Blues, Brews and Barbecue
Mark Tumarkin

As many of you know, I wasn't at the last meeting at Dave & Julie William's house. But I had a really good excuse. I went to Kansas City to the AHA National Convention. What an incredible trip! I left here early Thursday morning and got to the convention site at the Holiday Inn in Olathe, Kansas in time to have lunch. I was told by one of the locals that Olathe was the Native American word for 'duplex.' I think he was kidding but it gives you an idea of the suburban nature of the area. But it didn't matter a bit. Over 400 homebrewers turned that Holiday Inn into a beery Oz for a few days.

Part of the AHA Convention is the final round of the National Homebrew Competition , the world's largest homebrew competition. The judging began right after lunch. I have not taken the BJCP test yet so I had planned to be a steward. However, I had become friends with Brian Rezac, one of the administrators of the AHA, when I had been in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. He knew I have been in the BJCP study group and asked me to judge. I was honored to be able to judge at the NHC. It was great experience judging along side of some of the country's best judges. I judged California Commons on Thursday with Al Korzonas and Dine Smith. The next morning I judged ESBs with Roger Dreschner. It was great fun and I really learned a lot about judging.

Thursday evening after the judging was Beer Without Borders. This event was held in a big hall with different homebrew clubs having tables set up and dispensing kegs of the their beer. Among them were the Kansas City Bier Meisters (the host club), The Derby Home Brewers (last years Homebrew Club of the Year), the Chicago Beer Society (maybe the country's largest club), as well as a couple of others. Really a great chance to get to know some of the other homebrewers while drinking a wide variety of fantastic beers. This shut down after several hours, but we just shifted to the hospitality suite and continued on until the wee hours.

Friday morning was spent judging again. Then we had the Cooking with Beer Luncheon which featured different beer styles paired with each course. Charlie Papazian gave an entertaining talk about some of his travels and beer adventures. After lunch I attended several presentations and seminars. These had actually been going on Thursday and in the morning on Friday as well, while I was busy judging. I also attended more seminars on Saturday as well. I'll list some of them to give you an idea of the quality of the presenters and the range of the topics.

The theme of the convention was Blues, Brews, and Barbecue. Friday evening they had buses shuttle us to the Pony Express Microbrewery. They had an incredible spread waiting - beer from six brewpubs and microbreweries, two blues bands, an amazing barbecue with beef, turkey, ribs, chicken and lots of side dishes. They plied us with great food, drink, and blues until about 11 when we headed back to the hotel. And back to the hospitality suite where the party continued. Brett, a homebrewer from St Louis, has gotten the Cantillion distributorship for Missouri. He brought a 30 liter keg of 3 year old un-blended lambic, as well as bottles of Cantillion including Iris, a brand new offering. Iris is made from malted barley rather than unmalted wheat. It also uses fresh hops, and of course the spontaneous fermentation that Lambics are famous for. Truly a mouthwatering brew. The Urban Knaves of Grain, this years Homebrew Club of the Year, brought a keg of another great beer. It was called Alpha King from Three Floyd's in Indiana. This is a brewpub owned and run by two brothers with the last name of Floyd and their partner who's first name is Floyd. These boys are not at all afraid of using hops, as the beer's name might indicate. Even Dr. Bob would approve of this beer.

Saturday was spent attending more of the seminars and presentations. There was a bus tour to the Boulevard Brewery but I decided to take it easy Saturday afternoon and relax. I even had visions of taking a nap, but the party atmosphere was too pervasive and that never happened. Just another afternoon of more beer and beer talk. It was like one big homebrew club meeting, with lots of new friends wanting you to try their beer.

Saturday night was the awards banquet. Unfortunately, my beer that had made it to the second round didn't win a medal. But it hardly mattered. The whole thing was so much fun. It is an incredible atmosphere of comraderie, beer talk and learning, and of course, lots and lots of great beer. Many of the brewers go to these conventions year after year, developing close friendships with brewers from other parts of the country. I can certainly see why they would keep coming back. You truly feel part of a homebrewing community. Next year the convention will be in Michigan, I'll be there; will you?

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