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Flavor Impacts of Brett Fermentation under Pressure

  • Speaker: Jonah Greenbaum-Shinder & Chris Saunders
  • Track: Yeast & Fermentation
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

It is a popular belief that fermenting with Brettanomyces under pressure yields a funkier outcome. Let's put it to the test!


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Boza: Ancient Sourdough Fermented Drink

  • Speaker: Robert George
  • Track: Beyond Beer
  • Homebrew Con 2023
  • San Diego

Find out how to make boza, a fermented drink with a history dating back many centuries that has many health and nutritional benefits.


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The Wonderful World of Kveik

  • Speaker: Chris Saunders
  • Track: Yeast & Fermentation
  • Homebrew Con 2020
  • Online

Recent years have witnessed a huge amount of interest in these Norwegian yeasts. Kveik takes everything we thought we knew about brewing and flips it on its head.


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Brewing with Cannabis: Using THC and CBD in Beer

  • Speaker: Dr. Keith Villa
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

The topic of cannabis becomes more popular every year as additional states legalize its medical or recreational use. Many homebrewers have wondered about the possibilities of using hemp or marijuana in a brew.


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Beer Styles: Past, Present, and Future

  • Speakers: Gordon Strong Julia Herz
  • Track: Beer Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Knowledge of beer styles goes hand in hand with homebrewing. Join Gordon Strong, the principal author of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) beer style guidelines, as he shares insights behind beer styles and how they have evolved over the years.


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Recreating the Original India Pale Ale

  • Speaker: Travis Rupp
  • Track: Historical
  • Homebrew Con 2020
  • Online

This seminar tells the story of the IPA’s rise to popularity in the 18th century, how it was made, and how it likely tasted.


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High Gravity: Pro Techniques for Homebrewers

  • Speakers: Brittany Frey James Czar
  • Track: Brewing Process
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Understand high gravity and its impact on the brewing process and recipe design, and walk away with professional techniques that can be directly applied to homebrewing and recipe design for high gravity brews


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Homebrewing for the Beginner

  • Speakers: Amy Martin Jill Marilley
  • Track: Brewing Process
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Develop an understanding of the brewing process from start to finish; Become familiar with ingredients and equipment; Learn how to navigate different recipes; Understand how to implement homebrewing best practices.


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Brewing Beer-Style Meads

  • Speaker: Sergio Moutela
  • Track: Alternative Fermentation
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

Making beer-style mead involves more than just adding hops. This presentation covers everything that goes into making recipes that truly walk the fine line between these two amazing craft beverages.

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Acid Is Your Friend!

  • Speaker: Martin Brungard
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Mashing is a chemically-complex process that performs better when the brewer knows how to adjust their water chemistry to better match the needs of the grist. Using acid is an important component in those adjustments. This session will illustrate why adjusting mashing and wort…

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Beer Dinners: Bringing It All Together, Beer, Friends, and Food

  • Speaker: David Fetty
  • Track: Sensory Analysis
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Ever thought of hosting a beer dinner? This session is designed to inform, encourage and guide homebrewers to host their first beer dinner. Strategies and considerations for a successful beer dinner will be shared. Then, participants will have two rounds of practice to reinforce…

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Beyond the “Barley Monoculture” Lies a Frontier of Flavor

  • Speaker: Sebastian Wolfrum
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description How to manage Protein levels in brewing with ingredient choices. How to encourage fermentation flavor expressions and biotransformation. About the Speaker Sebastian Wolfrum is the founder of Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham, NC, to provide an integrated regional…

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Big Sticky Stout

  • Speaker: Michael Tonsmeire
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Tips and advice on managing overfilled mash tuns, long boils, stressed yeast, and mounds of coconut, vanilla, nuts, cacao nibs, and more! About the Speaker Michael Tonsmeire, also known as “The Mad Fermentationist,” is the co-founder of Sapwood…

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Branching Out: A Homebrewer’s Guide to Scaling to Commercial

  • Speaker: Ari Miller-Sisson
  • Track: General
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description This presentation is for individuals who wish to work in or start a commercial brewery. I will address the appropriate manner to transition from homebrewer to commercial brewer. Drawing from personal experience moving from homebrewing, to being trained in school, to working in numerous…

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Brewing Low Gravity, Low ABV Beers

  • Speakers: Aaron DeBoer Nick McLawhorn
  • Track: Brewing Processes & Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Low gravity/ABV beers are perfect for having more than one, sharing with friends and family. They also don't have to be watery, thin and simple. We will explore ways to produce high quality and flavorful low Gravity/ABV beers. About the Speaker

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Bringing Back the Joy of Homebrewing

  • Speakers: Denny Conn Drew Beechum
  • Track: General
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Every long time hobbyist has hit a lull - been there, done that, ho hum, I can buy a pack of good beer around the corner. So how do you spark the joy and get back to brewing. How do you keep the joy…

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Bringing Back the Joy of Homebrewing

  • Speakers: Denny Conn Drew Beechum
  • Track: General
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Every long time hobbyist has hit a lull - been there, done that, ho hum, I can buy a pack of good beer around the corner. So how do you spark the joy and get back to brewing. How do you keep the joy…

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Brülosophy: Lies, Damn Lies, and Homebrew

  • Speakers: Kyle Brown Martin Keen
  • Track: Sensory Analysis
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description How well do you really know your beer? Through live taste tests and data from Brülosophy's exBEERiments, we'll challenge your palate, your brewing software and your expertise. Volunteers attempt a deceptively simple blind tasting challenge. We reveal lab data showing your beer may not…

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Choosing the Right Software for Your Competition: BAP vs. BCOE&M Showdown!

  • Speakers: Andrew Melchers Keith Peace
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description This session compares two leading competition software platforms: Beer Awards Platform (BAP) and Brew Competition Online Entry & Management (BCOE&M). Attendees will learn the key differences, strengths, and limitations of each system. Ideal for organizers seeking clarity on which tool best fits their competition's…

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Cidermaking 101: Core Concepts

  • Speakers: Andy Hannas Brighid O'Keane
  • Track: Mead/Cider
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description This session introduces the essentials of cider production for home cidermakers and enthusiasts. Learn the steps of how cider is made, from apple selection and pressing to fermentation, blending, carbonation, and packaging, plus pathways to scaling up production and further education.

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Competition Brewing Strategies: Brewing for Medals, Finals, and 43+ Scores

  • Speaker: Andy Scherzinger
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description´ Competition brewing isn't one game, it's at least three. Strategies that win local circuits, succeed at national competitions, or produce 43+ scores are different. This session explores how goals shape recipe design, category selection, and brew planning so brewers can align their approach with…

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From Brew Day to Award-Winning Beer: Strategies for Competition Success

  • Speakers: Ross Stuart Tyler Miller
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description This presentation explores what drives success in homebrew competitions, bridging the gap between brewer expectations and judge evaluations. Drawing on data from hundreds of competitions and thousands of scoresheets, it highlights how feedback, scoring trends, and common pitfalls shape results. Emphasizing process over recipe…

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From Pours to Partnerships: Brewing Community Events

  • Speakers: Katrina Edwards Tom Zacher
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Brewery partnerships can open doors to collaboration, taproom pours, and events, but what happens next determines success. This session explores how relationships create opportunities and how clubs turn them into meaningful experiences through collaboration across clubs, partnerships with professional breweries, charitable purpose, and events…

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Fruit and Mead

  • Speaker: Ken Schramm
  • Track: Mead/Cider
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Join Ken Schramm for a discussion on the use of fruit in mead. Melomel is probably the best-selling type of mead in the commercial mead world, and one of the most popular among home meadmakers. We'll explore why fruit and honey is such a…

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Fruited Hydromels – An Approachable Mead

  • Speaker: Chuck Beardslee
  • Track: Mead/Cider
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Home fermenters that tend to pass on making mead cite issues like "it takes so long" or "I can't drink much of something that strong/sweet". Enter the fruited hydromel. We will walk through a process for executing a sessionable mead that can be made…

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Getting Buzzed: An Intro to Making Ciders and Meads

  • Speaker: William "Bill" Boyer
  • Track: Mead/Cider
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Discover the easy way to craft delicious meads and crisp ciders at home. This session guides you through creating a perfect base brew and different approaches to enhancing your flavors using fruits and spices. We’ll simplify the process, and share award-winning recipes to ensure…

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Homebrew Quick-Tip Concentrate! A Rapid Fire of Short Easy Clever Tips!

  • Speakers: Denise Brake Ron Minkoff
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Want to up your brewing savvy and create award-winning, tasty homebrew but your attention span isn't, shall we say, robust? You're in luck as we open a can of Homebrew Quick-Tip Concentrate loaded with a vetted collection of useful techniques in short easy bites,…

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How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice!

  • Speaker: Chris "Crispy" Frey
  • Track: Brewing Processes & Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Many brewers never brew the same batch twice. Motivated to discover new recipes, they seek the untried, unusual and unique. This is good - all part of the creative process. I have brewed 600+ batches of beer, mead and cider. Of these, I have…

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How Great Lagers are Brewed around the World

  • Speaker: Chris White
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description 1) We will focus on the key fermentation elements that define great lager brewing: ingredient selection, yeast management, and the meticulous control of fermentation and lagering. 2) We’ll compare regional techniques, highlight cultural influences, and examine how brewers balance tradition with…

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How to Keep a Small Club Alive

  • Speakers: Douglas Bendinger Joseph Aistrup
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Learn how to keep a small homebrew club thriving without burnout. This 45-minute session covers simple, low-hassle meeting ideas, engaging activities, and practical approaches to organizing a small group. We'll share real-world strategies for maintaining momentum, building participation, and creating a fun, welcoming culture.…

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Innovation and Fermentation: Elevate Your Yeast Skills for Your Next Brew

  • Speaker: Hugo Picard
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Innovation has always been at the heart of homebrewing, it’s in our DNA. We’re constantly creating, exploring, “exbeerimenting.” To push boundaries, it’s key to understand every part of a recipe, especially the four core ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. In this session, we’ll…

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Introducing the 2026 BJCP Mead Style Guidelines

  • Speaker: Gordon Strong
  • Track: Mead/Cider
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Judges and meadmakers will learn how the guidelines are changed so that meads can be entered and judged correctly in the future. New styles will be explained in detail so they can be properly recognized, evaluated, and enjoyed. About the…

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Kettle Sour Brewing

  • Speaker: Jeffrey 'Puff' Irvin
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Kettle souring is a two-stage brewing method in which the wort is first mashed and lightly boiled for sanitation, then inoculated with Lactobacillus to develop acidity before undergoing a final full boil. Since the souring occurs entirely in the kettle, brewers can minimize the…

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Making Raw Ale, the Easy Beer!

  • Speaker: Arnie Hoye
  • Track: Brewing Process & Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description A short history of raw ale brewing, the quick down and dirty of how to brew a raw ale, a little more in-depth of the "why's and why-nots", and how incorporate raw ale into your regular brewing practices and vice versa. And, of course,…

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Mexican Christmas Beer: A Celebration, Not a Style

  • Speaker: Nick McLawhorn
  • Track: Brewing Process & Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Explore a beer "style" that grew out of people celebrating the holiday season by gifting beer! Mexican Christmas Beer has an interesting space in the history of holiday celebration in Mexico, as well as how it reflects the changes in the Mexican brewing ecosystem.…

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Mind the Gap: Keeping Members Engaged Between Monthly Meetings

  • Speakers: Khrysti Hunsworth Matt Huntsworth
  • Track: Clubs & Competitions
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Is your club stuck in a "once-a-month" rut? Join Brewers Anonymous to learn how to bridge the gap using a powerful digital ecosystem. Discover actionable strategies for integrating a functional website, a persistent Discord community, and consistent social media content to keep members engaged…

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Modern Sensory Science and the Art of Homebrewing

  • Speaker: Randy Mosher
  • Track: Sensory Analysis
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Author Randy Mosher has spent the last six years researching and writing a book called Your Tasting Brain: A Sensory Approach to Wine, Beer and Other Pleasures, which covers every imaginable aspect of tasting and flavor creation. Really two sides of the same coin,…

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Modern Sensory Science and the Art of Homebrewing

  • Speaker: Randy Mosher
  • Track: Sensory Analysis
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

Description Author Randy Mosher has spent the last six years researching and writing a book called Your Tasting Brain: A Sensory Approach to Wine, Beer and Other Pleasures, which covers every imaginable aspect of tasting and flavor creation. Really two sides of the same coin,…

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Optimizing Your Brewing Process with Finings and Enzymes

  • Speaker: Eric Drost
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2026
  • Asheville

About the Speaker I began homebrewing in 2013 and quickly became obsessed with craft beer. In 2016, I left my career in property management and started working in sales at a regional brewery in Southern California called Hangar 24 Craft Brewing. Within 2 years, I…

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