9 Lessons From Homebrew Con 2016

Authors: Marshall Schott & Malcolm Frazer

I started writing this article from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, just over 2 hours of sleep in the prior 24 hours due to delays, missed flights, and a shitty airline. What was supposed to be a 45 minute layover turned into a lonely night in an awkward and surprisingly cold airport. In my haze and annoyance with not being home, I began reflecting on this year’s conference and thought I’d put to paper the mental list of things I learned at this year’s Homebrew Con, not “real” information gleaned from seminars and interactions with smart people, but stuff that came from my experience of 4 days in Baltimore, MD with a bunch of other homebrewers. Malcolm was there too, he also contributed to this article.

#9: Lyft is better than Uber, unless it’s not…

01_HBC2016_UbervsLyftI know it’s not directly brewing or conference related, but transportation while at the conference is important. Most conference-goers rely on other people to get them to places they want to go, and lately these other people take the form of “alternative” taxi drivers. Uber being the most popular, I heard of a new option a few months ago called Lyft and noticed it tends to have more available cars. I used both services this year and learned a few interesting things from various drivers of both. Apparently, Lyft has slightly less stringent requirements when it comes to hiring drivers, and they pay more while charging less. Cool! Except for those times Lyft is under heavy demand and decide to charge users upwards of 75% more than the typical price for a ride, often pushing it over the price of Uber. So I keep both apps on my phone and choose whichever is offering the best deal at the time I need it.

#8: Baltimore is not as bad as some people said it would be

When the location of this year’s Homebrew Con was announced in San Diego last year, the shit-slinging about Baltimore began immediately. I’d never been and was compelled to believe, at least to some degree, those who knew the city better then me. While I’m not convinced it’ll go down as one of the best conference locations, I thought the convention center worked out incredibly well, the Hilton was very nice and awesomely attached to the convention center, and the ventilation seemed to be in tip-top shape (ahem). There definitely wasn’t a huge number of local breweries, but the few craft beer bars I went to were badass and made for some very memorable nights. Due to being more familiar with and having family in the area, Malcolm was 06_HBC2016_BaltConventionCenterwas pleased when he heard the conference would be in Baltimore for both beer and food purposes. Sure, things maybe got a little sketchy in certain areas and certain times of the night (err… early morning), but that’s the case in most big cities, there wasn’t a point during the trip I didn’t feel safe. And the crab was delicious!

#7: Hazy beer is alive and well

With very few exceptions, every homebrewed Pale Ale, IPA, and otherwise hoppy beer that was shared with me in Baltimore ranged in clarity from moderately hazy to downright murky. And the brewers weren’t only okay with it, but proud that they’d accomplished their intended goal. In addition to the homemade versions, some rad folks shared cans of popular and hard to find commercial examples of New England style hoppy ales from Treehouse, Lawson’s Finest hazydazeLiquids, and The Alchemist. I’ve been stoked to try these beers so I could develop an opinion for myself. Ultimately, my allegiance to clear beer remains, though I suppose I can sort of see the appeal in these cloudy styles, as they did have some qualities I thought were somewhat unique. Whether that had to do with the haze or not is up for debate. As for Malcolm, he maintains impartiality when it comes to beer appearance and will continue to enjoy both hazy and brite versions equally.

#6: Collecting xBmt data at the Expo in the afternoon is not as easy as I expected

In San Diego, I setup a couple 30-ish minute xBmt evaluation sessions in the hotel lobby, I think all around 10AM, before the Expo really got going. For those who have never attended Homebrew Con/NHC, the Expo is where all the vendors setup booths and supply attendees with oodles of free schwag. And beer. Nearly every booth has a seemingly endless supply that they serve to people from open to close. In Baltimore, I setup shop around 1:30PM in a corner of the the Social Club, which yielded a crowd of mostly interested people with a few understandably lit bumblers. That was easy enough to laugh off, but what really bothered me was that I missed my buddy Brian Hall’s seminar since participants had lined up and I lost track of time. I’ll have to figure something else out for next year and do better planning. In the end, we made it work, thanks to the help of some awesome friends.

02_HBC2016_carryingxBmt

#5: Fanny packs are the way to go and not at all dorky

While non-fanny sporting conference-goers were forced to lug around over-sized bags to carry stickers, ring bottle openers, and dry yeast packs, those of us fortunate and shameless enough to sport a bum bag were able to carry our booty hands free!

07_HBC2016_fannys

On top of all that, fanny packs stylistically hold an empty tasting glass, cell phone charger, and wet wipes for those sticky situations. I’m a strong advocate.

#4: Milk The Funk is amazing and changing the world of sour beer brewing

03_HBC2016_MTFLogoIf you’re a brewer of sour/funky beer and haven’t heard of Milk The Funk, come out from under your rock and consider joining their incredible Facebook group now! While my focus has been on brewing mostly clean beers for xBmts, my enthrallment with and love of sour styles remains. For the last two years, I’ve attended what has come to be one of my favorite events at Homebrew Con– the Milk The Funk Meet-Up. Over an hour of people from all over sharing bottles of their sour, funky, mixed fermentation, barrel aged creations. Michael Tonsmeire from The Mad Fermentationist blog and author of American Sour BeersMatt Miller and his Sour Beer Blog crew, Brian Hall from the Brouwerij-Chugach blog, Mary Izett of the Fuhmentaboutit! podcast and author of Speed Brewing, Ed Coffey from the Ales of the Riverwards blog, Jeff Mello from Bootleg Biology, Dave Janssen from Hors Catégorie Brewing… are you kidding me?!?!

Milk The Funk is dedicated to growing what we know about making these lovely beers and there’s no denying the impact their passion is having on the world of sour beer brewing. It’s admirable, educational, and intensely inspiring.

#3: Homebrewing is filled with fun and welcoming people

I hate the term “celebrity,” but it’s true this hobby has its share of revered authors, podcast hosts, and industry experts, many of whom you’ll find wandering the halls of Homebrew Con. What makes these people different than typical Hollywood stars is the fact they’re mostly super down-to-earth folks who aren’t only willing to engage in brewing banter, but actually look forward to it. From Malcolm chatting up Randy Mosher about the myriad fruits and sugars available in South America to John Palmer snagging a seat at our table during the Grand Banquet then heading to a loud bar with us for the after-party, everyone feels like a friend and treats each other as such.

Eric, Rebecca, Robb, Marshall, John, Matt, Malcolm, Brian
Eric, Rebecca, Robb, Marshall, John, Matt, Malcolm, Brian

I can’t speak for everyone, but the groups I found myself attracted to were sort of like Velcro in that we seemed to collect more as we jaunted along. From bottle shares in random rooms to bar hopping with brewing legends, meeting awesome people is one of the coolest aspects of the Homebrew Con package.

With Vinny from Anti-Hero Brewing & the JaDeD guys
With Vinny from Anti-Hero Brewing, the JaDeD guys, and others

I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t bring up my experience with the longest standing sponsor of Brülosophy, JaDeD Brewing. These idiots reached out to me a couple months after I started this gig seeking a beta tester for a yet-to-be-released immersion chiller called the King Cobra. Well, I had the pleasure of meeting Clay and Jeremy, aka Team Idiot, in person at Homebrew Con. As any reader of Brülosophy is likely aware, I think JaDeD Brewing’s The Hydra and King Cobra are the best immersion chillers on the market, and now I know the idiots behind the company are just as rad as the product they make.

#2: Diversity is growing and making homebrewing a better hobby

Yes, the conference was mostly a sea of white bearded men, it’d be foolish to claim anything else. Given the reality of this stereotype and my adamant hope for more diversity in the hobby, I find myself awkwardly cognizant of who I’m around and what’s going on when I attend homebrewing events. At Homebrew Con this year, I noticed people from all walks and thankfully didn’t witness a single instance of derogatory or otherwise shitty behavior. That’s not to say it didn’t happen, I could only be in one place at a time after all, and it’s also likely my own membership in the bearded white dude club made it such that I missed the bad stuff. However, without getting into silly details, what I did observe was open-minded and kind-hearted homebrewers embracing differences, enjoying the company of others, and dorking it up the way homebrewers are wont to do. I loved it. Furthermore, Malcolm was delighted to see several couples in which both partners brewed or at least participated in the hobby together in some fashion, and I agree, brewing beer is a cool way to squeeze in a little together time. It’s progress and that’s great, let’s keep it up!

#1: Homebrew Con is the best brewing event in the world!

It’s also the only one I’ve been to outside of club meetings. Either way, it’s hard for me to put to words what an incredibly fun time Homebrew Con is. What I said in an earlier article about my experience at the San Diego conference was fully confirmed. Yes, it’s expensive, but so incredibly worth it. I was recently told about this phenomenon referred to as FOMO, a condition I admittedly suffer from, and thinking of all I’d be missing if I skipped Homebrew Con is enough to bring on the fear. I know there are those who seek to find fault in everything, perhaps we’ll hear from them at some point, but I value community greatly and experience Homebrew Con almost like a family reunion– a few days of drinking great beer, learning neat stuff, and hanging out with people I love being around. If you can swing it, the Homebrew Con 2017 will be in Minneapolis, MN next year and I’m sure it’s going to be damned hoot!


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25 thoughts on “9 Lessons From Homebrew Con 2016”

  1. Nice recap. I agree with everything you mentioned. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Max’s Taphouse http://www.maxs.com/. I got into Baltimore at 9:30 Wednesday night and it’s the first place my homebrew con posse took me.

    It’s also the first place I saw/spoke with any homebrew celebs in person and the first place I tasted some beers I can’t get where I live. 100 beers on tap? Unheard of where I live in western NY.

    You and Malcolm had a pretty good dynamic going during the Modern Perspective on Traditional Methods seminar. Can’t image it would have been as entertaining with only one of you.

    Oh and that was a nice move serving us your bad practices Helles too. All in all a good seminar.

    1. Malcolm Frazer

      “You and Malcolm had a pretty good dynamic going during the Modern Perspective on Traditional Methods seminar. Can’t image it would have been as entertaining with only one of you.”

      Thanks Wilby,
      We had fun doing it. I made a similar presentation earlier in the year by myself and this was MUCH better in terms of flow energy (despite being hung-over) with the back and forth banter. Certainly having done it once helps, but I am glad someone else felt the duo worked. Sometimes multi person presentations are very rote and drab as they seemingly just take turns reading slides or bullets.

    2. Marshall Schott

      The fact you were up early enough to catch our talk means a lot to me… particularly given what happened the night before. Thank you for the kind words!

  2. Was a great con for sure. I stopped by the Jaded booth and was thrilled to find the cornypillar, which I ordered as soon as I got home. Great guys. Super appreciative that they support you guys.

      1. Marshall Schott

        I did get to sign my first boob. It was a drunk dude’s who we met at Max’s our first night in town. Whatever, I’ll take it.

      2. I was cornered by a bud light drinker (in Max’s??) who was bitching about waiting in line to pay his tab. Dude, you can get a bud light anywhere!

  3. “Malcolm was delighted to see several couples in which both partners brewed or at least participated in the hobby together in some fashion, and I agree, brewing beer is a cool way to squeeze in a little together time. It’s progress and that’s great, let’s keep it up!”

    It should be noted that the president of Malcolm’s homebrew club is one half a married brewing couple. Moreover, they are exceptionally awesome people – pretty much the coolest sumbitches in the homedrank scene.

    1. Malcolm Frazer

      And at least one of the partners in that marriage is an exceptional brewer!

      Haha – missed you guys, Jack. I’m sure the fun quotient would’ve been higher if you and Jess were there – .

  4. MadJohnShaft (paul)

    Yeah, there were women there and a bunch of couples, kinda cool. Seems like the Millennials are really into opening brew pubs. The bloggers round table and Brulosophy session that followed were a lot of fun. I enjoyed the sessions and am inspired to brew like an All Star as well. Drinking all that weird beer on Thursday/Friday night was great – I walked around and sampled all the bizarre stuff. Too shy to get Papazian’s autograph though (and I forgot my ancient copy of his book to get signed at home).

    1. Marshall Schott

      I’m glad you liked the talks! We weren’t necessarily in tip-top form, but I felt like both went pretty good. Cheers!

  5. Thanks for the shout out, guys! When I expect my first royalty check for that picture?

    Had an absolute blast down there with you guys and the group of misfits that came together at Max’s. Loved your talk, too, and hope to see you at next year’s. Might even get up early enough for the entire bloggers panel.

    1. Marshall Schott

      Royalty check? Sure, as long as you promise to kindly give the entire $0.50 to a homeless person… then hand him a $20.

      I absolutely refuse to give a talk any earlier than 10:15AM from here on out. I’m not kidding, that 9AM gig sucked!

      I’m so glad we got to hangout, what a blast we had!

      1. Hey, some of us are generous souls when we aren’t being complete jerks. That 9am session was rough; I needed an eye-opener just to get me going that morning.

    1. Malcolm Frazer

      They were jerks in the same way we were all jerks so the baseline level of jerk was effectively zero. New null. So everyone seemed nice.

  6. I also absolutely endorse the fanny pack realisation, which I’ve also come to figure out is the best way to rock it, if you can get past the stigma (or bum-bag as I’d call it). It works just great to carry the requisite amount of stuff for any beer related fest.

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