Media Release

Updated inaugural Australian Craft Brewers’ Conference programme

15 April 2014

The Craft Beer Industry Association is today happy to release the updated programme for its second annual Australian Craft Brewers’ Conference. (Download it here.)

The CBIA Australian Craft Brewers’ Conference, to be held on Wednesday the 21st and Thursday the 22nd of May, will be a highlight of this year’s Good Beer Week in Melbourne.

The venue will be the Melbourne Arts Centre’s ANZ Pavilion, located at 100 St Kilda Road, just a short walk from Flinders Street station and Federation Square.

On launching the programme CBIA Chair Dave Bonighton spoke of his excitement for this year’s event.

“For ACBC 2014 we have set the bar high for ourselves. We have secured a great new venue and the programme is top class. Our committee has spent many months working on this, trying to find ways to improve on what we did last year and we think we have done that,” said Bonighton.

“Chief among these changes is the introduction of a keynote address to kick of proceedings. We are extremely fortunate that industry pioneer and legend Phil Sexton has agreed to deliver the inaugural ACBC Keynote,” said Bonighton.

“Our industry owes Phil a debt of gratitude for the work he did in establishing craft beer in Australia and we look forward to hearing his views on where we came from and where he sees us heading.”

“We have also included more multi-person presentations this year in order to increase the variety of voices being heard,” said Bonighton.

ACBC 2014 continues its commitment to offering a diversity of content that is appropriate to all sectors of the industry.

Technical brewing presentations will include hour-long panels on hop and malt innovations and a presentation on yeast by the head brewer at the world famous Weihenstephan Brewery, Frank Peifer.

Industry leaders in the area of sales and marketing will present on ­topics including managing relationships with large retailers, exporting and social media.

The interactive panels that generated so much discussion last year will also return for the final session of each day.

Another innovation for this year’s conference is a breakout room that will be the venue for a series of roundtable discussions.

“These will be limited to about a dozen people and will enable much more detailed discussions about some niche areas of our industry,” said Bonighton.

Also returning will be the ACBC Tradeshow, presenting attendees with an excellent opportunity to interact with a number of industry suppliers.

Tickets for the CBIA Australian Craft Brewers’ Conference will be $200 (+ booking fee) for CBIA members and $350 (+ booking fee) for non-members. This includes entry both days and catered lunches.

Tickets are on sale today via the Good Beer Week website.

Australian Craft Brewers’ Conference programme

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY

8.00 REGISTRATION

9.30 WELCOMEDAVE BONIGHTON: CBIA Chair10.00 THE THOUGHTS OF A CRAFT BEER PIONEERPHIL SEXTON

10.30 BRANDING CRAFT: AN OVERVIEW OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHDR TORGEIR ALETI

11.00 MORNING TEA

11.30 THE BIG 3 OF LAB ANALYSISWARREN PAWSEY: Little CreaturesDR PETER ALDRED: Federation University AustraliaPAUL HOLGATE: Holgate Brewhouse

12.00 THE FUTURE OF MALTDOUG MICHAEL: Gladfield MaltPAUL RIGONI: Barett Burston MaltingROB WICKS: Joe White MaltingsMODERATOR: CHUCK HAHN: Malt Shovel

1:00 LUNCH

2:00 KNOW YOUR NUMBERS ANDREW BAIRD: Crowe Horwath AustraliaTRENT ADAMIS: Crowe Horwath Australia

2.30 SOCIAL MEDIA: STRATEGY THAT LEADS TO ACTIONANGIE BRADBURY: Dig & Fish

3.00AFTERNOON TEA

3.30BREWERY START UPS: HOW TO MAKE IT A DREAM COME TRUE NOT A NIGHTMAREMATT HOUGHTON: BoatrockerJAYNE LEWIS: Two Birds BrewingIAN ATKINS: Young Henrys

4.00DRAUGHT QUALITY: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOMBRAD MURRAY: BrewtiqueLACHIE MACBEAN: GrainfedSIOBHAN KERIN

4.45 FINISH

THURSDAY 22 MAY

9.15WELCOME BACK

9.20THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF PINK BOOKS SCHOLARSHIP WINNERSJAYNE LEWIS: Pink Boots Australia

9.30EXPORTING: ARE WE READY?CAM HINES: Mountain Goat

10.00YEAST MANAGEMENT: HANDLE WITH CAREFRANK PEIFER: Weihenstephan

10.30PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYSROSS JURISICH: Stone & WoodIAN KINGHAM: WoolworthsBEN KRAUS: Bridge Road Brewers

11.00MORNING TEA

11.30HOW TO SELL CRAFT BEER TO THE UNDECIDED?TOM DELMONT: Mountain GoatSTEVE FINNEY: Feral

12.00TROUBLE BREWING: THE KEY REASONS WHY SAFETY NEEDS TO BE YOUR FIRST INGREDIENT JESS FLETCHER: Hall & Wilcox Lawyers

12.30 THE FUTURE IS IN THE CANMATT BEBE: Mornington Peninsula BreweryNEAL CAMERON: The Australian Brewery

1.00 LUNCH

2.00UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATORY AND QUALITY ISSUES OF GROWLERSMAL BARTLETT: National Measurement InstituteCARALINE HILL: ATORICHARD ADAMSON: Young Henry

2.30 THE FUTURE OF HOPSOWEN JOHNSTON: Hop Products AustraliaDOUG DONELAN: New Zealand HopsMODERATOR: BRENDAN VARIS: Feral

3.30 AFTERNOON TEA

4.00 OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND THE FUTURE OF CRAFT BEER IN AUSTRALIA PETE WILLIS: Hawthorn BrewingGRANT DOW: True SouthSTEVE BROCKMANBLAIR HAYDEN: The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel

4.45 FINISH