Sensorypalooza at the 2026 Craft Brewers Conference

Looking for something more than the highly engaging, extremely valuable seminars conducted during the educational experiences at the Craft Brewers Conference? If you answered yes, the 2026 CBC in Philadelphia, April 20-22, is for you.

Each of the three brewery production experiences -small, microbrewery, and regional-have at least one interactive sensory component included in the program. Hops, malt, cider, beer, and even thiols are on the schedule to help you expand your understanding of these key products.

Explore the Science of Thiols

Thiols! Tying It All Together: Linking the Science of Thiols to Sensory and Practical Brewing will include a live sensory exercise to gain a deeper understanding of how measured amounts of thiols translate to aroma quality and intensity in beer and explain how to effectively use science and sensory to craft better beer.

Dive Deep into Craft Malt

Maximizing Craft Malt: Leveraging Malt Steeps for Recipe Development will build upon the Hot Steep Method, the established sensory approach to evaluate malt, by taking the method to the next step, steeping an entire malt bill. In addition to tasting individual hot steeps of an array of malt types, participants will group up, design unique malts bills, perform a hot steep then taste and discuss the final result.

Beyond Beer: Cider Tasting

Ready to go beyond beer? Understanding Cider Styles Through Guided Tasting will identify the distinguishing characteristics of four major cider styles and teach participants practical evaluation tools to assess cider quality and detect common flaws. After attending this exercise, attendees will be able to describe cider styles and quality factors to staff and customers.

Meet the Newest Public Hop Varieties

We saved hops for last: Hop into the Future: Meet Vera and Thora, The Latest Public Hop Releases from USDA-ARS features two new public hop varieties that were released in 2025, Vera and Thora, from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) public hop breeding program. The session will hands-on sensory of Vera, Thora, and other lines within the public program. A second come and go session, Public Hop Sensory Evaluation, is an exclusive opportunity to taste and evaluate seven beers, crafted by Firestone Walker using the same base beer recipe and brewed with seven different USDA-ARS experimental hops from the Hop Quality Group. This is an interactive experience utilizing Sample Ox to collect participant feedback. Afterwards relax with a beer brewed with the new public variety, Thora, while you network with your fellow CBC attendees.

Take advantage of these opportunities to hone your sensory skills and expand your brewing horizons: register now for the 2026 Craft Brewers Conference.