So it’s another year gone and it’s been an unusual one but a good one.
Our regular meetings have been really well attended when we could meet in person either here at the Wheatsheaf Hotel or at Little Bang Brewing Co.
In the time of isolation, we want to keep providing value for money for members to feel a part of a club, so we went online. COVID was the curveball of the year. We managed to give everyone some connection via Zoom and I think everyone understands it’s not the ideal scenario for holding meetings but we tried to make it different and still give everyone the feeling they were part of a club still.
While we continue to grow and welcome new members we also acknowledge that asking people to bring in beers for tasting is getting harder so we worked on new ways of sharing our beers. We introduced bottle swap or bingo and as we did in February, a beer assessment night tasting more beers from members. We’ll keep on looking at ways of making sure everyone’s homebrew is shared because that’s what a homebrewing club is about.
As a club, we brewed again at Left Barrel Brewing and we will do that again in October this year. I think a highlight was the brew days at Glen’s house too.
Despite setbacks as COVID forced us to nearly cancel, we managed to pull off the Summer competition judged in isolation with two new members in the top three overall.
The Winter competition was judged last weekend and was a success as was our running of SABSOSA last September. Thanks to the team behind that, Gary, Julien and Brendan as well as everyone who volunteers to judge or steward.
Our events took a bit of a hit with the Hills breweries tour having to be postponed. The summer event at the Petanque club was a new venue and worked well. Along with BeerBQ in May (that will be mid-August this year) these social events remain highlights of our calendar.
We continue to strive to offer the best value for money for members through all our events, maintaining virtual meetings, prizes like the kettle we gave away and will give away another one in the next month too and brew days, connection, discounts and offers. But overall…
The club is about community, especially in these times. It gives members a connection to others who love doing what they do and a support network of friendships that isn’t just about brewing beer but a whole lot more in life.
It’s been really heartening to see the members use the club’s network to call out for help when their equipment fails or are in urgent need of advice and mentorship.
The club works because of you the members but also the committee which really makes this stuff happen and I want to personally thank them for always being there to step up, step in and come up with the ideas and shoot down the not so good ones.
Thank you all.
Gus
SABC acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet, the Kurana of the Adelaide Plains pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.