2013 NHC in Philly! Who's going?

[Qhrumphf]

what were the highlight beer of club night?

Unfortunately I was pinned to our club's booth all night and didn't have a chance to wander and try other stuff.

Did get a lot of good stuff at the Social Club (and a share of meh stuff). Some people brought some amazing sours, but I found a lot of the English session beers (most of my favorite styles) to be lacking.

 

[TNGabe]

The Merican Sour Is a beer brewed by a guy in my club. His name is Kirk, very much and eccentric dude, Hebrews exclusively sour/mixed fermentation beers. His basement is filled with barrels and large 60 gallon fermenters, everything is open his windows are open he does not sanitize, he repitches the same yeast slurry endlessly.

I brewed a turbid mash Lambic with him a few months ago using some of his slurry and bug farm I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.

Also, the Dogfish folks had his beer and asked him to come down to the brew pub to work on some beers.

I quite serendipitously met him Saturday at Strangelove's. Drank some nice stuff there and then headed out to Tired Hands, we ended up drinking together for quite a while.

 

[Coff]

I quite serendipitously met him Saturday at Strangelove's. Drank some nice stuff there and then headed out to Tired Hands, we ended up drinking together for quite a while.

Oh that's cool, He loves him some Tired Hands and so do I.

 

[sweetcell]

what were the highlight beer of club night?

soooooooooooo many good beers. i spent a good portion of the evening pouring at the DC Homebrewers table and i quite enjoyed claphamsa's meads and lambic (i do believe that stonebrewer liked them too )

FOAM also had a great sour... there was some amazing single-hop IPAs... aww dammit they were all great to excellent. i didn't have a single drain-pour all night, clubs clearly brought their A-games. i can't say the same of the liberty well - some afternoons i was batting .500 there.

club night was a beer geek's dream come true.

 

[galttfwo]

Still recovering from the 4 best days I can mostly remember. Club night was legendary ( I would love Club night to be split up next year though. 1/2 of the clubs one night, and half the next. Would be able to try more other beers, and really don't need a Pro Night anymore with the amount of beers that the clubs bring).

Having our booth across from Barley Legal and the WHALES was amazing too. Their barrel aged stuff was tremendous.

Getting to meet Yooper and have a beer was awesome as well! And she said my SN was geeky, which I appreciate.

 

[eroymada]

My wife and I went and we had an awesome time! It was our first NHC, but we quickly met up with a lot of friendly brewers. Our cans didn't explode, but we drank those little bombs on the first night. We brought home the Saison as a gift to a brewer who couldn't go. Hopefully those aren't overcharged as well. My head and liver are still in one piece, so perhaps I didn't have enough fun.

On another note, does anyone know when they are going to post the podcasts of the sessions? I had a little trouble making some of the morning ones . . . . ok, morning and afternoon ones.

 

[TBBrewer]

Why didnt the use more of the convention center for club night? They had the whole other half to spread it out and it would have flowed a lot better if they just gave it a little more room.

On another note, did anybody have the jalapeño cream ale near the entrance? Really enjoyed that one. Think it was served by the guys in old lady dresses.

 

[remthewanderer]

Still recovering from the 4 best days I can mostly remember. Club night was legendary ( I would love Club night to be split up next year though. 1/2 of the clubs one night, and half the next. Would be able to try more other beers, and really don't need a Pro Night anymore with the amount of beers that the clubs bring).

Having our booth across from Barley Legal and the WHALES was amazing too. Their barrel aged stuff was tremendous.

Getting to meet Yooper and have a beer was awesome as well! And she said my SN was geeky, which I appreciate.

Dude! You guys had the most amazing mosaic ipa! My buddy and I ran in to one of your members at pro night. They gave us the heads up about this one IPA and I got to say it delivered.

Why is it that even with our names around our necks I can't remember the name of a single person I met at the conference?

 

[remthewanderer]

My wife and I went and we had an awesome time! It was our first NHC, but we quickly met up with a lot of friendly brewers. Our cans didn't explode, but we drank those little bombs on the first night. We brought home the Saison as a gift to a brewer who couldn't go. Hopefully those aren't overcharged as well. My head and liver are still in one piece, so perhaps I didn't have enough fun.

On another note, does anyone know when they are going to post the podcasts of the sessions? I had a little trouble making some of the morning ones . . . . ok, morning and afternoon ones.

I asked about the podcasts too because my babysitter for Saturday backed out and I had to miss the whole day. I thought being local to NHC was going to make things easier but it was the exact opposite.

Someone from the AHA told me it will take a month or so to get them all up online.

 

[janzik]

There were so many! One of the ones I thought was especially good was the Buffalo Trace barrel aged RIS from Bobby_M's club (WHALES, I think?).

Yes, that was us! We had a ton of great comments about the RIS. We were getting stopped in the hallways and elevators about it.

Damn, I didn't get a chance to say hello to you. I only met Soper and Sach this weekend... I think Soper was stalking me because everywhere I went he was there.

 

[janzik]

Still recovering from the 4 best days I can mostly remember. Club night was legendary ( I would love Club night to be split up next year though. 1/2 of the clubs one night, and half the next. Would be able to try more other beers, and really don't need a Pro Night anymore with the amount of beers that the clubs bring).

Having our booth across from Barley Legal and the WHALES was amazing too. Their barrel aged stuff was tremendous.

Adam, it was great getting to meet other Jersey clubs as well. I really enjoyed the Mosiac Marris Otter SMASH from your booth. I'm pretty sure that one was yours.

I didn't get a chance to try too many booths, because I was having a lot of fun pouring at ours (WHALES)

I agree that it would help splitting club night up.

 

[Yooper]

Yes, that was us! We had a ton of great comments about the RIS. We were getting stopped in the hallways and elevators about it.

Damn, I didn't get a chance to say hello to you. I only met Soper and Sach this weekend... I think Soper was stalking me because everywhere I went he was there.

I hung out a lot with Soper and Sacc- maybe I walked right past you. Even though I wanted to meet and visit with a lot more HBTers, it seemed like I was most often with Sweetcell, Soper, Sacc, pjj2ba, stonebrewer, and claphamsa. Step and ollllllllo went for lunch with us one day, but Step had to always run off to man the booth at Wyeast so he missed out on much of my slightly drunken inane conversation.

One high point for me was to go over to the big Wanamaker Day- the big pipe organ at Macy's. A whole bunch of us ended up going over there for a great concert. I didn't even know it was there, but Sacc filled me in and it was so worth it. I think it was like me and about 5-6 guys from HBT that went over there. It was really awesome.

 

[galttfwo]

Dude! You guys had the most amazing mosaic ipa! My buddy and I ran in to one of your members at pro night. They gave us the heads up about this one IPA and I got to say it delivered.

Why is it that even with our names around our necks I can't remember the name of a single person I met at the conference?

Thanks Jeremy! That one was mine and I was really proud of it. Kinda freaked out when Jamil Z. come over and asked for a full glass, like 3 times. I was beside myself for about a day after that.

 

[AnOldUR]

Only drank coffee and water all day yesterday and still woke up with a hangover this morning.

Yeah, that was fun!




edit:

. . . and no matter how hard I tried, couldn't come close to keeping up with Yooper, but enjoyed trying.

Have to start training now for Grand Rapids 2014.

 

[machfive55]

My first NHC. I really had a good time at the pro-brewers night and also club night. I had a little too much on pro night and turned in a little early. Missed Sam pouring the Dogfish beers and was a little bummed about that. Was in line at Lagunitas when the fountain went off.

I tried the beer in the exploding cans. It was not a pilsner. It was kinda like a hoppy citrusy wheat beer. Not a bad beer but not a Pilsner. It's almost like they canned the wrong beer or something.

I spent some time at the BN booth, got to meet the BN crowd. Very cool crew. In fact EVERYONE I met was really cool. In spite of all the beer and drinking I did not see one drunk a-hole.

The dinner was so-so for us. It was good but I expected more. Next year I might not spend on the dinner unless I have a beer in the second round. I do wish they would open up the awards ceremony for everyone so you don't have to spend $50 to see if you won. They should separate the dinner from the awards.

Definitely looking forward to next year.

 

[machfive55]

Only drank coffee and water all day yesterday and still woke up with a hangover this morning.

Yeah, that was fun!

I took advice from the NHC and had NO issues. I started taking milk thistle before the event and kept it going through the event. I took my daily multivitamin and drank plenty of water and gatorade. NO hangover whatsover. And I certainly drank my share, went to bed after club night pretty lit.

 

[Yooper]

. . . and no matter how hard I tried, couldn't come close to keeping up with Yooper, but enjoyed trying.

Have to start training now for Grand Rapids 2014.

I felt like I was always looking for you! Remember one of my first phrases- it's a marathon, not a sprint!

It was such an honor to meet you and your wife- and I'm so glad I did.

The dinner was so-so for us. It was good but I expected more. Next year I might not spend on the dinner unless I have a beer in the second round. I do wish they would open up the awards ceremony for everyone so you don't have to spend $50 to see if you won. They should separate the dinner from the awards.

Definitely looking forward to next year.

I think the dinner is worth doing at least once, but I feel like you do and that's why I skipped it. I think it's great in many ways, but I can do much better for dinner for $50. Heck, at Monk's I had fantastic mussels and a pint of Damnation and three pints of Pliny the Elder for $40, and $30 of that was bar tab.

 

[AnOldUR]

The dinner was so-so for us. It was good but I expected more.

All PC aside, I was thinking the same thing. My Stromboli was kind of dry and didn't have enough sause. Only ate half of it. That and the five pitchers of beer we brough down from our room was my undoing on Saturday night.

 

[machfive55]

I fairly local and have never been to the downtown joints. I went to Monk's and Nodding Head and really enjoyed both. Also went to McGillin's and liked it. For the stuff that Monk's had, you could not beat the prices in there especially for downtown Philly.

 

[machfive55]

All PC aside, I was thinking the same thing. My Stromboli was kind of dry and didn't have enough sause. Only ate half of it.

My buddy said the same thing about his. I also thought it was odd that it was a taste of Philly with Rogue beers. I realize they sponsored it, but they should have maybe looked for a Philly area brewer to sponsor it, or at least an east coast brewery. I know, I'm just picking now.

By Saturday I was taking it easy on the beer knowing that I wanted Sunday morning to be sane due to travel and family things going on later in the day. I did think it was darn cool the way people were "tailgating" outside the banquet. I was approached several times with "where's your glass". The rush into the doors was a little crazy though.

 

[brettwasbtd]

My can survived but drinking before it blows. Definite lactic character. Its actually still quite good.

Was my first conference. Was glad i went, even blowing off a wedding to do so. Plus club night folks loved my beers, plus John Palmer hanging out in our room drinking was awesome.

Ya, this was contaminated. I sampled someone elses and it was just "off." My buddy and myself ended up dumping ours rather than risking explosion. I'm sure the brewery does really good stuff, but this was a disappointment and slightly embarrassing!

IMHO, The gems of our booth were the Russian Imperial Stout, Framboise, and the ice ciders. I hope everyone got to try at least one of them. They all kicked pretty early.

That Palo Santo RIS was easily top 5 beer of the weekend. Great stuff from your club!

I felt like I was always looking for you! Remember one of my first phrases- it's a marathon, not a sprint!

It was such an honor to meet you and your wife- and I'm so glad I did.



I think the dinner is worth doing at least once, but I feel like you do and that's why I skipped it. I think it's great in many ways, but I can do much better for dinner for $50. Heck, at Monk's I had fantastic mussels and a pint of Damnation and three pints of Pliny the Elder for $40, and $30 of that was bar tab.

Ya, the dinner was ok. It was my first NHC so I definitely had to do it. I felt there could have been more direction earlier on for which beer was to be consumed with each course (most people drank the honey kolsch with the salad instead of the amber ale). The dessert was the best part - absolutely delicious cheesecake and beer pairing.


I wish I had known the leftovers from the competition were going to be "up-for-grabs" at the social well after the awards. Sampling an array of those was awesome! Some really great beers. I also sampled mead for the first time - great stuff from moonlight meadery

 

[Gitmoe]

Ridiculous convention. Was my first NHC. I was working at the Keystone Homebrew booth Thursday and Friday. If you stopped by and got a sample of Super Pro-Zyme I probably handed it to you. It was great to meet so many new faces. It was also nice being in Philly since a lot of people I know from the area attended. I had to leave early due to illness Friday night and I missed club night which really bummed me out. My club (GLUB) all said they had a great time and it was an amazing night.

I felt awful for Round Guys with the can problem. They are very close to the LHBS I work at and we know them very well. I haven't seen the owner or brewers since the convention to ask what they think happened. I'm 99% sure that was the first beer they ever canned. Round Guys makes great beer and are known locally for their Berliner which is amazing.

Looking forward to NHC '14 in Grand Rapids!

 

[FireBrewer]

Did anybody else notice that it wasn't really a big deal that the Homebrewer of the Year was a woman?

I think more people were surprised that it was a Light American Lager she won with. Not that that should really surprise anyone either. Sure as hell wasn't gonna be an IPA.

The whole women's group in brewing really irks me. Who cares??? Gender/race/whatever does not matter. Can you brew? If not, wanna learn? Good.

Anyway it was great to meet and put a face to names and see some old friends too. Was great almost getting tackled by Yooper. Wonderful NHC, hope to see everyone again next year.

 

[Yooper]

Anyway it was great to meet and put a face to names and see some old friends too. Was great almost getting tackled by Yooper. Wonderful NHC, hope to see everyone again next year.

Well, in my defense- I didn't know you were going to be there, and I haven't seen you in like 5-6 years! When you walked in that party (was that around 2 AM?), I was so surprised that I couldn't help myself. Oh, and there may have been some, er, alcohol accelerated, emotion also!

 

[machfive55]

I have seen more and more lighter beers winning comp BOS. I think judges are realizing the difficulty in brewing a terrific light beer.

 

[FireBrewer]

Well, in my defense- I didn't know you were going to be there, and I haven't seen you in like 5-6 years! When you walked in that party (was that around 2 AM?), I was so surprised that I couldn't help myself. Oh, and there may have been some, er, alcohol accelerated, emotion also!

No complaints here, was a great welcome to a room full of people I didn't know. And thank you to Eric for the invite.

 

[remthewanderer]

Thanks Jeremy! That one was mine and I was really proud of it. Kinda freaked out when Jamil Z. come over and asked for a full glass, like 3 times. I was beside myself for about a day after that.

Care to share the recipe?

 

[AnOldUR]

Care to share the recipe?

Let Adam share the details, but a hint is that when you're done adding the hops, go get more and repeat.

 

[stratslinger]

what does everyone think of a light lager winning bos?

I figured it had to be a freakin' amazing light lager... Then, as I was roaming around the social club with a group of guys from my club, we bumped into John Palmer and asked if he had found anything good. He handed us a bottle that was someone's American Light Lager. Part of me wonders if John Palmer didn't somehow manage to track down the BOS winner, and hand it to us. That, or just being handed a beer by John Palmer made it just that much better.

Awesome weekend!

 

[sweetcell]

i would be in favor of dropping pro night in favor of splitting up club night, but i'm wondering if the AHA would be in favor. there might be some sponsorship considerations...

anyhoo, if anyone is serious about this idea they should propose it on the AHA forums. it'll get the GC's attention there (hopefully).

Why didnt the use more of the convention center for club night? They had the whole other half to spread it out and it would have flowed a lot better if they just gave it a little more room.

On another note, did anybody have the jalapeño cream ale near the entrance? Really enjoyed that one. Think it was served by the guys in old lady dresses.

eh, i liked the spacing of club night. if they used the entire space, it would have been a long walk from one end of the room to the other. i liked that it was small and easy to get around.

i believe that the men in 50's housewife drag were from the Chesapeake Real Ale Brewers Society (CRABS). it was definitely a Maryland club. i loved how there was a "maryland alley" and the clubs organized a scavenger hunt. so many MD clubs that one couldn't fit in that alley.