Saturday, November 4, 2023 NanoCon Online Schedule
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Day 2 • Saturday, November 4, 2023
(All times are Eastern)
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
UNDERSTANDING TAPROOM CUSTOMER MOTIVATIONS – BUSINESS OPERATIONS & SALES
Michael Varda does market research exclusively dedicated to craft beer, and he’ll be discussing a targeted rundown for small-scale craft breweries about basic types of taproom customers. Understanding these taproom customer clusters, and their particular motivations can result in tweaks to your own taproom marketing and efforts so you can boost your sales. So find out based on the latest hard data who you serve at your taproom and what they want.
MICHAEL VARDA
FOUNDER, CRAFT BEER ADVISORY SERVICES
DIALING IN SOURNESS: pH vs. TA – BREWERY OPERATIONS
pH might not be the most effective method for measuring the perceived sourness when brewing beer. Due to various acid strengths and the buffering capacity of different worts, titratable acidity (TA) is the true test. Measuring titratable acidity is an incredibly useful and practical way to really discover the true sourness of your beer. TA measures free hydrogen ions and hydrogen atoms bound to organic acids, meaning that the reading directly correlates to the amount of acid that has been produced during fermentation. Learn more from Omega Yeast’s Innovation Brewer, Chris Bernardo.
CHRIS BERNARDO
INNOVATION BREWER, OMEGA YEAST
1 BARREL OR 5? DETERMINING START-UP BREWERY SIZE – START-UPS
How big or small a brewing system do you want to have in place at your planned brewery? That’s a pretty big question to answer and there are lots of factors to consider. How much beer do you want to produce? How much beer do you think you can sell? How often do you want to be brewing each week? Are there space limitations for your brewhouse? Walk through these questions and more with John Blichmann who helps craft breweries figure out how big or small a system they should have in place on day one.
JOHN BLICHMANN
FOUNDER, BLICHMANN ENGINEERING
12:10 – 12:40 p.m.
Q&A WITH NANO VENDORS – You can check in live with your choice of top craft brewing vendors to get your questions answered about Nano-sized equipment, gear, ingredients, and supplies.
12:50 – 1:50 PM
USING A MALT COA TO BREW BETTER BEER – BREWERY OPERATIONS
Your Malt COA is a valuable brewing tool if you know how to use the listed numbers. It can be a roadmap to maximize your malt during a brew day and that will result in better beer. Ashton Lewis, who works for Rahr Malting and BSG in addition to being BYO’s Technical Editor, will walk you through Malt COAs so you can understand the key numbers to focus on to get a better handle on the malt you are about to use. Then he’ll give you tips how to translate those numbers into actual brewing procedures and strategies in the brewhouse. You’ll leave with a better understanding how to study your Malt COAs to come up with brewing plans to get the most from your malt.
ASHTON LEWIS
TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND TRAINING MANAGER, BREWERS SUPPLY GROUP
TECHNICAL EDITOR, BREW YOUR OWN MAGAZINE
BUILD A BETTER BREWERY BUSINESS PLAN – START-UPS
There are plenty of templates out there for creating a business plan. But the brewing business has its own specific needs and specialized considerations to keep in mind when you convert your dreams into a potential brewery launch. From niche financial metrics to brewery benchmark numbers, brewery numbers expert Audra Gaiziunas helps in-planning breweries write better business plans. Learn the keys to keep in mind to build a strong and accurate business blueprint to help your new brewery move off the drawing board successfully.
AUDRA GAIZIUNAS
OWNER, BREWED FOR HER LEDGER, LLC
STRATEGIC EMAIL MARKETING FOR BREWERIES – BUSINESS OPERATIONS & SALES
Using email strategically can be a cost-effective way to boost beer sales, brand awareness, customer loyalty, and business in the taproom. But the key word is strategic – how much do you send, when do you send, and how do you even best build an email list for your brewery? In this session you’ll learn how to best use email effectively to build your business from Julie Rhodes who helps craft breweries with their marketing and sales strategies.
JULIE RHODES
OWNER AND OPERATOR, NOT YOUR HOBBY MARKETING SOLUTIONS
2 – 3 PM
NANO BUSINESS TRENDS PANEL
Listen to three craft beer industry veterans discuss trends specific to the Nano segment from the business and sales side.
3:10 – 4:10 PM
BRANDING FOR START-UP BREWERIES – START-UPS
Branding is essentially telling your brewery’s story. But with a start-up, where do you begin? How do you prioritize what you need to do with your brand’s identity before you even pour a drop of beer? How do you craft a story and then translate that into a cohesive and marketable visual presence? Branding expert Taylor Seidler of SeaThirst Creative will help you make sure your first steps with your brewery’s visual identity are the right ones and will offer a roadmap for branding success throughout your brewery’s life.
TAYLOR SEIDLER
CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER, SEATHIRST CREATIVE
PITFALLS OF BUYING AND SELLING A BREWERY – BUSINESS OPERATIONS & SALES
We’re continuing to see consolidation in the craft beer industry, especially among independent breweries. Some people are looking to sell, and some are looking to buy. And, right now, it may be cheaper to buy a brewery than to start or build one from scratch. But there are some real dangers to consider when you’re looking at a transaction. From financing to due diligence to closing the transaction – it’s not as simple as you might think. Don’t make a mistake that can tank the business. Attorney John Szymankiewicz specializes in craft brewery law, and he’ll walk through the overall process, from Letter of Intent to Closing, and highlight the risks you should consider or mitigate on both the buyer and seller side of selling a brewery.
JOHN SZYMANKIEWICZ
MANAGING PARTNER, BEER LAW CENTER
STAYING ON TOP OF BREWERY MAINTENANCE – BREWERY OPERATIONS
You’ve already made the big investment in your brewhouse and fermenters and are using this equipment to make great beer. But you really need to regularly maintain your brewing equipment for the sake of your beer quality and your dollar investment. Learn what regular maintenance you need to be doing – and how often – to take care of your valuable equipment so it is always ready to go for your next brew day.
DAN RUSSO
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, OAKSHIRE BREWING
4:20 – 4:50 PM
Q&A WITH NANO VENDORS – You can check in live with your choice of top craft brewing vendors to get your questions answered about Nano-sized equipment, gear, ingredients, and supplies.
5 – 6 PM
ACCURATE SHORT & LONG-TERM BREWERY FINANCIAL FORECASTS – BUSINESS OPERATIONS & SALES
Understanding your brewery’s key financial metrics will help you set goals, make more-informed decisions, and achieve better results. You simply can’t accurately look forward without truly understanding the numbers behind the present and past. Learn about how to build better financial forecasts for your brewery for both the short and long-term with craft brewery accounting guru Audra Gaiziunas. She will go over and clearly define what you should be keeping an eye on to track the financial well-being of your brewery so you can make forecasts based on hard numbers and facts resulting in a stronger overall business.
AUDRA GAIZIUNAS
OWNER, BREWED FOR HER LEDGER, LLC
KEYS TO BETTER BREWERY PRODUCTION PLANNING – BREWERY OPERATIONS
Make your production brew days less stressful. Let’s look at ways to improve your brewing production workflow with everything from ingredient and brewery prep before your brew day to putting good standard operating procedures and systems in place so you can improve your beer’s quality and consistency. Brewery consultant Ryan Hansen will show you how to run your production more smoothly by sharing the best practices he’s learned from breweries across the United States.
RYAN HANSEN
BREWERY CONSULTANT/FOUNDER, BIG POP BREWING CONSULTING
BREWERY LAW 101 – START-UPS
One of the biggest blind spots and areas of concern for new breweries starting up is getting a grasp on all the legal paperwork required for both a small business and especially a small business producing and selling alcohol. Federal, state, and local permits and licenses need to be completed as well as a host of other legal considerations as you get ready to open your doors. We’re lucky to have Matthew McLaughlin, an attorney with years of experience helping start-up craft breweries, lead this seminar so you can have a better overview on the legal side of your business well before you ever pour your first pint.
MATTHEW McLAUGHLIN
FOUNDER, McLAUGHLIN, PC
CEO, FERTILE GROUND BEER CO.