The Chemistry of Mashing
Mashing is the process that converts grain and water to sweet wort. We will discuss the structure and functions of the enzymes involved, and how they are influenced by temperature and pH. Factors that affect pH during mashing will be covered.
The Dark Ages: Baltic, Munich or Kulmbach?
Baltic, Munich and Kulmbacher: this presentation travels through European and American lands to get a better understanding of dark lager. Learn how German, Czech and Baltic Porter styles were appropriated by American breweries before, during and after Prohibition. These styles barely resurfaced after "the great experiment" but they are alive…
The Good Life: Successful Strategies for Raising Phenomenal Financial Resources for Your Homebrew Club
What if your homebrew club had the resources to pay for all competition entry fees and shipping, BJCP classes, brew ingredients, BJCP judge/steward participation stipends, food for meetings and a whole lot more? Plus, do all this and still have funds left over to give thousands of dollars to charities…
Trouble-Free Tart Beers: Alternative Souring Methods
Want to make complex, tart beers in a fraction of the time and with minimal risk of cross-contaminating your equipment? Blending, kettle souring and alternative ingredients are three methods that you can use at home to produce a number of sour beers, including Berliner Weisses, Goses, Lichtenhainers, faux Flanders reds…
Troubleshooting Off Flavors in Beer
An in-depth look at common off flavors in beer and their causes. This seminar will cover in-depth how to detect off flavors as well as how to fix them. Topics include diaceytl, DMS, esters, phenolics and tannins, as well as sour beer infections. For each off flavor, the top causes…
Unlocking the Genetic Code of Brewing Strains
Brewing yeast strains have been developed by brewers over centuries and not created in a lab. This seminar will look at how yeast have genetically developed over the years by brewers. Using science to unlock the genetic code of some brewing strains, we can look at how these strains have…
Ur-Buzz: The Advent of Human-Controlled Fermentation
Ken Schramm, Dr. Patrick McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania (author of Uncorking the Past and Ancient Wine) and other panel members discuss the advent of human-controlled fermentation: the ingredients, processes, species domestication, implements and human knowledge that went into the earliest human attempts at and successes in fermentation.
Waste Not, Want Not: Water Conservation for the Homebrewer
Homebrewers spend a lot of time and effort to improve their brewing efficiency, seeking to make best use of quality ingredients and even replicating the water profile for a favorite beer. But one area that is often overlooked is efficiency in using water. A typical homebrewer can use 30 gallons…
Water Made Easy
Beer consists mostly of water. Most homebrewers understand the vital importance of brewing water but can be intimidated by the wealth of information available. This talk will focus on simple steps that all-grain brewers can take with regard to their water so they can make better beer.
Welcome to the Dark Side! The Evolution of Porter
Journey into the past of porter with beer historian Frank Clark. We will look at the murky origins of porter and how it evolved into one of the most popular beers of the 18th century, as well as its slow decline in the 19th century and eventual rebirth in the…
What is Wild Yeast, Where is It, and How do you Brew With It?
What makes a yeast truly wild? What is Brettanomyces, and are all beers with Brett actually wild? Where are the best places to find different types of wild yeast? Based on the latest research from Bootleg Biology, we'll discuss how to classify different types of brewing microbes, where they actually…
What’s New In The How To Brew
Homebrew Con Baltimore features over 90 speakers, and more than 60 seminars for your brewing enjoyment. When the presenters of “Don’t Fear the Fungus…” had to unfortunately withdraw shortly before the conference – we were thrilled to hear that John was willing to step in and offer his brewing know-how…
Wild Alaska, Wild Ingredients
Alaskan Brewing co-founder Geoff Larson shares tips and tales from using local and unique ingredients in the brewing process. The seminar will cover selecting ingredients and the base beer, how flavors can manifest, and methods for adding non-traditional ingredients. Examples include spruce tips in Winter Ale, alder-smoked malt, berries, herbs,…
(Almost) Everything You Know About Brewing History Is Wrong
Modern brewers are inspired by the past to create their own interpretations of the classics. But what if it turns out a lot of our ideas about past beers are just not right? This is the case with far too many classic styles. Often, the truth is even more interesting…
2015 Keynote
2015 National Homebrewers Conference Keynote
A Contrast and Comparison of the Many Variations of India Pale Ale
A review of brewing techniques, ingredients and traditions related to the many styles of IPA, including historical IPA, English IPA, East Coast and West Coast American IPA, double/imperial IPA, black IPA, session IPA and more.
Avoiding a D-bomb: A Key to Understanding Diacetyl
Diacetyl is one of the more common off flavors seen in beer. Learn what causes diacetyl, how to avoid it and what it actually tastes like.
Beer Clarity, In Depth
This seminar will provide an in-depth look at beer clarity, including measuring clarity, potential causes of clarity issues and ingredients and processes to minimize haze in your beer. It also will address the most common causes of haze including tannins and polyphenols, ingredient selection, chill haze and more. Brad will…
Berliner and Beyond: Sour Mashing and Its Applications
Interest in sour beers has never been higher, but to many the idea of making their own sour beer seems like an impossible dream. But what if there were a fast, easy method to get active making sours? Sour mashing is an intermediate-level technique for any beer that would benefit…
Best Practices in Homebrew Retail
Our speakers—representatives from major homebrew wholesale companies—will highlight what it takes to make a great shop.
Blurring the Style Guidelines: Brewing Great, Mixed-Style Beers
Style guidelines provide excellent definitions of world-aclaimed beer types. However, they are only guidelines and the creative brewer can break free to create unique beers that don’t necessarily fall into a single style category.
Brewing Session Beer
Session beers have been gaining popularity over the last several years, especially now that many breweries are making session IPAs. Andrew will discuss traditional session ale styles, newer and less common styles, and recipe and process considerations to take into account when writing recipes and brewing beers with lower alcohol…
Brewing with Coffee: Approaches & Techniques from Dry-Beaning to Home Roasting
Do you dream of making a coffee beer that really stands out from the pack? Jacob McKean, Amy Krone and Michael Tonsmeire will provide an overview of their years of experiments with coffee beers at both the homebrewing and professional levels. They’ll delve into how coffee origins and roast profiles…
Brewing With Experimental Hops: A New Hop Variety Just For Homebrewers
Until now, all experimental hop varieties have been tested and run through the craft beer industry first. For the first time a new hop has been bred and developed for homebrewers. Jason Perrault of the Hop Breeding Company and Perrault Farms, Karl Vanevenhoven of Yakima Chief-Hopunion, and Vinnie Cilurzo of…
Bridging the Gender Gap: Women
Women may be the minority in homebrewing, but the number of females enjoying craft beer is growing. Find out what efforts are being made by homebrew clubs to increase their female membership. Learn how the AHA diversity subcommittee is working to bridge the gender gap and encourage more women to…
Bringing the Brewery Home
Scaling and cloning recipes is challenging, whether trying to clone your favorite craft brew or taking your favorite homebrew from five gallons to 50 barrels. Warren and Jason will discuss recipe scaling and method and equipment use in the process. Raw ingredients, brewing method, fermentation control and packaging will be…
Confessions of a Celebrity Hop Variety: How Did I End Up Beer?
The odds of creating a wildly successful new hop variety are one in several million (so we’re saying there’s a chance…), but every once in a while, we hit a home run. This is the story of a hop variety that was developed over a 10-year period to capture a…
Continuing the Revolution: Taking Your Cider Making To The Next Level
Expand your cider making possibilities by working with fresh fruit. Learn how to press your own juices using easily available equipment. Find out what fruits work best and where to get them.
Crafting Cellarworthy Beers
An in-depth look at how to design and brew beers that have the makeup to improve and mature over years in the cellar. Optimal beer styles for cellaring will be reviewed, along with expectations and recommended time frames.
Czech Lagers: History, Brewing, Judging
In this seminar, Bob Hall and Randy Scorby will describe the four “new” Czech styles in the BJCP style guidelines. Czech lagers are more diverse than simply pilsners and range from delicate light lagers to malty and intense dark lagers. Bob and Randy will describe the history of these beers,…
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