At the end of April, Philadelphia — a city celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year and still closely associated with the movie Rocky — hosted the largest annual event of the American brewing industry: the Craft Brewers Conference, accompanied by the Brew Expo beverage exhibition and the international World Beer Cup competition.

The conference welcomed nearly 8,000 attendees, while the exhibition featured 500 exhibitors from around the world. Czech hops were presented by the Žatec-based company Bohemia Hop, a.s., while Czech brewing technologies were showcased by Bucher Denwel and Eutit.

As in previous years, the conference also included the event supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in the USA: Brewing like Czechs do, introducing participants to Czech beer brewing technology, the use of Czech hop varieties, and Czech beer culture, including proper beer pouring techniques.

Several hundred breweries attended the Czech event, and due to high demand, some visitors unfortunately could not even enter the seminar room.

The seminar was opened by Consul General Karel Smékal together with Karolína Bartošová, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture, and agricultural diplomat Šárka Šachtová.

The opening lecture focused on Czech lager. Petr Košín from Budějovický Budvar introduced his American brewing colleagues to the specifics of brewing, fermentation, lagering, and raw materials.

This was followed by a presentation from Bohemia Hop, a.s. on the importance of high-quality aromatic hops for Czech lager, along with a moderated discussion on brewing Czech-style beer with Czech hop varieties in the USA. Moderated by Šárka Šachtová, the panel featured Andrew Foss, brewer at Human Robot Brewery, and Zdeněk Rosa representing Bohemia Hop, a.s.

Philadelphia’s Human Robot Brewery is a respected producer of both pale and dark Czech-style lagers, using primarily Saaz hops as well as the Sládek variety. The number of American breweries attempting to brew Czech-style lagers is growing, and Zdeněk Rosa also introduced possible combinations of Saaz with other Czech varieties such as Sládek, Premiant, Agnus, and the upcoming Saaz Shine. Samples of these Czech hop varieties, together with Kazbek, were available for breweries to examine directly at the seminar.

The Ministry of Agriculture regularly supports visits by American breweries to the Czech Republic, and there is exceptional interest in these opportunities to experience Czech brewing and ingredients firsthand.

The seminar concluded with short presentations by other Czech companies: Bucher Denwel, Eutit, and Tap the Keg (Lindr). On tap were beers from Budějovický Budvar and Matuška Brewery, while cans featured Czech-style lagers from American breweries Live Oak, Utepils, and Human Robot.

The Czech event was highly praised by the organizing Brewers Association in its official conference summary as a unique example of knowledge and experience sharing, concluding with the words: “Brewing like a Czech – wow!”

The seminar was followed by another event supported by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture and the Czech Embassy, titled Roll out the Barrel, held as part of the official conference program at Human Robot Brewery. Several hundred American brewers attended, appreciating Czech lager and discussing the specifics and demanding requirements of brewing it properly.

The success of the conference for the Czech Republic was crowned by two silver medals for Matuška Brewery at the World Beer Cup for its beers Desítka and Dvanáctka.

Participants also had the opportunity throughout the exhibition and within the Beer the Czech Way project to taste beers from Budějovický Budvar, Matuška Brewery, Two Roosters Brewery, Černokostelecký Brewery, Plzeňský Prazdroj, as well as several Czech lagers brewed by American breweries and poured using LUKR tap technology.

At the Bohemia Hop, a.s. exhibition stand, breweries were welcomed by Vladimír Šeretka, Jan Podsedník, and Tomáš Roubík. Through its activities, Bohemia Hop continues promoting Czech hops on foreign markets, drawing on experience gained from seminars with Czech brewers.

In 2025, a total of 9,578 craft breweries operated in the USA, producing 25.7 million hectolitres of beer, representing a year-on-year production decline of 5.1%.