The following report was submitted by club member Mark Zellman. Thanks!
Report from the 36th
Annual American Homebrewers Association National Homebrewers Conference June
12-14, 2014 Grand Rapids Michigan
Fellow Home
Brewers,
I had the opportunity to drive out
to Grand Rapids on Thursday June 12th to attend this conference and
was amazed by the AHA and their organization of this event! There over 3,100 in
attendance and the entire conference ran very smoothly.
I arrived at the Devos Center on the
Grand River around 4:30 Thursday to register for the conference and was greeted
by AHA staff who answered my questions, being a first time attendee, and
explained to me the important contents of the ‘swag bag’ given to me and to
review the contents to be eligible for prizes from various vendors. Two most important
items were large bottles of commemorative beers brewed for the conference by
local Founders Brewing Company (Oak Aged Rye IPA) and Bell’s Brewery (“Beer
Michigan” which is a Barleywine style) which I have in my fridge and will bring
to the next club meeting for all of us to try a small sample. The there was the
‘group toast’ to kick off the conference. I also had a chance to catch the
“Brew in a Bag” seminar then went into the exhibit hall to check out the dozens
of vendors and sample some brew in the “Beer City Social Club”.
Friday I arrived at Devos Center and
reviewed the list of seminars for the day. Starting at 9am and going through
2pm there are 5, one hour seminars going on simultaneously, so you pick one
that interests you and go to that room. These are all available on the AHA web
site for members to watch as the AHA videotaped each seminar. Then, it was back
the exhibit hall to scout out the vendor booths and do yet more sampling! I
also met, Nancy Johnson, event coordinator for the AHA. I told her what a well
organized event she had planned and what a nice city Grand Rapids is! During
our 10-15 minute conversation I asked her how they choose their locations, next
year being in San Diego California, and she said it was based on who can handle
the size of the crowd, hotels etc. I told her that Pittsburgh would be a great
city to book and she said that was on her list because they have the convention
center and surrounding amenities for a conference this size. We had charter
buses running from the hotels every 20 minutes and my hotel was about a 5
minute ride to the hall. Within walking distance of Devos Center were Grand
Rapids Brewing, Hop Cat, and Founders, of which I had time to visit GRB and Hop
Cat which were so packed you could hardly get in the door!
Friday night I was told would be a
most fun event, Club Night. brew clubs from all over the country had one of the
exhibit halls for this event. there were almost 90 clubs that set up their
‘bar’ in this hall and it was truly amazing! With names like the “KGB” (Kuhnhenn
Guild of Brewers)…the “MOB” (Muskegon Ottowa Brewers)…”The Big Lebrewski’s”…
“Worts of Wisdom”…and “Urban Knaves of Grain” who not only set up VERY
elaborate bars and themes, there were groups dressed as Monks with Nuns, Smurfs,
Super Hero’s, Mobsters, and crew from NYC that had a construction site set up
and did a chalk outline of a woman lying on the floor for their booth
experience. Then there was the hundreds of their home brews with every
conceivable style and variation you could imagine! Most clubs offered between
8-14 different beers, so you really had to pace yourself! What a (late) night!
Saturday morning I was back at the
event for more seminars, interaction with the vendors and event attendee’s, and
the More Beer booth opened a keg of Pliny the Elder which I stood in line for
about 15 minutes to get a sample of…worth the wait! Saturday evening was the
Grand Dinner and awards ceremony sponsored by Sam Adams. They paired each
course with a Sam Adams beer, two of them were their small batch, cask aged
series, and the dinner was fantastic!
In conclusion, I had a terrific
time, met fellow brewers from all over the US and Canada, had massive samples
of some incredible and unusual beers, and would go back to Grand Rapids for a
week just to travel around to their craft breweries, which probably number
between 30-40 within an hour drive. Not sure I will make San Diego next year
but will certainly put that into the planner!
If you have never attended this event, you will enjoy it!
Respectfully
submitted,
Mark Zellman
