Did Anyone Go To The Melb Beer And Brewer Expo

[GrumpyPaul]

Hi all.

Still being new to HB I took myself off to the expo. I was really hoping to try a heap of different styles so I could get an understanding of what I liked and what I want to brew.

It seemed that every exhbitor had a Pils, Pale, Amber and Dark beer. There were very few exeptions to that.

Sure there were lots of subtle difference in the beers - but a very narrow selection of variety.

Not to complain - there was plenty of good ones to try within those types.

The presentations were a bit of a let down.

"Matching food and beer" was meant to be presented by Fast Ed from Better Homes and Garden. Instead it was the editor of beer and brewer mag (forgot her name) with her husband cooking.

The "Home Brew" presentation was little more than a run through of an instruction book that comes with any Home Brew kit. (It was sponsored by Brew Cellars and was just a big ad for thier kits).

I had a great day but I expected to learn more - to be honest I have learnt so much more from this site.

Did anyone else go - and what did you think

 

[felten]

Yeah the presentations weren't that great, the home brew presentation was essentially for people who had never brewed before, which is fair enough, I'm sure there were a few out there who maybe got some inspiration.

The food and beer matching session I went to later in the evening (on saturday) was hosted by Chris Badenoch. He seemed fairly knowledgeable on cooking with beer but after paying 5 bucks to get in (could have watched for free from 10 metres away), there was only enough food to feed about 8 people out of 25-30 there, and I wasn't one of them unfortunately.

Roger Protz's session after the food & beer one however was an exception to the above, very well done and the beers were great. Roger not only spoke about the flavour/aroma profiles of the beers but a lot of interesting facts behind them and other styles.


Oh and the beer was great, some better than others. I thought I was a dark beer fan but the beers that I managed to try at the show were slightly disappointing in that regard. Maybe I was suffering from palette fatigue after having that many in a row though Some of the bottled beers were a bit yeasty, probably from being tipped up and down for each sample.

I think my favourite beer was the 4th one in Roger's presentation, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. Anyone else there remember it?

 

[Barry]

Roger's presentation was great. The fourth when I saw it on Friday was the Epic IPA. I didn't mind the $5 for his session because of the quality and fair quantity of beer. I think the beginning brewing talk could have been free. I didn't go to the food and beer matching but some food and beer for each participant in the future would justify the $5.
I found many beers were really good in general. Couple of saisons and B de G's were great. Three Ravens and Epic had a very good range of beers. I kept mainly to tastings size samples so I could quite a few. I did find that APA's and IPA's seemed to be compulsory.
Over all I had a good time but I'm happy I went Friday given the crowds on Saturday.

 

[HoppingMad]

It seemed that every exhbitor had a Pils, Pale, Amber and Dark beer. There were very few exeptions to that.

Unfortuately that's the commercial reality of brewing for the masses - you have to brew for the masses.
That's why us homebrewers have it good - the only market we have to find for our beer is our own tastebuds.

Have heard that Roger's talks are supposed to be fantastic. Having read a few of his articles the guys seems to know his stuff.

Hopper.

 

[devo]

I went to one of the early trade session seminars that was held upstairs at Young and Jackson's and would have to say it was a waste of time. Not due to any lack of knowledgeable people sitting on the panel but rather due to the poor planning and set up by the organisers. Basically you could not hear anything that was been said because they were drowned out by the loud banter from the next (drinking) room with only a flimsy curtain separating the two.

 

[fcmcg]

I went Friday night and enjoyed it for what it was. Got to try Otway Estates secret beer "Shazam" which was a barley wine...aparently is going to be released commercially...A big plus again went to Carl Harrington from Harringtons NZ who once again showed what a top bloke he is by his generous pours and all round nice bloke demeaner !
I will say though , it can be quite funny when some of the marketing guys , who really know nothing about the brew process , try and tell you a bit about brewing...
Did also try the white Rabbit white ale and the guys from there were also really good to chat too , aswell .
Was very surprised to see 10 or so cops file into Beer Deluxe about 9.15 to count numbers and have a good look at us all...
Overall thought it was pretty good...maybe better than the Fed Square Micro Brewery showcase because it was on a Fri night and there was some internationals....
My two cents !
Cheers
Ferg
ps Did also get to speak to Jamil Zainasheff on Sat morn at the G&G....that was cool...

 

[Wolfy]

I went to one of the early trade session seminars that was held upstairs at Young and Jackson's and would have to say it was a waste of time. Not due to any lack of knowledgeable people sitting on the panel but rather due to the poor planning and set up by the organisers. Basically you could not hear anything that was been said because they were drowned out by the loud banter from the next (drinking) room with only a flimsy curtain separating the two.

Given that the session was only scheduled to go for 1/2 hour it was always going to be hard to fit much into that time. Some interesting things were said and the presenters were quite knowledgeable and (since I was lucky enough to be sitting close enough to hear) they did raise some interesting points. However, next time some better planning - and more time - would make the experience much more worthwhile.
I also had some interesting and useful chats with the businesses on display after the presentation and I found those informative and worthwhile.

The free-for-all beer 'tasting' was a bit of a cattle yard situaiton, but it was enjoyable to taste some beers that I've never had the chance to before. Samual Adams Marzen and Rogue Imperial Porter were two that I recall enjoying, I also liked the Chocolate Porter and Apricot Wheat beer but it was a bit hard to keep track of what was going on.

 

[MattC]

I went on the saturday and I tasted some excellent beers around the traps. Some I would have loved to purchase a six pack or two (if not for the excess baggage charge on the flight home).

I went to all three info sessions. The first from Roger Protz was very good and I had the chance to sample 4 beers (Trumer Plis, Mountain Goat Steam Ale, White Rabbit Dark Ale, and Chimay White). He spoke well and clearly (although he had a fair sniffle going on) and it was very informative.

The home brew demo I took very little away from. I have no idea why they paid Jamil Zainasheff to come out and present that session when any joe from a HBS could have done it. Anyone who knows who Jamil is and attended that session Im sure would have been at least a little disappointed with the result. The beer sample they had which was some guy's home brewed version of a Coopers Pale Ale kit was bloody awful and would have turned many a would be brewer back to the bottle shop isles for good. I think it may have been oxidised.

Beer n Food matching hmmm well a bit of disappointment as well. I got a very very small piece of rabbit served with warm Changs lager and some Chocolate Ganash served with a coopers dark. The info that came out of this session was good overall and Chris appears to be relatively knowledgeable on the topic.

Overall the ticket price was worth it, I cant say I was ripped off at all, but given the distance I travelled, I dont think I would return.

Cheers

 

[taj]

I went Friday night and enjoyed it for what it was. Got to try Otway Estates secret beer "Shazam" which was a barley wine...aparently is going to be released commercially...A big plus again went to Carl Harrington from Harringtons NZ who once again showed what a top bloke he is by his generous pours and all round nice bloke demeaner !
I will say though , it can be quite funny when some of the marketing guys , who really know nothing about the brew process , try and tell you a bit about brewing...
Did also try the white Rabbit white ale and the guys from there were also really good to chat too , aswell .
Was very surprised to see 10 or so cops file into Beer Deluxe about 9.15 to count numbers and have a good look at us all...
Overall thought it was pretty good...maybe better than the Fed Square Micro Brewery showcase because it was on a Fri night and there was some internationals....
My two cents !
Cheers
Ferg
ps Did also get to speak to Jamil Zainasheff on Sat morn at the G&G....that was cool...

Hey Ferg, I think you'll find that the "Shazzam" was a barley wine we (The NSW brewers guild) brewed when we had a junket up to Luke's old brewery (Hunter brewery) 2 or so years ago, if he's going to produce it again the main ingredients would have to be 10 slightly intoxicated brewers Scotty's extremely poor milling (most of it landed on the floor) and Tim secretly chucking in as much hops as possible when we were all off for lunch at some winery. Perhaps Lukie can invite us all to the new brewery for a Shazzam session :icon_drunk:

cheers Sam

 

[NDH]

I went on the Friday and Saturday afternoon and the Hair of The Dog Breaky, presented by beermen.tv.

Friday was excellent as it was a lot less crowded than Saturday so you could chat to the exhibitors instead of getting elbowed out of the way by the many punters. Being from Adelaide and struggling to find a decent brew on tap anywhere it was great to taste so many different beers that weren't produced by Coopers. Also good to see Vale Ale made the trip over and represent the SA Micro Brewing Scene.

Saturday had a few exhibitors that didn't show Friday which was the only reason I went back but it was fairly flat out and a lot of exhibitors ran out of beer both on tap and bottled.

The Hair of The Dog Breakfast on Saturday morning was probably the highlight for me. $20 saw a 7 course degustation breakfast and generous tastings of some well matched beers from Bridge Road, Stone and Wood, Red Hill, Mountain Goat and a few others. Tom from Mountain Goat also gave us a run down on the Steam Ale which was interesting (apparently they vary the hops from batch to batch).

Overall it was a good weekend away but I agree with the sentiment already expressed regarding the homebrewing aspect of the show. Grain and Grape had a 3V system on show which was good to see, being a Kits and Bits/Extract brewer, and Brew Cellar had what appeared to be a mobile home brew shop there. What would have been great to see is one or more of the local Homebrew Clubs proving what an excellent hobby (addiction) homebrewing can be.

Cheers

Nick

 

[///]

Hey Ferg, I think you'll find that the "Shazzam" was a barley wine we (The NSW brewers guild) brewed when we had a junket up to Luke's old brewery (Hunter brewery) 2 or so years ago, if he's going to produce it again the main ingredients would have to be 10 slightly intoxicated brewers Scotty's extremely poor milling (most of it landed on the floor) and Tim secretly chucking in as much hops as possible when we were all off for lunch at some winery. Perhaps Lukie can invite us all to the new brewery for a Shazzam session :icon_drunk:

cheers Sam

Here here on that one! There is only one Shazzam, think any other reiteration would have to be 'Son of Shazzam ...'

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Given that the session was only scheduled to go for 1/2 hour it was always going to be hard to fit much into that time. Some interesting things were said and the presenters were quite knowledgeable and (since I was lucky enough to be sitting close enough to hear) they did raise some interesting points. However, next time some better planning - and more time - would make the experience much more worthwhile.
I also had some interesting and useful chats with the businesses on display after the presentation and I found those informative and worthwhile.

The free-for-all beer 'tasting' was a bit of a cattle yard situaiton, but it was enjoyable to taste some beers that I've never had the chance to before. Samual Adams Marzen and Rogue Imperial Porter were two that I recall enjoying, I also liked the Chocolate Porter and Apricot Wheat beer but it was a bit hard to keep track of what was going on.

I had a chat and a drink with Tina and Rob after that session and they were keenly aware of the noise issue and although they left it unverbalized.. I got the impression not all that happy about it. From the web-site I had the impression that the expo and presentation were going to be where they were... but the drinking was going to be upstairs. It should have been.

You must have been faster into the tubs of beer than me... I have to say I got to try very few beers than impressed me. I'm sure they were there, but I missed em if they were. I finished my day with a half decent Kolsch from the Bintani stand which I needed because prior to that I got 3 infected beers in a row, which pissed me off, made my arm all sticky from wearing a portion of the gushers and wrecked my palate.

But I got to spend the afternoon in a pub with a bunch of brewers drinking... so who the hell am I to complain about that. I had a good time.

 

[Carboy]

I drove to Victoria on Friday and ventured to the Expo of Saturday. Had an awesome time and met a swag of friendly beer aficionados. For me the highlights were Red Hill Brewery for consistency (nice range of beers). Two Brother's for their Voodoo (Bloody Awesome), a 12% Belgian Dark Ale "Malheur"... #1 beer in my opinion), and Harrington's from NZ had a nice range.

Overall I was very impressed, but a couple of stall holders could work on the customer service/marketing.

Can't wait for next year's event :super:

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[taj]

I had a chat and a drink with Tina and Rob after that session and they were keenly aware of the noise issue and although they left it unverbalized.. I got the impression not all that happy about it. From the web-site I had the impression that the expo and presentation were going to be where they were... but the drinking was going to be upstairs. It should have been.

You must have been faster into the tubs of beer than me... I have to say I got to try very few beers than impressed me. I'm sure they were there, but I missed em if they were. I finished my day with a half decent Kolsch from the Bintani stand which I needed because prior to that I got 3 infected beers in a row, which pissed me off, made my arm all sticky from wearing a portion of the gushers and wrecked my palate.

But I got to spend the afternoon in a pub with a bunch of brewers drinking... so who the hell am I to complain about that. I had a good time.

Those tubs of beer that every man and his dog dove into are usually reserved as a special thank you for the brewers that put their beers up for judging for the AIBA. It's a time for us to get together chat and try some of the beers we were judged against. This session for me and alot of other professional brewers is something we very much look forward too. Alot of brewers including myself didn't get a chance to sample any of these beers due to the "cattle yard situation" that Wolfy mentioned :angry:. Thisty boy your lucky you got to try something oh that "half decent Kolsch" you mentioned was from Richard from Wig and Pen, possibly one of Australia's best brewers.

Sam

 

[devo]

I found the congestion at the beer trough a tad daunting but did manage to score a flying dog IPA for myself and SWMBO to share.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Those tubs of beer that every man and his dog dove into are usually reserved as a special thank you for the brewers that put their beers up for judging for the AIBA. It's a time for us to get together chat and try some of the beers we were judged against. This session for me and alot of other professional brewers is something we very much look forward too. Alot of brewers including myself didn't get a chance to sample any of these beers due to the "cattle yard situation" that Wolfy mentioned :angry:. Thisty boy your lucky you got to try something oh that "half decent Kolsch" you mentioned was from Richard from Wig and Pen, possibly one of Australia's best brewers.

Sam

I agree - I thought the cattle trough situation was a bit rough from that perspective. To be honest, I think that the brewers who enter beer certainly should be getting first dibs. What's left afterwards can get distributed to non-participants. I assume that at the past couple of events, the situation was a bit less of a free for all?? It was certainly a mob situation by the time I go there.

I thought the whole day was supposed to be reserved for actual brewers - active and prospective. But there seemed to be a hell of a lot of people in the room who didn't fall into that category.

BTW - I was being understated about the half decent kolsch - It's the first Wig and Pen beer it's been my pleasure to try and I did like it very much... but my palate was a bit shot from 3 infected beers in a row so I wasn't in any shape to give it a decent appraisal. I'll seek it out and give it the attention it deserves.

 

[keleidoscope]

I go every year and always have a great time, despite it becoming worse and worse value every year. Back in the day it was $25 to get in and unlimited tastings.

As usual I start out slow and try not to get really drunk, and as usual I fail. It's almost doing a centurion, you roam around for two hours and drink constantly. Although I was by myself I made friends and ended up at the Young and Jackson with them, though I was pretty drunk and don't remember leaving, may have been kicked out? An improvement on last year, when they didn't even let me inside

Oh, my 'beer of the day' was the Harrintons Belgium Tempest http://www.q-vino.com/product/belgium-tempest/ premium taste for a non-premium price. I complemented it so highly that the guys at the NZ beer stand gave me one to take home. THey are champs, last year they let me come into their stand and serve customers and myself, until someone official saw what was going on and put an end to it. Good times!

 

[Luke Scott]

Hey Ferg & Sam,

The SHIZZAM on taste was the Original. Brewed up at Potters over 4 years ago, and the result of 10 brewers with Tim Thomas running the brewhouse and the rest of us visiting some a few of the Hunter Finest wineries. I recall the day being around 45^oC and getting a phone call towards the end of the boil with Tim going through my hop room and finding 5 kgs of Chinook that went in at the end of the boil. Some other highlights of the brew was getting Bill Taylor to dig out the Mash Tun and the final analysis of the beer from the Tooheys Lab coming in at 9.2 % Alc/Vol and 112 BU.

It was intended as an American Double IPA and with time has perhaps shifted towards the Barley wine style although still drinking great. Showing just how well good strong and hoppy beer can age. I have a few more bottles left and will bring them out at other beer events where there is a good number of Founding Members of the NSW Brewers Guild.

For sure seeing the reaction to Shizzam our other fresh Hop infused beers we the Prickly Moses team will be bringing out more and more off the wall beers so stay tuned, we just threw 4 oak barrels of a new brew in the warm room for release soon.

Unfortunately there is only 1 Shizzam, if I can pull Tim out of retirement a few other we may do another or now that there are a few more crazy brewers popping up in Vic we may do another one soon.

Long live Shizzam :super:

Cheers

Luke

 

[///]

Unfortunately there is only 1 Shizzam, if I can pull Tim out of retirement a few other we may do another or now that there are a few more crazy brewers popping up in Vic we may do another one soon.

Long live Shizzam :super:

Fire up the Toyota Crowns, I can feel a road trip coming on!

Scotty

 

[insane_rosenberg]

Can't wait for next year's event :super:

Is the expo on this year? Just did the rounds of Google, Beer and Brewer and Fed Square websites and I can't find it!

I think I'm convinced it's not happening. Does anyone know why?