Ancient Grains: Brewing Traditional African Beer at Home
Beer writer Lucy Corne delves into the history and processes of brewing traditional umqombothi, with a focus on recreating this historical brew at home.
Medieval Gruit Beer: Separating Facts from Fiction
Hear new research that indicates the medieval definition of gruit beer does not match the modern view of generic unhopped herbal ale.
The Beer Industry in Early Egypt and the Formation of Pharaonic Rule
Discover the earliest evidence of beer production in ancient Egypt; Examine the different types of Egyptian beer; Learn ingredients, processes, and quality of ancient Egyptian beer and brewing.
The First Five Millennia of British Mead: Making History in Your Mead
Learn processes to incorporate historical recipes into your modern mead making in ways that meet your individual goals and preferences.
Tiswin: Maize, Methods and Misconceptions
Be inspired by maize to create new homebrew recipes; Explore why much of what you think you know about Native Americans and alcohol is likely wrong.
British Fungus: Brettanomyces in British Brewing
This talk examines the use of Brettanomyces in UK brewing, covers the styles in which it occurred historically, and discusses modern uses of this secondary conditioning yeast. Suggested beer pairing to follow along with: Any stock pale ale, Brewery Yard
Oven Beers: Historical Brewing Techniques
Eastern Europe is home to a large family of beers where the brewing process makes use of the great Russian oven. These beers are fundamentally different from western European beers. This talk covers a few examples of oven-based beers, including Lithuanian keptinis, Russian farmhouse ale, and a few other examples.
Recreating the Original India Pale Ale
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.
Hexes, Hops, and Herstory: A Call to Action
“Hexes, Hops, and Herstory” is a brewing project and a call to action! Inspired by history, this movement engages women beer lovers to become beer brewers in the modern day. Learn more about the history of women in beer and their association with the iconography of witches, as well as…
Homebrewing Microcomputers and Microbrewing Homebrew: Smithsonian Research on Homebrewing and Craft Beer History
Smithsonian Curator Curator Theresa McCulla, Ph.D., presents new research on early homebrew clubs, computing clubs, and the entrepreneurial and intellectual “ferment” of northern California in the 1970s.
Imperial Stout: 300 Years in the Making
Join this duo of time-traveling homebrewer historians as they explore the evolution, near-death, and rebirth of Imperial Stout!
Macbeth! The Brutal Truth about Scottish Beer
Join beer historian Ronald Pattinson as he highlights the last two centuries of Scottish beer history and debunks many myths that have sprung up around Scottish brewing. Ron will discuss ingredients, brewing techniques, beers styles, and how each of these has developed and evolved over the years.
Medieval Gruit Ales Reconstructed: New Theories about Old Beverages
Gruit as a product changed throughout its history. From a beer additive revered for its fermenting powers, it evolved into a beer with a reputation for powerful headache-causing herbals. The exact nature of gruit was once thought to be lost, but available sources paint an interesting picture of gruit, not…
Adambier: Another Historical Beer Style That Almost Died Out
This journey in time from 16th-century Germany to modern-day America explores the history of Adambier and the cultural and scientific changes that brought about its downfall—until now!
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…
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…
Understanding National Tradition
Have you ever wondered how a Czech brewer thinks about brewing? How about a Belgian or a German? Chances are, they think about brewing very differently than Americans do. Beer styles are downstream consequences of particular ways of thinking about beer. In this seminar, we will explore the way styles…
Without It This Conference Would Have Never Come to Exist: The Story of German Bier
This humorous and entertaining overview of the history of German beer includes the development of beer styles (with proper pronunciation), technological advancements, German drinking traditions and culture, and the immigration of German brewing to the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century. A look at recent trends in German beer, including…
Homebrew Disrupts American Beer: A Live Interview with Charlie Papazian
Join Charlie Papazian as he reveals the events and ideas in his life that helped immerse millions of homebrewers in the disruptive revolution of homebrewing. Homebrewing changed how the world views beer and will continue to be the leading edge of beer's evolution. Tom Dalldorf and Chip Walton will join…
Liquid Time Capsules
In this two-part seminar, Patrick McGovern and Ken Schramm take us on a fascinating, fermented journey through time. Dr. McGovern brings the past alive with spicy, fruity, and malty aromas and flavors unearthed in his new book, Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created. Then Ken explains why we are living in…
Saluting the Ancient Purveyors and Preservers of Beer! Brewing on the Borders of Greek and Roman Dominion
Ancient sources discuss beer as an invention of the barbarians of Northern Europe and the savages of the Near East. This presentation explores those peoples of Northern Europe known to have produced and preserved beer culture under Roman and Greek oppression. Travis Rupp will explore ancient brewing conventions of British,…
The Dinosaur in My Beer: 250 Million Years of Homebrewing History
You probably know the historical origins of brewing in early human civilization, but our favorite ingredients also plant their roots back in the Age of Dinosaurs. Paleontologist Andy Farke will time travel with seminar participants, munching hops with Triceratops, tracing the connections between malting and bird evolution, and more! You…
Ancient Beer Brewing in the World of Wine: Bronze Age Greece through Alexander the Great
Building off last year’s AHA conference in San Diego, in which Travis discussed beer production in ancient Egypt and the stigma against beer in ancient Rome, this seminar will discuss the hidden anomaly of brewing and the beer industry in ancient Greece. Covering the Bronze Age through the Age of…
Brewing Grisette and Saison: Insight from Historical Records and Modern Producers
This presentation will look at historical information, focusing on the industrial revolution to modern times, to better understand the history of grisettes (a historical beer style which disappeared in the mid-1900s) and saisons. We will discuss historical production methods, characteristics of historical versions, similarities and differences between these two beers,…
Contemporary Experiments in Ancient Brewing
Contemporary Experiments in Ancient Brewing is a study on ancient brewing techniques in ceramic vessels. Steve Hulbert, Baltibrew member and Baltimore Clayworks trustee, and Ben Freund, resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks, have been brewing beer in handmade ceramic vessels since early 2015. The experiments have spanned many phases of the…
Craft Lager: What’s Old is New Again
Florida has seen a renaissance of brewing and beer styles over the past 10 years, though the surprisingly rich history of Prohibition-era lagers has faded away. This seminar is focused on the tradition of brewing in Miami, from business and advertising to process and ingredients. Craft lagers are making a…
History of Baltimore Brewing
A history of Baltimore breweries from 1748 to the present day, given by Rob Kasper, author of Baltimore Beer: A Satisfying History of Charm City Brewing.
Homebrewing History: A Photographic Tour with Charlie
American homebrewers form the foundation of America’s craft brewing journey. Join Charlie as he revisits American homebrewing milestones, highlighting several of the early pioneers, explorers, clubs, contributors and beer industry friends of homebrewers who helped turned the tide of American brewing. This visual presentation will be sourced from more than…
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…
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.
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