Canberra Brewers

First meeting for 2012

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

The first meeting for 2012 kicked off in style with more than 50 members attending on February 2nd, nine of who were there for the first time and signed up on the night.

The biggest talking point of the night was our participation at the upcoming Multicultural Festival with Club President Tom Dixon explaining how the committee and some very generous volunteers had been running around behind the scenes getting everything planned for the big weekend.

With Tom ‘taking his thunder’ about the festival, Treasurer David Gilks was left to give a statement of the accounts from last year which was ratified by the club and Education Officer Ben Harmer outlined some of the educational expectations for the year.

Competition Secretary Chris De La Rue told the club what to expect with this year’s comps and the change from BJCP to AABC while Editor Nick Wiseman outlined some plans for the year with the web site, social media and planned instructional videos.

Notable absentee from the committee on the night was Social Secretary Bruce Arnold who is currently battling a torn Achilles ligament – maybe we’ll see you next month Bruce!

After the committee gave their updates for the evening and the official activities were over, Tom took aside the volunteers for the Multicultural Festival stall to explain how things would be run while the raffles opened up for the MillMaster Minimill, craft beer from Plonk and some out-dated yeast from club poster-boy Steve Norrie.

Plenty of socialising was on the cards for the rest of the evening welcoming the new members for the night in true club style with plenty of member’s beer available to sample.

The next big event for the club is now the festival happening this weekend (February 10-12) so if you get the chance come along and check out the stall.

February Meeting Preview

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

The first meeting for the year is coming up in just four days time and is already destined to be a winner with a MillMaster MiniMill grain mill worth $249.95 up for grabs!

The biggest talking point of the night will most certainly be the upcoming 2012 Multicultural Festival where the club will be dispensing ‘Malty Cultural’ – A collaborative beer with the Wig and Pen.

Besides all the normal things taking place it will be a great night for all brewers to meet up since Christmas and plan out the next year worth of brewing, social trips and the upcoming comps.

Remember new members are always welcome and the first meeting or two is on us, come along and see what we have to offer, we guarantee it won’t be long before you’re begging to join!

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.

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.