Certified Cicerone Exam – Tasting & Demonstration Portion
Looking to level up your Cicerone? Use your trip to Roundup to complete the Tasting & Demonstration portion of the Certified Cicerone (aka Level 2) Exam.

While we are excited to offer this exam opportunity in conjunction with Texas Brewery Roundup, please note that the test is administered by Cicerone and is not included in the Texas Brewery Roundup registration price or process. Please visit the Cicerone website for additional details and to sign-up directly with the Cicerone program.

Looking for financial support? We are once again proud to offer a Cicerone scholarship opportunity through the generous support of Triad Draft Solutions!
Applications will be accepted through Thursday, April 30, 2026. Learn more here.

Whether you’re actively opening a brewery, dreaming about it, or already operating and still finding your footing, this half-day workshop is designed to answer questions you may not even know to ask. Through a series of curated sessions, we’ll cover key topics across hospitality, human resources, cost of goods, and more—alongside our popular “Ask the Pros” panel, where you can dig into the nitty-gritty with experienced operators who’ve been in your shoes. Kick off Roundup with the Brewery in Planning Workshop and build a strong foundation for the rest of the conference!

Full seminar lineup and schedule coming soon.

This workshop includes lunch generously sponsored by Martin Frost & Hill

*Requires Brewery in Planning Workshop add-on

Beer Sensory Training: Recognizing Faults & Flavors | Jill Paluch (Meanwhile Brewing) & Madi Stults (Saint Arnold Brewing Company)

Sharpen your palate and strengthen your quality control instincts in this hands-on beer sensory session. Designed for brewers, QC professionals, and serious beer enthusiasts, this training will challenge your senses through four focused exercises.

We’ll kick things off with threshold testing for two of the most common fermentation off-flavors. First up is diacetyl, the buttery culprit that signals incomplete fermentation or bacterial contamination — you’ll work through a series of spiked samples to find the lowest concentration at which you can reliably detect it. Next, we’ll run the same exercise for acetaldehyde, the green apple compound that points to stressed or under-attenuated yeast, helping you identify your personal detection threshold before it becomes a problem in your glass or your tank.

From there, we shift gears to celebrate what beer should taste like. An on-flavor style training will guide you through the defining characteristics of a featured beer style, building your sensory vocabulary for the aromas, flavors, and mouthfeel that make a well-executed example truly shine.

We’ll close with a deep dive into hop defects — exploring how oxidation, poor storage, and age can transform once-vibrant hop character into onion, garlic, cheesy, or catty notes, and how to distinguish a hop fault from an intentional dry hop expression.

Leave with a sharper nose, a more confident palate, and practical tools to carry back to your brewery or judging panel.

Limited to just 50 participants!

*Requires Sensory Workshop add-on

General badgeholders can now join the action! Swing by The Bevy conference space between 2:30-5:30pm on Friday to pick up your badge, drop off beer for the trade show, enjoy some snacks, and attend our NEW Friday supplier seminars.

-Open to all badge holders-

Kick off the official start to the conference with a variety of seminars curated by our Allied Trade sponsors, including:

3:00 – 3:55pm
Modern Farming and Malting Techniques for Sustainability and Carbon Offset in the Domestic Barley Belt | Jake Burtenshaw & Tate Kline (Mountain Malt)
Jake Burtenshaw (owner, farmer, maltster) of Mountain Malt will cover the modernization in barley farming and malting and the collaboration with the University of Idaho in our efforts and testing to offset the carbon output in today’s farming and malting culture in the premier barley growing region of the United States.

4:05 – 5:00pm
I’m In My Liquids Era: Harnessing Solubility Principles to Maximize Liquid Hop Aroma and Flavor | Niko Tonks & James Zarzour (Yakima Chief Hops)
With a rapidly-expanding array of liquid hop aroma options in market, brewers have more tools than ever before in pursuing high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective beer. Join the Yakima Chief Hops R&D team as they work to demystify the many types of liquid products, and explore how the principles of beer/hop solubility can have significant effects on recipe design and finished beer outcomes. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of emulsifiers in the brewery, and how brewery data bears out the advantages and disadvantages of different hop formats.

And more to be announced!

The Technical Track will run from 9:00am to 5:15pm with a break for lunch from 12:50-1:45pm.

Sessions will include:  

The Next Frontier of Domestic Grown Noble Hop Substitutes  | Niko Tonks (Yakima Chief Hops), John Warren (Crosby Hops), and more panelists TBA. Moderated by Chris Troutman (Good Line Beer Co.)
Join us as we discuss with several prominent hop breeders and brokers on the front lines of breeding and testing domestic grown noble hop substitutes. The panel will include a sensory portion allowing participants to sample beers brewed with these new test hops.

Demystifying ALDC Use in the Brewery | Robert Fulwiler (Meanwhile Brewing)
How do you truly get the most out of ALDC? In this session, Meanwhile Brewing’s Robert Fulwiler walks through several years of real-world trials, using lab-backed VDK data to challenge common industry assumptions. We’ll explore the trial-and-error process of finding the right dose points for different styles and reveal two major takeaways: why your dry-hop schedule might require a new dosing strategy, and how this enzyme can serve as a “secret weapon” to save a batch even at the point of cold crash.

Plus, FOUR more Technical sessions to be announced!

The Business & Hospitality Track will run from 9:00am to 5:15pm with a break for lunch from 12:50-1:45pm.

Sessions will include:  

Does Your Brand Hold Up? Evaluating, Evolving, and Extending Your Brewery Identity | Craig Bradley (Vector Brewing) & Dirk Fowler (f2design)
A strong brand doesn’t just look good—it works across every interaction your customers have with your brewery. This session explores how to assess whether your brand is still effective, when and how to approach a packaging refresh, and how to carry your identity consistently from cans to taproom to marketing. We’ll also share practical ways to build simple brand systems that help your team execute consistently without constant outside design support. Hear from two experienced designers who have worked not only on brewery brand identities, but across the broader advertising and design world, bringing insights that translate beyond beer.

Digital Marketing in 2026: Do This, Not That | Julie Rhodes (Not Your Hobby Marketing)
Everyone wants to talk about social media. It is the first thing brands ask about and usually the first place they spend their time and energy. And yes, social media does matter. But if it is the only thing you are focused on, or if you are using it the wrong way, it is also one of the most effective ways to stay busy without actually growing your business. This session is a practical Do This, Not That reset for 2026. We will cover what modern digital marketing actually looks like for small teams: using social for what it is genuinely good at, putting more weight on the channels you actually own like your website and email list, setting objectives that match where your product is in its life cycle, building a content system you can sustain, and tracking a small set of meaningful metrics. We will also call out what to stop doing, including relying on social media for direct sales, posting more instead of posting better, neglecting your website, and using AI in ways that make your brand sound like everyone else. You will leave with sharper priorities and a clear framework for deciding what to do next.

The All-Day Taproom: Getting More Out of Your Space (Without Doing It All) | Rachael Hackathorn (Zilker Brewing Co.), Charday VanOrstrand (Galveston Island Brewing), Hannah Baker (Roadmap Brewing Co.) and more speakers to be announced!
What does it take to turn a taproom into an all-day destination? Hear from a panel of brewery leaders who have explored a range of ways to make more of their spaces beyond peak hours—from coffee programs and food offerings to private events and truly unconventional ways to bring in revenue. Not every approach looks the same, and not every brewery is trying to do it all. Panelists will share a mix of models, experiments, and lessons learned along the way, including how their marketing has evolved as they’ve added new offerings and positioned themselves for things like daytime traffic or private events. The conversation will also dig into the operational realities behind these decisions, including infrastructure, staffing, and cost considerations, so you can evaluate what might make sense for your business—and what might not.

Raise the Stage: Growing Your Brewery into a Live Music Venue | Taylor Swift (Two Docs Brewing Co. and more speakers to be announced!
Open mic nights are a great start—but what does it take to turn your taproom into a must-play stop on the local music circuit? Join us as we unpack the journey from low-lift programming to fully realized live music experiences. We’ll cover everything from upgrading your space and sound, to working with your city, to keeping guests safe and engaged, to finding partners who can help fund it all. Hear real-world lessons from breweries who’ve done it, and leave with ideas you can apply at any stage of your music program.

Plus, TWO more Business & Hospitality sessions to be announced!