The regular club meeting is on Wednesday night at The Wheaty from 7pm. New members welcome. This month, bring a bottle you’d like feedback on. We’ll taste and guess the style, and note any observations on clarity, carbonation, mouthfeel, and faults.

If you have a beer for ABCSA, but you’re unsure what style it should go in or can’t decide if it’s ready, this is a good opportunity to get some feedback. We know one of the easiest ways to lose points is entering beers in the wrong style category. Is it a porter or stout? Too sweet when it should be dry? Too hazy for pale, or too pale for hazy?

You can be anonymous. You don’t have to fess up that a beer is yours. Take on the feedback.

However, if you have a beer you’d like to present, drop us a line.

ABCSA

Speaking of ABCSA (the state peak home-brewing competition), entry is now open at https://www.abcsa.org.au/. If you’ve got brewing friends who live under a rock, give them a prod to enter.

• Entry portal closes: 28 August 2026
• Bottle Drop Locations End: Saturday, 12 September 2026
• Judging: 19-20 September 2026

Registration for judges and stewards is also welcome. You need to edit your profile to indicate your availability for what sessions.

ABCSA Sponsorship

ABCSA has openings for sponsors. For as little as $75, a business can get its name as a sponsor. Please contact the team at info@abcsa.org.au or have a chat to them at the meeting.

Kick Back’s new Baltic Porter by SABC Brewer

The prize for the winner of the winter competition was to brew the beer at competition co-host, Kick Back Brewing at Aldinga. Darren Williams’ Baltic Porter has been brewed, canned and is on tap from this Friday.

Get down to a fantastic brewery on the weekend to taste Darren’s beer and pick up some cans. Put a call out on our Facebook group if you want to turn it into a bigger casual catchup.

Thanks Brenton and the team at Kick Back for a fantastic wrap-up of the 2026 winter comp.

Summer comp!

… if you’re at the meeting on Wednesday, you’ll get a heads-up on the styles being judged in late Feb/ early March.

and the 2026 Brewer of the Year leaderboard has been updated with the latest scores.

Forward Calendar

• We’re at The Wheaty on the third Wednesday of the month until the end of the year.
• The Christmas Case swap details will be announced soon (but get brewing/bottling)
• We’re working on a fun weekend event in spring too.

Keep your eye on the website and calendar for updates.

It’s July already, so it’s AGM time. See notice in recent email/post. We’ll whiz through the President/Treasurer reports, committee member election, and then move on to the main event – tasting some excellent homebrewed Barrel Aged Beers!

Over the last two years, several Barrels at various members’ sheds have been quietly infusing different beer styles with oaky bourbon flavours.

We’ll talk through how the barrels were obtained, cleaned, filled, and unfilled, and then have a taste of regular and post-barrel fruited versions!

At up to 14% ABV, these are sure to warm your soul on a cold winter night.

The Annual General Meeting for the SA Brewing Club will be held on Wednesday, July 15 at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, George St, Thebarton, from 7pm.

All financial members of the club are encouraged to attend. The agenda can be downloaded here, and the minutes of the previous AGM are here.

All positions are becoming vacant, and nominations (self or for someone) for all positions can be submitted by email to info@sabrew.com or made on the night.

We welcome members to nominate for an executive position or general committee to contribute ideas to steer the club for the next few years. We meet 3-4 times a year for dinner (and a beer!) and communicate on a chat platform, keeping the workload low.

The usual brew club meeting will follow the brief AGM proceedings with some excellent beer tastings. If you’d like to present a beer, drop us a note.

The club’s annual BeerBQ is this Saturday! You know the drill: members register (for free) via the website shop, and purchase a guest ticket for friends and family.

Bring along some beer to share (bottles are fine). We’ll provide ice (but it’ll probably be cold enough anyway!). A brewer’s choice and people’s choice competition will determine the favourite beers of the night. Also, there will be excellent high-scoring beers from the recent Winter Comp and kegs of the IPA from the recent Process Wars experiment. (What the hell is BeerBQ? Read in this post)

Download and print a keg label here.

If you’d like to throw some songs into the Spotify playlist for the night, please collab here.

The weather looks good. It’ll be a fantastic night as always. See you at the East Torrens, Kensington Gardens Tennis Club!

Love Local Beer Week
If you can’t wait until Saturday night, our friends over at Suburban Brew are running a week-long event focused on local independent beer. Its Goodwood tap room will be stacked with beer from 15 SA brewers for a tap takeover across the week. There will be two specific sessions that may interest club members.

• Thursday 25th – a sensory session/talk by Briony Liebich
• Sunday 28th – a Brewers session focusing on the main ingredients: 4 sessions covering Malt, Water, Hops & Yeast, all run by the brewers.

For more info, check out the event page https://thesuburbanbrew.com.au/pages/love-local-beer-week

Full medal tables are on the Competition Portal page. All entrants’ score sheets are now available by logging in.

Quick ICYMI — we’re back at the Wheaty this Wednesday night. We’ll be tasting the resulting IPAs from the “Process Wars” brew days. That’s three IPA to enjoy on a winter night. How good’s that!

Do you have a beer you would like to present? Drop us a line ASAP (BotY point available).

Winter Comp. We’ll announce the results of the winter comp too. If you can’t make it, the judge’s score sheets will be available in the portal when the results go live next Wednesday.

BeerBQ, June 27 – Member free RSVP and guest tickets available now.

Our BeerBQ is next Saturday, June 27, at ETKG Tennis Club. It’s FREE for SABC members to RSVP. Please log into the shop and RSVP now so we can gauge numbers to ensure there is plenty of food. Guest tix available too.

Winter comp is two weeks away, June 6

We need more judges for Winter Competition / Kickback Smokin’ Brews competition next weekend, June long weekend (Saturday, June 6). Please log in to the competition portal and register. We have booked a 13-seater bus to get members there and back. This will be offered to judges and stewards in the first instance. If you’ve never judged before, you can register, and you will be placed with an accredited judge.

And that also means entries are open and bottle drop at SA Brewing Supplies and Kick Back is available from next week. All the category details and the unique specifics of this shared SABC winter comp and Kick Back Smokin Brews are in the portal or HERE.

BeerBQ, June 27 – Member free RSVP and guest tickets available now

Member RSVP (free) and guest tickets ($40) for SABC’s BeerBQ on June 27 are now available in the SABC Shop. Members need to be logged in to access the RSVP.

RSVP by logging in and grabbing a ticket here. (NOTE – you need to select: “My Account” and log in first. On a mobile phone, it is: ”My Account” is under “Menu” and log in) https://shop.sabrew.com/product-category/events/

We need to know who is coming so we can cater accurately so please jump on it ASAP.

SABC’s annual BeerBQ — It’s free for members; everyone brings homebrew, we provide the food, and it’s a great night.

If you’ve been around the club for a while, you probably know what BeerBQ is. But if you’re newer or haven’t made it along yet, here’s the short version: it’s our yearly SABC get-together where we fire up the smokers for some delicious BBQ meats, members bring kegs or bottles of homebrew to share, and we enjoy an evening of good company, food, and beer.

It’s not a competition or a judging event. There’s no pressure. Bring a keg with your own serving device – gas, tap, gun etc (we’ll supply ice), or just a bottle or two if that’s all you have. Everyone’s welcome —whether you’ve been brewing for years or you’ve just started thinking about your first batch.

If you’re not sure what to bring, bring yourself—we’ll have plenty going around. Buy a ticket for a non-member for $40 at the club shop.

It’s at the East Torrens Kensington Gardens Tennis Club, East Terrace & South Terrace, Kensington Gardens from 6pm. See you there!

Howdy yeast wranglers, here are some club updates. Lots to take note of.

May meeting date/venue

The May monthly meeting is now on THURSDAY, May 21st.

We are going to hit the road again and visit Little Bang in Stepney to have a chat with their current head brewer, Oscar. Wednesdays are noisy there with their quiz night, so we’re shifting the meeting to Thursday. Be sure to update your diaries!

Kickback Smokin’ Brews competition

If you are able to help judge or steward at the Kickback Smokin’ Brews competition on the June long weekend (June 6), please log in to the competition portal and register. We are going to book a 13-seater bus to help with travel arrangements. This will be offered to judges and stewards in the first instance.

And that also means entries are now open. All the category details and the unique specifics of this shared SABC winter comp and Kick Back Smokin Brews are in the portal or check out the last newsletter here.

SABC BeerBQ

The SABC BeerBQ date is set for Saturday, 27th June. What’s BeerBQ? Read an executive briefing here. If you can help with catering (BBQ or salads/sides), please reach out to the club — info@sabrew.com or contact a committee member directly. All food costs are reimbursed.

Just a quick note that we are meeting at The Wheaty this Wednesday. It’s a focus on entering brewing competitions.

“Process Wars” group brewdays are happening. If you have not been notified of a group to join, or heard from the hosts, please let us know or chat with us at the meeting. The identical beers being made will be tried at the June meeting and further consumed at BeerBQ….

BeerBQ!

BeerBQ I hear you say!? Yes. Put Saturday June 27, 6pm in your calendars. What’s this? The short version: it’s our yearly SABC get-together where we fire up the spit for some delicious BBQ, many bring a keg of homebrew to share, and enjoy an evening of good company, food, and homebrew. More to come…

Smokin’ Brews 2026 – Winter Competition (SABC x Kick Back Brewing)

We’re teaming up with Kick Back Brewing for something a bit different this winter—a competition built around when you drink a beer, not just what style it fits into.

Smokin’ Brews 2026 is all about occasion-based brewing, with three categories:

• Barbecue Beer – beers that stand up to smoke, fat and bold flavours
• Campfire Beer – richer, slower sippers for the end of the day
• All-Day Session Beer – clean, low-fatigue beers you can keep going back to

All BJCP styles are eligible. Judging combines a traditional BJCP technical score with a “category fit” score, so you’ll still get proper feedback, but with a bit more creative licence around how your beer is meant to be enjoyed.

The standout here is the prize: the Champion Beer of Show will be brewed commercially with Kick Back and released to the public as part of the Smokin’ Brews program. Not a bad outcome for a winter brew.

Entries open soon, with judging on June 6 at Kick Back in Aldinga. Full details and entry when it opens are on the portal comps.sabrew.com

It’s open to all brewers but SABC members will get a competition in a competition and win brewer of the year points and champion club brewer who gets their name on the perpetual trophy. It’s a nice chance to brew something a bit purpose-driven—whether that’s a smoky BBQ companion, a fireside sipper, or something dangerously easy to drink all afternoon. Also great practice for ABCSA.

ABCSA Help needed

The ABCSA Homebrew Competition is seeking a volunteer to assist with managing our Facebook presence in the lead-up to the event. This role will involve: Posting regular updates and competition information, maintaining engagement with the online community, supporting promotion of key dates and announcements, and most core content will be provided. However there is flexibility for the volunteer to contribute creatively where appropriate. We are ideally looking for someone who: is familiar with Facebook posting and engagement, can commit to consistent activity over the competition period.

This is a great opportunity to contribute to the competition’s success while building your involvement in the community. If you are interested, please get in touch with Gerard Flynn or email us.