Canberra Brewers

Multicultural Festival Brew Night

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

Canberra Brewers will be taking part in the 2012 Canberra Multicultural Festival and as such, have crafted a unique beer especially for the event. With the help of Richard from the Wig and Pen and some volunteers, this beer was brought to life on January 19.

With a lot of chat, snacks and of course drinks, the beer was crafted together by Richard, with the rest of us helping out where we could by posing for photos or carting around the spent grain.

While the beer was boiling, we took the time to start doodling around and came up with the artwork for the tap which can be seen here. This will be used throughout the festival.  

The collaborative beer, aptly named ‘Malty Cultural’ is a pale ale hopped with East Kent Goldings, Hallertau, Amarillo and Galaxy, making it a truly multicultural beer.

Over the course of the weekend the club plans to offer Malty Cultural alongside several other beers that will rotate including styles from Germany, Belgium, the UK and the USA.

The stall will be manned by keen members of the club who are more than happy to explain beer and brewing to all members of the public who want to know more about how it all works. 

The Canberra Brewers will also be providing demonstrations of the basics of brewing across the weekend.

The National Multicultural Festival marks a fantastic opportunity on the calendar for the Canberra Brewers to gain exposure to the broader Canberra community and to expose the public to better beer and how to brew it.

For more information visit the 2012 Multicultural Festival online here.
See the rest of the brew day photos on our Flickr site.

President, Redux

By Nicholas Wiseman, Editor

The club held its final end of year bash and annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday 2 December, with the old committee dissolved and the 2012 team voted in. Leadership of the club continues on next year with Tom Dixon resuming his role as club president along with treasurer David Gilks.

Joining them are Chris De La Rue as competition secretary, Bruce Arnold as social secretary, Ben Harmer as education officer and Nick Wiseman as editor. Leaving the committee after a busy and successful year is Steve Norrie, Sam Highley, Mark Bilbrough and Dan Rayner.

Also announced on the night was the winner of the Craig Robinson Trophy which went to Ben Harmer with his behind the scenes and never requested assistance and the fact “he was not a wanker”. Honourable mentions for the award went to Chris De La Rue, Mark Bilbrough, David Gilks and the IT team.

This year’s NOOKIE ("Newcastle Or Otherwise Kinda Interstate Experience") prize went to none-other than the President, Tom Dixon, despite initial protests and offering it back for a redraw, the club spoke and he grudgingly accepted! This is the third year in a row that the President of the club has taken out the NOOKIE prize.

Memberships are now due for 2012 for those who missed the meeting and details can be found online on the forum, for those who did turn up and opted to pay by transfer please don’t forget! Next year is looking to be big with the club taking part in the National Multicultural Festival in February as well as the usual mix of competitions and social events.

Feast of the beast

By Sam Highley

Over at 666 ABC Canberra they've been running a series known as Feast, where they're looking at the culinary aspects of life in Canberra and the region. The series covers everything from growing, buying, cooking and consuming food and drink, and back in September they focussed on brewing. Of course, no focus on brewing would be complete without delving into beer, and Canberra Brewers member Chris De La Rue showed Jo Laverty from 666 around his garage with a tour of his equipment and process.

 

 

 

Oktoberfest 2011

By Sam Highley

The Canberra Brewers held their annual Oktoberfest celebration last night, with more than sixty members and guests turning out to sample German food and beer. The Harmonie German Club put on a great spread featuring typical German foods including sauerkraut, roast pork, potatoes, sausage and goulash. A great response by the members saw a huge number of kegs arrive full of beer, ensuring everyone had not only ample amounts of great food, but also great beer.

The night was also an opportunity to hand out prizes and certificates to all those who received a medal in the recent ACT Amateur Brewing Championship. Of course, we were also able to officially congratulate Keenan Fahy on his outstanding achievement this year in winning both Brewer of the Year and Beer of Show for 2011. Best of luck to all those brewers who have beers competing at the Nationals later this month, and here's hoping the club can defend its title win from last year! Here's some photos from last night:

 

ACT Brewer of the Year 2011

Brewer of the Year is awarded to the brewer who scores the most points at the ACT Amateur Brewing Championship based on their best five beers. These beers must include at least one lager AND one ale, with the other three beers from the same or other categories.

The top five brewers for 2011 (based on the ACTABC 2011 results are):

• Keenan Fahy - 590.5 points (includes three gold, two silver)
• Stuart Whytcross – 583 points (includes two gold, three silver)
• Luke Falconer – 578.5 points (includes one gold, four silver)
• Richard Fitzpatrick – 573 points (includes two gold, two silver, one bronze)
• Patrick Baggoley – 567.5 points (includes five silver)

Congratulations to Keenan Fahy in winning this years ACT Brewer of the Year!

Well done to all on a very close battle, with just 23 points separating first from fifth.

ACT Amateur Brewing Championship - Results

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Wow, how huge was ACTABC 2011! The Canberra Brewers powered through judging 208 beers across 18 Categories and 81 styles…. in one day! 19 judges, eight stewards, and two pourers made probably what has been the biggest judging day in the Canberra Brewers history run so smoothly.

Canberra Brewers put forward their best beers to seek quality feedback, and to try and gain a top three placing in each category to qualify for the Nationals. I hope that all who had a role in the day enjoyed themselves – I was very proud of our club to see old and new members step up to be a part of making the day a great success. Special thanks to the Wig & Pen, and particularly the Wig’s Head Brewer Richard Watkins, for providing an awesome venue and fantastic support for the competition.

Club Competition three — 2011

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Spring has sprung, and there is no better way to start the season than by judging an eclectic collection of last runnings. Dicko’s place was again the venue, where we judged the styles of American Brown, Northern English Brown, Brown & Robust Porter, Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Scottish 80/-, Irish Red, Dunkelweizen, American Barleywine, Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer and Classic Rauchbier.

A big thanks to Dicko for hosting, to the judges for judging: Tom Dixon, Chris Duffy, Darren Cullerne, Paul Haesler, Ben Harmer, Ben Cas and David Gilks; and the stewards for stewarding: Chris De La Rue, Peter Collins and Malcolm Scholes.

Blow into this ...

By Dan Rayner and Sam Highley

At the July club meeting we were lucky enough to get a presentation from Senior Constable Mick Richardson from ACT Policing on responsible alcohol consumption, particularly with relation to driving. The presentation was a fascinating mix of beer consumption and biochemistry, and gave us the opportunity to see just what effect the consumption of alcohol had on the blood-alcohol concentrations (BAC) of various volunteers.

Mick gave a great talk which covered alcohol consumption and why it's really not a very good idea to drink and drive, along with a demonstration of the 'instruments' they use to detect it.

Wig & Pen Brew Day

By Sam Highley, Editor

One of the most popular days on the Canberra Brewers calendar each year is the Wig & Pen Brew Day. The extremely generous support of Lachie McOmish (owner) and Richard Watkins (brewmaster) of the Wig & Pen allowed about sixty members and friends to gather at the crack of 9am on Saturday 4 June, for a day full of beer, coffee, cheese and food.

Richard set out to provide evidence that a focus on the process, rather than the ingredients, is the best way to improve your brewing. With this in mind, he designed a beer featuring no less than sixty ingredients, including twenty different types of both malt and hops. The resulting beer was on-tap recently at the July club meeting, and the general consensus was that it was a definite winner.

Club competition two — 2011

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

With 45 beers, 10 judges, three stewards, one-and-a-half days and a great venue, we judged a fantastic selection of beers for the Canberra Brewers Club Comp 2 on July 2 and 3. Over the course of the weekend, Canberra Brewers finest Scottish and American Ales, Lagers and a couple of RISs were on show.  Club Comp 2 covered: American Pale Ale, American India Pale Ale and Imperial India Pale Ale; Premium American Lager, Munich Helles, Dortmunder Export, German Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsener, Classic American Pilsner; Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest, Munich Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Maibock/Helles Bock, Traditional Bock, Doppelbock; Scottish Light 60/- and Scottish Heavy 70/-; and, last but definitely not least, Russian Imperial Stout.