MBG Con Goes Virtual - Offering Three Days of Online Learning

Technical Brewing, Business & Communication | Oct 5, 6 & 7

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- (9/16/2020) The Mass Brewers Guild, a non-profit trade association dedicated to protecting craft breweries across Massachusetts, today announces that MBG Con, the organization’s 3rd annual technical brewing and business conference, will shift to an online model starting Monday, Oct. 5 and will run through Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. 

A lineup of renowned experts, including Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing Co., Matt Stinchfield, Safety Ambassador of the Brewers Association, Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association, Jim Koch founder of Boston Beer and Dan Kenary, founder of Mass Bay Brewing Co., will share best practices, hard lessons learned, and strategies for survival during these challenging times. 

This year’s conference will have three main areas of focus; technical brewing, business, and communication, covering everything from SOPs to bookkeeping, paid advertising strategies and yeast management. Attendees can choose the day, or track, that best suits their role within the industry, or they can attend the entire conference. 

“It’s been a difficult few months for the brewing community, to say the least,” says Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Mass Brewers Guild. “Despite the fact that we all can’t be together -- learning, listening, and being inspired by fellow brewery owners and colleagues is the best way to survive this pandemic. Even now, with all of the heightened competition, our brewers are ready to share how they are navigating these waters -- what’s working, what’s not – in order to support one another. It’s what makes the brewing industry so unique and amazing to be a part of.” 

Tickets are just $25 a day for Mass Brewers Guild members, and $50 for non-members. All ticket proceeds support the Mass Brewers Guild and its work to protect and promote the craft beer industry across the Commonwealth. Due to festival and event cancellations, this is the only fundraiser slated for the association this year. The event hopes to raise $7k for the Mass Brewers Guild. 

“We wanted to make this event as accessible as possible for our beer family,” says Stinchon. “One of the great perks of a virtual event is that we can draw experts and attendees from all over the country. Our goal is to ensure that the brewing community is armed with the knowledge and skills it needs to remain successful, independent, small businesses that continue to stimulate the economy, revitalize downtown communities, and employ locals.”

All sessions offer ample time for Q&A and ticket holders will receive supporting materials and the recording of each session for later viewing. MBG Con is made possible thanks to presenting sponsor, Bernstein Shur and supporting businesses ABS Commercial, Acadia Insurance, arryved, Bowditch, Cavallo & Signorello Insurance, Drink Tanks, Four Star Farms, InTouch Labels, Micro Matic, Omega Yeast, Petainer and Solar On Earth. All of these businesses are associate members of the Mass Brewers Guild and help make our educational programs possible.  

To view the entire lineup of speakers, or to purchase tickets to MBG Con, visit MassBrewersGuild.org.

About the Mass Brewers Guild
Founded in 2007 by a group of committed and passionate brewers, the Mass Brewers Guild, is organized for the purposes of promoting craft brewing and protecting the interests of craft brewers across the Commonwealth. The association is membership based and open to all Massachusetts breweries licensed by the federal Tax and Trade Bureau and the Commonwealth’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. The nonprofit creates a community of brewers while shining light on the broad range of breweries and styles offered throughout the state. Through industry and educational events, its mobile application beer trail map, and by providing resources and marketing support to brewers, the nonprofit works to highlight Massachusetts as a top travel destination for craft beer in the U.S. The board also continues its work at the legislative level, fighting for license and franchise law reform, and serving as the voice of craft brewers on Beacon Hill. The Massachusetts Brewers Guild is a 501(c)6 not-for-profit corporation.

More than 150 Brewers Came Together For Learning, Networking and The Love of Good Beer.

Knowledge sharing is what makes the craft beer industry special and sets us a part from other industries. It’s amazing to see colleagues and friends jumping in to help a fellow brewer in need – lending cans, ingredients and advice. 

Despite our numbers -- now 188 breweries across the Commonwealth – our industry is still young. We are still converting and educating macro beer drinkers, and working to keep consumers drinking and loving craft beer.

Continuing our education, sharing what we know, and attending events like MBG Con ensures that MA Beer will always have the highest quality standards possible..  

The MBG’s second annual conference drew 150 attendees to Jack's Abby Craft Lagers and helped to raise $10,000 for our association. These are crucial funds to aid our organization’s work -- to protect and promote the interests of craft brewers. 

Our voice carries the most weight on Beacon Hill when we are unified. When we are all working together for a common goal. We are currently working to combat decades old franchise laws, to achieve selling rights at farmers’ markets, to expand brew pub rights for self-distribution, and are working to keep our seasonal beer gardens. 

A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the event's success by speaking, sending your colleagues and staff to learn, and/or financially supporting the event. It’s a real team effort to pull together an afternoon of learning and knowledge sharing.

We raise a glass to the Hendler brothers and the entire staff at Jack's Abby Craft Lagers for hosting, to our MBG Con Committee – Jeremy Cross, from Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Maureen Fabry, from CraftRoots Brewing Co., Chris Sellers from The People’s Pint and Kelsey Roth from Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co., as well as event support from Christine Healy at Craft'd Events, Ryan Daigle from Wachusett Brewing Co., and Adam Romanow from Castle Island Brewing Co. 
 
And last and certainly not least thank you to leading sponsor Bernstein Shur,and supporting sponsors, ABS Commercial, Acadia Insurance, Amoretti, BeerFests.com, Bowditch & Dewey, BrewWizz, Click Insurance, Craft'd Company, DWS Printing Associates, Eastern Standard Provisions, Fat Basset Design, Four Star Farms, Hub International Insurance, InTouch Labels, MassPay, Micromatic, One Off Apparel, Patriot Energy, Rochester Midland Corp. and Theilmann. 

These folks not only helped to make this event affordable for attendees but they are also members of the MBG. They care deeply about the craft beer industry, so please return the favor by checking out their services to see if they are fit for your needs. 

Our friends at MassPay generously donated their video services throughout the day to capture all of the conference sessions. Those who purchased tickets to the event will have access to all of the day's workshops. If you did not attend the event, you will be able to purchase access to these video sessions. 

We can only improve with your feedback. If you attended the event please share your experience by completing this brief survey. Thanks for your time! 

Until next year!

Working on Kegs and Keeping it Safe!

By: Steve Bradt
Eastern US technical Sales Representative for Micro Matic’s Packaging Division

I travel the Eastern US working with brewers who use kegs as part of their packaging mix. As a “recovering” craft brewer I came into this position painfully aware of how little most of us know about that ultimate beer can that we love so much.

There is a lot to say about the ways that kegs can affect the quality of your beer, but the first thing to be addressed is safety. At most stages of a keg’s life cycle, it exists as a pressurized vessel and as such, it deserves some respect. A full explanation of keg servicing and safety is beyond the scope of a blog post, but let me offer a few key tips to help keep you, your crew, and your customers free of injury.

Note that while periodic removal of spears for repair or inspection is a good practice, the practice of removing spears to wash kegs is not. This greatly increases the likelihood of an accident. A well designed, commercial keg washer that will allow cleaning of the keg without disassembly is an essential piece of equipment for commercial brewers of all sizes.

The overarching safety requirement is that you must always depressurize the keg immediately prior to attempting to remove the spear. It seems like a simple concept, but it gets ignored surprisingly often. And the “immediately” part is critical, because a keg that has beer in it will re-pressurize over time and even an empty keg will re-pressurize as it warms up.

Drop-in style spears are the most common in the American Sanke or D-system kegs. They are secured by a double circlip made of flat stainless steel that snaps into a groove in the keg neck.

·       Ignore everything you’ve seen on YouTube. It’s wrong and in many cases dangerous!

·       Use the correct tools. These are specifically designed and supplied by keg or spear manufacturers. This does not include hammers, creatively modified screwdrivers, ice picks or vice grips! The safest tools will provide a way to clamp down on the spear to depressurize the keg and relieve the pressure against the circlip by compressing the sealing gasket. This a often called a “Valve Compression Safety Tool” This allows for the insertion of a special stainless steel “knife” to remove the circlip without damage to the keg or the spear.

·       Always keep your body out of the spear’s path of ejection while removing the circlip.

·       Always discard and destroy the circlip when you remove it. These are one-use items and a brand new one should always be used for reassembly of the keg. Really – every time.

·       Tabs on the spear fit into notches in the keg neck and then rotate slightly clockwise into a safety “Z groove” that is designed to help prevent the spear from accidentally ejecting from the keg.

·       The same clamping tool that was used to relieve the pressure against the circlip for removal is used again for reassembly. This allows you to put your new circlip in with no other tools besides your fingers. No other tools should be used as they may cause damage to the circlip.

o   Pro Tip! If the circlip doesn’t go in all the way, loosen the valve compression tool, rotate it 90° and tighten it again. If you repeat that for 360° and the circlip still hasn’t gone  into the groove, take it back out and figure out why. Either the groove is dirty (clean it) or it has been pinched (this may not be repairable) or you neglected to lock the spear into the safety Z groove and the tabs are blocking the groove (You may need to straighten the tabs before reinserting).

Threaded spears have their own set of safety rules, but that can wait for another post. 

Steve Bradt is the Eastern US technical Sales Representative for Micro Matic’s Packaging Division. He  provides training and technical support for brewers using Micro Matic Keg Spears and Tools. Prior to coming to work for Micro Matic, Steve spent nearly 30 years as a professional brewer - ranging from pub scale operations to a 10,000 bbl./yr. production brewery, where he developed a strong affinity for technical troubleshooting.