# Brew Club Launceston



## Not For Horses (17/3/14)

Hey Launnie brewers

In the last few months a few brewers including myself have been getting together with the intent of creating a regular meet up for home brewers in Launceston.
Local brew clubs were actually something that Brewtas and I discussed at the end of last year. Looks like we finally got around to doing something about it!

Basically it just involves drinking and chatting about all things home brew and beer related.

We have a facebook group set up to keep track of things so we can work out how to get you added to that at the next meeting.

Meetings are the first Tuesday of the month at Saint John. Next meeting will be 6:30 on the 1st of April.
And no this is not an elaborate Aprils fools joke.

So grab a bottle of your finest (or your worst so we can figure out what's wrong with it) and come along to the next meeting.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Cheers!


----------



## jlm (17/3/14)

Aren't they closed on Tuesdays? Assuming I'm not on Flinders I'll be there. Crazy period of work is coming to an end so should (should....) have more time for this sort of thing.


----------



## Not For Horses (17/3/14)

Yep they are closed, which is why it has to be Tuesdays.


----------



## jlm (17/3/14)

Props to Ryan and Luke for being so accommodating. Just checked my diary and I'm in Railton that Tuesday, but Lonnie Wednesday, which means I can leave the ute in town which then leaves the question.......Who wants to give a bloke a lift back to Lanena?


----------



## paddy2 (17/3/14)

Sounds like an excellent concept. I will bring one of each.
Cheers,
Paddy


----------



## Kudzu (31/3/14)

I'll be there. Thanks for the heads up NFH.


----------



## jlm (31/3/14)

I'll be popping in briefly.......Have to go to Flinders on Wednesday so need to get home to pack.


----------



## itmechanic (1/4/14)

Not going to make it again, huge week ahead of me this week.


----------



## MatC (1/4/14)

great idea, any ideas as to what time it will finish? ive got work till about 8 but will try to call in


----------



## Not For Horses (1/4/14)

That's a bugger Paul. Maybe next time.

MatC, we should still be there at 8 but the door will be locked so just knock on the door and we'll let you in.


----------



## stuartgrant (2/4/14)

Thanks to everyone for coming along last night. Always great to talk/drink beer.

Couple of ideas we talked about which we should all keep in mind:

*May 6th* meeting - same place and time (Saint John, 6:30pm). Everyone's encouraged to bring some food to share - cheeses, meats, pickles, nuts etc. As long as it doesn't need cooking, bring it! For our beers, Andrew is going to bring a mic, and each of us has a few mins to "present" our beer to everyone else. More for fun than formality, though!
*June 3rd* - I (Stu) will be away, so it might be best to meet somewhere else. Forgot to mention this last night. Rob & Olivia mentioned their house as a possible meeting spot (no pressure).
*July 1st* - mid-winter feast. I think the idea was to meet somewhere else for delicious food and wintery beers. Forget details.
*September* - Bill (NFH) has been talking to Nick (brewtas) about a legit competition for Tassie, and possibly a pre-competition playoff between North and South! Aiming to run the comp against AABC style guidelines, but since there are 18 categories and 84 sub-categories, we should pick a limited range of styles that everyone enters into to make it manageable. Have a think about top 5 styles...
*Oktoberfest *celebration: we should all think about something delicious and German to brew, and keep planning some sort of meat+beer fest for late Sep-early Oct. Someone suggested camping on a property which sounds like fun.
*Our name*: Andrew takes pride on all our behalfs in being the Newest Brew Club in the World. But that isn't enough. We need an hilarious and brilliant name, or else we are NOTHING! Ideas appreciated.
Also, if anyone wants to join the Facebook group for this club, DM me your email address and I'll attempt to add you!

Thanks!
Stu


----------



## dago001 (2/4/14)

Well done on getting something going. I like the idea of a legit comp for the state, but dont forget that Tassie doesnt stop at Launceston and Hobart (North/South playoff?). There are some very good brewers up this way as well, who may be interested in participating.
I hope to attend a meeting at some stage, but I am rostered on for the next few dates.
Any talk of case swaps??
Cheers
LB


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I (2/4/14)

Ooh, case swap. I've got some beers on at the moment and might be able to contribute something in a month or so.


----------



## brewtas (2/4/14)

LagerBomb said:


> Well done on getting something going. I like the idea of a legit comp for the state, but dont forget that Tassie doesnt stop at Launceston and Hobart (North/South playoff?). There are some very good brewers up this way as well, who may be interested in participating.


Absolutely mate, that's why we're talking North-South not Hobart-Launceston. That's just an extra part added onto the normal state comp for a bit of friendly rivalry. It'll be open to any homebrewer living in the state regardless of whether they're in a club or not and on the entry they'll be able to indicate if they're in the North or South.


----------



## dago001 (2/4/14)

brewtas said:


> Absolutely mate, that's why we're talking North-South not Hobart-Launceston. That's just an extra part added onto the normal state comp for a bit of friendly rivalry. It'll be open to any homebrewer living in the state regardless of whether they're in a club or not and on the entry they'll be able to indicate if they're in the North or South.


Thanks for that - however, we live in the North West, :lol: .


----------



## Not For Horses (2/4/14)

Case swaps were definitely something I had envisaged. We hadn't actually talked about yet but it will absolutely be happening.

LRG and LB, I expect you to enter the comps. I'd be disappointed if you didn't. As well as anyone else reading this.
We need you guys on board to make this more than just people _wanting_ to participate.

I think we'll call the cut off for the North South derby the 42 degree line of latitude.
I may even give a brief talk at the September comps about why this is so significant...


----------



## brewtas (2/4/14)

LagerBomb said:


> Thanks for that - however, we live in the North West, :lol: .


Haha! There are no limits to Tasmanian parochialism. I can understand why you wouldn't want to be included with Launceston though. 

We've all benefitted from your contributions and as Bill said, the comp would be all the poorer if you, LRG, IanH and the other North West guys couldn't join in.


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I (2/4/14)

Is the comp going to be sanctioned for AABC (or is there not enough time)? Or do we continue for the ACT comp for this?

I'm chronically bad for comps - I've only entered once, because I never plan well enough. Did okay, but that still wasn't enough. Maybe give us advance warning?

Make the boundary Campbelltown just to see how many people are stirred up. A fair number of us in the northern half are exiled-qlders, so not as parochial as the locals are. Having said that, parochial locals are still very helpful locals.

Keep us up to date, maybe a group PM? I'm not on faecesbook, so pointless for me.


----------



## brewtas (2/4/14)

Haha, maybe we should make it Qld-Tas instead of North-South. 

It'll be AABC sanctioned so no need to go through ACT this time and there'll definitely be more posts on here closer to the date as well as email, twitter and the rest. As Bill mentioned, the date is September 26-27 so there's some very advanced warning. More info will follow as details get locked in.

One thing I should add: we're very conscious of the terrible organisation of some of the previous competitions held in the state and we'll be working hard to make sure it's very well run.


----------



## dago001 (2/4/14)

brewtas said:


> Haha! There are no limits to Tasmanian parochialism. I can understand why you wouldn't want to be included with Launceston though.


No parochialism here - your from the South, so naturally I despise you.  Although, those blokes from Launceston, - well, what can be said about them thats any good.. :huh: And don't start me on them bloody Qlders 
Back to the comp - if it is decided to limit the styles, then that decision needs to be made fairly soon, so that we can prepare (cheat, bribe - whatever it takes).
Cheers
LB


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I (2/4/14)

Or the alternative will be that you have the full range of categories, but a beer has to be bronze minimum to qualify for AABC. That way you get the wider range, but don't make it a one person shoot out for certain styles.

Say you get one American Brown Ale, One Golden Strong Lager, etc. If they score 29.5, don't qualify, if they score 35, they do.


----------



## brewtas (2/4/14)

Yep, we're on the case. There are a couple of details we're working out and then we'll sort out categories. We'll be keeping everyone in the loop and it should be all set soon.


----------



## dago001 (2/4/14)

Probably need to start a new thread in the appropriate place, so these Lonnie blokes can talk about their Club. LRG can link it back to the Tassie brew club forum for us.
LB


----------



## brewtas (2/4/14)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Or the alternative will be that you have the full range of categories, but a beer has to be bronze minimum to qualify for AABC. That way you get the wider range, but don't make it a one person shoot out for certain styles.
> 
> Say you get one American Brown Ale, One Golden Strong Lager, etc. If they score 29.5, don't qualify, if they score 35, they do.


I know what you mean but I think it'll be a better as a competition if there's a good number of entries in a smaller range of categories. Hopefully we won't have to limit things too much. The issue is more about number of judges than anything and that will get better over the coming years as the clubs gain some momentum. It's probably helpful to think of this year's comp partly as preparation for coming years. That's not to say it won't be run well though, it should be top notch.


----------



## jlm (2/4/14)

Looked like a good turnout.....sorry I couldn't stay longer. I'm basically stuffed for donating a venue for anything this year, but if an Oktoberfest event happens anywhere I'd gladly take care of the food side of things......I think Stu was the only person from last night (well....Luke was there too, I'll let everyone ask him about his experiences that night next time they're having a beer at St Johns) who attended Oktoberfest at my place a couple of years ago and hopefully he'd give a good report of the grub.

Next year though......100m2 shed 20 minutes out of town and not working in the middle of the Bass Strait........bring on the big brew days at my place.


----------



## dago001 (2/4/14)

jlm said:


> Next year though......100m2 shed 20 minutes out of town and not working in the middle of the Bass Strait........bring on the big brew days at my place.


Brew wars - I'm in - will come up with something innovative - solar brewing???


----------



## stuartgrant (3/4/14)

Can confirm the quality of the food at jlm's Oktoberfest. That pork knuckle was the single best piece of pig I've eaten. Gordo is like a pig alchemist.

Just a reminder: if you'd like an invite to the Launceston Brew Club facebook group, send me your email address and I'll add you in. No doubt we'll be cross posting between here and there anyway, for those not on FB.

It's good to see lots going on in Tassie!


----------



## Kudzu (3/4/14)

Just like to restate my offer to use our place for Oktoberfest.

We've just bought an old community run primary school near Lilydale we are converting into a residence, about 25-30 mins from Launceston CBD. Heaps of room inside or out so weather won't be a concern. More than happy for people to bring a tent and camp or sleep on the floor inside.

Couple of pics in-case anyone needs further convincing.


----------



## Not For Horses (3/4/14)

I'm sold Pat. Are the tables yours now too?
I like the idea of a school camp for big people.
What I don't like is the idea of a load of people fed up on BBQ meats and beer all sleeping in the same room...


----------



## Kudzu (3/4/14)

Only one of the tables left, we were supposed to get more, but someone filched them. We may still get them back but I'm not holding out much hope.

I was thinking along the lines of setting up some long feast hall type tables, in and/or outside, except I don't have any but I'll worry about that later.

If you're concerned about flatulence bring a tent.


----------



## dago001 (3/4/14)

I imagine that snoring rather than flatulence was the problem NFH was thinking about, or in my case it should be the problem. I can clear a hotel full of hobos with my snoring when full of beer and bbq. Anyway, looks like a good place to have an Octoberfest.
Cheers
LB


----------



## Not For Horses (2/6/14)

Thought I better post in here. The launnie meetings have been moved to Mondays now.
That makes the next meeting tonight.


----------



## DU99 (2/6/14)

i am in launnie area next week..Oh Well :icon_offtopic:


----------



## jlm (2/6/14)

And once again I'm going to miss it......getting on the plane to Flinders this arvo. Next time (Although I'm going to be working regularly at Lake St Clair now which could add more complications)......and I'll have my own beers too.


----------



## Not For Horses (23/1/15)

I feel that this section on AHB has been neglected somewhat so I'm posting for all those who are not part of the FB group or in the know.
We have been running the brew club in Launceston for a year now and it has been a real success. We have around 40 members that attend at varying intervals, usually with around 20 people at each meeting. Although James obviously doesn't like us and never comes anymore. We must smell funny. Or he doesn't like beards. But Olivia doesn't have a beard and she comes every month.
We have an excellent range of brewers including a couple pro craft brewers and a mega brewer. We have everyone covered from kits to all grain gurus and folks that embrace the sour funk. We even have a mead guy.
Our meetings are still happening every month on the first Monday. The next meeting will be our first anniversary and we are always open to newcomers. If you like drinking/talking about beer, send me a message for all the details and come and join us.


----------



## jlm (23/1/15)

Well, I don't like beards. Have to get on a plane the day after next meeting so am 50/50


----------



## dago001 (24/1/15)

Wrong part of the state for me, and the wrong day of the week.
I may get there one day.
Cheers
LB


----------



## motman (10/2/15)

I'll be moving to lonnie in a couple of months! How do I find u all? I had a search on face book but nothing jumped out


----------



## Not For Horses (13/2/15)

The facebook stuff is private group at this stage.
Send me a PM and we'll sort something out.


----------



## motman (17/2/15)

Not For Horses said:


> The facebook stuff is private group at this stage.
> Send me a PM and we'll sort something out.


Cheers, looks like I'm all joined up. See you in May / June hopefully!


----------

