This past weekend I attended the Craft Brewers Conference, hosted for the first time in San Francisco.  Media badge in hand, I enter the conference with a dual agenda. As a local beer and food blogger, I was excited to see how discussions on beer and food were being explored and pushed forward.  If these are the discussions on what would be happening next, I hoped to pull out trends and themes that illuminate the industry.

Then there is my other agenda: I’m starting a brewery and this was one of my first peeks behind the curtain, into the world of professionals that I aim to join.  There is a lot of beer knowledge at this conference, and I wanted to tap into it.

So, what did i find?

This conference was, well, a professional conference.  Not unlike tech related conferences I’ve experienced in the past, it was the usual maze of Hilton conference rooms, security checking badges, hectic conflicting schedules, overstimulating expo floors, and beer stations pouring free samples of craft beer from around the country.

OK, so that last one does show where the beer folks embrace the product of their industry.  But like any other conference, it overflowed with insider jargon and technical specifications.

Actually, just like other conferences I’ve been to in the past, the best sessions fell into one of two categories:  Hands on experience with specific technical expertise, and inspirational talks.

On the technical side, I attended one talk focusing on American Hops that were developed as replacements for German Hallertauer Hops. The execution of the session focused on samples.

After an overview of the varietals in question, samples of beer were dispensed through the audience.  We tried two versions of beer, each made with the real German thing, and then a second version that highlighted an American clone.  Moonlight, Sierra Nevada and New Glarus all contributed samples.  The speakers brought graphs demonstrating the the flavor characteristics of each beer, but the samples really captured the point: these american clones are their own beast, and can’t be easily used to reconstruct an existing beer.

Other session had more of an inspirational tact.  A panel featuring the minds behind Cantillon and Russian River featured stories and anecdotal evidence (more wood!) than hard and fast numbers. Samples of a five year old Cantillon were passed around (it was complex, dry and VERY musty.)   Seasoned and new brewers alike packed the main hall until it was standing room only for this session. How much was learned?  It’s hard to say, but most seemed happy to bask in the reflected glow of such talents.

A panel on food seemed to split the difference, with a mix of specific advice for constructing menus, lists of favorite pairings, and a lengthy discussion on vegetarian meal options at beer dinners. While the speakers had interesting points and perspectives (including the newly installed chef at Monk’s Kettle Adam Dulye.)  But the session would have really benefitted from food and beer pairings on hand, to demonstrate flavor combinations and contrasts, and explore specific, experiential details.

All of the sessions thrived on Q&A sessions, with brewers offering questions and opinions on the topic at hand. In fact, the information sharing seemed to go quite freely, with very little concern that a brewer was giving away any “secret sauce” or trade secret that a competitor would than run away with.   The social aspects and professional networking was present everywhere.  Beer being an ideal social lubricant helps.

Of course, there were parties, after parties, and after after parties.  It seemed Friday night you couldn’t take five steps without finding a pack of brewers wandering around downtown, exploring San Francisco. Divey clubs like Azul Lounge were transformed into havens for sour beer lovers with just a few jockey boxes. A hospitality suite on the top floor of the hilton offered great views and a seemingly unlimited amount of beer.  And if you haven’t tried wandering around the Science Academy’s Aquarium display with a craft beer in hand, I highly recommend it.

Then after a night of partying, I’d drag my hungover self back downtown for another session under halogen lights in an ugly conference room and start all over again.

 

So, how to sum it all up?  In the end, it’s still “just” a professional conference, although that’s a label greatly helped by the free beer. I often felt like an outsider peering it – it’s a community I badly want to be a part of, but for now, am still a tourist, trying to pass myself off as one of them (my overgrown beard helps.)  Assuming the ABC eventually does approve Almanac license to sell beer, next year it may be a different story, and I’ll trade my media badge for a brewery badge.  But I suspect that won’t change the core value of these get togethers: the panels and sessions act as a jumping off point, but the real work happens late at night, over a beer, as two brewers solve each other’s technical problems, and batch a plan to brew a collaboration together.

 

 

One final note: one of my favorite sessions was a talk from Dr Charlie Bamforth from UC Davis.  Luckily for you, you don’t have to be a brewer to get a peek inside his head.  A lengthy talk he gave at Google is available online for free.  I highly recommend cracking open a beer, settling down and hearing him speak – it’s an hour well spent.

 

Tags: cbc2011, craft brewers conference

This entry was posted on Monday, March 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.