Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
Saturday morning, Izzy & I attended a National Learn to Homebrew Day event being held at the home of fellow SF Homebrewers Guild members Karlo& Sami. For those who don’t remember our event last year, this is essentially the annual event where people who are interested or novice homebrewers can come to check out somebody’s setup… and learn the basic information about brewing… and whatever else they really want to know as most of the time is waiting for water & wort to boil or cool. Karlo & Sami were AMAZING hosts… and they showed us their new brew system called the (Fairy) Grainfather, which is an all-in-one brewing system… and it’s pretty damn amazing. Here are some pictures…
Sunday, Izzy went to her sister’s Baby Shower in Sacramento… and I assume she’ll elaborate on her Untidy Venus blog… but apparently it was a lot of fun.
I however went help setup & steward at the annual California State Homebrew Competition at Anchor Brewing which is easily one of the largest homebrew competitions in the nation… nay, WORLD!!! You all know my love for Anchor Brewing… and their magnificent beers… and their incredible hospitality in hosting the SF Homebrewers Guild for the past few years… and just being at the forefront of the craft beer movement… so having them as the host for this incredible event is always awesome. Hats off to them, first & foremost!
First was the final round of judging for the beers entered. You may recall a few weeks ago (while I was having a bout with food poisoning) that the bottled entries were collected & sorted, then the following week (when Izzy & I were helping her mom move) was the preliminary rounds of judging so that those beers that scored the best made it to this final round. We first set up a bunch of tables and a proper & efficient judging area… so that we could spend two hours judging beer… then that would leave more time for eating & drinking beer. It makes perfect sense! Hats off for the judges & stewards who helped make this happen!
After the judging portion, it was time for a little break (aforementioned drinking & burritos were obviously involved) and then we held a raffle for some incredible prizes… and then the big moment… the final results and giving away some ribbons to the best homebrewers in the state. All in all, there were dozens of ribbons given away… but fellow guild member Keith Kost was awarded with Homebrewer of the Year and walked away with TEN more ribbons (to go with his… I’m guessing well over a hundred in various competitions) to add to his collection. Congratulations Keith!
Then… it was time to award to the Homebrew Club of the Year… and that award went to Strand Brewers Club in Long Beach (I think there are a few pictures from NHC) who walked away with the prestigious award. Congratulations to them!
Now… was I expected for SF Homebrewers Guild to get the award for Homebrew Club of the Year? Well… obviously we boasted not only the Homebrewer of the Year, the most award winners, probably one of the largest clubs in the state, great showings at both NHC & NCHF, setting up & orchestrating the competition where it was awarded, and just overall great experiences in promoting homebrewing… but it just goes to show that there is a LOT of great competition for a prestigious award like this. Also, I’m a little biased… so that may play in it as well. Hopefully we can have a real chance at winning next year… and if the plans for the next few months are any indication… we’ll be taking that trophy home next year. Here’s hoping!
Again, a big thank you to Anchor Brewing, senior leadership of the event, and everybody else out there who made this event happen… it was an incredible experience& a great time!
Join us next time when I share our adventures in Belgium... inspired beer techniques. Have a great day everybody!!!
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