Intro to Professional Brewing Quality Assurance
Setting up a quality program is often overlooked when homebrewers go pro. This seminar is designed to educate homebrewers on how to set up a basic quality program and lab from day one.
Introduction to Experimentation
Drew Beechum and Denny Conn will discuss how experimentation leads the way to better beer. They’ll cover topics and techniques from recipe design to packaging that will make brew day more rewarding and fun. Objective evaluation of experimental results will be discussed and demonstrated. Samples of beers brewed from the…
Kilned Versus Roasted: Do You Really Know Your Specialty Malt?
There are only two commercial maltsters in the U.S. operating roasters to produce specialty malt, so there is not a lot of information available on roasted specialty malts. David will provide a basic understanding of the malting process before delving into the differences between producing malt on a kiln and…
Making Enzymes Work For You
This seminar is directed at all-grain brewers with intermediate experience. The focus will be on understanding and controlling enzymes in the mash and making them work for you. Although various mash techniques will be briefly discussed in relation to enzymes, this will not be a class on how to mash.…
Malt
Enter the world of malt, the soul of beer. Beer is often cited as being at least one of the causes for civilization, and it was the deliberate cultivation and malting of beer that was the catalyst. From cultivation to harvest, from steeping to kilning to brewing, John Mallett (Bell's…
Managing Yeast: Better Fermentation at Lower Cost
Come on, get more out of that package of yeast! Commercial brewers harvest and repitch yeast not only to save money, but for better fermentation quality. With a little knowledge, it can be easy for you to do the same. In this session you will learn step-by-step techniques for determining…
Mastering the Art of Hop-Fu!
Do you want to know the secrets to brewing amazing, award-winning IPAs? Over the last five years, Kelsey McNair has earned dozens of awards for his IPAs including one silver and three gold medals in the final round of the National Homebrew Competition. This seminar will cover the history, techniques…
Mead Panel
Mead making is growing at an astounding rate and there a few great icons who have shaped the movement. From traditional mead makers to the ones who push the limits, come and learn their secrets. Topics will include equipment, ingredients, recipes and techniques for beginner to advanced mead makers.
Mead: Recipe Formulation and Advanced Techniques
Join 2008 AHA Meadmaker of the Year Steve Piatz for a seminar covering current ideas on mead making. Topics will include recipe formulation and advanced mead making techniques.
Ménage à Myces: Blended Yeast Fermentation
Have you ever found a yeast strain that had a great fermentation flavor, but didn’t attenuate well? Have you ever used a Belgian yeast strain that didn’t flocculate well? The solution might be blending yeasts. Historically all breweries had a blend of yeast in their fermentation. It wasn’t until the…
Modern Homebrew Recipes
Gordon Strong, author of Brewing Better Beer and the forthcoming Modern Homebrew Recipes, will discuss using modern techniques to formulate recipes, particularly for new styles from the 2014 BJCP style guidelines, as well as how to interpret and adapt recipes to your system and how to select ingredients and techniques…
Motivating Club Member Participation
The greatest thing you can do to encourage people to participate is provide consistency, entertainment and opportunity! Lauren and Joe of Carolina BrewMasters, 2014 Radegast Club of the Year, will present the things that are working for their club. From meetings to brew sessions to competitions to social events to…
Nitro Draught for the Homebrewer
Learn how to create the perfect nitro beer based on combining the correct temperature, pressure and time of gas in solution. Juice will provide proven techniques to help you create the perfect pour based on your specific equipment.
Organized CHAOS: Taking Your Club to the Next Level
CHAOS Brew Club of Chicago has done something that few, if any, other clubs have done: create a dedicated community space for people to brew, socialize and share. This seminar will focus on the ups and downs of the club’s journey so that other clubs and brewers can learn from…
Panel on Regulatory Climate for Homebrewers
With the rapid growth of homebrewing, the hobby has come under increased scrutiny from regulators in recent years. A panel consisting of AHA director Gary Glass, Raise Your Pints president Craig Hendry, and California Craft Brewers Association executive director Tom McCormick will discuss federal and state homebrew law, the current…
Panel: Taking Homebrewing to the Pro Level, From Concept and Design Through Opening
This panel will discuss the topics to consider and the tradeoffs one has to make when taking their passion for homebrewing to opening a brewery. Panelists will give their perspectives on key issues that impacted their road to opening. This panel includes an architect who has designed and built several…
Practical Blending and Post-Fermentation Adjustments for the Homebrewer
Taste. Evaluate. Adjust. Repeat. This seminar will guide and challenge you to improve your beers through tasting, evaluation and adjustment. Seminar participants will explore techniques for fine-tuning a beer’s “seasoning” and body, highlighting signature flavors and achieving balance through blending. Kyle will borrow techniques from chefs , winemakers, bakers and…
Selecting Yeast Based on Strain Characteristics and Applying Environmental Conditions to Promote Flavor and Aroma Production
Yeasts are living microorganisms whose performance is influenced immensely by the environment. The homebrewing community produces a wide range of beverages made from a wide range of raw materials, including raw or malted grains, fruits, honey, grasses (sugar cane), etc. The sugar extract derived from the different raw materials varies…
Send In the Clones: Sensory Analysis and Recipe Formulation Techniques for Homebrewers
Amahl will discuss sensory and software analysis of a few specific, commercially-available craft beers as well as recipe development techniques for reproducing them on a homebrew scale.
Taking Funky Beers from Homebrew to Pro
Peter will talk about where to find funky and wild strains and how to grow them up and use them. He’ll also discuss the different and important ways in which malt and hops affect the beer.
Tasting Beyond the Scoresheet
Beyond drinking beer and beyond judging beer lies tasting beer. Truly tasting and evaluating beer is an exploration into the soul of a beer and the mind of the brewer. The best beers take you to a time and place and let you get to know the brewer and culture…
The Beginnings of Beer in the Ancient World
This presentation will examine the beginnings of beer production in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Specifically, it will survey the domestication of barley and wheat in ancient Sumeria and Egypt, which was conceived for early beer production. It will then examine the impact on later Greek and Roman beer…
The Nuts and Bolts of Store Design for Homebrew Retailers
A lesson on driving sales through storefront seduction, in-store lighting and display techniques, and web store traffic management. Presented by Jeff Grant, author and expert in retail design for large and small independent retailers
Thinking of Going Pro? You Must Understand How to Make Money Making Beer
Your business model determines how much money you keep with each pint sold. If you are a homebrewer thinking of going pro, you owe it to yourself and to your family to have a basic understanding of how your business model affects your margins, which dictate how much money you…
Tips on How to Homebrew Lagers
Jason Pratt of MillerCoors will share tips and tricks to help perfect making an exceptional lager at home. Learn how to apply some large scale quality processes to your small batch setup.
What a Proper Pairing Can Do for Your Beer
Tasting a beer when pairing to food is different than tasting to evaluate beer style. This seminar will cover how food interacts with beer and how to approach tasting beer when pairing to food. From pairing your own homebrew for a dinner at home to dining out on the town…
Why Good Tasting Water Can’t Guarantee You Great Beer
How water tastes is no indicator of its suitability for brewing. A water used to produce great beer in one range of styles may make poor examples of other styles. There is no water source that can create great examples of all beer styles without treatment. A variety of simple…
Wild and Spontaneous Fermentation at Home
Learn various techniques for using environmental wild yeast and bacteria in brewing. Topics will include how to isolate yeast and bacteria from the wild and using a home coolship to make 100 percent spontaneous ales.
2014 BJCP Style Guidelines
Gordon Strong, Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) president and author of Brewing Better Beer, will explain the updated 2014 BJCP style guidelines.
2014 Keynote
2014 National Homebrewers Conference Keynote
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