Currently (virtually) attending a guest lecture by Dr. Daniel Kerruish, group microbiologist at Diageo, on pasteurisation.

He is suggesting that pasteurisation for small craft breweries is very much ‘a cherry on top’ and due to the volume of hops used and relative high ABV of craft beers, so long as hygiene practices are properly maintained then pasteurisation isn’t really required.

Pasteurisation tends to be restrictively expensive for small breweries and the technology tends to be power hungry so not great for a sustainability focussed brewery.