HBT at NHC

[PseudoChef]

Yet more photos:

So far, EVERYone I've met has been awesome. All the HBTers have especially been great. And, I've had some fantastic beer. Apparently we had over 600 kegs last night at club night, with 1000 people. That's right, 3/4 of a keg per person. Not to mention all the bottles that opened up. We had some crabapple wine, apfelwein, moonshine (don't ask!), and we opened up some beerswap beers. One from Brewtopia (thanks!) and Evan!'s Meph. stout to just name two.

For some reason, this is the only picture I have of it. Before you ask, yes it is/was very real and very illegal moonshine. I tried to get Justin to take a shot on the air, but he wouldn't do it.

 

[olllllo]

I ran into a nice guy, Billy D in that runs a local brewshop in Ohio.

He has some cool photos of the NHC here
http://billydshomebrew.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=topics&f=11
and some other brew resouces.

Check out some of the Jim Koch pix and vids.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

The guy with his back to both photos (Bloomington) is robnog.

Thank you. I knew he was a member but for the life of me I couldn't remember his name.

I ran into a nice guy, Billy D in that runs a local brewshop in Ohio.

He has some cool photos of the NHC here
http://billydshomebrew.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=topics&f=11
and some other brew resouces.

Check out some of the Jim Koch pix and vids.

I'm glad I checked that out. I actually talked to him for quite a while on Friday night. He was standing right next to me during the 'Busty Wench' contest and had a great IPA he shared with me.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I know that everybody always says things like, "Great people, blah blah". But in this case it is so true!

One other thing strikes me- there were mostly men at the conference and quite a few beers. I never heard any arguments or saw any conflicts. Now, crowds and large quantities of alcohol don't sound like a good mix. But in this case, I saw the biggest RDWHAHB attitude in the world.

I was really impressed by this as well. I don't know how many people were crammed into that one room for Club Night, but it was a lot. I never saw anyone getting out of hand or starting anything. Everyone was just having a good time (especially us).

Some very short observations:
The SWMBOs were wonderful. Now, so were the guys. But I really think that homebrewers (myself included) marry UP. We have to have the most understanding and best looking spouses in the world.

Overall, HBTers are FUNNY! I laughed so hard all weekend that my jaw hurts!

Ohiobrewtus is even louder than I am.

OllllllO's wife is a saint.

ChrisK is very funny.

Pseudochef looks like he's 12 years old.

Richbrewer is genuinely a nice guy.

I still don't like sour beers, wheat beers, or fruit beers.

Everyone that we met this weekend was great. We couldn't have asked for a better group of people to meet for the first time from HBT.

I may be louder than Yooper, but I certainly talk less.

There were some genuinely amazing beers available on Friday. I worked up the courage to try the moonshine (which seemed to be roughly 99.9% alcohol ), and some Bacon Vodka, which was really pretty good.

Hands down, the best beer I had all weekend was Brewtopia's Grapes of Wrath. It was so good that I *almost* wish I would have kept it to myself, but a chance to share it with fellow HBT'ers was just too good to pass up. Justin from BN and Steve White from White Labs also got samples of this and were very impressed. I told Justin to squeeze in a plug for Naked City Brewing and this amazing beer if he wanted more. He got more, but I'm not sure if he got the plug in or not.

 

[RichBrewer]

I was really impressed by this as well. I don't know how many people were crammed into that one room for Club Night, but it was a lot. I never saw anyone getting out of hand or starting anything. Everyone was just having a good time (especially us).

Here's a shot of just how crowded it was!

 

[jzal8]

Great pictures everyone. Really wish I had been able to go. Next year I'll be ready.

 

[the_bird]

Told the wife it was in San Fran next year.

"Oh, we're so there! I'll save all my personal days!"

(I'm not going to count on anything QUITE yet, though....)

 

[EdWort]

Here's John Blichmann with his new bling. This is his modular brew rack that is totally adjustable. I told him I was proud owner of two of his Blingmann kettles. He got a kick out of the play on his name.

We served up 60 of these hot soft pretzels. They could barely fit in my freezer in my hotel room. I cooked the up in the oven and brought them over and ollllo and Brenda were reheating them and the crowed ate them up.

Chad from the Brewing Network back for his 3rd pretzel!!

This The Cincinnati Malt Infusers club table. It begs a caption!

 

[Brewtopia]

Originally posted by ohiobrewtus
Hands down, the best beer I had all weekend was Brewtopia's Grapes of Wrath. It was so good that I *almost* wish I would have kept it to myself, but a chance to share it with fellow HBT'ers was just too good to pass up. Justin from BN and Steve White from White Labs also got samples of this and were very impressed. I told Justin to squeeze in a plug for Naked City Brewing and this amazing beer if he wanted more. He got more, but I'm not sure if he got the plug in or not.

Wow, thanks ohio!

I appreciate the kind words and thanks for sharing with the gang. Wish I could have been there.

 

[RichBrewer]

Wow, thanks ohio!

I appreciate the kind words and thanks for sharing with the gang. Wish I could have been there.

Beleve me Topia, we all wish you could have been there!

 

[RichBrewer]

Dang! I'm going through withdrawals! Here it is 9AM and I'm craving an IPA or a porter or a dunkel or any good beer!!!:cross:

 

[PseudoChef]

You're craving beer? You're a mad man.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Beleve me Topia, we all wish you could have been there!

I think that everyone but EdWort got to try GoW (it's all a bit hazy ). I had planned on opening it while we were at our booth but there was so much going on that we never got to it until club night was over and we moved to the hospitality suite. By then it was probably 2am or so, olllllo found the bottle still unopened so PseudoChef uncorked it for all to enjoy (all that were there anyway). Sorry to everyone who was there but didn't get to try it!

 

[Arneba28]

Damn. I might just have to find a way to go next year. Thats a long flight and I am by no standards rich but it looks like a wonderful time. I would love to see some of the seminars that would be awsome.

 

[blacklab]

Looks like a great time was had by all. SFO is home for me so I'll be there next year!

Let's start a 'banner fund' for next year right now. HBT needs to represent!

 

[MrFebtober]

Wow, I've been away from the PC too long. Just wanted to pile on the praise and how great it was to meet, and drink with, such great folks. I had a wonderful time and I'm really glad so many people were documenting the experience (to fill in a few blanks here and there). Thanks for posting so many great pics!

 

[olllllo]

Did anyone run into any Whales Club members on club night? I know Brad and Jennifer Jones were there but I'm not sure if they were pouring.

That was the couple that poured Berliner Weiss at your brewout, wasn't it?

I totally forgot that they said they were going to be there. It's too bad, because if they went solo, we could have introduced them to the gang.

 

[RiverSwillBeer]

Those of us watching "The OlllllllllllO Show" won't forget you!

(we didn't skeeve you out too much, did we?)

Really .... that was sooo cool to broadcast that night. I spent the rest of the weekend popping on from time to time to look for more broadcasts. Thanks for the effort in including those of us whom wish we were there !!!!

Cheers Guys (_)>

 

[BierMuncher]

I had a great time. Felt like I was there. Thanks olllllo. I never got my trip to the ladies room and at times felt like max headroom wandering around the floor...man there were a lot of furry bellies there.

 

[the_bird]

OMFG. I almost woke up the house with my cackling when someone told Yooper to go motorboat the big dude in the orange shirt.

 

[EvilTOJ]

That was me that said that. You're welcome.

It looks like everyone had a blast! I so wish I could go, but money problems and all that. If it's in SFO next year I will definitely be there! SWMBO's lived there awhile, so she can show me the sights.

 

[aekdbbop]

lol.. what a great set of pics..

where did you all get your shirts?? freakin awesome!

 

[wildwest450]

How much beer did Yooper spit on the floor? Her mouth is wide open in every pic. You guy's look like you had way to much fun, im jealous

 

[BrewWench]

lol.. what a great set of pics..

where did you all get your shirts?? freakin awesome!

If you're talking about the white T-shirts, we got those from Zazzle.com. I think it was EdWort's idea - helped us to identify each other by our avatars (though I didn't have an avatar before)

 

[aekdbbop]

the avatars were on the back? wow that was smart!

 

[Yooper]

By the way, for you guys who can't tell in the pictures, Brewinmama and Brewench are absolutely gorgeous. They definitely made an impact on our appearance as a homebrew club! They were both wonderful, too, and added greatly to our group. This is my first day away from the conference, and it's been really hard to not go have a great beer at 9 AM, like Richbrewer mentioned.

All I have here are some Stone IPAs and my own homebrew (I'm in Youngstown, OH, for another week) and I wish I could just walk to the elevator and have a couple. (The "vertical tasting suite" also always seemed to have a keg or three in it). I was stuck in the elevator with 14 other brewers for a while on Friday night- and I was up until 4 AM at least two nights in a row. It was a great time! My jaws hurt every day, just from laughing so much.

Some spots are a bit hazy, and some are pretty clear. Out of the hundreds of beers I tried (and meads, ciders, wines, moonshine, bacon vodka, etc), I only dumped a couple. There were some seriously excellent beers!

 

[EdWort]

I'm still on the journey home after driving to Columbus today, flying Southwest to Nashville, then Houston, and now my flight it delayed to Austin. It will be tomorrow before I make it home.

Time for another beer.

 

[aekdbbop]

come on ed, you need to spend a day in nashville and let me and jdoiv show you around!

 

[EdWort]

come on ed, you need to spend a day in nashville and let me and jdoiv show you around!

Sounds good to me. I wish I would have known it would take all day to get home. I'll look ya up next time I'm in the hood.

 

[PseudoChef]

come on ed, you need to spend a day in nashville and let me and jdoiv show you around!

Way to leave me out!