Brewshare Night In Sydney & Melbourne

[StraussyStrauss]

Axe-ing Melb is a shame...

I only found out about it recently, and at the time had no beer to submit.

Tis a pity, coz I got shit loads of beer now!

 

[kevin_smevin]

I have to agree that all of the methods used to let Melbourne based homebrewers know about the event didn't work, or at least didn't filter through to me. I loved this event and went a couple of times and would have went to them all if i knew when they were on. Problem is i would only hear about them a couple of days before they happened because someone would pipe up on this thread and say who's going - In my opinion, this thread could have been used much better by letting people know every couple of weeks about the upcoming event.

 

[WarmBeer]

Axe-ing Melb is a shame...

I only found out about it recently, and at the time had no beer to submit.

Tis a pity, coz I got shit loads of beer now!

I have to agree that all of the methods used to let Melbourne based homebrewers know about the event didn't work, or at least didn't filter through to me. I loved this event and went a couple of times and would have went to them all if i knew when they were on. Problem is i would only hear about them a couple of days before they happened because someone would pipe up on this thread and say who's going - In my opinion, this thread could have been used much better by letting people know every couple of weeks about the upcoming event.

I agree, and the night I went (where, btw, there were 16 entrants, and a couple of other hangers-on) was a great night.

But the fact is, it doesn't make Steve any money, and at the end of the day, he is running a business. He has to pay rent, has to pay wages, has to pay electricity, even if two of his tables are full of non-paying customers. So expecting somebody from the Taphouse to sacrifice even further time and effort on active promotion is a bit unfair.

Rather than whinging about it, we need somebody passionate about the Brewshare nights to step up, gather enough commitment from people on this forum, and convince Steve that St. Kilda Brewshare is worth reconsidering.

(And no, I'm not that person)

 

[DU99]

sometimes timing can be an issue,weeknight's can be bad for some,club/state comp's also can be an issue..also the booze bus might be an issue,not saying drink/drive..not making excuses for anyone but have to consider those issue's..

 

[Leigh]

A little unfair me thinks.

- We promoted every BrewShare for both venues on AHB and did send out some reminders. Can't people put the date in their diaries?
- We listed BrewShares in our website Event Diaries
- a search on our blog under BrewShare gives plenty of BrewShare news - http://thelocaltaphouse.blogspot.com/search?q=brewshare
- We had several promotional posters on the walls of both venues
- I personally emailed (and, in some cases, called) all Victorian homebrew clubs asking them to help promote the BrewShare night
- I asked sponsor Grain & Grape to email its subscribers

With lesser effort in in Darlo, we regularly get a fantastic turnout (30-60 people). In St Kilda, despite the above, the best number we ever got was about 13 with one night cancelled after just a single booking and the other two nights getting less than 10 people.

While we get very little from it, we are always keen to support the homebrewing community (we've also organised Oz homebrewer of the year to brew a beer at Mountain Goat for The Taphouses two years in a row) but for some reason the Melbourne homebrewing community isn't nearly as interested as the Sydney crew.

When cancelling BrewShare in Melb, I also offered the Taphouse as the future home for a (possibly new) homebrew club based in the inner city..

I'm not sure you can fairly accuse us of not trying to make St K BrewShare work..

Putting up one post a few days/weeks before an event is hardly "promoting on AHB". Have a look at the swap days we organise for ourselves, months in advance and the thread is added to on a regular basis...by the organiser if it goes a bit stale!

For an outsider (like we all are), your blog is next to useless...but keep up with the "we can find everything" line...I can find everything in my study, but I challenge anybody to find anything in here lmao...

At Melbourne Brewers, we have monthly meetings, the only time brewshare is mentioned at a meeting is 1 week before your brewshare, hardly enough time to brew and lock in the date. You should be spruiking each club on a monthly basis to keep it at the front of the mind of those who speak each month.

I commend the concept, and intended to get along to an event, but was put off by the half attempt and the lack of a proper response to peoples concerns/constructive criticism who did attend. Wolfy is a well respected brewer, you shrug off his comments and you shrug off dozens of potential attendees!

To other Melbourne based brewers, I think at this time your best bet is to get along to one of the homebrew clubs. beers can be shared, feedback and comments garnered and a good time had by all...

 

[oztapguy]

Putting up one post a few days/weeks before an event is hardly "promoting on AHB". Have a look at the swap days we organise for ourselves, months in advance and the thread is added to on a regular basis...by the organiser if it goes a bit stale!

For an outsider (like we all are), your blog is next to useless...but keep up with the "we can find everything" line...I can find everything in my study, but I challenge anybody to find anything in here lmao...

At Melbourne Brewers, we have monthly meetings, the only time brewshare is mentioned at a meeting is 1 week before your brewshare, hardly enough time to brew and lock in the date. You should be spruiking each club on a monthly basis to keep it at the front of the mind of those who speak each month.

I commend the concept, and intended to get along to an event, but was put off by the half attempt and the lack of a proper response to peoples concerns/constructive criticism who did attend. Wolfy is a well respected brewer, you shrug off his comments and you shrug off dozens of potential attendees!

To other Melbourne based brewers, I think at this time your best bet is to get along to one of the homebrew clubs. beers can be shared, feedback and comments garnered and a good time had by all...

Thanks for your comments Leigh. We run almost 100 beer events a year and can't afford to be posting or emailing out reminders as often as you suggest for a single event. That's all I would be doing! For the reasons you give, homebrew clubs were emailed a couple of months before BrewShare so I'm not sure why they didn't alert people earlier. Many clubs didn't respond at all.

I'm also not shrugging off anyone's comments. We have a long history of encouraging good and bad feedback and acting on it where possible/appropriate. I am not sure what you refer to re a "lack of a proper response to peoples concerns/constructive criticism who did attend".

Re our blog, the search field is easy to use. Our website also has an Event Diary with our events listed.

All the above isn't meant to offend anyone. It's just interesting to me that with less reminders etc, Darlo BrewShare has always had considerably better turnout. It is possible that the Sydney homebrew scene is simply more centralised to the city than Melbourne. Nothing wrong with that but we are always willing to support the inner Melbourne homebrew scene if there is ever genuine interest there.

We only ever wanted to show some support and provide a venue to meet..

 

[Josh]

Thanks for your comments Leigh. We run almost 100 beer events a year and can't afford to be posting or emailing out reminders as often as you suggest for a single event. That's all I would be doing! For the reasons you give, homebrew clubs were emailed a couple of months before BrewShare so I'm not sure why they didn't alert people earlier. Many clubs didn't respond at all.

I'm also not shrugging off anyone's comments. We have a long history of encouraging good and bad feedback and acting on it where possible/appropriate. I am not sure what you refer to re a "lack of a proper response to peoples concerns/constructive criticism who did attend".

Re our blog, the search field is easy to use. Our website also has an Event Diary with our events listed.

All the above isn't meant to offend anyone. It's just interesting to me that with less reminders etc, Darlo BrewShare has always had considerably better turnout. It is possible that the Sydney homebrew scene is simply more centralised to the city than Melbourne. Nothing wrong with that but we are always willing to support the inner Melbourne homebrew scene if there is ever genuine interest there.

We only ever wanted to show some support and provide a venue to meet..

Having seen the organisation of some of the Melbourne Homebrew Clubs at ANHC, I'd say Melbourne brewers simply don't need a night like this as much as Sydney brewers. The Melbourne clubs seem more organised in terms of meetings and comps, save for ESB and HBG both of which run pretty big annual competitions.

As long as Darlo Brewshare keeps running, I'll keep supporting it.

 

[HoppingMad]

Having seen the organisation of some of the Melbourne Homebrew Clubs at ANHC, I'd say Melbourne brewers simply don't need a night like this as much as Sydney brewers. The Melbourne clubs seem more organised in terms of meetings and comps, save for ESB and HBG both of which run pretty big annual competitions.

As long as Darlo Brewshare keeps running, I'll keep supporting it.

Agree with Josh's sentiments here. Melbourne is spoilt for choice with plenty of brewing clubs (where we do swap/discuss brews regularly) and other homebrew events on (ie. Belgian Beerfest at Coldstream & British Ale Comp at Oscars are coming up people! B) ). As Josh points out The Darlo event fills a vacuum up there from conversations I've had with many homebrewers in my club, at ANHC and elsewhere, and I hope it continues for them - the lucky buggers get a chance to have a crack at those prize vouchers - and I'm jealous as hell I won't be able to! (do you accept mailed entries? haha)

Jokes aside, on the notification thing I do agree with Wolfy & Leigh somewhat - if the event doesn't appear in the recent post list on AHB it is off the radar for most readers. I only found out this thing is no longer thanks to it hitting the recent posts list today!

Over summer I posted that I was interested in coming to the Melbourne event and was serious about it, but judging at Beerfest posed a problem that others pointed out. You only get so many leave passes from partners and family.

Shame the Melbourne one has run its course. Oh well. Thanks to the Taphouse for giving it a go.

Hopper.

 

[oztapguy]

Agree with Josh's sentiments here. Melbourne is spoilt for choice with plenty of brewing clubs (where we do swap/discuss brews regularly) and other homebrew events on (ie. Belgian Beerfest at Coldstream & British Ale Comp at Oscars are coming up people! B) ). As Josh points out The Darlo event fills a vacuum up there from conversations I've had with many homebrewers in my club, at ANHC and elsewhere, and I hope it continues for them - the lucky buggers get a chance to have a crack at those prize vouchers - and I'm jealous as hell I won't be able to! (do you accept mailed entries? haha)

Jokes aside, on the notification thing I do agree with Wolfy & Leigh somewhat - if the event doesn't appear in the recent post list on AHB it is off the radar for most readers. I only found out this thing is no longer thanks to it hitting the recent posts list today!

Over summer I posted that I was interested in coming to the Melbourne event and was serious about it, but judging at Beerfest posed a problem that others pointed out. You only get so many leave passes from partners and family.

Shame the Melbourne one has run its course. Oh well. Thanks to the Taphouse for giving it a go.

Hopper.

Cheers Hopper. We would always look at doing something again if there was interest from 20+ people each quarter..

 

[Golani51]

Axe-ing Melb is a shame...

I only found out about it recently, and at the time had no beer to submit.

Tis a pity, coz I got shit loads of beer now!

Can I help you with your excess supplies?? A swap in a week or two?

 

[Golani51]

I have only been to one Brewshare and absolutely loved it. I also think that the Taphouse is an absolutely rocking place with the nicest employees. I have no affiliation with the Taphouse. I felt that it had a great atmosphere for the Brewshare.

Oztap (I forgot your name but we met at the micro expo at Fed Square and had a chat about the Brewshare):
Firstly, thanks for all your efforts, and I'll be more than happy to help push the Brewshare or something similar.
Secondly, It was a pleasure to meet you all.
Thirdly, and finally (and this is only a suggestion), if the brewshare isn't working, I think we could attract a good group, if we had WEEKLY tastings of your entire range (especially Imperious and Sparticus). Remember this is only a suggestion

In all seriousness, I have only had great times there and would be sorry if it is over.

Reuven

 

[StraussyStrauss]

Can I help you with your excess supplies?? A swap in a week or two?

Don't worry Golani, I have just a thirsty group of friends that will bust up my cupboard of brew. :icon_cheers:

 

[Golani51]

Don't worry Golani, I have just a thirsty group of friends that will bust up my cupboard of brew. :icon_cheers:

I really don't mind....and I won't even act like I am your friend just to get some free brews.....really, it is nothing.

 

[ploto]

The next Darlo BrewShare is on Tuesday 24th May with the chosen beer style as ' Belgian Ales' although, as usual, there will be an open class too!

not that I need an excuse to go to the pub, but I do have a few questions.

Is this one still going ahead?

when is the registration cut off?

can I book & pay in advance at the pub?

how many bottles should I bring?

will I be laughed out when you find out it's made from kits & bits?

anything else I should be asking?

 

[sydneyhappyhour]

Is this one still going ahead? - As far as I know

when is the registration cut off? - Normally the morning of the event

can I book & pay in advance at the pub? - Not sure about doing it in person, if you go to the site you will find Brewshare in the events section and you can just book and pay from there.

how many bottles should I bring? I normally take around 5 longnecks, if your beer is good makes it to the finals etc you need more to hand.

will I be laughed out when you find out it's made from kits & bits? Nope, Brewshare attracts brewers of all sorts of experience levels, last one I went to a guy brought along his very first brew. Lot of people there brew kits.

anything else I should be asking? Not that I can think of its a pretty informal night just turn up, enjoy tasting other brewers beer at talk shop.

 

[mikem108]

+1 Josh's comment, I just wish I could go, but usually work commitments etc.. blah blah

 

[oztapguy]

Another reminder about the Darlo BrewShare on May 24th. Style (as voted last time) is Belgian Ales but, as usual, you can bring along anything!

Homebrewers of all standards are welcome as are non-homebrewers who wants to try the homebrews of others. The cost of the night is just $10 and you must prebook here. Those bringing beers will be emailed a form to provide info about the beer which is then handed around on the night.

$100 Dave's Home Brew prizes to be won!

While we sometimes tweak things based on the number of people turning up, here's how BrewShares usually run.

And the report and photos from the last session here

 

[[email protected]]

Another reminder about the Darlo BrewShare on May 24th. Style (as voted last time) is Belgian Ales but, as usual, you can bring along anything!

Homebrewers of all standards are welcome as are non-homebrewers who wants to try the homebrews of others. The cost of the night is just $10 and you must prebook here. Those bringing beers will be emailed a form to provide info about the beer which is then handed around on the night.

$100 Dave's Home Brew prizes to be won!

While we sometimes tweak things based on the number of people turning up, here's how BrewShares usually run.

And the report and photos from the last session here

My belgium was just brewed yesterday, going to be very very young, but I think it should just scrape through in time. Otherwise I'll put in my Osama Bin Lager

 

[oztapguy]

Some people have asked for reminders posted here about the next BrewShare. Well here's the poster..

The Beer Style is "Anything Black" although there will be an open class as normal!

Hope to see y'all there..