Homebrew Con 2022 - Who is going?

[CascadesBrewer]

Homebrew Con 2022 is about 6 weeks away. Who is going? Are you bringing any beers?

I plan on being there. Since it is drivable for me (Northern VA to Pittsburgh) I plan to bring along some beers. I am not sure if I will bring along anything in kegs or just bottles. My supply of homebrew has been running low lately, so I am debating about brewing something this weekend targeted to Homebrew Con. I did recently keg a Simcoe Pale Ale and bottle a Dubbel and I have a Saison in the fermenter now, but those are all 2.5 gallon batches.

I have never been to a Homebrew Con. I had planned to attend in Nashville. I would be up for meeting up with some forum members and tasting homebrews.

 

[khannon]

I'm going with my son.. taking the train from western mass.. would love to find a time to have a beer with fellow HBT ers. I get in on Weds, leave Sunday..
Also entering a blended gueze into the comp that I might find my way to bringing a bottle or two..

 

[friarsmith]

There is usually a scheduled HBT meetup/social or two during the conference. There will be a schedule of events and probably a phone app coming soon if it’s anything like previous years. It is a fun time. I am judging in NHC then sticking around for HBC. Bring beer by all means if you want, but between the three nights (Local, Club Night, Knockout Party and the afterparty) which are all essentially beer festivals, and samples available all afternoon in the Expo/Vendor Hall, you really dont need to bring anything except a refillable water bottle and comfy shoes.

 

[khannon]

Sounds good. First year for me. If you know when things are, post here. I don't have and don't check "social".

Prost.

 

[friarsmith]

There will be a schedule online and a downloadable app, most likely. The app is very useful for planning which seminars to attend. And lots of those have samples too.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm going. I haven't missed an in-person HBC/NHC since Oakland whenever that was. I want to say 2010. Will be pouring some kind of beer with the Garden State Homebrewers.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

between the three nights (Local, Club Night, Knockout Party and the afterparty) which are all essentially beer festivals, and samples available all afternoon in the Expo/Vendor Hall, you really dont need to bring anything except a refillable water bottle and comfy shoes.

Yeah, I figure there will be no shortage of beer there and the bigger challenge is likely moderation. I will keep an eye out for a HBT meetup.

 

[Biggz1313]

My father and I will be there. Driving from Columbus, OH. First time for both of us. Coming in Thursday morning leaving Saturday night.

 

[friarsmith]

If you are flying to Pittsburgh, pack an empty duffel bag inside your suitcase or pack a roll-on size suitcase w/ your clothes inside a bigger suitcase to check. Then fill your checked bag on the way home w/ swag. Some of the swag will be liquid items from vendors. There is a lot of great swag

 

[Oleson M.D.]

The actual judging is held in Colorado, but the event is held in Pennsylvania?

 

[friarsmith]

They sort/pack/pallet the entries in CO then they get shipped to PA for judging Tues-Thurs before HBC. Hopefully they use a reefer truck. Who knows?

 

[Oleson M.D.]

They sort/pack/pallet the entries in CO then they get shipped to PA for judging Tues-Thurs before HBC. Hopefully they use a reefer truck. Who knows?

Why not just have all entries shipped to PA? Makes no sense to me. Better be a refrigerated truck!

 

[friarsmith]

Why not just have all entries shipped to PA? Makes no sense to me. Better be a refrigerated truck!

Overall, it is probably logistically easier to use the BA warehouse and refrigeration space and use local volunteers who helped last year as well with the same process for GABF. Especially as entries trickle in over a week. I helped for a few years organizing and doing database work for a regional round in the past and I can see why, all-in, this method has its advantages.

 

[BeerAndTele]

I’d invite all of you to stay at my house, but I’d come up short on spare beds. Plus, having a houseful of avatars would be, you know, weird.

 

[friarsmith]

I’d invite all of you to stay at my house, but I’d come up short on spare beds. Plus, having a houseful of avatars would be, you know, weird.

Avatars are notorious for wrecking your toilet, too

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Overall, it is probably logistically easier to use the BA warehouse and refrigeration space and use local volunteers who helped last year as well with the same process for GABF.

Logistics feels like a good explanation.

When looking externally into a competition, one of the opaque processes is 'bottle sort'. How does the competition take a large number of small packages (perhaps containing two or three different styles) and organize them so the all the beers of the same style are in the same place and labeled for tracking purposes? There are also some 'unhappy' paths in the process (bottles that break, are the wrong size, are missing labels, ... )

In the 2013-2018 timeframe, I participated in couple of 500+ entry bottle sorts as well as an NHC finals bottle sort. It's an amazing process - starting from 'nothing', over the course of a month, collect / store the bottles, sort them, reuse / recycle packaging material, store the bottles again, then transport the competition site.

 

[cfrazier77]

This week be my first one, don't know what to expect but excited to find out.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I was all set to attend, as it is a drivable distance, but things didn’t work out. Will miss all the tastings, talking with brewers and the goodies, but look forward to watching the sessions once they’re available.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

This week be my first one, don't know what to expect but excited to find out.

Expect a fun time!

 

[skidmark]

This week be my first one, don't know what to expect but excited to find out.

PRO TIP: Drink LOTS of water!

 

[mashpaddled]

Why not just have all entries shipped to PA? Makes no sense to me. Better be a refrigerated truck!

Overall, it is probably logistically easier to use the BA warehouse and refrigeration space and use local volunteers who helped last year as well with the same process for GABF. Especially as entries trickle in over a week. I helped for a few years organizing and doing database work for a regional round in the past and I can see why, all-in, this method has its advantages.

The BA/AHA is based in Colorado where they have bonded storage so there's a lot less concern getting beer shipped into a bonded warehouse and then shipping out of the bonded storage to another state. You never know when a bored ABC officer might want to go interrupt NHC judging over state rules about shipped beer. Like when I lived in Texas just to ship homebrew within the state from my house to a competition it would require obtaining a bill of lading from the state ABC.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

There was a recent thread on Reddit about breweries to check out in Pittsburg. Good info...though the summary might be that there are 40-ish breweries in the Pittsburg area and 30 of them are recommended.


Personally, I am probably more interested in finding some decent beers to bring home. After a full day of beer at the conference, and after the $$$ for the conference and the hotel, I am not sure how much I will be in the mood to drink and spend at breweries. I am only about 4 hours away, so I can just head up for a weekend if I want to spend more time at area breweries.

 

[BeerAndTele]

There was a recent thread on Reddit about breweries to check out in Pittsburg. Good info...though the summary might be that there are 40-ish breweries in the Pittsburg area and 30 of them are recommended.

Pittsburgh. Leaving off the h is frowned upon.

The Reddit list looks pretty comprehensive. A lot of the newer ones seem the same to me. So for this reason, and for the reason you mentioned (drinking home brew all day), I’d recommend:

• The Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville for aesthetics alone. It‘s housed in a beautiful old church and it’s stunning.
• The Penn Brewery on the north side for its German food, German lagers and outdoor courtyard. Not a big fan of their ales, but I do like my stops there.
• Walk to the Strip District on Saturday morning (indoor/outdoor marketplace, a short walk from the convention center). My favorite stops: Allegheny Coffee and Tea Co., Wholey’s Foods (specialty seafood), Mancini’s Bakery (Italian breads), Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. (Italian deli and market). Even if you’re not buying anything to take home, it’s a nice walk with a cup of coffee.
• if all else fails, just walk down to Point State Park or walk along the north shore of the Allegheny if the weather is nice.

Have a nice time in our fair city. Hope you like it here.

Oh, btw, the Pirates are out of town next weekend, which is too bad. Yeah, they’re the worst-run team in all of baseball, but PNC Park is beautiful and a nice way to spend a summer night.

 

[BeerAndTele]

… and for take-home, I’d put Brew Gentlemen at the top of the list … and I’ve had some decent stuff at Hop Farm. They tell me Dancing Gnome and Grist House have good stuff, but I haven’t made it to those so I can’t vouch for them.