Author: Social Secretary

Get the basics on kegging your homebrew. Photo: Megan Watson
Get the basics on kegging your homebrew. Photo: Megan Watson

Welcome, brewers to another great month of brewing and beer in Canberra!

Coming off a huge Oktoberfest meeting last month, we’re getting back to a bit of “business as usual”: A great night of sharing beer with friends and some brewing education!

And we’ve got a few wins to toast, with great results at the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago. Kevin Hingston finished second place in the champion brewer tally, and Steve Hoggarth was equal third. Ben Harmer won beer of show with his schwarzbier (just pipping Kev’s hefe at the post). And the ACT was runner-up for champion state behind Perth.

Medallists included:
Gold: Ben Harmer (schwarzbier), Steve Hogarth (Eisbock), Stephen Lawford (English barley wine), Kevin Hingston (Weizen/Weissbier), Steve Hogarth (Barrel-aged passion fruit lambic), Mark Overton (common cider – 100% granny smith).
Silver: Kevin Hingston (Leichtes Weizen), Mitch Dalton (Munich Helles), Mark Bilbrough (RIS), Kevin Hingston (Tripel). Andrew Lewis (Mild Ale), Mark Bilbrough (ESB), Kevin Hingston (American IPA), Andrew Chek (American Wheat), Kevin Hingston, (White Chocolate Metheglin).

Some fantastic results there, well done to all brewers who qualified.

So get down to the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah next Thursday night to join in. We’ll have an education talk from 7.30pm, and get the rest of the meeting going around 8pm.

Tap dancing

We’ll kick off the night with a bit of a pre-meeting education session on kegging this month. Kegging can be a bit of a voodoo art, but hopefully we’ll be able to help explain where to get started. With any luck we might have some new gear for you to have a look at.

Hit the road

There’s been a slight complication to our plans for a brewery trip to the Thirsty Crow in Wagga, as they’ll be closed that weekend as they move to larger premises so we’ve had to go back to the drawing board a little. Still keep the date free, as social sec Jeremy is hoping to have an alternative destination to announce at the meeting. Or you can keep an eye on this thread on the forum.

‘Tis the season

The annual Christmas family barbecue is just around the corner, on December 12 – the chance for the club to give a little back to family members! You can for RSVPs on the forum here (don’t forget to leave your kids’ names and ages), and will be looking for people to bring some beer along to share. Tell the kids we’ll be getting in touch with Santa again!

Canberra Brewer's president Joel Baines, Wig & Pen head brewer Frazer Brown and assistant brewer Alan Ball during the best of show judging.
Canberra Brewer’s president Joel Baines, Wig & Pen head brewer Frazer Brown and assistant brewer Alan Ball during the best of show judging.

Best of the best!

Wrapping up the 2015 competition season, our annual Canberra Brewers Best of Show judging took place at the Wig and Pen earlier this month, with Mark Bilbrough taking out the Wig and Pen Trophy with his English Old Ale! Wig brewer Frazer Brown is keen to brew this with Billy soon, so they can have it ready to serve as the weather cools down next year. Kudos also to Evan Roeterdink for his Nanking Cherry Saison, and 2015 ACT Champion Brewer Stephen Lawford for his Munich Dunkel.

Put your BJCP nous to the test

As we announced at a meeting a few months back, and on the forum, we’ve managed to book a BJCP judge tasting exam for March. Places are strictly limited, and we’ve already started a wait list, but put your name down as there’s a high chance people will drop out before March. Check out the details on the forum, and we’ll have a bit of a chat about what’s required at the meeting.

It’s Canberra Beer Week, get amongst it!

This Thursday also marks the launch of Canberra Beer Week – with some big events from some of our club’s supporters. Bentspoke is launching a new beer every day, plus running guided tastings and brewery tours throughout the week. The Pot Belly is hosting a Rodenbach and La Sirene masterclass and Prickly Moses tap takeover. Pact is launching its latest beer and hosting a beer and coffee night at Highgate Lane, and the Wig and Pen is running some meet the brewer sessions with a meal. Details can be found at http://www.canberrabeerweek.com/ and there are plenty of great events all week.

You can also get involved in the Beer Day Out by volunteering to help out on Friday November 6 or Saturday November 7 by emailing liz@beerdayout.com.au. Details at http://beerdayout.com.au/volunteer-3/

Club library

Don’t forget to head to the club’s online library catalogue at https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ to peruse this great resource. You can reserve a copy of something and we’ll deliver it at the meeting. If the book is currently on loan, email education@canberrabrewers.com.au and we’ll arrange to have it brought back for you to borrow. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

Beer Judging
Get your entries in for the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships.

Greetings brewers! It’s that time of year again when we’re gearing up for our biggest competition of the year – the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships!

Entries must be submitted before 10.30am on September 5, so the next meeting on Thursday, September 3, at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah might be your last chance to get a fellow brewer to help sample your beer before you enter it. Cost of entering this year’s ACTABCs has been dropped to $5 per bottle. More information is available on the forum here.

Your club needs you

We’re still keen to enlist more judges and stewards for the ACT competition. It will be at the Pot Belly Boutique Bar, 5/26 Weedon Close, Belconnen on Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th of September from 9am both days.

Everyone is welcome to help out – stewarding is a great way to learn more about competitions and join in the fun! Each day’s session will be for approximately 3 – 4 hours, lunch will be provided at the conclusion of judging each day. Sign up on the forum here.

Tune-up your tastebuds

With the BJCP trainees having their major faulted beer tasting session on Tuesday night (a fantastic opportunity – add your name to the waiting list here), we’ve got a couple of extra flavours to offer to the broader group at the meeting. One of these is a very common off-flavour that judges often disagree on, so the timing is right to dial in your dial in your sensors to make sure you’ve got it right! Thanks, yet again, to BentSpoke for providing the perfectly-brewed base beer.

Halt deine Lederhosen fest!
Halt deine Lederhosen fest!

Oktoberfest tickets selling fast!

With a maximum 90 spaces available, and at last count 75 of those taken, you’d better get in quick if you want to join in our Oktoberfest celebration – the Canberra Brewers’ biggest social event of the year.

Cost for members is $10 and non-members $40. Don’t forget you need to pay at the September meeting or by direct deposit before Sept 21st or you lose your place(s) on the list. RSVP and read all the details here.

And don’t forget, no Oktoberfest is complete without lots of great homebrew! Bring your kegs along, the more the merrier. There will also be a prize for best German beer served on the night.

Be in it to win it!

For this months raffle we have some fantastic prizes on offer: A bottle of Kraken Meadery’s superb braggot, a temperature controller, a copy of Brewing Classic Styles, Gordon Strong’s new book Modern Homebrew Recipes, a Coopers T-Shirt, and one of the fantastic new products from Mashematics!

Save the date(s)

Still early days, but we’ve got a date (November 28) booked in for our next brewery trip – this time down to the Thirsty Crow in Wagga Wagga. Several members will camp down by the river.

We’re also planning the annual Christmas family barbecue for December 12, so get that up in your calendars. A few more handy dates are in this post on the forum.

Club library

Don’t forget to head to the club’s online library catalogue at https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ to peruse this great resource. You can reserve a copy of something and we’ll deliver it at the meeting. If the book is currently on loan, email education@canberrabrewers.com.au and we’ll arrange to have it brought back for you to borrow. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

(Another throw back to International Home Brew Day at Westside,
thanks to Tony for editing the timelapse video!)