Kyle Clark, anchor for 9News, will be the keynote speaker for the Summit. His talk will touch on the parallels and challenges the brewing industry and the broadcasting industry both face, as Coloradans change their habits and how finding success will require creativity, passion, and a dash of humility.
MEMBER MEETING | 9:45-10:45AM | FRIDAY
Matt Gocioch, Staff Economist – Brewers Association
Join us for the Annual Voting Members Meeting on Friday morning, this meeting is open to all brewery members and we will be presenting on current programs for the first half of the meeting. Matt Gocioch from the Brewers Association will also be joining us to present on Colorado specific data and the state of the industry
Seminars
REGISTRATION SPECIAL: Register 3 People, Get $25 OFF Per Person
Yeast of Your Worries: Mastering QA/QC
Frances Tietje-Wang , Lab Overlord – Fermly: Craft Beer laboratory
This seminar covers essential testing methods, setting up a budget-friendly quality lab, maintaining consistency, and balancing quality assurance with customer feedback to ensure a high-quality brewing operation.
2024 Revision to OSHA Hazard Communication: Reviewing the Changes & Proper Storage of Chemicals
Tony McCrimmon, Certified Safety Professional, Hazcom Specialist – Brewery Safety Consulting (DIA)
Breweries can be a hazardous place to work. Among the biggest hazards are the numerous chemicals we use around the brewery: through contact, inhalation, and chemicals that react with other chemicals. OSHA has updated their Hazard Communication Standard and we need to review what is changed, why it was changed, what it means, and how it will affect each of us in our own brewery.
Takeaways include:
-What OSHA will look for during a visit to inspect the chemical use at your brewery.
-Side by side comparison of regulation changes
-How changes affect your existing Hazcom Program
-Issues caused by improperly stored chemicals
-Plan for chemicals spills
-What you need to know about OSHA hazmat investigations
Sterility, Sanitization, and Aseptic Technique
John Giarratano, Founder – Inland Island Yeast Laboratories
In this presentation, John Giarratano of Inland Island Yeast Laboratories will dive deep into the chemical make up of most popular brewing chemicals, explaining what they’re made of and what they actually do. Different combinations of these chemicals will be discussed as a means to clean and sanitize brewing equipment and how each of them can be utilized to address a myriad of issues within the brewery. Additionally, sterility techniques from pharma and biofuels will be discussed with an in depth example of how high pressure steam can be used to sterilize brewing equipment.
Borrowed Lessons from Winemaking: Inactivated Yeast in Brewing
Alesha Ivey, Technical Sales Manager – Lallemand Brewing
Inactivated yeast have been a staple in the wine industry for nearly two decades, yet they remain relatively unfamiliar to the beer industry. This presentation will explore what inactivated yeast are, and the science behind their production and potential applications in brewing.
Pushing New Possibilities: Innovating with Yeast
Nick Harris, Co-Founder – Berkeley Yeast
Laura Burns, Director of Research and Development – Omega Yeast
Rob Meehan, Head Brewer – Living The Dream Brewing
Matt De Miranda – Weldwerks
TBD
Brewers have been the drivers of brewing yeast innovation for centuries, whether they are aware or not. The industrialization of beer and the domestication of yeast have provided some of the most treasured and unique brewing strains for beer styles brewed across the globe. In the last decade, there has been a renaissance in yeast innovation with modern approaches to strain design with a lot of excitement around genetic engineering (GE or GMO). We have seen many brewing yeast introduced to brewers with the added benefits of new aromas, quality improvements, process efficiencies, and even cost savings. A quick introduction will review genetic engineering technologies, how Berkeley Yeast and Omega Yeast approach strain development, and provide a comprehensive summary of innovative strains available to brewers. We will then open up discussion with a panel of brewers who have used these strains to help spur creativity in recipe development and tackle important challenges we face in the craft beer industry.
This is a panel discussion that will include two scientists that develop GE yeast, Laura Burns (Omega Yeast), Nick Harris (Berkeley Yeast) and brewers that have hands-on experience with GE yeast: Rob Christianson (New Belgium/Bell’s), Rob Meehan (Living the Dream), and Matt De Miranda (Weldwerks).
2024 Barley Harvest Report: Concerns, Impacts, & Solutions
Alan Windhausen, Technical Sales Manager – Murphy & Son Co.
Shannon Ambrosio – American Malting Barley Association & Golden Maltings at Molson Coors
With a variety of complications in several growing regions impacting the 2024 barley harvest, now is the time to plan ahead and mitigate potential impacts on your beers. In addition to a Q&A, the panel will provide a summary of the harvest and outline the issues that maltsters are working to overcome, discuss whether/how these challenges will present in malt supplies or quality, and review options to ensure consistency in your brewery.
Giving Life To Your Beverage: CO2, O2, and Nitrogen, The Ingredients You Don’t Think About
Danny Wang, Co-Founder/Information Architect – Fermly: Craft Beer laboratory
As brewers, we strive to put the best product forward with a focus on quality ingredients and QA/QC processes throughout the facility. While we labor over hop selection, water quality, malt COAs, and yeast health, the final ingredient that gives your product life is often taken for granted. The very last step before packaging almost always comes down to the addition of gasses (good and bad) into your product.
Let’s demystify and better understand how the various gasses we introduce into our beverages either helps, finalizes, or becomes a detriment to your product. This seminar dives into understanding COAs, quality considerations, best practices, and practical applications for CO2, nitrogen, O2, and dissolved O2. Whether your facility is producing 100 BBL/year to 100,000 BBL/year, you’ll leave this seminar with a deeper understanding of these invisible ingredients that can affect the final quality of your products.
Evaluation of 11 Commercially Available Non-Alcoholic Beer Yeast Strains Plus Best Practices for Safe NA Beer Production
Nick Harris, Co-Founder – Berkeley Yeast
Frances Tietje-Wang, Lab Overlord – Fermly: Craft Beer Laboratory
Andrew Maust, PhD Student – University of Arkansas
This seminar on non-alcoholic beer will be divided into two segments. The first will focus on original research conducted at the University of Arkansas, which evaluates commercially available yeast strains (from 7 suppliers) for their application and flavor profiles in non-alcoholic beer. The second segment will address key safety considerations and explain how working with a process authority can help ensure your products meet safety standards.
Hop Pellet Analysis for Dummies
Eric Sannerud, President – Sannerud Hop Consulting
Hops are one of your most important ingredients. Besides rubbing and sniffing – what can you do to analyze hop quality? In this presentation we will cover physical hop pellet analysis, define Descriptive Hop Analysis, and introduce and define Comparative Aroma Analysis. You will leave with new skills to evaluate hops, tools that you can use to secure better quality hops, and most importantly a new mindset to better identify hops that meet your brewing goals.
2025 Update from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - A discussion with OSHA and CSU Health & Safety Consultation staff
Hector Tabares – OSHA
Colorado State University Consultation Staff
Learn directly from OSHA and become familiar with their inspections and processes.
Exploring the Liquid Paradigm: The Next Frontier of Hop Aroma
James Zarzour, Regional Sales Manager – Yakima Chief Hops
Join Yakima Chief Hops as they discuss recent advancements in the world of liquid hop aroma products. They will specifically focus on demystifying the many formats of liquid products, their applications, and offer practical guidance on how brewers can harness the power of liquid formats to increase quality, cost savings, and sustainability.
Stand Behind Your Lines: Faucets & Line Maintenance
Bill Flinchbaugh, Owner – Unpretentious Pours
Paul Olson, Owner – Keg Whisperer
From the days of a warm water rinse to modern color changing chemicals, draught system maintenance has come a long way. In this seminar they will explore the dirty little secrets hiding in the various parts of a draught system, explain the styles of line cleaning, and what is often missed- even by the pros. From on-premise to event equipment, we’ll address the “usual” reasons for an “emergency call out” and the often simple things that can be done to prevent them.
Hop Contracting for Craft Brewers
Steve Bradt, Craft Sales Representative – Hopsteiner
Steve Breezley, COO – Ska Brewing Co.
D.J. Mares – Denver Beer Co.
Darren Baze – Goat Patch Brewing
Should you or shouldn’t you contract for your hops? That is a question that has been asked a lot recently by craft brewers with the recent fluctuations in both the beer and hop markets. The panel will include brewers of diverse sizes providing perspectives on not only why or why not, but what you should consider, and questions you should ask your suppliers before committing to contracts. We will also touch on what some of the options may be when contracts get out of balance. The panel will be moderated by Steve Bradt from Hopsteiner, who will also provide some insights from growers perspective.
TAPROOM & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Raise a Glass to Retail! Brewery Retail Strategies and the Art of Taproom Merchandising
Derek Huff, Colorado Account Sales Manager – Grandstand Glassware and Apparel
Ever wondered why some taprooms have that “feel” that just seems right? In this seminar Derek Huff is diving deep into strategic planning of all things relevant to creating a vibrant and profitable taproom retail program: Designing your retail space with function and purpose, choosing business partners with aligned values, seasonal/regional retail strategies, product assortment, community connection, effective presentation, and customer engagement.
School is Always in Session: Actively Integrating Beer Education in the Taproom
LaTreace Harris, CEO/Owner, Certified Cicerone – Beery Godmother Consulting
This session will take a deeper dive into the active implementation of beer education within the taproom, both the education of brewery staff and customers. It will feature a discussion of specific strategies for ensuring continuous, integrated education for taproom staff that ultimately leads to a more robust customer experience. Beer education is a critical component of the taproom experience, both for customers and brewery staff. This session will provide tangible examples for how to integrate beer education principles within the taproom environment, and tips for how to facilitate ongoing planning to ensure that beer education remains a taproom priority, including gaining and maintaining owner and management support.
Tapping into Tourism: How to Attract Beer Travelers and Tourism to Your Brewery
Brian Haitz, Associate Director of Digital Marketing – Furman University / Contributing writer at PorchDrinking
Craft beer tourism in the US is not only continuing to grow but is becoming a major economic driver in many regions. There’s an opportunity for breweries of all sizes to leverage their content, locations and experiences to attract tourists/travelers.
This talk will focus on audience-centric strategies to help local breweries create practical content and branding decisions to increase traffic into their taproom. We’ll take a look at trends and the user-flow to understand the tourism audience from their POV, learning practical tools and strategies for bringing travelers into your brewery. Key topics include:
– How do people decide which brewery to visit?
– What can you do to capture more beer-travelers and tourists?
– How is beer tourism changing?
– How to leverage AI in your outreach.
A Fresh Take on the 20oz Pour: New Marketing Strategies to Put More Butts on Bar Stools.
Ross Stensrud, Co-Founder – TapWyse
The loyal customer is more valuable today than at any point in the history of craft beer. Let’s take a look at how to turn your casual guests into raving fans. Strap on your SCUBA gear and get ready for a deep dive into the data and taproom execution of 3 highly successful modern loyalty and membership programs. Explore program design, execution, and how to track and quantify taproom visits and real revenue generated by your program. These programs go beyond the 20oz pour to bring in recurring revenue and put more buts on barstools!
House Rules Aren’t Just for House Parties
Ren Navarro, Owner/Operator/Lead Trouble Maker – B Diversity Group
When we head to someone’s party, we always assume some kind of rules will be in place, be it
“take your shoes off upon entering” or “don’t steal my mom’s Royal Dalton collection”, we’re aware that following those simple rules will lead to a fun time. Don’t follow the rules and you’ll forever be known as the person who spoiled the party.
Turns out rules aren’t just for house parties. We can have them in a multitude of spaces in order to have a better and SAFER time. In fact, we don’t even have to call them rules! Call them what you want, but it’s your chance to
tell those around you, from staff to patrons to vendors, what you’re about and what you believe is needed in your space to have that safer and better time.
Join Ren Navarro for this interactive workshop where you’ll learn about the structure and purpose of a business value, along with the importance of creating them with your team, how to make them attainable, and how to hold yourselves accountable to those values. Create your first draft of your values statement (or re-draft) and work on your mission statement during the presentation and start your journey into creating a space that good folks want to interact with!
Timeless Taproom Tactics: How to Master the Four Fundamentals of a Wildly Profitable Taproom
Derek Smith, Consulting Manager – Small Batch Standard
It’s no secret that for most breweries, the lion’s share of the profit comes from the taproom. But even so, many are operating far below their potential. In fact, our data reveals that some are generating anywhere between 2-5x the profit of their local competition! So how can the “everyday brewery” bridge the gap? In this session, we’ll uncover why this is and provide practical guidelines that any taproom can use to maximize profit and success.
- Understand where profit in the taproom comes from and why it’s important.
How each of the Four Fundamentals contribute to the bottom line: Beer, Food, Brand, and Team. - What the best taprooms do to drive consistent, profitable, beer sales.
- How to run a lean, mean food program that puts butts-in-seats and maximizes revenue.
- The ingredients that can turn your brand into a powerful marketing machine.
- How to build and maintain an efficient, service-driven team that keeps customers coming back again and again.
So you want to open a kitchen?
Abigail George, Owner – Barrels & Bottles Brewery
After owning and operating a kitchen for 11 years in the brewing industry, I get asked all the time about what it takes. This session will cover all the things we’ve learned, trials & tribulations, points to consider if thinking about adding a kitchen and more. Let’s talk kitchens!
SALES & MARKETING
How FlyteCo Tower Uses Hybrid Service Models to Enhance Guest Satisfaction and Streamline Labor
Mateen Habib, V.P. of Growth – GoTab
Morgan O’Sullivan, Co-Founder – FlyteCo Tower
Learn about the best hybrid service approaches today, how to train and enable staff to use them, and the real-life pros and cons of adopting these approaches from Co-Founder of FlyteCo Tower, Morgan O’Sullivan and GoTab’s Vice President of Growth.
Winning in Distribution: A Financial Blueprint to Avoid the Pitfalls of Distribution
Chris Farmand, Founder, CPA, MBA – Small Batch Standard
Most breweries struggle to find success in distribution, whether it’s understanding how the numbers affect the overall business, managing distributor relationships, running your sales team, or planning logistics. Distribution is challenging. This seminar is diving head first into options for a sustainable and viable financial business program by understanding where profit in the taproom comes from and why it’s important.
-How each of the Four Fundamentals contribute to the bottom line: Beer, Food, Brand, and Team.
-What the best taprooms do to drive consistent, profitable, beer sales.
-How to run a lean, mean food program that puts butts-in-seats and maximizes revenue.
-The ingredients that can turn your brand into a powerful marketing machine.
-How to build and maintain an efficient, service-driven team that keeps customers coming back again and again.
Holding on Premise Accounts to Higher Standards
Bill Eye, Owner/Brewer – Bierstadt Lagerhaus
Draft beer is a mixed bag in Colorado. Brewers can come together and raise the bar in on-premise accounts. Examples of the problems encountered in the marketplace, as well as solutions to these problems that harm our efforts will be addressed. Attendees should understand how holding on-premise accounts to high standards helps their brewery (and where, how, and by whom their beer is sold) can make a good lasting impression– or leave customers disappointed.
Colorado Consumer Motivations: What People Want and Generating Repeat Customers
Michael Varda, Founder – Craft Beer Advisory Services
Attendees will develop a deep understanding of what motivates the Colorado craft beer consumer and which experience factors generate return visits. You will leave with a deeper understanding of your customer base, actionable tactics to reach each customer segment, and a look into the psychology of your customers before they ever walk in the door. A narrative summary details survey results and insights about consumer types and preferences—as well as how to reach consumers with resonating messages.
Key learnings will include:
• Learn experience preferences and visit motivations of different craft beer consumer segments
• Understand your brewery’s value proposition and which consumer type is most likely to visit
• Know the most common ways people learn about new breweries to visit
• Add generational context and demographic understanding to your marketing strategy
• Recognize what customers want from an experience before they ever walk in your taproom
Beyond Buzzwords: Real ROI Tactics for Your Brewery's Marketing
Julie Rhodes, Strategic Business Consultant – Not Your Hobby Marketing
Feeling lost in digital marketing lingo? Not sure where to begin or what to track? You’re in the right place. This session is for brewery owners, operators, and team members who lack a marketing background but want to prove ROI and identify crucial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We’re cutting through the jargon to focus on the essentials: hard data that helps you make smarter decisions. We’ll dive into key metrics and customer behaviors that can guide your marketing strategy. By the end of this session, you’ll walk away with a toolkit that makes data your new best friend. You’ll know exactly what to track and how to use that information to enhance your marketing efforts and boost sales.
- Key Takeaways:
Identify the marketing metrics that matter. - Master data analysis without a PhD.
- Turn numbers into actionable insights to drive your marketing strategy and improve ROI.
Social Media Tips for Busy Small Brewery Owners
Em Sauter, Founder/Cartoonist – Pints and Panels
Social media demands a lot of attention, from answering DMs to getting good photos (and video?!?) of your product to creating content calendars not to mention keeping up with memes. But who has time for that? You’re running a brewery and doing lots of other jobs as well and although you wish you could hire someone full time; it’s just not in the cards for you right now (although to be fair, if you do have someone doing social media/comm full time, that’s great! This talk will help them too). This illustrated talk will help you streamline your social media schedule by giving you easy tips to maximize your social media output with common sense tips and tricks.
Understanding the Three Tiers of Media Relations: How to Plan, Execute, and Win with Earned Media
Chad Melis, Founder – Turn It Up Media
Gretchen Sherlock, Marketing Director – Prost Brewing Company
John Frank, Journalist & Author – Axios, The Colorado Sun, and “Beer Lover’s Colorado”
An engaging panel of professionals from all aspects of the media relations environment will teach the audience how to build brand awareness and credibility through an earned media strategy. This panel discussion will provide a unique 360-degree view of the media relations process, tips for building meaningful relationships with the press, and proven tactics to gain share of mind with your target audiences through media relations.
- Learn the strategic understanding and insight on the entire media relations environment, how it can benefit your brewery, and how to appropriately engage and win with the media relations process.
- Explore how breweries leverage media relations to: align with ABP, earn distributor and retailer share of mind, drive brand awareness, position and convey brand identity effectively and maximize the overall impact of press coverage on business objectives.
- Insight into the needs of a writer and how to pitch a story effectively, including the top tips to gain media coverage and the top pet peeves of writers and media specialists.
LEGAL & HUMAN RESOURCES
HR Trends 2024: Enhancing Your Employee Experience
Michael Hennon, CEO – The Payroll Department
The Human Resources space is constantly evolving, and organizations need technology tools to keep up and save them time. Successful businesses focus on creating employee experiences that matter and resonate with each member of their workforce. This session will focus recent HR survey data and four elements:
– What do employees need and want
– What is a good employee experience
– Tools to enhance professional development
– Tools to manage rewards and recognition
Carrots: Incentives for Success
Aaron Gore
An overview of the principles behind how humans are incentivized in the pursuit of goals, and how best to use those insights in the business landscape. Attendees will learn the basics of building compensation and bonus structures that create the incentives you want, while avoiding the perverse and misguided incentives that you don’t. Moreover, they will learn how to apply these same techniques in the broader landscape, helping everyone reach the sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and financial achievement they desire.
Navigating the Legal Waters of 2025
Mike Drumm, Attorney/Founder – BeerAttorney.com
This presentation will guide craft beer manufacturers through the complex legal landscape of 2025, focusing on key issues such as lease renewals, non-compete agreements, hop contracts, and the legal intricacies of buying and selling brewing equipment. The session aims to equip attendees with the knowledge to navigate these legal challenges effectively, ensuring compliance and protecting their business interests.
Human Resources and Hiring Best Practices
Anne Abrahamson, Director of Operations – Cerebral Brewing
Micah D. Dawson, Partner – Fischer & Phillips LLP
This presentation will cover hiring best practices – from both a legal requirements perspective and a brewery implementation perspective. The legal side will be covered by a representative from Fisher Phillips. Best practices on the brewery-side include evaluating job descriptions, ensuring compliance with Colorado job posting and pay transparency requirements, and posting on a variety of job boards.
Updates from the Liquor Enforcement Division (LED)
Michelle Stone-Principato, Director – Liquor Enforcement Division
Joseph Gaffney, Policy Advisor – Liquor Enforcement Division
This presentation will cover the new State rules that just went into effect that impact craft breweries. Specific topics will include: Retail Liquor Store Educational Classes, Non-Contiguous Locations, Biennial Renewals, and Festival Permits. They will also cover what to expect from inspections and investigations. There will be time for a Q&A at the end of the session.
Updates from the Liquor Enforcement Division (LED)
Robert “Chas” Runco, Attorney – Runco & Profitt, P.C.
Chas will be providing additional clarification on the regulatory and legislative changes from this year as presented by the LED, and how they affect your brewery’s operations. We will also discuss regulatory concerns arising from current market trends, such as shared warehouse space, contract and AP brewing, and festival permits.
More Beer Money: How Breweries can Offer Free Financial Wellness to Employees and Community
Marshall Moore, Community Development Advocate – On Tap Credit Union
A discussion of Personal Financial practices that are simple to implement and that lead to a better relationship with our money. Short discussion of how breweries can offer this, but mostly will focus on empowering the attendees themselves to begin bettering their own relationship with money.
In terms of tools, we’ll show the “Find Your Cash~Flow” System and how to use it. Beginner level, but also meant to be “Edutainment” – education that’s also entertaining!