Ok, now that I'm home and can think about the last two weeks, I have to say that once again I am so impressed by the quality of homebrewers as people.
I've reconnected with old friends, some newer friends, and some brand new friends came my way.
The HBT'ers I met and spent time with were awesome. Some new friends, like @Brewbien, meeting up with some of my old friends, like @BSDX, and then even a guy at Stone who introduced himself ( @paulegli ), a brewer who made a beer I really liked and wondered about ( @LVGriff ) and so many more people who make this hobby such a wonderful group of comrades.
I'm pretty sure you won't ever see such a huge group of people (+3000, I believe) who drink where never a cross word is spoken.
From "Will it Sink or Will it Float?" in the Lion Fountain to 8AM coffees, I had an opportunity to visit with some of the best people around. I was so honored to have so many people from HBT accompany me on some of my adventures, and sometimes I laughed so hard my jaw hurt.
I learned new words. "Motorboating" was one.
I drank good homebrews, and some great ones. I went to wonderful breweries, and heard some good new seminars. I had a great time meeting people I only "knew" from the forum like @TobyG and @kev211 . I met friends of friends- @msbrewblog who introduced me to one of his friends for one. My favorite homebrew club (because they let me be a member), the Austin Zealots, let me wear a viking helmet for a while. The 2015 Soper Tour was awesome, as usual. Pro brewers night was really great this year. I loved Club night.
I'm pretty sure I asked old friends about their lives, and didn't realize @sweetcell that sometimes more than one child can come at once(!) and catching up was wonderful.
Fishing with @agrazela was one of the high points for me. But all of the rest was wonderful as well.
"I love you man!" is the jist of this, although I'm not quite to that stage.
But I do! This group of homebrewers really have become friends in real life, and I am so grateful and thankful.
Baltimore 2016.
