The Australian National Homebrewing Conference is on the move. As the fourth conference approaches, the baton has been passed from the organising team in Melbourne to a crew in Canberra, who will take ANHC outside Victoria for the first time. Australia’s biggest gathering of home brewers and brewing experts will come together in the capital from October 16 to 19, with the main days of the conference on October 17 and 18. Tickets are on sale from today.
Past favourites return, such as the popular Club Night, the Gala Awards and Pairing Dinner (featuring more beers than ever before) and heaps of talks and seminars. There will also be a “Magical Mystery Tour” of Canberra beer venues on the Thursday before the festival kicks off, with judging for the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships also taking place on October 16.
Once again, the organisers have attracted some big names from the world of brewing, not least in securing Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, creator of some of the best, most sought after and genuinely innovative beers in the world. John Keeling from London’s Fullers is also flying in, while mead makes a first appearance on the program with Michael Fairbrother of Moonlight Meadery (USA) coming to Canberra. The world’s most popular beer podcast, Brewing Network, is sending one of its hosts, Nathan Smith, over, while master of yeast, Chris White of White Labs, will be presenting too.
The international guests are joined by homegrown talent, including Hendo from BrewCult and Brendan Varis from Feral, with CUB’s Tina Panoutsos bringing her sensory masterclass back to the conference.
“It is extremely rewarding to see the baby we brought to life continue on in its fourth incarnation,” says ANHC co-founder Andy Davison. “At the end of the day we work hard for 18 months to deliver a great experience to brewers across the country, and seeing everyone having a great time and learning at he same time is the reward we cherish.
“The conference was born when John Preston, owner of Grain & Grape, brought four of us together at a VicBrew meeting in Melbourne in 2007. Back then we knew that we wanted to bring together brewers across the nation, not just in Victoria. So the idea of moving around the country was initially floated, but put on the back burner because we were struggling just to keep our heads afloat running the 2008 event.
“We started thinking about how to move it in 2010, but is took us a couple of years to get to the point where we felt the conference was mature enough to let it loose on the rest of the county. So now in 2014 we’re really happy to see the conference take its first steps outside of Victoria, into the very capable hands of the enthusiastic committee in Canberra.”
One member of that enthusiastic committee is Kevin Hingston, who told us: “[Fellow organisers] Billy, Charles, and I attended ANHC Three in 2012 and had an absolute ball. We learnt a bunch, drunk a bunch, and made a heap of friends.”
As such, when they caught wind that there was a chance the conference could hit the road and the preference was to keep it on the East Coast, they grabbed it with both hands.
Some of the stars of ANHC 4. From top left clockwise – Peter Aldred of Ballarat University, Hendo, Caleb Defrees of Gladfield Malt, Brendan Varis
“The move has been a baptism of fire for the Canberra team. We started work about 12 months ago and really ramped up after the Nationals last October. Getting the program down pat and tickets on sale has been a big milestone for us, but things are just hotting up for getting the conference off the ground.
“ANHC is an amazingly fun event, but it’s also hugely educational. The exposure to styles, techniques, and ideas is second to none in this country. Whether you’re a serious all grainer, or a K&K [kit and kilo] brewer just starting out, you will learn more in the two days of ANHC than you will in the two years you spend waiting for the next one.”
They are introducing a few ANHC firsts that include broadening the invite to the worlds of mead and cider, with local cidermakers David Pickering and Garry Watkins-Sully appearing. At the Gala Dinner, they will be pairing two different beers with both the main and dessert courses, taking the total beer list for the dinner up to six.
“We’re working with one of Canberra’s key cultural institutions to provide a completely new take on the Gala Dinner entertainment – details are still under wraps,” he says.
The conference is being held at University House, a classic building on the grounds of the ANU. Tickets are available in a number of formats, from the full package that includes conference, Gala Dinner and Club Night, for $390 to tickets that allow guests to choose which elements they would like to attend.
As for the elements he is most looking forward to, Kevin says: “Vinnie Cilurzo is definitely a huge drawcard. He’s an expert on renaissance brewing techniques like sours and barrels, as well as the classic holy grail of the perfect IPA. He’s also bringing some amazing beers with him that you just cant get in this country.
“We’ve also got the Brewing Network coming out. They have a huge following here in Australia – our Facebook page went off the charts when we announced their involvement.
“In terms of education, Tina Panoutsos' sensory session is sure to be a hit again, giving people a scientific understanding of their flavour and aroma thresholds to help improve their judging.”
Anyone interested in attending can find everything they need to know on the ANHC 4 website, including speaker profiles, the full conference program, details on accommodation partners and, of course, ticket sales. You can also sign up to the festival’s mailing list, Facebook and Twitter feeds.
As for what the future might hold, Andy says: “We certainly hope to continue moving the conference around the country, but only where and when it makes sense. At the end of the day, although no one wants to, you need to look at the conference as a business to make sure it keeps running. So if we had someone approach us with a plan that shows that people will come and the event can be run successfully we will definitely consider it.
“I’d personally love to see it head over west to Perth, or perhaps even find its way over to our cousins in New Zealand.”
Photo at top shows Chris Badenoch presenting at ANHC Three in Melbourne in 2012. Photo by Joel Larson.
