I spent part of last week and the weekend in Cincinnati attending the National Homebrewers Conference. Over 1,300 dedicated brewers, along with over 600 kegs of hand-crafted beer, were also in attendance. This was my first NHC, and it will surely not be the last. I must admit, I am a little “Beer-ed out” as of now, but I am sure I will recover before FestivALL’s “Blues, Brews and BBQ” this weekend.

Day one of NHC was a work day… That’s right. Judging the final round of the National Homebrewers Competition is really hard work. I spent the afternoon smelling, swirling tasting and critiquing some of the finest homebrewed beer in the world. Then it was right into “Brewer’s Night,” where homebrewers are paid homage by many craft breweries treating us with their finest brews, many of which were specially made for the conference. We partied with the pros, most of who began as amateurs just like us.

NHC is not all about the party. I was wide awake each morning and sitting in a presentation hall by 9 a.m. to listen and learn from some of the world’s best brewers, both professional and amateur. Technical topics, such as “Yeast Management for High gravity Brewing,” were presented as well as important beer culture topics such as “10 signs of a perfect pint – and why you rarely find them,” which were just as engaging and informative.

Samuel Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch took the podium with “beer in hand” Friday evening, giving what was a heartfelt and entertaining keynote address. Jim noted that he was addressing the largest gathering of brewers anywhere in the 8,000 year history of beer. He also was keenly aware of his audience when he went for easy laughs at the expense of winemakers and their undying affection for their single ingredient. They are pressured to find flavors in wine that do not exist, he said.

The highlight, or you could say the spectacle, of the weekend was “Club Night”. This is when the homebrewers and their brewing clubs entertain and attempt to outdo each other, like a kegged and tapped version of the mummer’s parade. “Rocket City Brewers” of Huntsville, Ala., strutted its stuff with pseudo-NASA blue jumpsuits and Rocket shaped tap-handles. Then there was West Virginia’s very own “Greater Huntington Homebrewers”, who dressed in yellow raincoats, hung a few fishnets and called our booth “The Deadliest Batch”.

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

The NHC is a great opportunity for brewers to leave their basement or garage breweries and find camaraderie, quirkiness and useful knowledge to improve their craft. I can only hope that more people who enjoy beer will find a friend who brews and offer to lend a helping hand at the next brew session. Or better yet, get online and order up a beginner’s kit to start their journey in a craft that is rewarding creatively, technically and really tastes good!

(Photos by Tim Lepley)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 7:40 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.