Beer Now Conference: Previously the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference

Beer Bloggers, Writers, Social Media Influencers, and Communicators

Agenda

The 2019 Beer Now Conference will take place June 6 – 8 in Great Falls, Montana. We will be adding an Agenda here soon. Please add your email address to the Stay Updated box to the right and find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Previous years’ agendas and speakers can be found in our Archives.

All sessions will take place in the Rockies Ballroom unless otherwise stated.

Wednesday, June 5

1:00 PM Overnight Excursion – Visit Helena Montana: Join us for a pre-conference excursion to Helena, Montana, home to four breweries, including the “Small Brewery of the Year” for 2018, according the the Brewers Association.

“In Helena, we like to say that there’s a trail at the end of every street downtown, and a microbrewery (or distillery) at the end of every trail.”

Breweries in Helena:

Thursday, June 6

2:00 PM Drop off from Helena, MT, pre-con excursion.

2:30 PM Depart for Malteurop from Hotel Lobby

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM Adventure to Malteurop: Enjoy an afternoon at the world’s leading malt producer and hear presentations from the Barley Procurement Manager and Plant Manager.  Roundtrip transportation included as well as heavy hors d’oeuvres.  This is included in your conference registration, but pre-signup is required for bus numbers.  Signup here.

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Optional Great Falls Craft Beer Olympics (Downtown Great Falls): Great Falls Craft Beer Week is hosting this new event this year!  They’re closing the street and having an Olympic Style Block Party!  Two person teams will compete to beat the clock on several challenging activities like keg rolls, tray carries, and of course a stein hold challenge, plus more.  Participation in the Beer Olympics is optional and not included in your conference registration.  Uber and Lyft are your suggested transportation options.  Register for the Beer Olympics here!

Dinner on Your Own – suggested restaurants: Roadhouse Diner, Smoked BBQ, Fire Artisan Pizza, The Celtic Cowboy, Enbar, 5th and Wine, The Block, Electric City Coffee Bar & Bistro, Jakers Bar & Grill, Montana Club, Big Mouth BBQ, The Mighty Mo, Black Eagle Brewery/The Pit Stop, Dante’s Creative Cuisine, Clark & Lewie’s, Taco Del Sol, Burger Bunker, Bar-S Supper Club, Borrie’s Supper Club

Friday, June 7

Breakfast on Your Own – Coffee at Registration sponsored by CraftBeer.com

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Registration & Beer Tradeshow (Prefunction Area): Be sure to explore and learn from our sponsors!  Participating sponsors include:

9:00 AM Conference Welcome: Jacob Bash, Director of Business Development at Visit Great Falls, Dave Cunningham, Director of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, and Ryan Newhouse, Zephyr Conferences’ Beer Marketing Director will welcome you to Great Falls and the fabulous state of Montana!  Plus, you’ll learn what’s so great about their home state!

9:30 – 10:00 AM Introduction – Julia Herz of the Brewers Association: Julia has provided the introduction on every single BBC since its inception and always offers a dynamic presentation of the current state of craft beer and how that is pertinent to beer bloggers.

10:00 – 11:00 AM All-Group Session – Better Website, Better Influencer: Amy Dardis, 406 Marketing & Design, Gayle Fisher, Visit Central Montana, Tia Troy, Lightning Bug Public Relations. Moderated by Rebecca Engum, Visit Great Falls: Want to get noticed, both on the web and for press trips? Hear from marketing expert, Amy Dardis, about making your website the best it can be so your blog, personal site, podcast, or channel gets found. We’ll also hear from Gayle Fisher who has been organizing fully- and partially-supported Press Trips (aka. Fam Trips) for two decades. And rounding out the panel is Tia Troy, a tourism and branding expert who will explain how to consider your work, and yourself, as your brand. If you’ve been curious how to improve your site, your professional reputation, and land a press trip, here’s the session for you. 

11:00 – 11:15 AM Break

11:15 – 12:15 PM All-Group Session with the NBWA: The U.S. Beer Market: Past, Present and Future: The beer industry has changed dramatically. Brewers, distributors and retailers continue to react to consumers’ demand for innovation in beer while looking quality and affordability. Existing breweries are merging, setting up taprooms and, in some cases, selling to larger players. Distributors are diversifying ways to get beer to a rapidly changing retail market. National Beer Wholesalers Association Chief Economist Lester Jones will examine where the industry has been and where it is headed. He will also help attendees understand the data that shape stories on the growing alcohol beverage marketplace. He will present compelling data and insights to help beer writers better understand the policy, economic and demographic factors shaping the industry in 2019 and beyond.

12:15 – 1:15 PM Sponsored Lunch by MacKenzie River Pizza: Enjoy tasty lunch bites from a local staple that uses Montana wheat in their pizza crust!  Plus try some of their Drift Boat Amber that is brewed by the Great Northern Brewing Company.

1:15 – 1:45 PM All-Group Session with the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee: In this half hour you’ll learn why Great Falls, Montana, is arguably the epicenter of most of the beer in the United States, in terms of producing barley for breweries of all sizes.

1:45 – 2:30 PM Keynote: Josh Noel, Author of Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch and How Craft Beer Became Big Business: Josh Noel has written about beer for the Chicago Tribune since 2009. His book won “best book” from the North American Guild of Beer Writers in 2018. Josh is a career newspaper journalist, previously covering crime, travel, education and sports.

2:30 – 3:30 PM All-Group Session: Made in Montana | Ryan Pfeifle, Farm Power Malt; Karl DeJong, Gallatin Valley Malt Co.; TJ Carlson, Black Eagle Brewing; Tom Britz, Glacier Hops Ranch (Moderator) – Montana plays a central role to the brewing industry, as we will have seen on our tour of MaltEurop. However, the local barley farmers, hops growers, brewers, and maltsters are proving innovators in the local beer scene. Join us for this panel of Montana-made producers for a behind-the-scenes look into what really goes into a Montana-made beer. Moderated by Tom Britz, creator of Hopzoil and National Chairman of the Hops Growers of America’s Small Grower Council.

3:30 – 3:45 PM Break

3:45 – 4:45 PM All-Group Session with Chimay: Join Chimay, a producer of world class beer and cheese, for a beer and cheese pairing all while learning the history of Bieres de Chimay and Trappist Breweries, as well as how Chimay’s charter classifies them as a charitable foundation.  Did we mention two of the cheeses for this pairing are actually washed in beer during production?  This session is not to be missed!

4:45 – 6:45 PM Beer Expo: The Beer Expo is your opportunity to taste beers and meet representatives from all of our sponsors:

6:45 PM Depart for Dinner at Jeremiah Johnson Brewery (Depart from Hotel Lobby): Enjoy a Talk & Tell Dinner at one of Downtown Great Falls most well-known craft breweries!  You’ll get to enjoy dinner a sit-down dinner in the production area of the brewery while tasting Jeremiah Johnson beer and other local MT favorites.  After dinner walk around and meet with the brewers, owners, local distributors and raw material representatives to gather intel for a great post-con blog post!

9:00 – 11:00 PM Optional Hop On Craft Beer Tour (Downtown Great Falls): The Hop On Craft Beer Tour will feature 18 different locations around the Electric City. Each location will be hosting a Montana brewery for a Tap Takeover. Enjoy a self-guided walking tour of the downtown locations and then catch the bus at the The Club Cigar and let us drive you around to the other locations. Don’t forget to collect stamps in your passport along your way.  Check out a location map here (scroll down).

Saturday, June 8

Breakfast on Your Own – Coffee at Registration sponsored by CraftBeer.com

8:30 AM – 2:30 PM Registration & Beer Tradeshow: Be sure to explore and learn from our sponsors!  Participating sponsors include:

9:00 – 11:00 AM All-Group Session: Four 30-minute sessions

  • Never Write a “Brewery Profile” Story Again | Jess Baker, Editor-in-Chief of CraftBeer.com: Have you heard about the new dog-friendly brewery that has yoga on Saturdays? How about the brewery that has a Wednesday run club and a great IPA? Jess is here to talk about why she cringes when “brewery profile” pitches land in her inbox, and what she wishes freelancers would pitch her instead.
  • Podcasting in the Craft Beer World: An Untapped Opportunity | Chris Luecke, Pubcast Worldwide: Is podcasting the craft beer industry’s next media frontier? While a handful of beer-centric shows already exist, all signs point to podcasting being a medium that will only continue to grow for the foreseeable future. In this session, Chris Luecke – host of the international beer podcast ‘Pubcast Worldwide’ – will discuss why craft beer media and marketers should seriously consider podcasting as a platform, and the tools and tactics you’ll need to get started and captivate your audience.
  • Don’t be Afraid to Diversify as a Beer Writer | Jeff Cioletti, DrinkableGlobe.com: Just as you do as a beer drinker occasionally drinking spirits and other beverages. You can still maintain your identity as a beer writer, first and foremost. In this presentation, Jeff will also touch on his personal experience writing books that have covered everything from beer to sake.
  • Re-imagining Beer: Crafting a New Voice for the Industry | Zachary Rosen, Beeroretical Technologies: Through examples and a little storytelling, Re-imagining Beer: Crafting a new voice for the industry, will guide the audience through an experience that equips them with tools to develop engaging stories around beer. Zach Rosen will describe how to cross pollinate personal influences, traditional media, and new technologies to form innovative and unique expressions for any medium. By weaving a strong voice into one’s work, we can collectively push the creative limits of beer and change how the world thinks of it.

11:00 – 11:10 AM Break

11:10 – 12:10 PM Three Editors Walk into a Bar: Q&A with Beer Media Leaders | (Panel Discussion) Jill Redding, The New Brewer; Sarah Freeman, October; Kate Bernot, The Takeout: Join us for the an in-depth hour of hearing insights into creating content and writing about beer online and in print. Our panel is comprised of three leaders in beer media, each bringing their unique experiences, expertise, and viewpoints to the Beer Now audience. Moderated by Ryan Newhouse.

12:10 – 1:40 PM Cheeses of Europe: Beer and Cheese Pairing Lunch, led by Julia Herz of CraftBeer.com and Cara Warren: Julia is the Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association, co-author of the free CraftBeer.com Beer & Food Course, as well co-author of Beer Pairing (Voyageur Press). She is a life-long homebrewer, BJCP beer judge and Certified Cicerone®. She is also well-known as the dynamic voice of craft beer.  Born and brewed in Brooklyn, Cara is a CCP (certified cheese professional) curd nerd. With over 15 years experience, from Murray’s Cheese to current Head of East Coast Sales for a French dairy cooperative, she knows her cheese! Cara relishes the opportunity to pair EU cheeses with delicious craft brews. You’ll want to download this app, if you don’t already have it. iTunes | Google Play  Cara and Julia will walk attendees through a six-course beer and cheese pairing, followed by a plated lunch.  Beers graciously donated by these Montana Brewers Association members:

1:40 – 2:30 PM Lightning Talks: Following on the success of previous events, we will have 8 of your fellow attendees get up on stage to deliver five-minute, Ignite-style “Lightning Talks”. With 20 slides each advancing automatically on 15-second intervals, speakers have to be on the top of their game to deliver fun, informative, often hilarious talks. Hear from these attendees about these topics:

2:30 PM Depart for Montana Brew Fest / Live Beer Social! 

3:00 – 4:00 PM Live Beer Social! Sponsored by Montana Brewers Association (Mansfield Convention Center)

Participating Breweries:

4:00 – 6:00 PM VIP at Montana Brew Fest (Mansfield Convention Center)

6:00 PM Dinner sponsored by Mighty Mo Brewing (Mansfield Convention Center): Enjoy dinner Food Truck Style and relish the opportunity to sample and really dig into the Brew Fest – without having to leave.  Each attendee will receive a ticket to redeem at any of the Food Trucks at Montana Brew Fest.

Evening on your own – The Brew Fest and events at local bars last until 2:00 AM

Sunday, June 9

Breakfast on Your Own

7:30 AM Post-Con Excursion with Discover Kalispell: Kalispell is nestled in northwest Montana and in the heart of the Flathead Valley. It’s also home to some of the state’s newest craft breweries. Here’s a shortlist of what makes Kalispell a perfect excursion destination:

  • Home to Kalispell Brewing Co.; Bias Brewing; Sacred Waters Brewing Co. (opened Nov. 2018); SunRift Beer Co.
  • Kalispell is only 15 minutes north of Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake by surface area west of the Mississippi River.
  • It’s 15 minutes south of Whitefish, Montana, home to Great Northern Brewing Co. and Bonsai Brewing.
  • Kalispell is the “Gateway to Glacier National Park.” The West Glacier entrance to the Park is only 45 minutes northeast, passing through Columbia Falls (home to Backslope Brewing).

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