Future Activities

[Gingerpete]

Hey guys, sorry I missed the last meetup, I was looking forward to it then got super drunk the night before and I couldn't even consider the thought of talking about beer, let alone drinking it.
What did I miss? Who one the pale ale comp?

Was there any talk of future activites for the club? Maybe another Case Swap or Christmas party?
I was going to suggest we do a Pub crawl of Newcastle. With two specalised beer pubs, plus every other pub getting involved in craft beer too, I thought we could organise a trip up. All the pubs are accessable by train, so no one would need to Drive. The Albion and the Grainstore would be two must sees, and the rest could be negotiable.

What do you think?

[jazzyj]

That is a good idea. Keep in mind that bitter and twisted is on in a few weeks up there, and Newcastle beer week is in Feb.
But I would be keen on a Newcastle trip soon.

As for the comp we had 4 entries. No winner was declared, but we had 4 distinctly different beds and all good in their own way.

[kt]

Pub crawl sounds cool.

Maybe a backstage-pass visit to Hunter Brewery in Cessnock or Murray's somewhere near Port Stephens ?

I was thinking a brewing demonstration at a local market might be fun, especially if we had samples from the previous demonstration.  I had in mind Morisset markets, which starts early and is basically over by lunchtime... but it doesn't really matter which.

Oh and at the meeting I posed questions about my kegs not getting carbonated properly.   The consensus was that I must have a leak.  That was completely wrong - I had 3 (manifold valve thread, keg-post bottom and gas-keg-post connector thing).  All were fixed with a bit of tightening.

[jazzyj]

The Hunter Brewery is a good option,
I have dealt with Keith up there a few times an he is always really accomodating to things like this.

Considering they run a few brewery tours every day, it would not be hard to get into one, get shown the process, then settle down for beers and lunch.
They let you get reasonably hands on, for the tours. They even do brewer for a day packages, where they will let you help out... but I don't know much about that.

Murrays do tours also, but are not as flexible. Both locations are hard to get to without a designated driver, but that is a different problem for a different day.

The market idea, could be more troublesome than we think. Demonstrations involving boiling liquid and the public, have lawsuit written all over them, and there would be licencing issue in realation to giving away beer at the event, even if legal.

[kt]

[...] They even do brewer for a day packages, where they will let you help out...

I fricken' begged them for information on this, they never responded.  Maybe I should have telephoned.

The market idea, could be more troublesome than we think.  Demonstrations involving boiling liquid and the public, have lawsuit written all over them, and there would be licensing issue in relation to giving away beer at the event, even if legal.

Hmmm, I did not consider that there could be a licensing problem.  Do you even need a licence to give away beer?  Probably.
The .nsw.gov FAQ on it is here: http://www.olgr.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/L_FS_LLMF.pdf it only discusses liquor sales.  Interestingly you can get a non-profit-entity only-once-a-year event licence for $40 over the internet.  I wonder if we could do a 1-off fund-raising event which would earn enough to pay for us all to do a brewing-research-tour of Belgium

[jazzyj]

http://www.hunterbeer.com.au/showpage.asp?pageno=41

[kt]

http://www.hunterbeer.com.au/showpage.asp?pageno=41

Yeah, I contacted them after reading that through the "About Us".
I didn't get a response.  Maybe I sounded too desperate

I'm on their mailing list too ... it's not high volume, about 1 message per year, so far.

I do wish they'd at least email updates on what they're putting on tap at least. I wouldn't want to miss out on another batch of "Smoking French Tart" (an awesome saison with a good smoked malt character) ... last time I was there I asked about it and they rolled their eyes before delivering an emphatic "no".

[jazzyj]

They seem to be reasonably active on facebook, that is where I get my updates for HBC from.
You will be interested to know that they have 10 seasonals on at the moment that they will be releasing one a week until christmas I suppose.

First one is called two smoking goats, smoked doppelbock

So is anyone likely to be going to bitter and twisted this year?

[kt]

They seem to be reasonably active on facebook, that is where I get my updates for HBC from.
You will be interested to know that they have 10 seasonals on at the moment that they will be releasing one a week until christmas I suppose.

Ooh thanks for that. Now I just need half a day free on a weekend. They're getting scarce this close to xmas.

Friends don't let friends do FB.

[Gingerpete]

Do we want to do a trip to Potters instead? Make the Christmas party meetup there. I could organise a small bus to get us up there and back

[kt]

So is anyone likely to be going to bitter and twisted this year?

http://www.bitterandtwisted.com.au/

Geeze, what's with the huge music line-up   As if all that awesome beer isn't enough!

Did you go last year?  Was it any good?
We did plan to go, but it was dropped in a nightmare of scheduling conflicts.

Anyone do the Bavarian Beer Breakfast?  $55 is a bit pricey, but I guess $25 of that is entry fee.
Bavarian breakfast (in my limited experience) should be cold meats, cheese, bread and coffee.
I guess liverwurst on rye bread isn't as appetising as sausage & beer.

[Gingerpete]

I went a few years ago was disappointed. But my expectations were off - I expected a big beer event, but its more of a day out with music and drinking. The beers were a little disappointing. My yearly beer event is the Newcastle craft beer week, which this year has been postponed to Feb 2014. The Warners beer festival on Sunday shouldn't be missed.

[kt]

I went a few years ago was disappointed. But my expectations were off - I expected a big beer event, but its more of a day out with music and drinking. The beers were a little disappointing. My yearly beer event is the Newcastle craft beer week, which this year has been postponed to Feb 2014. The Warners beer festival on Sunday shouldn't be missed.

http://www.warnersatthebay.com.au/bottleshop/warners-at-the-bay-7th-annual-beer-festival/

Tickets on sale first week of December.

I saw that date of October 2nd 2013 and thought I'd missed it, again.

[jazzyj]

bitter and twisted is a good day out, and although they get a good number of breweries out there, the stuff is not exactly hard to find, or eclectic. But it is still a nice festival. I hope to be going, espeically as my calendar is too full to take advantage of sydney craft beer week

as for the meetup, for similicity, low cost of entry, etc I think a train ride to Newy to hit the Albion, and the Grain store is a must.

can we find a free weekend in December..... not sure.
My december is full enough that I really only have the 21st/22nd free

[Gingerpete]

That late in December might be pushing it.
What about 23rd or 24th of November?
Yeah, Albo and Grainstore for sure

[jazzyj]

Pete,

Technically I am free that weekend, but I was not intending on doing much beer stuff in November after B&T, as I have a pretty massive sporting event I am training for on the first weekend in Dec.

A pubcrawl 7 days beforehand, would not be wise for me.

Maybe Jan?? or maybe if your organise something, I might have to pass on it.

As for a club meeting, I am thinking that we might have to settle at this point for a brewshare, one Sunday in Dec, as a Xmas party.....we could set another theme again, even if it is something like beers with wheat, which has a bit of a summer feel to it.

[jazzyj]

As a FYI, another craft beer venue has opened in newcastle, The Hop Factory http://thehopfactory.com.au
We could hit some seriously great venues in a day at Newy

Albion, Dockyards, Silo, James Squires Brewhouse, Clarendon Hotel, Grain Store, The Hop Factory
and I have missed others like Craft and Co, that is a bit average.

[Gingerpete]

Awesome! I'll have to check that out Josh - Just to make sure its ok and up to our standards - for science, you know?

How about the first or second week of the new year? People will have a bit more time hopefully.

4th or 5th of Jan Weekend?
Or
11th or 12th of Jan ?

Preferences?

[jazzyj]

11th or 12th is good,
as I am away camping on the 4th or 5th

I would say that a sunday may suit more

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