Steve Hindy

The Craft Beer Industry Association, the national body representing Australia’s craft brewers, is proud to release the details of the third annual Australian Craft Brewers Conference.

The conference will be held on Wednesday the 20th and Thursday the 21st of May in Melbourne and will again be one of the key events of Good Beer Week.

“We are committed to growing the Australian Craft Brewers Conference into an event of international significance within the craft beer industry and this year we are working very hard to take it to another level in terms of programme, speakers and venue,” said CBIA director Brendan Varis.

“This all feeds back into the CBIA’s commitment to provide to the industry the necessary knowledge to help maintain and improve the quality of product it produces.”

The continued growth of the conference means another move to a larger venue in 2015. This year it will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre located at Melbourne’s South Wharf and just a short walk from the CBD.

The move to a larger venue has enable organisers to implement the long held goal of introducing tailored programme streams. One will focus on Brewery Operations and the other Sales and Management.

“This will allow delegates to have more control in creating their own conference experience,” said Brendan Varis.

“We hope it will encourage employers to send along more of their staff from all areas of the business in the knowledge that they will be able to concentrate on gaining knowledge in their areas of responsibility.”

Some of the programme highlights from the Brewery Operations stream include Denis Gayte from the US hop giant Yakima Chief looking the US hop market, a look at building sensory panels and a session exploring the intricacies of brewing saisons.

Highlights for the Sales and Management stream include Mazen Hajjar from Hawkers Beer giving his unique insights on running breweries in two countries, a panel looking at how to source growth funding for breweries and insights from a top PR person on how small businesses can better manage their public relations.

Over the past two years the Australian Craft Brewers Conference has established itself as a key event on the Australian brewing calendar. This year organisers are looking to engage with the New Zealand industry as well.

“Our industries have a strong relationship and we believe that the information presented at the conference is relevant on both sides of the Tasman,” said Varis.

The 2015 programme features presentations from key New Zealand industry figures Martin Townshend, Søren Erikson and Jos Ruffell.

In a sign of the conference’s growing international stature, conference organisers are pleased to announce that have been able to secure Brooklyn Brewery Co-founder, Chair and President Steve Hindy to deliver this year’s keynote address.

Along with being at the vanguard of the craft beer movement in the US for over 25 years with Brooklyn Brewery, Hindy has also been heavily involved with both the US Brewers Association and the Beer Institute. This enables him to bring a unique perspective on both the history and the future of the craft brewing movement.

The ACBC Trade Expo returns in 2015 and with over 20 exhibitors locked in and more to come it promises to be bigger and better this year, further cementing its place as Australia’s premier forum for suppliers to interact with the industry. This year will also see the introduction of a series of special presentations curated by the exhibitors each afternoon following the day’s main programme.

In another innovation for 2015 organisers are introducing a one-day symposium aimed at improving the knowledge of the on-premise trade. Titled “The Art of Selling Craft” this is sure to be an event not to be missed by anybody that is serious about selling craft beer on-premise. The programme and tickets for this will be released on the 25th of March.

The programme will be launched and early bird tickets go on sale at midday the 18th of March.

For further information please contact CBIA Executive Officer Chris McNamara on 0409 836 714 or chris.mcnamara@australiancraftbeer.org.au

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