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Sensory

Consistently producing beer that is free of off flavors and true-to-brand is of paramount importance to the success of any brewery. A trained human palate is a powerful tool and a sensory panel is an essential, fundamental element of any beer quality program. The resources in this section will empower breweries of all sizes to build sensory programs to help them produce the highest quality beers.

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playlist iconmobile playlist icon Contract Brewing: Production Best Practices fermenters lined up in brewhouse x

Contract Brewing: Production Best Practices

The Quality Subcommittee created a playlist of resources to highlight technical brewing aspects to consider when navigating contract brewing.Read More

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Brewers Association

The Quality Subcommittee envisions a membership that consistently produces beer of high quality. Quality for this purpose has been defined as: a beer that is responsibly produced using wholesome ingredients, consistent brewing techniques and good manufacturing practices, which exhibits flavor characteristics that are consistently aligned with both the brewer’s and the beer drinker’s expectations.

See Quality Subcommittee's Articles

playlist iconmobile playlist icon Navigating CO2 Supply Shortages CO2 in brewery with beer in glass 1200x628 1

Navigating CO2 Supply Shortages

This playlist consolidates resources on carbon dioxide supply, alternatives, quality, and safety to help members navigate supply challenges.Read More

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Technical Brewing Projects Coordinator

Katie Fromuth is the Technical Brewing Projects Coordinator for the Brewers Association. Prior to this role she held the position of Quality Lab Director in the Fermentation Science and Technology program at Colorado State University and as Quality Lab Manager at Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont. She received her bachelor's degree in environmental health (2012) and master's in horticulture with a concentration in agricultural chemistry (2022). She received a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, completed the Advanced Class in Craft Malt Production, and served as an instructor for the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) Deep Dive into Quality course. She currently sits on the ASBC Technical Committee and served on the Rocky Mountain District Master Brewers Association of the Americas board for seven years. She's passionate about communicating the science and art of brewing and fermentation to spark in others a curiosity and joy towards this fantastic world of fermentation.

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playlist iconmobile playlist icon Engagement with Beer women cheersing beer glasses in vibrant taproom 1200x628 1

Engagement with Beer

Tips for engaging customers in a meaningful sensory experience with your beers through staff training, events, and knowledge sharing.Read More

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Brewers Association

The Taprooms Committee's main objective is to foster the sharing of resources and ideas between taproom class breweries. As taproom brewery revenue is generated mainly from onsite sales, the committee’s job is to create resources that help breweries find ways to get customers to come to the taproom, stay a while, and keep coming back.

See Taprooms Committee's Articles

USDA-ARS Releases New High-Yielding, Seedless Aroma Hop Variety “Vista” vista hop variety 1200x800 1

USDA-ARS Releases New High-Yielding, Seedless Aroma Hop Variety “Vista”

The USDA-ARS has officially released "Vista," the newest of the public hop varieties available for breweries.Read More

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Technical Brewing Projects Director

Chuck joined the Brewers Association staff in 2013 after a long career as a craft brewer. He opened Tennessee’s first brewpub, Boscos, in 1992. As an owner and director of brewery operations for Boscos Brewing Company, he opened additional brewpubs in Memphis, Nashville, and Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2007, Chuck opened and operated Ghost River Brewing in Memphis. He has served as chair of the Association of Brewers Board of Advisors, chair of the Association of Brewers Board of Directors, and was a member of the first Board of Directors for the Brewers Association. In his capacity as technical brewing projects manager, Chuck works with the Technical Committee and the safety, sustainability, quality, draught beer quality, engineering, and supply chain subcommittees to encourage and facilitate best practices in all phases of Brewers Association members' brewery operations.

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playlist iconmobile playlist icon Legal, Quality, and Packaging Tips for Shipping Beer Direct-to-Consumer legal quality packaging tips shipping beer direct to consumer hero

Legal, Quality, and Packaging Tips for Shipping Beer Direct-to-Consumer

Are you set up to ship beer direct-to-consumer? Check out this playlist for best practices from the BA Quality Subcommittee.Read More

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Brewers Association

The Quality Subcommittee envisions a membership that consistently produces beer of high quality. Quality for this purpose has been defined as: a beer that is responsibly produced using wholesome ingredients, consistent brewing techniques and good manufacturing practices, which exhibits flavor characteristics that are consistently aligned with both the brewer’s and the beer drinker’s expectations.

See Quality Subcommittee's Articles

Hop Evaluation Guidelines for Brewers industry update hop selection guidelines hero2

Hop Evaluation Guidelines for Brewers

The Brewers Association Supply Chain Subcommittee shares helpful tips and best practices for evaluating hops at selection.Read More

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Brewers Association

The Supply Chain Subcommittee is concerned with the ingredients and materials that are used to brew and package craft beers. By monitoring hop and barley harvest, interacting with growers and examining packaging supplies, and monitoring glass and can markets, the Supply Chain Subcommittee works to ensure a stable marketplace and provide educational resources to the brewing community on best practices for sourcing and selecting ingredients and packaging materials to suit their beers.

See Supply Chain Subcommittee's Articles

Establishing and Ensuring Beer Shelf Life Establishing and Ensuring Beer Shelf Life 1200x628

Establishing and Ensuring Beer Shelf Life

This resource will help brewers to define and maintain the keeping quality of their beer brands. Both easy to implement suggestions as well as long term considerations for improving beer shelf life are discussed.Read More

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Brewers Association

The Quality Subcommittee envisions a membership that consistently produces beer of high quality. Quality for this purpose has been defined as: a beer that is responsibly produced using wholesome ingredients, consistent brewing techniques and good manufacturing practices, which exhibits flavor characteristics that are consistently aligned with both the brewer’s and the beer drinker’s expectations.

See Quality Subcommittee's Articles

Understanding and Ensuring CO2 Supply Quality for Brewery Use Understanding and Ensuring CO2 Supply Quality for Brewery Use 1200x628

Understanding and Ensuring CO2 Supply Quality for Brewery Use

As with any beer ingredient, CO2 quality is essential to finished beer quality, contributing to sensory outcomes, beer foam, mouthfeel, and shelf stability. Read More

Link to author biography
Brewers Association

The Supply Chain Subcommittee is concerned with the ingredients and materials that are used to brew and package craft beers. By monitoring hop and barley harvest, interacting with growers and examining packaging supplies, and monitoring glass and can markets, the Supply Chain Subcommittee works to ensure a stable marketplace and provide educational resources to the brewing community on best practices for sourcing and selecting ingredients and packaging materials to suit their beers.

See Supply Chain Subcommittee's Articles

5 Quality Elements To Implement Right Now 5 Quality Tips

5 Quality Elements To Implement Right Now

What’s remarkable about these overlooked quality functions is that they are often both incredibly effective and incredibly inexpensive.Read More

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Neil Witte is a 20 year veteran of the craft beer business. He began his career in the Kansas City brewpub industry, moving to Boulevard Brewing Co. in 1997 as a brewer. In 2001, he took over field quality responsibilities for the brewery, acting as a quality control liaison between the brewery and its distributor and retailer network. He continued that role with the Duvel USA family of beers, including Boulevard and Brewery Ommegang, through the end of 2016. In 2017 he founded Craft Quality Solutions, which draws on his extensive field quality experience, providing field quality services to breweries, distributors and retailers. He is certified through the Beer Judge Certification Program and is currently one of 13 Master Cicerones. He is co-author of the Brewers Association Draught Beer Quality Manual, Draught Beer Quality for Retailers and a contributing author to the MBAA Beer Steward Handbook.

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Displaying results 1-10 of 11