I can't be the only attendee who is still thinking about NHC and remembering some of the cool stuff, wishing a little it wasn't over already, stuff like that. Wish I had more/closer brewing buddies I could talk it over with in person, or a specific meeting with my club (Yeastside Brewers) to debrief or whatever. It was so cool, you know?
So, what were some of your favorite parts?
When I left, I had a stack of books, ready to take take and have signed. Since I was with my family and I didn't really want to take time/space to have them all signed, I decided to just take my Mosher books, so I left almost all my brewing library at home. I went to Mosher's seminar on Saturday, and got his new book (Mastering Homebrew) and his seminar was great, and he was a real cool guy to talk with a minute.
I talked with Palmer at the same time, let him know I refer to his book every time I brew and I read it like 3 times before I got my first gear and started brewing.
I also met and talked with Vinnie Cilurzo, who was cool, and went to his seminar. Got a bottle of Ron Mexico and about 5oz of HBC438 hops, plus the Ballast Point and Rip Current commemorative beers to drink at a later date. Those should be great.
Lots of swag at all the booths, hat and shirt from Wyeast, talked with the guys from Boston Beer, Ballast Point, other cool places.
I passed the BJCP tasting exam last year, went to some BJCP meetings, talked with Gordon Strong a bit and other skilled/experienced judges.
I was standing in line and a guy walked by with a coffee pot of his homebrew, poured us a taster and I laughed with the guy next to me about how nowhere else would a person previously unknown to me walk up with a pitcher of drink, which he would offer and I'd gladly accept a sample of, and then actually drink it happily, and it would be tasty and satisfying, hahaha. Such a cool place and group of people.
I met guys and gals from all over, but I guess the two dudes from Munich were probably the farthest-travelled people I met.
I spent half the time hanging out with my family, away from the conference in SanD. If I was there 24/7 for all three days, I'd have had even more cool experiences.
If you have any cool things, I wanna hear about it. What was memorable for you?