The Australian National Homebrewing Conference

[Stuster]

What's his take on it then, Les? Why doesn't he like the word? What would he use instead? Any tips gleaned would be gratefully received by the great unwashed who couldn't make it.

 

[Barry]

Just "bitter", then special bitter, then esb.

 

[Stuster]

Well that was how I grew up asking for a beer so it makes sense. Any tips on brewing bitters then?

 

[Hutch]

Well that was how I grew up asking for a beer so it makes sense. Any tips on brewing bitters then?

Unfortunately no.
His talk was largely about his love affair with the style, growing up in ol Bligh'y, yadda yadda.
I had the pen/paper at the ready for any pearls of wisdom, but not a hint.

Anyone else get inside his brain on this topic?

 

[dr K]

There were two very important points being made by Mr Day.
The first was one of semantics, why take a beer, which is called Bitter in it's country of Origin and has been for (well since before Mr Day was born) and add, for no apparent reason Ordinary to it.
The second point however is much more pertinent. Bitters (or Ordinary Bitters) despite having a direct historical, geographic and stylistic link to Special and Extra Special Bitters are, in the AABC, torn away from their mother and thrown into the "Low Alcohol <3.5% ABV" catergory. This does not btw happen in the BJCP, WBC, GABF or GBBF.

K

 

[shandy]

What a great weekend! I reckon I'm still only at about 90% and as for yesterday, meh.

I picked up a bunch of good tips, drank a load of great beers, everyone I met was a legend and I can remember in excess of 95% of all my conversations which seems remarkable. Can't wait to get a brew on and put the new knowledge and enthusiasm to good use.

Bring on next year

Shandy!

 

[Millet Man]

There were two very important points being made by Mr Day.
The first was one of semantics, why take a beer, which is called Bitter in it's country of Origin and has been for (well since before Mr Day was born) and add, for no apparent reason Ordinary to it.
The second point however is much more pertinent. Bitters (or Ordinary Bitters) despite having a direct historical, geographic and stylistic link to Special and Extra Special Bitters are, in the AABC, torn away from their mother and thrown into the "Low Alcohol <3.5% ABV" catergory. This does not btw happen in the BJCP, WBC, GABF or GBBF.

K

Particularly since the best commercial examples of Bitters (don't mention the O word) are in the 3.4-3.9% ABV range - according to Mr Day.

Cheers, Andrew.

Edit : Had a laugh when I looked at the AABC results and the beer style was English Ordinary Bitter :lol:

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Now that would be interesting! I would like to think that there could be a Micro-brewery showcase type deal. Set-up & serve. Have a chat to the guy that actually brewed the beer.

Cheers
Gerard

That would be nice. But I can't argue with the fact that there was more than enough beer donated by micro's.



BYB

 

[domonsura]

Yep, there was no shortage that's for sure. Seemed every time someone stopped talking there was another good beer or two on tap. ......

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Next year I am going to enter my best" ORDINARY" bitter.LOL Its just a beer after all, not a name.Some do become so protective of what they grew up with.Dont you dare put ***** on "Ordinary" Emu export. BTW just in fun.
GB

 

[Tim]

Just call it Best Bitter. Its a North vs South thing. Beers weaker than 4.5% special bitters are uncommon in the South (they do exist though), and asking for a pint of 'Best' is the done thing up North (in the UK that is).

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Everyone - the committee, the speakers, the crew, the sponsors, the guys who made and served beer and the attendees (and anyone else) should be damn proud of themselves.

It was a great inaugural ANHC

I learned a lot, I met great people and I had a blast.

Thanks

Thirsty

 

[goatherder]

There were two very important points being made by Mr Day.
The first was one of semantics, why take a beer, which is called Bitter in it's country of Origin and has been for (well since before Mr Day was born) and add, for no apparent reason Ordinary to it.
The second point however is much more pertinent. Bitters (or Ordinary Bitters) despite having a direct historical, geographic and stylistic link to Special and Extra Special Bitters are, in the AABC, torn away from their mother and thrown into the "Low Alcohol <3.5% ABV" catergory. This does not btw happen in the BJCP, WBC, GABF or GBBF.

K

I think Michael's point about AABC wasn't so much that Bitter gets placed away from it's bigger brethren, it's that the style gets artificially hobbled to a maximum of 3.5% abv by its inclusion in the low alcohol class. According to the BJCP style guidelines, bitter can be between 3.2% and 3.8% and some of the best commercial examples lie in this range. There is no class of beer in AABC where you can enter an English style bitter ale in the 3.6%-3.8% range. Similar arguments apply to Mild.

Scott

 

[troydo]

BLOODY FANTASTIC!!!

cant say enough about the event... I just don't know what you could possibly improve on...

Great to meet some guys from the forum put some names and faces to screen names.. most of the names i have already forgotten

one of the big highlights for me were the beer matching dinner , that golden ale was ridiculously good! and the other 3 beers were fantastic too! thanks so much to the brewers!

Also im stoked with the 9L keg for the photo prize, after the talk on bitters im already formulating a recipe so i can brew up a 9L batch to keg condition serve via gravity!


Thanks again to ALL the organisers and volunteers and all the brewers!

I just cannot wait till next time!

Troydo

 

[Korev]

+1 for the fine organisation and execution of the conference

The vibe and friendliness amongst all the people judges, crew, attendees, sponsors and presenters was on a par - if not better than at the NHC that I experienced in Denver last year

Roll on the next conference


Cheers
Korev

 

[mikem108]

It was all cool, but club night rocked, was the highlight for me. The commercial beers during the conference were great but I've pretty much had them all before. What was really cool was trying everyones homebrew, and serving the eager punters turning up at the stand, thanks to the Melbourne crew for providing gas and a reg, ice and a container for the beer couldn't have done it without your help.

 

[///]

Bitters (or Ordinary Bitters) despite having a direct historical, geographic and stylistic link to Special and Extra Special Bitters are, in the AABC, torn away from their mother and thrown into the "Low Alcohol <3.5% ABV" catergory. This does not btw happen in the BJCP, WBC, GABF or GBBF.

Lets be cruel to be kind Dr K - whilst an absolute admiral job has been done for the overall fest in Melbourne, the zealots in charge of the style guidelines in southern states still kick like a donkey when it comes to joining the rest of the world in regards to common sense.

As always, when there are particular egos abouts in Victoria with styles it is one step forwards, 2 steps back.

As a Pro, I am glad the Pro's World Wide unanimously support the BJCP Guidelines when it matters. Shame for some in southern states, they cannot do the same when it really matters.

Scotty

 

[Linz]

the zealots in charge of the style guidelines in southern states still kick like a donkey when it comes to joining the rest of the world in regards to common sense.

As always, when there are particular egos abouts in Victoria with styles it is one step forwards, 2 steps back.


Scotty

AMEN to that Brother.....

 

[bconnery]

BCJP places no restrictions on which styles you have to offer from the full list, or how you group them, so there isn't anything against putting bitters in the low alcohol category.
I actually agree that the 3.5% restriction isn't right but I'd counter that nobody is sitting their with a machine to measure that 0.1-0.3 difference.

If you have a bitter or a mild, I don't really like the term Ordinary either, that is 3.7% I'd say enter it. If it is a good beer I think it will score well.
I entered one that was above this level in the QLD comp and out of the various faults that were picked up not one judge claimed it was too high in alcohol or too strong for the style.

I could well be wrong about it but I think you can be too hung up on the exact measurements.

 

[heatherstoniergibson]

Gentlemen (and ladies)

My name is Heather, and I am the teacher for the students behind the organisation of the function. (William Angliss Institute Event Management students)

I just want to say thank you so much for your wonderful feedback. Hearing this praise from industry makes my students' first effort seem absolutely validated and I am so, so happy about this.

Please know that on behalf of William Angliss Institute, we were so happy with the outcome, but that the icing on the cake is hearing this feedback. I'll pass it onto the students.

Warmest regards

Heather Stonier-Gibson