More than 7,000 brewing industry professionals convened in Denver for the 38th annual Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America (CBC) presented by the Brewers Association (BA).

In his opening remarks, Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association recognized the many hurdles that breweries and brewery professionals faced over the course of the last 18 months of the pandemic. During that time, the association made several achievements at the state and federal level, while also offering an abundance of timely, technical resources.

Pease called for an awakening as the industry navigates issues of racism, sexism, discrimination, and harassment. At CBC, THRIVE seminars and workshops empowered attendees to build safe, inclusive, and equitable cultures, where everyone who makes, sells, and enjoys craft beer can thrive.

The event also featured an abundance of exhibitors. The following are highlights from some of those present at the event:

Amoretti highlighted its top selling varieties of Amoretti Infusions including Artisan Natural Flavors, Craft Purée, Compound and Extracts.

Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. offered hands-on demos of the hot steep method. It was originally developed by Briess’ technical team and since then has become widely used across the industry, it says.

CMC Kuhnke promoted its SEAMscan package for beverage, which include a video seam imager, the SEAMview inspection software, high-resolution USB camera and precision optics and much more.

Columbia Machine spotlighted its complete palletizing solutions, which includes inline high speed, high-level, floor-level and robotic palletizers, load transfer stations and systems integration. Columbia features flexible, upgradeable designs to speeds in excess of 200 cases a minute.

GEA educated attendees about how the right beer centrifuge can minimize or even eliminate effects on production and barriers to consistency. GEA’s CentraSep DB Series centrifuges are purposefully designed for craft breweries. The CentraSep DB’s high bowl RPM and specific disc design deliver higher centrifugal force and a greater Equivalent Area of Separation, it says.

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. promoted its ultimate craft beer truck, which serves as two trucks in one in that it transports and pours the beer. 

Kerry and BSG CraftBrewing promoted solutions to aid craft brewers, including Kerry BioHaze, which is designed to deliver natural and stable turbid or cloudy appearance in beer, as well as extracts and flavorings.

Recognizing that craft beers are on the rise around the globe, KHS highlighted its high-quality, technologically sophisticated solutions for the complete filling and packaging process to support craft brewers.

Krones and Sprinkman promoted their collection of platforms to support brewing and blending needs. Onsite at the show was the KRONES Autocol Inline can and bottle labeler; KRONES LitePac, a sustainable alternative to secondary packaging; the Sprinkman Portable CIP Cart; and the Sprinkman Dry Hop Skids, which allows brewers to optimize their use of dry hops, it says.

Micro Matic USA showcased its portfolio of draft beer system components, including cooling/refrigeration, beer flow components as well as gas pressure components.

O-I promoted The Catalyst Collection, which was inspired by the human emotions that stem from 12 fundamental motives through a partnership with Dr. Constantinos Pantidos, the founder of Brand Aviators. An example of this is the Misfit bottle, which features asymmetrical shoulders on the 12-ounce glass bottle to help a six-pack stand out on the shelf.

PakTech showcased its 2020 Standard Can Carrier comprised of 100% recycled plastic and are 100% recyclable.

Pall Corp. highlighted its filtration, separation and purification solutions, including its centrifugal devices. The company also offers an application bulletin titled “Hard Seltzer Filtration Process Improved with Pall Solutions” to supporting the growing beer segment.

ProMach and is its divisions showcased the processing and packaging solutions available to craft brewers.

Synergy promoted its Synergy Pure Hop Essences and Synergy Pure Oak Essences for craft brewers. Containing nothing but water and hops, the hop essences fit cleanly into any beer ingredient statement, working solely to enhance flavor without label impact, the company says.

Videojet displayed its 1880’s MAXIMiZE, which offers an advanced diagnostics platform that continuously monitors printer health parameters. Additionally the Videojet 1280 continuous inkjet printer and 7440 fiber laser were on display at the event. Besides its proven Videojet printhead and fluid system technology that helps provide maximum uptime, the Videojet 1280 can remain unused for up to 14 days and still provide excellent print quality on start-up without the need for additional printer intervention. Meanwhile the Videojet 7440 features an IP69-rated marking head as the printer is engineered to operate under conditions where washdown is an essential part of the daily operational process.

VIP promoted its Craft Portal, which is powered by GP Analytics. The Craft Portal helps companies stay organized, better plan production and maximize sales opportunities, the company says.

The 2022 edition of CBC, which includes the biennial World Beer Cup competition, will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from May 2-5.