. 
This means that the income we save through membership fees is almost entirely available for the goals of our association.

The minimum contribution for one year is currently € 15, and must be paid by you at the beginning of the calendar year without further reminders. Since July 2024, we additionally offer an optional long-term membership for new members. This membership lasts for 10 years. The membership fee for this period is 10 times the regular annual fee minus a discount of 20%. At the end of this period, the membership can be extended under the then-current conditions.

Therefore, we ask for your support → become a member! 

News

Our next General Assembly is scheduled at the VLB Summerparty in July 2024 in Berlin.

→ Report - General Assembly July 2023

→ VLB graduates' gallery has found a new place (Jan 2023)

→ Roof of the Berlin Brewers' Guild House refurbished (Dec 2022)

#ehemVLBer #BrewersOfBerlin

Burghard Meyer (Chairman) and Jan Biering (Executive Deputy Chairman), elected on July 4, 2025

Change in our board at the 2021 General Meeting: Jan Biering (right) was elected as the second Managing Chairman to succeed Roland Pahl (center). Klaus Niemsch (l.) remains the first chairman