My NHC Support Group, Steve, Me and Stephen!
Day three, the last day of NHC, has been amazing. I attended four sessions led by brewing legends and another about homebrew club management and organization. Today I attended the following breakout sessions:
Homebrew Club Organization Panel moderated by Drew Beechum
High Gravity Brewing with Patrick Rue of The Bruery
Recipe Building and Competition Tips with Gordon Strong
Collaboration Beers with Greg Koch of Stone Brewing
Workshop on American Hops with Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing
The homebrew club panel was informative. We’re looking for this kind of info as our club, The Central Valley Brewers Guild, grows. Steve and I attended and we pulled a few good nuggets out of the session. There was talk of having a pre-NHC workshop for homebrew club leaders at next years NHC in Seattle. I’m definitely up for that:)
Greg Koch of Stone Brewing with his eyes covered!
Simply put, Greg Koch, of Stone Brewing, is an manic, crazy genius! He body surfed our session and I’m proud to say that at one point I supported his left buttock as he passed over head. It was a lively session with much info and frivolity. My first NHC quote of the day came from the session. During the Q&A session, someone asked if there was a chance of Double Bastard becoming a year-round Stone offering, rather than becoming available at the beginning of the holiday season in early November. Greg quickly replied that it is offered at the “Beginning of Double Bastard season.” A great off the cuff line:)
The best session of the day was led by Matt Brynildson. He is so much the “every man” brewer and relates incredibly well to the homebrewing community. His session on American hops was full of useful information and statistics on American hops and their use in brewing craft and homebrewed beers. He also offered up the best ale selection of any session I attended at NHC this year, and German style hefeweizen, Hemp Ale, Union Jack and Double Jack. Thankfully I had saved my daily alcohol allotment for this session:)
Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing
The second quote of the day came from this session during the pouring of Matt’s ales. One of the NHC pouring volunteers, with (good) attitude, said to us, “I’ve got a lot of beer back there. You guys have got to hurry the hell up!” in our sampling drinking:)
We’re off to the Grand Banquet and Awards Ceremony in a bit. Hopefully my barleywine and vanilla porter will bring home the gold! Cross your fingers for me!
Me, Matt, and Stephen - taken by Dr. Tommy's son!
Cheers to Matt! Thanks for the awesome ales!
The volunteers make this conference as good as it is! Thanks!
The CVBG Crew the NHC Club Night
Day 2 of NHC 2011 brought several new, amazing beers to my lips. In my first session, I had the opportunity to taste Firestone Walker’s Saucerful of Secrets, a dark Belgian ale that has been mellowing in bourbon barrels for three years. It was incredibly smooth and even with its high ABV, very very drinkable, even at 9:20 in the morning:) I also enjoyed a Firestone Walker double IPA, some Pliny the Elder and another Russian River IPA, Hop 2 It, which uses a new still unnamed experimental hop. Today I attended the following sessions:
Cooking with Beer with Sean Paxton, The Homebrew Chef
Historical Extreme Beers with Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing
Pragmatic Brewing with Denny Conn
The White Labs Hangover Kit!
The highlight of the day was Vinnie Cilurzo’s keynote address. It was captivating hearing about the early days of his brewing career – the struggles and successes, and then the development of the Russian River Brewing we all know today. On top of it all, Vinnie is a down to earth, humble man.
Tonight’s social event was the annual Club Night, where homebrew clubs from across the nation offer their best homebrews out to NHC attendees. The best ale I had tonight was Nathan Smith’s double IPA, from the DOZE booth – a big, spicy IPA, but dry and lacking the overpowering sweetness that too many IIPAs have.
We enjoyed Club Night for about an hour and a half and then retired to our room for some much needed sleep:)
Yum! Firestone Walker's Saucerful Of Secrets - at 9:20 am
Oh, yea! This is going to be good!
Vinnie Cilurzo giving the 2011 NHC Keynote
Vinnie Cilurzo, Mark and Steve
I'll Have What He's Having!
Steve and Maggie Supporting Dust Bowl Brewing
Yeast for a Year!
So today was a Charlie Sheen day at NHC. Winning!
At tonight’s Pro Brewers night, the lovely Mrs. Lazy Brewer won a year’s worth of yeast from White Labs! There were twelve certificates, each good for two vials of White Labs yeast! Two raffle tickets were called, with no one responding and the third call was her ticket! Life is good:)
Today I attended the following breakout sessions:
Brewing on a Budget with Chris Graham of MoreBeer
Hop Boil Chemistry with Colin Kaminski of Downtown Joe’s in Napa
Choosing the Right Yeast with Chris White of White Labs
Brenda and her (my:) Yeast!
All the sessions were good, but I really enjoyed the brew nerdiness of the hop chemistry and yeast sessions. Very good info:)
On a sad note, the Town and Country Resort Hotel shooed the gourmet food trucks off their property. Seems like a money grab move to capture the conference attendees food dollars. Very very uncool…
The Hospitality Suite Brew Board, beers 17-30
30 handles at the Hospitality Suite
The Three Beerscateers! Onf for all and all for beer!
The conference opening toast!
My Twitter beer buddy @BrettGlenna
What the hell? A line for the mens room?
Incredible Hospitality Room Portable Cold Box with 30 handles!
The Floor of Pro Brewers Night
Me, Vinnie Cilurzo, a big-assed bottle of Temptation and Steve
Mark, Maggie, Steve and Brenda
Mr. & Mrs. Lazy Brewer
