National Homebrewers Conference

I just got back late last night from the National Homebrewers Conference in Oakland, three days and nights of beer talks, beer seminars, beer tastings, beer samplings, and beer drinking.

Commemorative beers brewed specially for the occasion, and distributed as
gifts to those attending the conference upon registering on-site

LECTURES

Clockwise from upper left: John Palmer (author, Brewing Classic Styles) on proteins and
head retention; Bob Hansed (Briess) on specialty malts and color in beer; Michael Ferguson
(BJ's Restaurants) on brewing German lagers; Tomme Arthur (The Lost Abbey) on
"ingredients 5 - 10".

The talks and lectures were pretty interesting though not always immediately relevant to me as an extract brewer. Nonetheless I did learn and found them all informative and, by and large, entertaining.

One of the best was the talk given by Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey. Not only was he a fun speaker, but he was very gracious and earnest in anwering all manner of questions from the floor. To make matters even better, he had a number of samples of Lost Abbey beers on hand.

Some of those were pretty potent and by the end of the talk we were all a bit loopy, which made it even more amusing that the session was punctuated by corks flying through the air preceded by loud POP!s as the bottles were uncorked!


HOSPITALITY SUITE

Clockwise from upper left: More Beer!'s table at the Hospitality Suite; Rogue Brewery's table;
Cellarmaster Mike McDole and Randy enjoying a well-earned break in the HS; the Brewing Network
crew pouring their beers in the HS, on the Maltose Falcons' awesome portable bar.

CLUB NIGHT

From L to R: A part of DOZE's offerings on Club Night; Dick and Nate in the DOZE
beer tent; Aaron and I manning the DOZE food table.

With Charlie Papazian.
The lady who snapped the picture for me somehow managed
to capture the precise instant in which we both blinked!

CLOSING BANQUET

The Conference closed with an awards ceremony and a banquet directed by DOZE's own Sean Paxton, a.k.a. The Homebrew Chef. Sean designed a menu for us in which every dish was paired to a beer from Rogue Brewery, and that beer was used in the preparation of the dish itself. These included an Asian-inspired salad, a choice of roast pork or chicken, and a delicious chocolate mousse dessert made with Tcho brand chocolates and a surprisingly awesome chocolate-infused imperial stout which, we were told, is brewed under contract by Rogue for sale abroad and, other than at our tables, was unavailable in the US.

SOUVENIR

Preparing for the NHC

    

With the advent of the AHA's National Homebrewers' Conference upon us a group of DOZErs gathered at Black Diamond Brewery to unpack, sort, and record entries from all over the country for the National Homebrew Competition to be held at the Conference.

Utah passes HB51

On March 24th the Gov, of Utah signed into law HB 51, which among other things ammends the regulations on manufacture of alcoholic beverages such that,

(b) An individual may without being licensed under this chapter manufacture in the 83 individual’s personal residence a fermented alcoholic beverage if:

(i) the individual is 21 years of age or older;

(ii) the individual manufactures no more than:

(A) 100 gallons in a calendar year, if there is one individual that is 21 years of age or 87 older residing in the household; or

(B) 200 gallons in a calendar year, if there are two or more individuals who are 21 years of age or older residing in the household;

(iii) the fermented alcoholic beverage is manufactured and used for personal or family 91 use and consumption, including use at an organized event where fermented alcoholic 92 beverages are judged as to taste and quality; and

(iv) the fermented alcoholic beverage is not for:

(A) sale or offering for sale; or

(B) consumption on a premise licensed by the commission.

In other words, Homebrewing is now Legal in Utah.

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Related readings:

• Full text of Utah House Bill 51: http://le.utah.gov/~2009/bills/hbillenr/hb0051.htm
• Brewers’ Association announcement: http://www.beertown.org/ba/media_2009/Utah_legalizes_homebrewing.html

"Artesanos de la Cebada" segment from Peru TV

A video segment on microbreweries in Lima from Panamericana Televisión's Panorama news program:

Part 1 (7:52 mins)


Part 2 (8:13 mins)

The Session

THE REPEAL OF PROHIBITION

Seventy-five years ago, on December 5, 1933, the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment, which had banned the import to, export from, and "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States.

The end of Prohibition meant that after 13 years Americans could again legally produce, sell, obtain, and give away alcoholic beverages - including beer. At the time this came as a great relief and joy to millions, and it no doubt also meant an almost immediate improvement in the quality of drink available after more than a decade of clandestine moonshine, bathtub gin, and questionable homebrew.

Today we continue to reap both the bitter fruit of Prohibition and the sweet fruit of its end.

Prohibition brought down a fine brewing tradition harkening back to the earliest days of the European settlement in North America. Before Prohibition the United States had a wealth of local and regional breweries producing a variety of old-world lagers and ales, reflecting the tastes and styles of the peoples who settled each area. After prohibition we were left with a few, mostly larger, breweries and the bitters, porters, ales of days past were replaced with watery, weak-bodied and nearly flavorless lagers.

Luckily, that has now changed, as Americans have slowly rebuilt the traditions of old, researching and reconstructing the old recipes, reviving old styles and bringing regional brewing cultures back to life. From Anchor Steam on the West Coast, to Sam Adams on the East, and from a million microbreweries and home taps in between, we are able to taste the fruit of the 21st Ammendment.

Thinking of all that and upon what a momentous event ocurred in people's lives seventy-five years go, I cannot help but think that today of all days it is doubly true that, "Surely, it must be Happy Hour somewhere," and that here, where I sit -glass of homebrew in hand- it is Happy Hour indeed! So I invite all and sundry to raise a glass, mug, shot, or stein to the 21st Ammendment.

Cheers!

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Related reading:

• The Session
• 21st Amendment Brewery's Repeal Week
  
• ProhibitionRepeal.com