Skip to content

It’s a Small World Afterall: The Global Opportunities and Challenges of the Homebrew Market

  • Speaker: Joanne Carilli-Stevenson
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2021
  • Online

While the US homebrewing market continues to struggle, internationally this hobby continues to grow and is developing new craft brewery markets across the world. Join JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson from White Labs and a panel of international homebrew retailers as they discuss the opportunities and challenges being faced throughout the world.

Read More

Planning For Profit in the Brewing Industry

  • Speaker: Justin Sisley
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2021
  • Online

You’ve got the craft down and now it’s time to start thinking about a business. But when you graduate from homebrewing, making good beer is only half the equation for a successful brewery; the other half is running a competent business. This presentation will get you acquainted with what that…

Read More

Often Overlooked in New Brewery Ventures: Quality, Safety, and Sustainability beyond the Garage

  • Speaker: Matt Stinchfield
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

Things change when you scale up from a homebrew batch to your first commercial brewery, and we aren’t just talking recipe dynamics. Energy supplies and waste production increase substantially. Quality issues can cost real money and break reputations when batches are bigger. And the increased power of commercial brewery chemicals…

Read More

So, You Want to Be a Pro Brewer: Are You Crazy?

  • Speaker: Michael Ferguson
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

Come learn all the reasons you shouldn’t, all the reasons you should, and, most of all, what you need to do to be successful with such a crazy idea. With more than 9,500 breweries in the United States, are we reaching a saturation point? In some places we probably have,…

Read More

Crash Course in the Business of Brewing

  • Speakers: Dustin FordJennifer GlanvilleMegan BakerMegan Parisi
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2018
  • Portland, OR

Do you know you have the drive, passion, and talent it takes to quit your day job and open up shop? The road to entrepreneurship can twist more than your tubing, but fear not! Samuel Adams has assembled a team of brewing and business pros to help you navigate the…

Read More

Hyperlocal: Bringing the Pub Back to the Neighborhood

  • Speaker: Jason Romano
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2018
  • Portland, OR

Nanobreweries are uniquely suited to serve their local communities, not from strip malls or industrial parks, but directly in their own neighborhoods. Learn how to open a hyperlocal, community-focused brewery.

Read More

Brewing Dreams: Stories about Going Pro

  • Speakers: Beverly ArmstrongChris SpinnelliJennifer GlanvilleTim Thomssen
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

Join Samuel Adams brewer Jennifer Glanville for a spirited discussion with Tim Thomssen (winner of the 2015 Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Competition and founder of Boiler Brewing Company), Beverly Armstrong (founder of Brazo Fuerte Artisanal Beer), and Chris Spinelli (co-founder of Roc Brewing Co.). We’ll trace each brewer’s path…

Read More

Building a Business Plan for Funding and the SBA

  • Speaker: Tim Soczka
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

Starting a business is hard, especially if you do not have a BA degree. Learn how to build the content and financials that lending institutions look for into your business plan. We’ll go over the necessary documentation and recommendations for a successful meeting with the lenders and the Small Business…

Read More

Going Pro: Why You Should (or Shouldn’t) Turn Your Hobby into a Business

  • Speaker: Ryan Krill
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

For most of us, becoming a professional surfer, baseball player, or drummer just isn’t in the cards. But becoming a professional brewer? It can happen. This presentation will empower hobby brewers who are considering going pro with the information they need. It will attack the idea from an administrative angle,…

Read More

Frankenbrew: Are Pieced-Together Systems Still Viable

  • Speaker: Tom Hennessy
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

It has been over 20 years since Tom Hennessy first made the video Frankenbrew: How to Build A Brewery For Under $20,000. Is it still possible now to put together a commercial brewing system for less than $20,000? Tom took the challenge; come learn what he found out.

Read More

Going Pro a Pint at a Time

  • Speaker: Mike Pensinger
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

Tips and lessons learned from the homebrewer-to-professional transition. In short: what to do and what to watch out for.

Read More

Great North Aleworks – The Journey to Pro

  • Speakers: Lisa NorthRob North
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

Rob and Lisa’s presentation will cover the journey the couple took to opening their own brewery, from making the decision to become entrepreneurs back in 2011 to finally seeing their brewery become a reality four years later. Rob and Lisa hope to inspire and instill confidence to homebrewers looking to…

Read More

How to Fail at Starting a Brewery: Focus Just on the Beer

  • Speaker: Nicole Carrier
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

When starting a brewery, it is essential to make great product—but that’s not sufficient in and of itself. In order to stand out from an increasingly crowded field, you must be able to craft and then tell a compelling, differentiated story of your brand and your beers. In this session,…

Read More

From 5 to 5,000 Gallons: What to Look for in a Brewery Space

  • Speaker: Scott Katzer
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

Brewers spend significant resources developing their passion for their craft but often overlook the building and engineering infrastructure that supports them. One may have the best designed brewery system, but poor space planning and a building lacking the necessary utilities can lead to significant downtime, loss of productivity and unhappy…

Read More

Intro to Professional Brewing Quality Assurance

  • Speaker: Rick Blankemeier
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

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.

Read More

Panel: Taking Homebrewing to the Pro Level, From Concept and Design Through Opening

  • Speakers: Curtis ChismDustin HauckKelsey McNairPaul Sangster
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

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…

Read More

Thinking of Going Pro? You Must Understand How to Make Money Making Beer

  • Speaker: Sam Holloway
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

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…

Read More

Can You Make a Living in Beer?

  • Speaker: Ray Daniels
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

Join Ray Daniels for a discussion of possible job and business opportunities in the beer sector and his take on their prospects for their success. Tapping his knowledge and lessons learned as director of the Cicerone Certification Program, a co-owner of Revolution Brewing, and instructor of the Siebel Institute course…

Read More

From Five Gallons to Fifteen Barrels

  • Speaker: Adam Mills
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

Adam Mills, head brewer at Cranker's Brewery in Big Rapids, Mich. will discuss the transition from homebrewing to brewing on a professional scale. He will address recipe scale-up, yeast handling and hopping rates with a special focus on whirlpool and dry hopping. Adam will pour samples of his Professor IPA.

Read More

Top 10 Legal Mistakes Start-Up Breweries Make

  • Speakers: Candace L. MoonEsq.
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

For homebrewers planning to open a commercial brewery, there are numerous legal steps that should be taken to help protect yourself and the business. Without knowing what you need to do, it can be very easy to run afoul of the law. This seminar will discuss some of the most…

Read More

Come One, Come All—Wait a Minute: Assessing the Elastic Limits of Opportunity

  • Speaker: Dick Cantwell
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2013
  • Philadelphia, PA

These days it seems a new brewery is opening every day. Well, actually, that's true—a new brewery is opening pretty much every day, and sometimes more than one. With this proliferation of new breweries attempting to sell their beer in an already crowded market, questions are being asked in all…

Read More

Going Pro Panel

  • Speakers: Chris White & Jamil ZainasheffDick CantwellPete VelezRich Ellis
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2013
  • Philadelphia, PA

Dick Cantwell is joined by professionals from multiple corners of the brewing world in this seminar focused on enlightening those homebrewers interested in turning their hobby into a career. Industry experts will be on hand to provide insights covering topics from sourcing ingredients and formulating hop contracts to acquiring equipment…

Read More

Stand on Your Two Brewing Feet

  • Speaker: George Hummel
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2013
  • Philadelphia, PA

Join George Hummel, author of The Complete Homebrew Beer Book and Mid-Atlantic Brewing News’ homebrew columnist, as he illustrates taking the next steps from beginner brewing. Drawing on almost 30 years of brewing experience, he’ll show how to extract the most flavors from malt extract-based beers. Leveraging the vast array…

Read More

Going Pro Panel Part 1

  • Speakers: Beaux BowmanDick CantwellErin GlassJamil ZainasheffJeff Althouse
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2012
  • Bellvue, WA

Dick Cantwell presents a short overview of planning and creating a brewpub or a production brewery. Key elements will be addressed in the primary presentation, followed by a panel discussion with four guest panelists. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions, hear the unique experiences each panelist had with…

Read More

Going Pro Panel Part 2

  • Speakers: Beaux BowmanDick CantwellErin GlassJamil ZainasheffJeff Althouse
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2012
  • Bellvue, WA

Dick Cantwell presents a short overview of planning and creating a brewpub or a production brewery. Key elements will be addressed in the primary presentation, followed by a panel discussion with four guest panelists. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions, hear the unique experiences each panelist had with…

Read More

Going Pro Panel

  • Speakers: Cyrena NouzilleErin GlassJeremy RaubMike HessPatrick Rue
  • Track: Going Pro
  • Homebrew Con 2011
  • San Diego, CA

Goring Pro Panel presents a short overview of planning and creating a brewpub or a production brewery. Key elements will be addressed in the primary presentation, followed by a panel discussion with four guest speakers. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions, hear the unique experiences each panelist had…

Read More