Saturday, June 7th 2008

Brewing Usability

Tour starts at 1:00 pm

Because of the need to coordinate this event with the Summit Brewery
registrations must be received at least one week prior to the event.
RSVP deadline: Monday June 2 2008 1:00 pm
RSVP to: rsvp@upamn.org

Please join us on a tour of the Summit Brewing Co.  We will join the
regularly scheduled tour of the brewery and have the opportunity to
observe the process, tools, and tasks involved in brewing beer.

After the tour we will adjourn to Summit’s hospitality area where we
will open a brief discussion around the usability of beer from a
consumer perspective and experience a guided tasting of Summit’s
beer.  Concepts that might be discussed include the usability of
packaging, product stability and quality, sensory analysis, and how
social issues affect accessibility.

Delving further into human factors, Christopher Hadden will guide an
evaluation of Summit’s beer.  According to Christopher, sensory
analysis is a serious subject among the brewing industry insiders and
home brewers.  For the consumer, honing evaluation skills leads to a
greater enjoyment of food and drink, which constitutes a significant
part of our lives.

There is plenty to discuss about sensory evaluation including why
there are beer styles, the constitutive elements (sight, aroma, taste,
gustatory and trigeminal sensation, etc.), sensory thresholds for
various chemical compounds, defects to look for, and other aspects.
The tasting will be lead in the manner of a sanctioned home brewing
competition.

Please be aware that everyone is welcome on the tour, but in order to
sample the beer, in accordance with Minnesota law, you must be over 21
and have a photo ID verifying your age.

Send RSVP by Monday June 2 (1:00pm): rsvp@upamn.org

Event Details:

Date/Time:
Saturday, June 7th, 2008, 1:00 p.m
Place:
Summit Brewery
Address:
910 Montreal Circle, St Paul, MN 55102[website:www.summitbrewing.com]
Note: You must be 21 or older!
Hosts:
Summit Brewery
Topic:
Brewing Usability

Agenda:

About Our Speakers and The Topic

Christopher Hadden

Christopher Hadden is a user experience designer and award-winning
home brewer. He is a member of the User Experience team at Thomson
Reuters and lives in Saint Paul.

As a professional designer of web-based information systems,
Christopher is interested in how design (content, interaction, and
visual) is perceived by others. As home brewer, he is interested in
how recipes and the brewing process create a product that lends itself
to an enjoyable experience. Both are complex design problems: the
former primarily deals with information and cognitive patterns; the
latter deals with ingredients, biological and chemical processes, and
compound sensory evaluation. As with any complex design challenge,
brewing is best embarked upon as a team effort.

Christopher’s formal training is in German studies, fermentation
science, and business administration. Christopher attended the
Institute for German Studies as a part of his undergraduate studies,
studied fermentation science and sensory analysis at the Siebel
Institute of Technology in Chicago, and completed a brewing practicum
at Goose Island Brewing Co. Currently he is working on an MBA degree
and is a Recognized Judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program
(BJCP) and participates in local and national homebrew competitions.

Map, Driving Directions & Parking



From the South
Take 35 E north to the Hwy 5/West 7th St exit.
Turn right (east).  Follow one block to Montreal Way (just past the
Burger King),
turn right into Crosby Lake Business Park,
follow Montreal Way about ½ mile, then turn left into Montreal Circle,
the brewery is directly in front of you.

From the North
Take Hwy 35 south past downtown St Paul approximately 3 miles to the
Hwy 5/West 7th Street exit, turn left (east),just over bridge is a
Burger King.  Just past the BK turn right into Crosby Lake Business
Park, follow Montreal Way about ½ mile, then turn left into Montreal
Circle, the brewery is directly in front of you.

From the East
Follow Hwy 94 west toward downtown St Paul, then follow Hwy 35E south
past downtown St Paul approximately 3 miles to the Hwy 5/West 7th
Street exit, turn left (east), just over bridge is a Burger King.
Just past the BK turn right into Crosby Lake Business Park, follow
Montreal Way about ½ mile, then turn left into Montreal Circle, the
brewery is directly in front of you.

From the West (Minneapolis)
Follow Hwy 94 east towards downtown St Paul, just over the river take
the Snelling Ave exit, turn right and go south on Snelling
approximately 3 miles to Montreal Ave, turn left, follow Montreal Ave
down hill about 1 mile, at the bottom of the hill is a major
intersection with Hwy 5/West 7th Street, be in the center lane and
proceed straight, cross over W 7th Street, follow Montreal Ave past a
stop sign and cross bridge into Crosby Lake Business Park, up about ½
mil turn right into Montreal Circle, the brewery is directly in front
of you.

From the West (Bloomington, SW Suburbs)
Follow Hwy 494 east past the Mall of America, then follow Hwy 5
towards downtown St Paul (right two lanes), past MSP Airport, Hwy 5
will become West 7th Street, follow for approximately 2-3 miles to the
intersection with Montreal Ave, turn right, go past stop sign and
cross over bridge into Crosby Lake Business Park, up ½ mile turn right
into Montreal Circle, brewery is directly in front of you.

Event Cost & Registration

 

If you or someone you know would like to attend, please register by emailing rsvp@upamn.org that you will attend.

 

Help Spread the Word:

Know someone interested in usability? Feel free to invite them to an upcoming meeting. Visitors are always welcome. Please forward this announcement to other area professionals who might have an interest in UPA-MN meetings or activities.

Do you have an idea for a future meeting or know someone you think would be a good speaker? Contact our Program Directors (ProgramDirector@upamn.org) with your suggestions.

Last update: May 21, 2008