Honey Beer Summit Celebrates Honey’s Use in Craft Beer Industry

The National Honey Board's Honey Beer Summit, conducted September 8-10, 2014 in St. Louis, brought together some of the most innovative craft brewers in the United States for an interactive and educational seminar about brewing with honey. The goal of the seminar was to spark innovation among the brewers, and have them look at honey as a key ingredient in new seasonal, special and flagship beers.

The Honey Beer Summit was held at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.'s Grove Brewery, and to mark the occasion, brewmaster Florian Kuplent created a special Vienna Lager to exhibit the flavor capabilities of orange blossom honey. Attendees tasted this special brew as well as other beers currently on the market that use honey. Honey varietals also were tasted and paired with specific beer styles to showcase the many flavor notes honey can bring to beer.

Brewing science also played a key role at the Honey Beer Summit, and attendees learned how using honey in the different stages of the brewing process yields different finished flavors and ABVs (alcohol by volume).

"The Honey Beer Summit offered brewers the opportunity to network with their fellow brewers and spend a couple of days thinking about new beer recipes made with honey," Catherine Barry, National Honey Board's director of marketing, says. "By the end of the event, each of our attendees went home with the technical knowledge and ideas to launch a honey beer."

The National Honey Board is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that works to educate consumers about the benefits and uses for honey and honey products through research, marketing and promotional programs.

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Name: Keith Seiz

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