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Beer Soluble Hop Compounds: Translating Raw Hop Aroma to Finished Beer Aroma

  • Speakers: Ashleigh HaydenJosh WurzbacherSteve Thompson
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Methods for using beer soluble hop compound research to design efficient recipes; Targeted expression blends and how they manifest in beers; A description of the research conducted and its culmination into a graph of survivable (beer soluble) compounds by variety.


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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Zinc

  • Speaker: Kara Taylor
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Learn what zinc contributes to fermentation; Understand how zinc changes in the hot side versus cold side; Hear best practices for adding zinc to fermentations.


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High Gravity: Pro Techniques for Homebrewers

  • Speakers: Brittany FreyJames 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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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Biotransformation!

  • Speakers: Leandro MeinersMatias Cavanna
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Understand that biotransformation is not a one-stop shop for explaining all the unknown changes of beer flavor and aroma when dry hopping during active fermentation; Learn the different types of biotransformation and their potential impact in beer flavor; Explain how to use exogenous brewing enzymes (or specific yeasts) that foster some of these types of biotransformation.


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There Is an Enzyme for That!

  • Speaker: Emily Wang
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2022
  • Pittsburgh

Review the variety of enzyme categories and what they break down; Explain the stages in brewing and which enzymes to add when; Explore the impact of enzymes on gluten.


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Advanced Automation for the Home Brewer

  • Speakers: Geoff ParkinsPeter Bruno
  • Track: Other/Misc.
  • Homebrew Con 2021
  • Online

Get a detailed overview of automation across brewery functions including brewing, fermenting, spunding, dispensing, cleaning, and advanced techniques like low oxygen.


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Connected Fermentation | Presented by The Grainfather

  • Speakers: Aaron HydeSam Loader
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2021
  • Online

Have you ever wondered why you should control the temperature of your fermenting beer? Any modest brewer will tell you, “I don’t make beer; I make wort. Yeast makes beer.” While that is true, one of the final steps in brewing a batch is also the most vital to control…

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Soluble Hop Compounds Tech Talk | Presented by Yakima Chief Hops & Brewers Best

  • Speakers: Evan LuxenburgMaggie SessionsSteve ThompsonTessa Schilaty
  • Track: Ingredients
  • Homebrew Con 2021
  • Online

How can I have more control over the aroma characteristics in my finished beer? Join the Yakima Chief Hops Central Region manager Steve Thompson and Tessa Schilaty, Sensory Research Coordinator, as they discusses recent research in beer soluble hop compounds, specifically flavors and aromas that survive into finished beer. In…

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Automated Brewing and Electrical Safety for Homebrewers

  • Speaker: Peter Bruno & Geoff Parkins
  • Track: Other/Misc.
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

Many DIY brewers are learning about microcontrollers, advanced temperature control, flow measurement and control, volume sensing, and dissolved oxygen measurement to improve quality and ensure consistency from batch to batch. We will discuss the capabilities and advantages of automation, from simple temperature control to fully automated breweries. The second half…

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Building Your Own Brew Stand from A to Z

  • Speaker: Brian Haslip
  • Track: Other/Misc.
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

This seminar will provide homebrewers with many different options for building brew stands. From choosing and planning the system and selecting materials to putting it all together, you’ll learn how to avoid potential pitfalls along the way. Whether you are building a multi-tier gravity system, a brew-in-a-bag system, a single-tier…

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DIY Advanced Technology for Cheapskate and Anarchistic Homebrewers

  • Speaker: Pierre Margraff & Andrew Tipler
  • Track: Other/Misc.
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

In this presentation, homebrewers will learn to develop and apply novel technologies to solve common homebrew problems. All these useful projects work well and are inexpensive and practical to build at home. Learn about fun DIY projects like a temperature monitor and controller, pressure monitor, fermentation and keg weight monitor,…

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Put It on Nitro! The Science and Methods of Beer Nitrogenation

  • Speaker: Michael Ferrari
  • Track: Beer Styles
  • Homebrew Con 2019
  • Providence, RI

Cascading bubbles, dense foam, and smooth mouthfeel—join Michael as he teaches you how to achieve the hallmarks of nitro beer in your own homebrew. We’ll go over the history, science, and methods of beer nitrogenation and cover the equipment needed for the perfect nitro pour.

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Bringing a Brewery Quality Control Lab into Your Home

  • Speaker: Dr. Kevin McCabe
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2018
  • Portland, OR

The laboratory at Full Sail Brewing takes advantage of the latest technology and instrumentation to ensure beer consistency and quality, but many of the most important, high-impact techniques can be easily and inexpensively adapted for the homebrewer. From cell counts to sensory analysis, Dr. McCabe will walk the audience through…

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Homebrew on Draft: Setup Theory and Maintenance

  • Speaker: Michael Ferrari
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2018
  • Portland, OR

Join Michael Ferrari for this in-depth discussion of serving your homebrew on tap. We’ll go over how to build and maintain a clean, waste-free system. From draft system balance to cleaning and troubleshooting, you’ll learn to taste and share the best version of your beer!

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Embrace Your Inner Nerd: Simple Steps to Setting up a Home Lab

  • Speaker: Zachary Taggart
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

This seminar outlines basic steps homebrewers can take to establish a small lab in their home. We will review equipment and procedures to get you up and running on cell counts, plating yeast samples, setting up a home yeast bank, and utilizing basic spreadsheets to track your experiments and brewing…

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Maintaining Quality after the Brew Day

  • Speaker: Warren Haskell
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

This presentation focuses on quality from keg to glass. With all the time and effort we spend making our beer, let’s make sure we serve it with equal care! Kegerators, keezers, jockey boxes, and party taps are common equipment, and its important to know how to properly clean and maintain…

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The Critical and Often Overlooked Spec: Final Gravity

  • Speaker: Brennan Greene
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2017
  • Minneapolis, MN

This seminar highlights the importance of final gravity (FG) to various beer styles and discusses how to achieve target FGs. Commercial brewers and homebrewers often don’t pay enough attention to FG, but doing so and adjusting accordingly can greatly improve the quality of your beer. We will discuss mass-produced light…

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DIY Kegerator / Keezer Design Using Off the Shelf Components

  • Speaker: Matthew Joyce
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

There are some very interesting benefits to rolling your own temperature control board/logic for your kegerator. Matthew will discuss some of the benefits and pitfalls, and demonstrate a modular design he created using off the shelf parts/boards. This talk touches on sensors, microcontrollers and relays, with some discussion of the…

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Phenolic Compounds in Beer: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

  • Speaker: Mike Lentz
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2016
  • Baltimore, MD

Phenolic compounds play a major role in the aroma and flavor of many beers. They are often associated with beer spoilage, but also contribute positive and essential characteristics to certain beer styles, such as Bavarian weizen and many Belgian styles. What makes “good” phenolics good, and “bad” phenolics bad? The…

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Hosting Cask Ale Events

  • Speaker: Randy Baril
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

Homebrewers are already experts in making real ale. Take the next step and cask condition the beer! This serving method from the English tradition is a unique way to present your beer, especially when you’re planning on serving an entire keg anyway. Taking care of cask conditioned beer is a…

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Nitro Draught for the Homebrewer

  • Speaker: Juice Drapeau
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2015
  • San Diego, CA

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.

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Draft System Design and Maintenance

  • Speaker: Tom Schmidlin
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

You’ve got your beer in a keg, but how do you get it out? Learn how to design and balance your draft system for the perfect pour of your beer, cider and mead. We’ll also talk about how and why to clean the lines, finding CO2 leaks (and avoiding them…

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How Good is Your Grist?

  • Speaker: Jennifer Helber
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

The American Society of Brewing Chemists coordinated a collaborative test with 12 breweries on a method to check the coarseness of milling with sieves. This method can also be useful to homebrewers, because a correct mill setting greatly impacts the efficiency of extracting fermentable sugars. We will discuss the method,…

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Water Chemistry and Beer pH

  • Speaker: John Palmer
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2014
  • Grand Rapids, MI

Join John Palmer, author of How to Brew, Water and Brewing Classic Styles, as he dives into the subject of brewing water. Topics include the effect that brewing water chemistry has on mash pH, beer pH and beer flavor. Seminar attendees will sample two beers from the same recipe that…

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Biochemistry and the Mash

  • Speaker: Larry Horwitz
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2013
  • Philadelphia, PA

Larry Horwitz covers carbohydrate structre, enzymes, hydrolysis and protein in this presentation.

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Brewing Chemistry 101: pH and Buffering

  • Speaker: Bob Hall
  • Track: Technical
  • Homebrew Con 2013
  • Philadelphia, PA

This talk will cover basic brewing and water chemistry. Much of the chemical knowledge needed to understand how water affects brewing can often be daunting. However, words like pH, hardness, alkalinity, temporary hardness and residual alkalinity can be simplified once brewers understand the dual concepts of pH and buffers and…

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