2009 Seminars
Featured Presenters: Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo | Matt Brophy | Julia Herz | JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson | C. Andrew Brown | Casey Hughes | Nick Ison | Kristin Zantop | Ron Kloth

Our Featured Brewmasters’ Educational Seminars are traditionally featured twice during Saturday's Commercial Tasting, showcasing prominent members of the brewing (or culinary) community speaking on different facets of the specialty beer industry. This year’s Featured Brewmasters will again choose topics that showcase their areas of expertise and/or their love of brewing, and as we did last year, we add an incredible Experimental Brewing Seminar and a Beer & Food Pairing Challenge to the mix!  Our new 2009 funky spin will be the Cicerone Certification Program Workshop on Friday morning…read more below! Seminars are limited by space and available on a first come, available seat basis. Sign up sheets are available at the festival entrance.

The Ninth Annual Big Beers Festival is honored to welcome the following Brewmasters as featured presenters for this year’s festivities:

In 1997, Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC) was founded by Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville, California, and Vinnie Cilurzo was hired as the Brewmaster. At the Great American Beer Festival in 1999, RRBC and Vinnie were awarded "Small Brewing Company of the Year" and "Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year". In 2002, Korbel decided to leave the beer business and sold the brewery to Vinnie and his wife, Natalie. Russian River Brewing co is now located in Santa Rosa , California, and is renowned for its exceptional products  and experimental brewing techniques. As evidenced by their fun press photo, Vinnie and Natalie continue to bring both a sense of humor and creativity to the plate as well as an intense passion for the brewing industry as a community and a way of life.

Julia has been featured by the Food Network 'Unwrapped' Series, interviewed on Public Radio, Sirius Radio ‘Lime Channel’, CNBC Squawk Box, Fox News, and numerous other mainstream media. She is a recognized beer judge in the BJCP program, and an award winning homebrewer of over 16 years. Her areas of focus include: Resources and education on craft beer, general statistics on the craft beer industry, beer styles and the trends, and Craft Beer and Food. For Big Beers Weekend, Julia will be focusing on Craft Beer & Food, and will be moderating a panel of Importers and Craft Brewers, showcasing, comparing and contrasting their brews in several areas, as well as challenging their ability to pair one of their brews with a specific food.

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JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson
Sales & Marketing Manager for White Labs Yeast Company, will be moderating our final Seminar, which is actually scheduled earliest on Saturday morning from 10am – noon. The result of a brainstorming session geared toward including innovative brewers who are mapping out the future of craft brewing, but may not be geared toward packaging or nationwide marketing, the Big Beers Festival is pleased to introduce “Brewing Outside the Box: Brewers Gone Wild!”. White Labs presents the following panel of experimental brewers, chosen to represent and discuss the 2009 theme of “Experimental Brewing: Micro to Macro”.

For tickets to Saturday’s Commercial Tasting and Seminars, see the Tickets & Lodging page.

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Andy Brown lives in Colorado and has worked at numerous front range breweries since he completed his craft brewery apprenticship with the American Brewers Guild in 1999. He currently enjoys being head brewer at Colorado's oldest brewpub, the Wynkoop, where he received two gold medals at this years Great American Beer Festival. Andy is one of the rising stars of the Colorado brewing scene and is excited to lead his brewery into the future. (Andy is representing the "Brewpub" segment of the brewing industry.)

Casey Hughes
Head Brewer, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Cherry Hills, NJ
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At 31 years old, Casey is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's top craft brewers.  A native of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, Casey's interest in brewing started after learning how to make wine with his parents. 
 
In 1995, Casey moved to Florida and started his career at Key West Brewery as assistant brewer.  Wanting to learn different aspects of the brewery, he transitioned into a new position as Packaging Supervisor in 1997.  Over the next few years, Casey helped build and install the new production brewery taking Key West's annual production from 1000 to 4000 bbl.   In 2002, Casey decided to return to the East Coast and take a position as
assistant brewer at the highly acclaimed Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.  After only one year, he was promoted to Head Brewer. Today at Flying Fish, Casey oversees all brewery operations and oversees a staff of 8.  Together, they produce 12,000 Bbls which is available in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, and have won numerous awards & garnered considerable recognition.

Casey also works as a consultant.  He was brought in to build the Triangle brewery in Durham NC.  He also helped install new bottling lines at Sly Fox Brewery in Royersford, PA and Yards Brewery in Philadelphia. (Casey is representing the “Regional Brewery” segment if the industry)

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Nick Ison
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
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Nick made the transition from simple beer fan to home brewer shortly after moving to Utah for graduate school.  ["What choice did I have? I was living in Utah!"]  It didn’t take long for home brewing to become more of a debilitating disorder than a casual hobby, which led to the Master Brewers program at UC Davis.  After the Master Brewers program, Nick got his first taste of production brewing at North Coast Brewing Company in Fort Bragg, CA where he worked for a year before taking a position at Sierra Nevada, which has been his home in the capacity of Cellarman and Brewer for the past seven years. (Nick is representing the “Large Craft Brewery” segment of the industry)

Kristin Zantop
Brewmaster, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, MO 
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Kristin recognized her passion for brewing during her college internship at the Anheuser-Busch Houston brewery. The experience opened her eyes to the detailed work and dedication it takes to brew a single batch of beer, and Kristin couldn’t wait for her turn to brew beer full time. Upon graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in food science Kristin continued her brewing education, completing courses through the Siebel Institute of Technology, American Society of Brewing Chemists and the Northern Crops Institute. Finally, Kristin was honored as an Associate with Distinction from the Institute of Brewing after completing the Master Brewers Program at the University of California at Davis. Together with her educational background and time at the brewery, she knew she was ready to fulfill her career destiny – brewing world-class beers.

Although her journey to brew great beers started in the sunny south, Kristin’s first full-time job was with Alaskan Brewing Company, a small brewery in Juneau, Alaska. Although a chillier climate, it is definitely a place where delicious beers are warmly welcomed by beer lovers. Here, Kristin gained valuable hands-on experience learning how to brew beers 10 barrels at a time. During her tenure at Alaskan, Kristin took on a variety of responsibilities including selecting hops, brewing various styles of beers from a golden ale and IPA to an oatmeal stout, overseeing how the beer was packaged and conducting training sessions for the taste panelists at the brewery.

Fresh with new experiences under her belt, Kristin was eager to expand her knowledge about brewing beer. She returned to the Anheuser-Busch family and later shared her brewing know-how with teams in the Houston; Cartersville, Ga.; Fairfield, Calif.; and Fort Collins, Colo. breweries.

Today, Kristin works in St. Louis directly for one of the company’s chief brewmasters, helping brewing teams ensure that each batch of beer carrying the Anheuser-Busch name is perfect. On any given day this could include experimenting with new beer styles and recipes, studying various beers’ flavors and aromas during daily taste sessions and reviewing analyses of beers for consistency and quality. (Kristi is representing “macro” brewery segment of the industry)

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Ron Kloth
Owner of Papago Brewing in Scottsdale, AZ

Ron will be presenting an overview and workshop on the Cicerone Certification Program on Friday morning from 10:00am – 11:30am at the Vail Marriott. A professional credential for beer sellers and servers, the Cicerone is similar in nature to the Sommelier Program in the world of wine. The three levels of certification will be previewed [Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone], and all five subject areas will be reviewed [(1) Storage, Sales & Service, (2)Beer Styles & Culture, (3) Beer Tasting and Flavors, (4) Ingredients and Processes, and (5)  Pairing Beer with Food] throughout the workshop. Although this is not a training session, all attendees will be exposed to the program in full and be familiar with the areas likely to be covered in the Certified Beer Server exam, which can be taken on line. Kloth, a Master Cicerone, can attest to the thorough and difficult nature of the Certified Cicerone and Master Cicerone Certification process. This workshop is open to the public at no charge, and we recommend that all restaurant owners, managers & servers, retailers, brewers & brewery staff, and industry folk be certified at least on the Certified Beer Server Level.

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Our historical “Seminar Treasury” includes the following speakers and topics:

2008
“The Veritas Series”
Tomme Arthur, Director of Operations for Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey, San Diego, CA
“Malt & Hops: Aromas & Flavors”
Doug Odell, Brewmaster/Owner, Odell Brewing, Ft. Collins, CO

“Experimental Brewing: Brewers Gone Wild!” sponsored by White Labs Yeast Co
Moderated by JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson
“Ancient Ales”
Sam Calagione, Founder, President, Dogfish head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
“Brett and Microbiology”
Peter Bouckaert, Brewmaster, New Belgium Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO “Creating New Styles”
Will Meyers, Brewmaster, Cambridge Brewing Co, Cambridge, MA
“Cellaring – Why, When & How”
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

“Cheese & Chocolate Challenge: A Global Big Beers Competition”
Moderated by Julia Herz, Brewers Association
                Victor:                  Peter Bouckaert, New Belgium Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO
                Challengers:      Will Meyers, Cambridge Brewing Co., Cambridge, MA
                                                Adam Avery, Avery Brewing Co, Boulder, CO
                                                Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
                                                Jay Baum, Manneken-Brussels Imports
                                                Sean Knoll, Artisanal Imports

2007
"Belgian Beer: The New Generation”
Hildegard Van Ostaden, Owner/Brewmaster, and Bas Van Ostaden, Owner/Astist/& Storyteller,  Brouwerij de Leyerth, West Flanders, Belgium
“Beer & Cheese”
Brian Dunn, Founder/Brewmaster, Great Divide Brewing, Denver, CO

2006
“Barrel-Aging Beer”
Rob Tod, Founder/Brewmaster, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
“Aging Barleywines”
Eric Wallace, Co-Founder/Brewmaster, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO

2005
“Hops and Randalling” and “High Alcohol Brewing”
Sam Calagione, Founder/Pres., Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

2004
"Cooking with Beer"
Rick Kangas, Executive Chef, Grouse Mountain Grill, Beaver Creek, CO
“Transatlantic Kriek: The Story"
Shawn Hines, New Belgium Brewing, Ft. Collins, CO
“The Effects of Aging on Belgian Beers/ Vertical Tasting”
Adam Avery, Founder/ Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

2003
“Aging & Vintages of Specialty Beers”
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
“Beer & Cheese Pairings”
Brian Dunn, Founder/Brewmaster, Great Divide Brewing, Denver, CO
Eric Wallace, Co-Founder/Brewmaster, Left Hand Brewing Co.,
Longmont, CO
Sean Knoll, Owner, Paragon Importers (Chimay), Denver, CO
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co, Boulder, CO

Vail's China Bowl

2002
“Aging and Vintages of Specialty Beers”
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
“All About Belgians”
Sean Knoll, Owner, Paragon Imports, Denver, CO

2001
“Aging and Vintages of Specialty Beers”
Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
“All About Belgians”
New Belgium Brewing Staff, Ft. Collins, CO

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