Great beer starts with great ingredients, but crop variability, supply shifts, process stress, and shelf life can all move your flavor target. This session is a brewer-friendly look at building reliable flavor and aroma with intention.

Sponsor Abstrax Hops discusses how to define clear sensory goals and how advanced hop products and natural flavor solutions can be used to modulate existing characteristics, reinforce key notes, correct imbalances, and keep flagship profiles consistent. Beyond hop optimization, they also explore how targeted flavor tools can support creative development, improve batch-to-batch reliability, and enhance shelf stability.

Expect practical examples, real-world applications, and trial concepts you can use in your brewhouse today.

Presentation Audio:

About the Speakers

TJ Martin, Chief Scientific Officer

Abstrax

Dr. TJ Martin is a research scientist with a broad range of experience over the past sixteen years working on fundamental scientific research in new emerging fields, cannabis science, alternative fuels, product development, and flavor creation. He received his education from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in Chemistry. As Abstrax’s Chief Scientific Officer he has overseen the creation of over 500 commercialized products, co-wrote peer-reviewed scientific publications, and successfully patented Abstrax discoveries protecting core product lines. The publications elucidated brand new VOC’s identified in cannabis, and the potential impacts of consuming widely used diluent products.

Samuel Richardson, Co-Founder & Brewmaster

Other Half Brewing

Samuel Richardson is the brewmaster and co-founder of Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, New York, founded in 2014. Sam's early interest in beer formed in his home town of Portland, Oregon which led him to attend Oregon State University to learn the ways of fermentation science. After stints at The Ram in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and Pyramid in Portland, Oregon, he moved to New York City to tackle the nascent brewing scene at Greenpoint Beer Works as its head brewer for six years. The love of hops led to the opening of Other Half and has strongly defined the identity of the brand ever since.

Julian Shrago, Brewmaster & Director of Brewing Operations

Urban Roots

Born in Northern California, Julian Shrago was an aerospace engineer for over a decade before becoming a craft brewer. Julian was a founding partner and brewmaster for Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach, which opened in 2011. The pub was recognized as Mid-Sized Brewpub of the Year (GABF 2014), Large Brewpub of the Year (GABF 2016), and World Champion Large Brewpub (World Beer Cup). Beachwood expanded its brewing operations with Beachwood Blendery (dedicated barrelhouse) and a production facility in Huntington Beach. Julian is now the brewmaster and director of brewing operations for Urban Roots Brewing in Sacramento, California.

Craig Thomas, Technical Sales Manager

Abstrax

Craig Thomas is Abstrax Hops' technical sales manager, bringing impactful and innovative solutions to brewers around the world. A Master Cicerone and Heriot-Watt MSc graduate in Brewing and Distilling, he has experience across beer production, taster training, sensory panel management, and new product development. He is a Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup judge, and is also a member of the Brewers Association's Draught Beer Quality Subcommittee and the American Society of Brewing Chemist's Sensory Subcommittee.

This seminar was sponsored by: