PORTLAND, ME – The Craft Maltsters Guild is excited to announce the speaker lineup and in-person event schedule for its 2022 Craft Malt Conference, slated for February 18-19 in Portland, Maine. The fifth annual Craft Malt Conference features presentations of interest to maltsters, brewers, distillers, farmers, and other industry partners. View the full schedule here.
#CraftMaltCon2022 will be a hybrid event of in-person and virtual events, with curated workshops and presentations on technical education, industry best practices, and discussions of trends relevant to those in the craft malt supply chain. Participants who travel to Maine can take part in pre-conference tours on February 17 that highlight the state’s robust craft malt, brewing, and distilling industries. Stops include Allagash Brewing Company, Blue Ox Malthouse, and the University of Southern Maine’s Quality Control Collaboratory. During the in-person conference, attendees will also have the opportunity to meet sponsors at live Q&A sessions, check out new products, and hear about exciting research projects that will benefit their work.
The 2022 Craft Malt Conference keynote speaker is national grains expert June Russell, Director of Regional Food Programs at the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming in New York’s Hudson Valley. Previously, June spent 14 years as the Manager of Farm Inspections and Strategic Development for GrowNYC’s Greenmarket where she spearheaded the GrowNYC Grains project. Other speakers include Kyle Hurst and Jon Kielty of New York’s Big aLICe Brewing Company, Dr. J Jackson-Beckham of Crafted for All, and Dr. Luci Benedict and Samantha White of the University of Southern Maine’s Quality Control Collaboratory (previously mentioned), in addition to several other leading craft malt, beer, and spirits industry experts.
“We missed having an in-person conference experience this past year and are looking forward to bringing everyone back together again at this unique craft malt gathering,” explains Jesse Bussard, Executive Director of the Craft Maltsters Guild. “This year will be especially impactful as we expand our conference offerings to include new presentations on important topics like safety prevention and sustainability while continuing to be a site for technical malt education.”
A highlight of the conference, the Guild will host the Awards Ceremony for the fourth annual Malt Cup on the evening of Friday, February 18, 2022. Remote judging for this one-of-a-kind malt competition is currently in progress with the assistance of a team of more than 100 judges who include maltsters, brewers, distillers, researchers, and Cicerones™ from both the United States and Canada. Entry analysis and judging are overseen by the Guild in partnership with DraughtLab Sensory Software and the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab. Medals will be awarded during the conference for the top three winners in the three 2022 categories – Pale Malt, Pilsen, and Pale Ale – as well as Best of Show.
Both in-person and virtual registration options are available for the 2022 Craft Malt Conference. The schedule for the planned live virtual sessions will be announced in early December. In-person attendance to CMC 2022 includes access to the full conference schedule (both in-person and virtual experiences). Virtual registration includes exclusive early access to in-person session recordings and two days of live virtual sessions one week after the in-person event. Both ticket options are available to Craft Maltsters Guild members and non-members, with Guild members receiving the lowest rates. Early Bird pricing runs through December 15, 2021. Register here.
For more information about the Craft Maltsters Guild or to obtain media credentials for their upcoming virtual conference, contact Emily Hutto at [email protected].