So, as most of you may know, last week was the 2010 Craft Brewers Conference, and this year it was conveniently held in Chicago. In addition to the conference and expo, plenty of events were scheduled at various restaurants and bars all around the city.
Here’s the recap of events I attended.
[Due to my day job, I was unable to attend the full Conference/Expo, but I did attend two seminars early in the week, as well as the World Beer Cup Gala Awards Dinner.]
Tuesday: Wheat Beer Seminar at Goose Island Clybourn
This event was a free event but was very valuable nonetheless. Lallemand, Inc. sponsored the 3-hour seminar that provided a look at wheat beer from a Belgian standpoint as well as a German standpoint. The two presenters, Tom Mertens and Josef Englmann gave very thorough and informative presentations. It was nice to compare/contrast the way wheat beers are made in each country.
Tuesday evening: #gents
Although not related to the conference, I did attend the regularly scheduled “Gents” meetup and of course ended up sampling about 15-20 new beers (taste portions!). Unfortunately I did not think ahead so I can’t remember all the great beers we tried but that was one of the better Gents meetups I’ve been to; almost all of the beers were new to me. I also got to meet some new people, and discuss homebrewing, which is always fun.
Wednesday: MicroMatic Dispense Class
This was a full-day, paid event that covered everything about draft dispense systems, from the different types of draft systems available, to selecting equipment and building a draft system, sanitation, and troubleshooting. The course was led by Tom Geordt of MicroMatic and was extremely well-organized. In addition to hearing a great presentation, the binder of in-depth training materials that we were able to take with us is going to be VERY valuable! Even though I don’t plan on opening a brew-pub, I feel it’s absolutely necessary to learn about draft systems, so I was very glad I was able to attend this seminar.
Wednesday evening: CBC Opening Reception at the Field Museum
Although I had a ticket to this opening reception and originally planned on going, by the time I got out of the 8.5 hour MicroMatic seminar, I was dead tired and ended up staying in and resting up.
Thursday: Recovery!
Friday: NZ beers at the Local Option
After work on Friday, I met up with some of the #gents at Jake Melnick’s for the tapping of Metropolitan Brewing’s Maibock and Baltic Porter. Unfortunately, the place was crowded and we ended up waiting for almost 90 minutes to get a table. It ended up being that I had to leave before getting a chance to sample either of the beers, but I am sure I will run across them at some point since they’re local.
After Jake Melnick’s, I went up to the Local Option, where I heard that Epic Beer was going to be doing a tasting of their beers. I had heard many great things from my NZ friends about Epic Beer so I was very excited to try them. Once I got there, I saw Luke, the owner/brewer of Epic and also met the brewer (?) of Tuatara, another NZ beer. Shelton Brothers importers were there to do the tasting, and we ended up getting to try some of each of their beers. It was great! I highly recommend Epic’s Mayhem and Tuatara’s Bohemian Pilsner. Those were definitely my favorites of the night.
Tuatara NZ Beer
Epic Beer from NZ
I also got to meet a few Belgian brewers who were able to give me some great suggestions for (small) breweries to visit when I go to Belgium next month.
Saturday: WBC 2010 Gala Awards Dinner
2010 WBC Awards Dinner
Great evening overall, sat Ray Daniels’ table and met a bunch of new people. A wonderful 5-course dinner preceded the World Beer Cup awards. To view the menu in full size, click here. Each course was cooked with and paired with various craft beers. “Homebrewchef” Sean Paxton did a great job with the menu. I was a big fan of everything (aside from the salad), and was surprised that even the bread pudding was tasty, as I’m typically not a fan of bread pudding.
Long Live the Swine!
The nearly 3-hour awards ceremony was really quite marvelous. They awarded a Gold, Silver, and Bronze for each of the 90 beer styles. The full list of winners can be found here.
So that wraps up the CBC experience. In addition to learning a lot, trying a bunch of new beers, I also got to meet so many people that I normally wouldn’t be able to. It was a WONDERFUL experience overall, even though I’m not sure I’m fully recovered yet! :)
