Bitter & Twisted 2009

[jdsaint]

The "Floaties" were Tonys Randalised APA pumping though fresh galaxy hops and was daaaaaamn delicious

Tom

So you think!........But shocking gets the money , but it depends on the palate maybe I dont like flat beer or maybe just to many brewskies b4 I got to that 1, anyway it's all worth it at that MhB stand.....

 

[Andyd]

Sounds like a fantastic weekend - I wish I'd been able to get up there to enjoy it all with you!

I'd like anyone else who can to point out where they have a home brew shop that supports the local community, then is willing to lobby OLGR for permission to serve Homebrew to the public for FREE, then is willing to front 5 odd grand in advance for a stand and then on top of all that, donate the ingredients to 10 odd customers for nicks just for the chance to present their beer to the public, and then go through the pain and pus of pulling it all together to be the success it was, to pipe up and put it out here....

Now that you've put the call out, I have to put John Preston at Grain and Grape out there for his commitment to last year's conference. Before we even had a good business plan, John had paid for Jamil and john Palmer's airfares, and his generocity when it come to allowing his staff to be involved with events or providing storage space was (and continues to be) amazing!

I think we have, generally, a fantastic community when it comes to the level of support offered to us by our suppliers - it's one of the reasons I keep pushing at our club to make sure that we continue to support our LHBS in general. I just can't imagine that half of the activities we enjoy would be possible without their support, sponorship or overwhelming generocity.

Andy

 

[Pollux]

Awesome weekend.........Well aside from waking up this morning....

I think a combo of the VIP tent and then shifting onto Shenanigan's for more beer was my undoing....


MHB stand was great, even if the line was HUGE at times.

Even managed to get a subscription to Beer and Brewer at the lunch.

We shall be returning next year.

 

[wyatt_girth]

The "Floaties" were Tonys Randalised APA pumping though fresh galaxy hops and was daaaaaamn delicious

Tom

It was a ripper. One of my favourites of the whole day. Maybe a little flat but a great flavour all the same.

My pick for worst beer of the day goes to Bluetongue Pilsener. It was a stinker in my opinion - my mate tried to warn me but I wanted to give it a go for myself.

 

[Tony]

Sounds like its been a massive and very sucessful weekend.

I couldnt make it this weekend but will endevour to be there next year. knowing my luck that wont happen either.

All differences aside......... congratulations to Mark! He has been planning this for a long time and sounds like it was a winner!

It will be a boost for home brewing in the hunter valley. Wouldn't have been much without good beer and after trying many HAG's beers (even though ive been banished) there is some massive tallent in this area. I cant begin to imagine what it would have taken to pull it all together, so............ without expecting any acknowledgement......well done.

Cheers and enjoy the hangovers :icon_cheers:

 

[Sammus]

top day I reckon, favourite beers would have been the murrays and hunter beer seasonals.. I was drinking them all day. bacon beer, spiced pumpkin, icon 2ipa and grand cru. all so good. Marks stand was very popular, props to the guys for pulling that one off, the randalled apa was tops, and thats all i really remember. I tried the handpump and a hefe as well, but was too smashed to know what i was drinking at that point

 

[wabster]

I quite liked the ***** Brewings Pale Ale, Murrays Pumpkin beer, Matilda Bay's Alpha Ale and a few others. I lined up trying to get some of the Randalised Pale Ale at Mark's but at around 11am Sat there seemed to be some technical difficulties.

I continue doing my rounds. When I next got into line at 12.15 or so they were using jugs to get the beer out and it wasn't looking too good so I thought I'd focus on other things though others with me wanted to try the beer thru the Randal it didn't seem worth the wait.

A few pix.



Cheerz Wabster

 

[Pollux]

Surprised I can't be spotted in any of those photos, given my height and the shirt I was wearing...

Forgot to mention pick of the day earlier......The 4pines Pale was up there, Also the Icon, the pumpkin ale, grand cru and a few others.

Favourite part of the day had to be people's reactions to my wife's scarred wings, we found that by later in the day people were starting to become more willing to just walk up and start touching them, made for much amusement.

 

[schooey]

Now that you've put the call out, I have to put John Preston at Grain and Grape out there for his commitment to last year's conference. Before we even had a good business plan, John had paid for Jamil and john Palmer's airfares, and his generocity when it come to allowing his staff to be involved with events or providing storage space was (and continues to be) amazing!

*two fingers on the chest, peace out style*

Respeck!

And you've hit the nail on the head, Andy, it's these guy's passion that we are benefitting from; long live the LHBS!

My humble apologies to those that didn't get a chance to try Randall the Vandal due to our teething problems, or those that found it lacking a little carbonation. It was kind of a back up beer, and the Randall was a late addition. Kudos to MHB for pulling it together... Fresh Galaxy flowers and APA, it didn't really worry me about a bit of missing carb, and I enjoyed the feedback both good and bad, so cheers to all who gave me some... :beer:
Highlights for me were Trent's Topaz SMASH and Ben's hand pumped chocolate porter, well done fellas. On the beers of the weekend I'd have to say that standouts were the Barley Gold Barley Wine and the Owd Rodger from the BOTW Tent, the Hunter Beer Co Rauch and Keith's Bock is always a winner...

But...

My name is Tony, and I'm an addict; A Murray's Icon 2IPA addict. Still one of my top 5 beers ever, can't get enoug of the stuff and for the bargain price of 2 tokens a seven glass, i would of had them hook me up intraveinously if I could have...

So thanks again, Mark for the opportunity to be part of it all. Thanks again to the other Hunter brewers who particpated and made it such a great weekend.

Me out!

oooo edit: When it come's to photos, I think my photo challenge takes the cake for the weekend... shame it's not for public consumption....

 

[Tony]

Oh do share.

 

[jdsaint]

thats me in the red shirt in the 1st pic, the yellow section on my pants is my bundy lanyard, I look sexy from behind!

 

[wyatt_girth]

thats me in the red shirt in the 1st pic, the yellow section on my pants is my bundy lanyard, I look sexy from behind!

mate - it's along shot from that photo but was I talkin to you and your old man about the Warner's at the Bay festivities at the end of the month? Think we were in the Murray's line at the time.

 

[jdsaint]

mate - it's along shot from that photo but was I talkin to you and your old man about the Warner's at the Bay festivities at the end of the month? Think we were in the Murray's line at the time.

yer I was with my old man, In that pic the guys in the far right corner or right side were u with them? White shirt, black cap, camo pants? at murrays we were referred to try the seasonal....... awsome stuff

 

[bigfridge]

Some pics from this morning before it got too busy.

 

[wyatt_girth]

yer I was with my old man, In that pic the guys in the far right corner or right side were u with them? White shirt, black cap, camo pants? at murrays we were referred to try the seasonal....... awsome stuff

mug on the right

 

[jdsaint]

Oh yer Nice 1 I always thought that the profile pic was actually you, till somebody told me its from trailor park boys....

 

[Trent]

Just want to say a MASSIVE thanks to MHB for oranising a home brew stand, ponying up the $5K odd to run it, and for supplying the ingredients for about 12 of us to make, and serve, our own beers. It was a seriously enjoyable weekend, I felt like a pig in ****. Massive thanks also to Ben for everything he does at the home brew shop (and an excellent chocolate porter), and especially to Dave Lamotte for going to all the trouble of organising home brew class talks, thinking up topics and gaol based theme names, and also for staffing the talks with talented home brewers, top notch beer judges/brewers and professional brewers. I learnt alot and feel priveledged to have been a small part of it.
The whole festival seemed to be a roaring success despite the rain keeping crowds down on the Sunday, and the MHB stand was a big hit. I did my best to try every beer on the stand, and the HAG boys did themselves proud, every beer was excellent, though there were a few slight carbonation issues at times.
I was very proud to be able to serve my beer to the public, and to have it stand up in quality to some other excellent home brewers was very encouraging. I think that Fear_n_loaths IPA is one of the best kit beers I have tried, Ben Smee's pumpkin ale was excellent, as was Ben's choc porter and Dave Lamottes bitter. MHB's hefe was also a big hit and reeked of banana, making it more popular than most commercial brews! The Randall was great, if not a hiccup in the process, and everything else went pretty smoothly.
Overall, the best B and T yet, I am stoked that so many excellent brewers liked my beer, an I look forward to trying to equal it again next year. Thanks to all the lads who made it such a great time.
If you missed it this year, you'd be mad not to come next year.
All the best
Trent

 

[Doc]

Back to reality today after a top weekend spending Saturday at B&T.
Great to meet a bunch of new AHB'ers, as well as putting faces to many names and catching up with lots of old acquaintances.

A very well run friendly event that I'll be returning to again in the future.

Hard to nail down a favourite for the day (so I won't). There were some amazing beers there from both the Pro and Home side of the biz.

Beers,
Doc

 

[MHB]

Guys, thanks and it was grand.
I had two goals set for the weekend; one was to show the public that home brew can be great beer, the other to show some of the local brewers just how well they can brew.

Mission accomplished.

The three exhibitors that got through the most beer this weekend were Murrays, Potters and us, we all got through about 10-12 kegs (50L), I'm happy to have given you guys the opportunity to show off your skills and you have made me proud to be a HAG.

Thank you all and yes we are booked in for next year, start planning.
Mark

PsYou might enjoy this [color=" #0070c0"][color=" #0070c0"]http://beermen.tv[/color][/color], and yes i know i have a great face for radio, you don't need to tell me.
M

 

[Trent]

I think I forgot to mention a massive kudos to Schooey for naming my Topaz SMASH "Head On Collision" and making such a cool looking label for it. It was above and beyond the call of duty, and I have no doubt it had a large part to do with the popularity of the beer, marketing is more important than flavour! He also had a delcious APA that tasted very hoppy after it was run through the randall, you are a better man than me for not hating the Randall when it was causing problems! And thanks to everybody who sid any kind words about my beer, it made me feel great!
I cant really pin down a favourite either, but the beers at the World Brands stall were all excellent - Marstons, Crop Circle and Bank's.
It was beer heaven for me, I am no longer looking forward to christmas, but next years B+T.
Catch ya's then...
Trent