Browse the workshops and get excited for the 2023 Master Brewers Conference.
Finding the Edges: The Intersection of Art and Science for Hop Picking Windows |
Friday, October 7, 1:15 - 2:45 pm
Description: Hop varieties can express a spectrum of aromas based on harvest dates and maturity windows, directly impacting beer flavors and quality. Harvest readiness is affected by environmental factors, field age, virus vs. virus-free plants, and training dates. Growers like CLS Farms have used in-field sensory techniques to determine varietal ripeness based on historical context and the conditions for the current growing year. Varieties such as El Dorado and Amarillo express an array of aromas when harvested at various points in their maturity cycle. Other growers like Virgil Gamache Farms (HopTechnic) have created harvest timing programs based on testing for polyfunctional thiols, terpene levels, and sensory. The blend of art and science is needed to determine harvest readiness with both techniques providing advantages. This workshop will take brewers through the stages of harvest maturity for several varieties from the 2023 crop year. Brewers will have the opportunity to rub and smell the varying aromas and identify preferences based on those results.
Sourcing Brewery CO2 and N2: Implementing On-site Gas Production and Carbon Capture |
Friday, October 6, 1:15 - 2:45 pm
Description: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not traditionally thought of as an ingredient in brewing, yet it has a profound influence on the finished beer. Small-scale CO2 capture strategies provide new opportunities for small brewers to reduce inputs and gain surety of supply. Attendees will hear from industry experts as they share experiences bringing new carbon capture technology into small and mid-sized breweries. This session aims to spark new ideas, inspire forward-thinking, and provide attendees with practical takeaways to start planning for a more sustainable future.
Data Roast - Identifying Areas of Improvement for Brewery Quality, Consistency, and Efficiency |
Saturday, October 7, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Description: 3 experts come together to review a brewery's data live and identify areas where quality, consistency, and efficiency could be improved. Particular attention will be paid to uncovering relationships between brewhouse data and cellar data, especially as it pertains to yeast efficiency. They will provide real-time feedback on the brewery's brewing process, including fermentation, brewing metrics, and offer suggestions for optimization. Attendees will witness a live demonstration of data-driven solutions to common brewing challenges and learn how they can apply these strategies to their own brewing operations. Establishing a platform for robust collection and analysis of brewery data will enable the establishment of benchmarks across many breweries and presents an opportunity to significantly impact the brewing sector by improving process efficiencies. This session is a
must-see for anyone looking to improve the quality, consistency, and efficiency of their brewery.
Barley Prospects for a Changing Climate |
Saturday, October 7, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Description: The barley supply chain has been shaken in recent years due to extreme weather conditions resulting in a historically poor crop in 2021. A changing climate will make grain quality and yields less reliable year to year, leading to variable malt quality and pricing. Further, macroeconomic pressures stemming from the war in Ukraine and other world events have knock-on effects that have tightened the domestic barley market and have the potential to further destabilize the supply chain. This workshop brings together members of the barley to malt supply chain and provides insight from breeders, cereal chemists, malt analysts, and maltsters. They will share their outlook based on their areas of expertise to highlight the risks within the supply chain but also offer areas of opportunity to promote stabilization in the future.
Hopping Down the Rabbithole: A Technical Round Table on Hop Driven Science, Products, and Brewing |
Saturday, October 7, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Description: The list of new hop related products and concepts grow every year but how do these impact the flavor/aroma of finished beer? Join a technical roundtable discussion going down the rabbit hole with hop scientists as well as brewers to demystify all things lupulin from cone to glass.
Measuring the Can Seam: Tips and Tricks from 30 Years of Seamer Services |
Saturday, October 7, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Description: Participants will learn how to measure the can seam using traditional gauges and a seam micrometer. 3 ways to tear down the can to measure the internals, including body hook, cover hook, and overlap. This is a great tutorial for: breweries that can't afford or don't have the semi automated seam check lab equipment breweries that do have the equipment, but want a contingency plan when it goes offline a better understanding of how to manipulate the internals with seamer specific seamer adjustments. The second half of the workshop will be a Q&A session with detailed instructions about the seaming process and defect causes and corrections..
Diving into Low and Non Alcohol Sensory |
Saturday, October 7, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Description: There are a myriad of methods to create low and non alcohol beer but ultimately one of the largest concerns is how to make these near beers taste like a conventional beer. We explore this question of how to get from Point A (production) to Point B (a tasty beer with the absence of alcohol) in this workshop. Different methods of low and non alcohol beer production are discussed along with the beer related sensory gap often seen between low and non alcohol beer and their conventional counterparts. A tasting will be conducted that explores beers using different maltose negative yeast strains as well as physical methods of alcohol removal.
Using Next-Generation Hop Breeding Tools to Develop More Flavorful and Sustainable Cultivars |
Sunday, October 8, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Description: Advancements in plant breeding have resulted in faster and cheaper genomic tools that have helped shorten the breeding timeline and allowed for focus on targeted traits. These tools range from high-throughput genome sequencing to gene-editing technology such as CRISPR. Many of these are currently being utilized in public and private breeding programs to develop cultivars that meet the needs of brewers while offering improved agronomics and resiliency in a changing climate. This workshop brings together experts in breeding and plant genetics for a discussion on the potential of these tools and offer examples for how they can be applied to the benefit of the industry.
Non and Low Alcohol Beer and Pasteurization |
Sunday, October 8, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Description: Beer pasteurization has been commercially used for nearly 120 years to reduce the incidence of in-package beer spoilage after beer leaves the brewery. While the processes used for beer pasteurization are well-defined and well-understood, the brewing industry lacks uniform methods to establish thermal process control criteria. Unlike other food products, beer pasteurization is not required for food safety and is commonly used to extend shelf-life. In contrast, pasteurized milk legislation and process design standards are specifically based on the destruction of pathogens found in raw milk. As breweries continue innovation in the non-alcohol and low-alcohol beverage (NABLABs) space, beverage safety must keep pace to prevent pathogenic and spoilage organisms out of our products. This workshop covers the fundamentals of food thermobacteriology, methods used for beer pasteurization, and concludes with a discussion about pasteurization of NABLABs and the establishment of target Pasteurization Units for these products.