With Spring rolling around, it feels right to be back at the Craft Brewers Conference. We joined our community of brewers in Nashville with an expectation of awesome music, community reconnection, and education. We were not disappointed. This year’s conference felt more like a CBC of old - nightly events packed to the brim with jovial comradery and some in-depth education that resonated with our team. Here is what we took away from this years conference:

Deeper Dives into Sustainability

We loved all of the conversations surrounding sustainability at this year’s CBC - one that caught our imagination especially was centered around Kernza, a perennial wheatgrass. Kernza puts down really deep roots, which allow it to be a huge benefit for overall soil health for farmers. Leaving it in the ground for three years while harvesting it for use as a sudo raw wheat or in pasta means farmers get the benefit of a harvest, while also soil health!

This project is being spearheaded by Patagonia and is one we’ve kept our eyes on for a while, so announcing a nation-wide collaboration brew is exciting and features a few of our customers - Hopworks Brewing, Aslan Brewing, and Topa Topa! We’re excited to see this new grain and hopeful for the breeding efforts to get larger kernels, which would allow us to malt it and further unlock its potential!

Scientific Research

During the rapid researcher presentations on Monday morning, we learned about a lot of great projects. One was from our friends at Montana State University who shared data on the mineral content of terroir contributing to the mineral content in the malt and how it can impact all sorts of things downstream - from extract to beta glucans! The second was around infusion malts, where flavorings are added in the steeping process. After the talk, they shared some of the initial beers made with these products and they certainly were a new take on where to get flavor from and for brewers to play with.

Craft Beer is… OK? Maybe?

Bart Watson gave his annual state of the industry presentation and really dug into where beer is growing. Beer overall is down, but Craft Beer is up as a percentage of total beer. That’s not a great spot, but it isn’t bad. The big growth in craft is coming from taprooms and pubs, basically smaller breweries that serve everything over their own bar.

It mirrored what we’ve seen with our customer base, our customers are typically smaller folks that serve their beer over their own bar and can justify spending a bit more on their ingredients since their margins aren’t as tight as folks in grocery store shelves. That’s not to say our message doesn’t resonate with those folks, they just have to really buy in and promote “sustainable and local” from a full brand perspective.

Between these presentations and conversations we had while we were in Nashville, there is a lot to think about and keep working on. It’s refreshing to be in a place where everyone is there to grow, learn, and meet like minded people in the same industry. We can’t wait until the next one!