Designing Beer
This seminar offers an up-to-date look at beer recipe design, including recent techniques and findings. We’ll discuss how to design new beer recipes from scratch, brew beers to style, understand ingredient contributions, and apply brewing techniques to achieve a desired flavor profile. Recent innovations in brewing techniques will be highlighted.
Experimenting with Smoked Hops
A must for those who enjoy beers made with smoked malts, this course introduces homebrewers to an alternative method of introducing smoke flavor: smoked hops. Smoked hops can be added in the boil or as dry hops to deliver a unique smoke flavor different from that of traditional rauchbier. Participants…
Ferment THIS!
As brewers and meadmakers, we have many of the tools and techniques (like sanitizing) to ferment other foods and drinks. Naturally pickled foods, hot sauce, cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi, vinegar, kombucha, wine, and sourdough bread are all fermented products. We will discuss how to ferment these foods and drinks while avoiding…
Flavor Creation in the Malt House and its Impact on the Beer Styles of our Past, Present and Future
Many beer styles are defined by the characteristic flavors found in specialty malts, but how does a maltster develop these flavors? Let’s follow grain on a journey through the malt houses of yesterday and today to understand the importance of flavor creation and its impact on the beer styles of…
Flavor Profiles and Recipe Formulation
In this presentation, accomplished homebrewer Rodney Kibzey discusses how ingredient flavor profiles can affect the development of a beer recipe.
Gluten-Free Homebrewing: No Barley, Wheat or Rye
In this talk, Robert Keifer will relate his own story of gluten-free brewing and offer various tips and tricks that he has learned over the years. The presentation will include an opportunity to taste a selection of gluten-free versions of popular beer styles.
Homebrew Cheesemaking for the Beer Lover
Homebrew on Draft: Setup Theory and Maintenance
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!
Hops Hops and How to use Hops
It's hoppy hour! Come join us for an examination of hops, the spice of beer, from both a brewer's perspective and a hop industry insider. We will examine how hops are used, flavor profiles, hop varieties, substitutions, and storage.
Hot Hot Hot! Brewing a Stein Bier
Stein bier is the result of a 10,000-year-old Germanic method of brewing with hot granite stones. Most common in Alpine regions of Europe, stein bier is all about a brewing method, not about a style—any beer can be a stein beer! Learn how to brew one safely in this red-hot…
How to Brew with Low O2
This seminar discusses the myths, benefits, and techniques of low oxygen brewing (LODO). From hot-side aeration and flavor preservation to shelf stability, you’ll learn why you should care about keeping oxygen out of your beer at all stages of the process. Come discover why there is growing interest in this…
Hyperlocal: Bringing the Pub Back to the Neighborhood
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.
Imbibing in Ancient Iberia: Celtic to Flemish Brewing and Beyond
At the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Homebrew Cons, we examined the world of brewing in the ancient Near East, Mediterranean, and Europe. This year we move to ancient Iberia and examine the development of caelia, an ancient beer that predated the Roman conquest of Spain in 206 BCE. As an…
Is Your Beer Special? Deciphering the BJCP Specialty Beer Categories for Entrants and Judges
“Where do I enter my beer?” “Should this beer be judged in this category?” “Why would someone brew this?” With the expansion of specialty beer categories in the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines, entrants and judges both new and old might find themselves unsure where a beer belongs. This presentation will…
It’s a Sprint: Brewing Beer Faster
Can we brew beer faster without sacrificing quality? Between the increasing demands of life and the five-hour time commitment of a “traditional” brew day, it’s normal for brewers to ask themselves this question. In this talk, we examine the brewing process from mashing to carbonation and examine how we can…
Kettle Souring: Four Brewers’ Different Approaches
Join Ben Love from Gigantic Brewing, Ben Edmunds from Breakside Brewery, Sean Burke from Von Ebert Brewing, and Adam Robbings from Reuben’s Brews for a presentation about their individual approaches to and experiences with kettle souring wort. The presentations will be followed by a panel question-and-answer session to delve deeper…
Lessons I’ve Learned in 50 Years of Brewing
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is a steadfastly family-owned, family-run business, and founder Ken Grossman plays a large role in the brewery’s day-to-day operations. Under his direction, the brewery has evolved from one built with used dairy vessels to one of the most state-of-the-art brewing facilities in the world. The continued…
Lupulin Love: Pursuing Hop Quality Through Reading Hop Oil Analysis and Selection Techniques
We all want the best hops. In this presentation, you will learn to read a hop oil report that breaks down what is in each cultivar and how these attributes affect flavors and aromas in the hops you love. We’ll spend time practicing hands-on hop selection techniques and discover what…
Mastering Mead: Pro Tips on Making Better Mead
Join this panel of experienced professional and home meadmakers to have your burning questions about mead answered. Each panelist will offer in-depth tips on how to improve as a meadmaker. Come with an open mind and an inquisitive palate.
Next Level Home Brewing
Join 2017 Ninkasi Award winners Father Jeff Poirot and Nicholas McCoy as they discuss what it takes to brew at the next level and win homebrew competitions. This talk includes an in-depth look at Jeff and Nick’s approach to brewing processes, equipment, and recipe formulation.
Putting Brewing Water in Perspective
Brewing water can have a noticeable effect on beer flavor. This seminar reviews the science behind these effects and demonstrates them with three different waters used to brew the same beer recipe. The base waters and the beers will be served to the audience for evaluation.
Running Club Events and Education Sessions
Want to take your homebrew club to the next level? If so, you won’t want to miss Bruce Buerger’s discussion of how to organize club events and educational programs. From hosting style reviews and tastings to scheduling study sessions, you and your club will benefit from learning the dos and…
Session Beers: Brewing for Flavor and Balance
Sharing beers with friends after work or play is one of life’s pleasures. A good session beer, whose moderate strength invites more than one round, requires high brewing standards to achieve balance and drinkability. While session beers can be challenging to brew, they present many opportunities to showcase a brewer’s…
Small Batch Brewing and Brewing in Small Spaces
Sour Power! A Pro Brewer Spontaneous Fermentation Roundtable
Join Jeff Mello of Bootleg Biology for a professional brewer roundtable discussion of spontaneous fermentation process, ingredients, seasonality, locality, and terminology. Participants include Averie Swanson of Jester King Brewery, Trevor Rogers of de Garde Brewing, Dave Logsdon of Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, and James Howat of Black Project Spontaneous & Wild…
Specialty Malt: Extreme!
Let’s take specialty malts to the extreme and create new brewing techniques, beer styles, and bold flavors! Ever wonder what a beer made with 50 percent caramel malt would taste like? Trying to figure out how to make the chocolateiest beer possible? We’ll cover the basics of specialty malt, guidelines…
Spruce Beer Two Ways: Experiences from West Virginia and Oregon
Spruce tips come in many varieties, and spruce forests are found across the United States. Tedd Huffman draws on his experience brewing with classic Sitka spruce tips from Oregon and the less-than-classic red spruce tips from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Spruce tips work in many beer styles, so…
Stump the Experts Panel
Bring your toughest questions to this panel discussion with renowned homebrewers Jamil Zainasheff, John Palmer, and Tasty McDole. Want to know about high gravity brewing, or carbonation techniques, or maybe even… dare we say… New England IPA? This expert panel is ready for your questions. No homebrewing topic is off…
The “Sour” in Sour Beers: Microbiology Sensory Perception and Styles
Sour beers are hugely popular with home- and commercial brewers alike. However, the term “sour beer” encompasses a large range of styles, methods, and flavors. In this talk, we’ll address variations in sour beers from sensory, microbiological, and stylistic perspectives. We’ll learn how we perceive different acids in beer, and…
The Art of Mead Tasting and Food Pairing
Mead is an incredibly diverse beverage category with the potential to create sublime food pairings. This talk introduces mead styles, discusses food-pairing strategies, and offers tips on how to develop meads specifically to pair with meals at home.
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