Display Title

​​Implementing the True-to-Brand Sensory Method in Your Brewery​

Broadcast Date: March 19, 2025 

Webinar Summary

The True-to-Brand sensory method is a powerful tool for breweries to assess production samples for quality prior to packaging or release. Join this seasoned panel of sensory experts to learn about applying the True-to-Brand​ sensory method in your brewery utilizing published ASBC resources. The speakers will discuss reasons to use the method, best practices for training sensory panelists, and data management and interpretation. They will also share real world case studies and practical solutions for running this test in suboptimal conditions.  During this webinar, please reference the tools here​.

Learning Objectives

• Typical use cases for the True-to-Brand sensory method of analysis
• Training exercises for a True-to-Brand panel
• Application of ASBC resources like the True-to-Brand Sensory Evaluation Ballot and Sensory Analysis-17 Sensory Production Release Method
• Decision making based on True-to-Brand sensory data

About the Presenters

 

Addy Maykish

Sensory Manager, Maine Beer Company

Addy is the Sensory Manager at Maine Beer Company. She currently manages over 60 trained panelists in multiple departments. With a strong focus on quality and consistency, she ensures every batch meets Maine Beer Company's high standards. Addy received her BS from Rochester Institute of Technology in Biotechnology and Molecular Bioscience, and her MS in Food Science from California Polytechnic State University. She is an ASBC member and is a part of the ASBC Sensory Subcommittee.

 

Kevin Smith

Co-founder and Brewmaster, Bale Breaker Brewing Co.

Kevin Smith, co-founder and brewmaster of Bale Breaker Brewing Company, hails from a lineage deeply rooted in hop farming in Washington's Yakima Valley. His great-grandparents began cultivating hops in 1932, laying the foundation for the family's agricultural legacy. Kevin graduated from the University of Washington in 2010 and subsequently honed his brewing skills at Two Beers Brewing Company in Seattle. In 2013, he returned to the family farm to establish Bale Breaker Brewing alongside his siblings, Meghann Quinn and Patrick Smith, and brother-in-law, Kevin Quinn. As brewmaster, Kevin oversees the production process, ensuring the creation of high-quality, hop-forward beers that celebrate the rich heritage of his family's hop farming tradition.

 

Daniel LePage

Director of Quality, Creature Comforts Brewing Company

Daniel LePage is the Director of Quality at Creature Comforts Brewing Company, where he's been for 7 years. His background is microbiology, but he enjoys all realms of brewing science and the challenge that comes with troubleshooting production processes. In his free time, he enjoys running and (very) long hikes.

 

Drew Russey

QAQC Manager, St. Arnold Brewing Company

Drew Russey has been the QAQC Manager at Saint Arnold Brewing Company since 2023 and with the company in the lab since 2014. He has been involved with the ASBC Craft Beer Subcommittee, a part of the ASBC Technical Committee, as Chair and Deputy since 2020. As Chair of the Craft Beer Subcommittee, the group has released 6 excel-based data collection templates and has built custom R-script dashboards to facilitate data entry, manipulation, analysis, and export ensuring full integration of data recorded from Brew Sheets to Sensory Panel scorings. He earned his PhD in Biology from the University of Houston for his work on adaptive evolution of multivariate, functional traits.