Monday, February 11, 2013

2013 National Homebrewers Conference

After many years of wanting to go, I am finally going!  The 2013 National Homebrewers Conference, put on by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), will take place on June 27 to 29 in Philadelphia, PA.  Entitled "Brewing Up A Revolution," this year's conference promises to be bigger than ever, nearly doubling the 2012 capacity to 3,400 attendees.  The conference set other records too, as I found out when I tried to register for a hotel room.  The main hotel sold out in less than three hours after starting registration for the event, which I discovered while on the phone with them.  I was fortunate to get one of the few remaining rooms at a hotel directly across the street.  The conference itself sold out in 20 hours, breaking the previous years record of about two days.  I am very exited to be attending.

Some of the conference events I am looking forward to include:

  • Seminars: There will be 36 seminars on a variety of topics this year, during the conference.  Looking at offerings from previous years, the topics range all over the place, from going professional, to brewing session beers, to interesting new hop varieties.  There will be something for everyone.  On top of that, AHA members can access recordings of the talks on the AHA website.
  • Club Night:  Clubs from around the area put together themed booths and stands to serve their beer in one of the biggest homebrew parties of the year.  Many of the beers being served are "experimental" to say the least.  There is even a small chance my local club will participate in a Virginia club booth, but time will tell.  For those who have not seen it, Basic Brewing Radio has shot video episodes of this event in the past and it looks like great fun.
  • Meet Homebrewing "Luminaries:" Many of the homebrewing world's celebrities (if you can call them that) attend the conference.  I would enjoy meeting some of the authors, podcast hosts, and other members of the larger homebrewing community that I have read and listened to over the years.
  • Awards Banquet:  The conference culminates in a gourmet dinner prepared by Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton.  Sean works with Rogue Ales to cook with, infuse into, and pair food with their variety of beers.  I have read many reviews of these dinners in the past and I am exited to experience the food and beer first hand, as well as cheer on any people I know who make it into the second round of the National Homebrew Competition.
I also hope to bring home some pictures and stories to share with the Lug Wrench audience.  If you have attended a past AHA Conference and have any tips to share with me, I would love to hear them.  Feel free to leave a comment on this post.

Cheers,

TW

2 comments:

  1. I will be at this years conference also, I went back in 2011 and had a great time. Great beers and good times.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to hear it, Lewy. It is sure to be a good time. Thanks for the comment.

    ReplyDelete

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