After 165 years of publishing specialized literature for the beverage industry, Fachverlag Hans Carl, the publisher of the leading trade journal Brauwelt, filed for insolvency with the Amtsgericht Nürnberg on July 20, 2026. The court appointed Dr. Harald Schwartz from the Nuremberg-based law firm Schwartz Insolvenzverwalter as the provisional insolvency administrator. The publishing house, which is considered a market leader in trade journalism for the global brewing sector, had been operating at a loss for several years, forcing the owners, who are divided into two branches of the Schmitt family, to repeatedly inject private capital to sustain operations.
The financial distress is primarily attributed to the economic stagnation within the brewing industry and its supply chain, which directly impacts advertising and subscription revenues for specialized media. According to Managing Director Michael Schmitt, who represents the sixth generation of the owning family, the primary objective of the insolvency proceedings is to win a financially strong investor to ensure the long-term future of the publishing house and its portfolio. Meanwhile, business operations will continue without interruption. The company's 16 employees, supported by several freelance contributors, are maintaining regular publication schedules. Both the German and English editions of Brauwelt will continue to be published as print magazines, e-papers, and via the website. Similarly, the peer-reviewed scientific journal BrewingScience will maintain its open-access publication of research papers, alongside the company's offering of specialized textbooks and podcasts.
The roots of the publishing house date back to 1861, when Johann Carl founded the Allgemeine Hopfenzeitung in Nuremberg to provide technical and market insights to hop growers and brewers. In 1882, the publication was renamed Allgemeine Brauer- und Hopfenzeitung, reflecting its expanding focus on the entire beer production process. Following World War II, the magazine was rebranded as Brauwelt in 1946. Over more than a century and a half, Fachverlag Hans Carl developed into the global market leader for scientific and technical brewing literature, creating an extensive archive of trade journalism that documents the evolution of modern brewing technology.
