Author: Lachlan Johnson

With the Fringe and Mad March soon upon us, we’ll be changing venues for the next two monthly meetings.

The February meeting (Feb 18) will now be at Bowden Brewing down in Plant 3, Bowden. There are lots food options and of course Bowden beers on tap. We won’t be running any club tastings at this one.

March will be at Crafty Robot, Grote Street, in the city. We’ll be hearing from two club members who now work in commercial breweries, and we’ll discuss how their professional knowledge has changed how they brew at home.

Crafties will open up from 6 pm just for SABC, so get in early if you can. We will confirm closer to the date if they will have pizza available on the night; if not, you can order in.

We’ll return to the Wheaty in April. See more upcoming events in the calendar.

Summer Competition

The entry portal for Summer Comp is open now. As you know, the theme is ‘The Ashes’, Australian and British styles. All common styles most brewers enjoy making regularly — pales, hazys, darks, ordinary and strong bitter and XXXX/VB/West End 😉 — so jump in. Judging is on March 15 in Prospect. Entry $5.

All the styles and the details you need are on the website, here. Of course, we also need judges. Please log in to the portal and indicate your willingness. It is BJCP registered competition, so you’ll get credits.

The Brewer of the Year leaderboard has been updated with points scored from the Winter Comp 2025 and the July monthly meeting. Lucas Veitch has built on his points earned at BeerBQ to now sit atop the ladder, followed closely by Mark Lehmann who gained 2 places. Russ has surged up the leaderboard with 3 great Winter Comp entries, and as he has indicated he will present a beer at the August meeting he’ll be just a few points off 1st place by the end of August.

Take note! It’s not just about competition entries now, those extra points from presenting beers at meetings could make all the difference come December.
If you have a beer you’d like to present, please let us know in advance of a monthly meeting (email, facebook, DM).

We wanted to get the scoresheets from the Winter Comp up ASAP so members can utilise feedback for ABCSA, and it turns out that means revealing the results.

Congratulations Lucas Veitch, who won best beer of show with his outstanding International Pale Lager, scoring a 42.5!

The results for all tables were as follows:

Table 1: Lager

Place	Brewer	Entry Name	Style
1st	Lucas Veitch	Pale Lager	International Pale Lager
2nd	Nicholas Hauschild	International Dark Lager	International Dark Lager
3rd	Mark Lehmann	The Cockup	International Pale Lager

Table 2: Ale

Place	Brewer	Entry Name	Style
1st	Russell Saint	Sparkylicious	Australian Sparkling Ale
2nd	Paul Quirk	Maaa	American Amber Ale
3rd	Tali Warnock	Even Cowgirls Cry	American Amber Ale

Table 3: APA

Place	Brewer	Entry Name	Style
1st	Andrew Howlett	Dads Pale Ale	American Pale Ale
2nd	Lucas Veitch	American Pale Ale	American Pale Ale
3rd	Russell Saint	Home Grown Cascade Pale Ale	American Pale Ale

Table 4: Stout

Place	Brewer	Entry Name	Style
1st	Leon Van Der Linden	Kingston Delight	Tropical Stout
2nd	Russell Saint	Anise Myrtle Tropical Stout	Tropical Stout
3rd	Mark Lehmann	April Sun In Cuba	Tropical Stout

Table 5: Specialty

Place	Brewer	Entry Name	Style
1st	Chris Marciniak	Southern Hemisphere Xmas Ale (Aged)	Specialty Spice Beer
2nd	Leon Van Der Linden	Mondo Gusto	Specialty Spice Beer
3rd	Mark Murray	Spiced Christmas Ale	Specialty Spice Beer

Congratulations to all the place gettings. BOTY points will be updated soon.

If you had an entry in the competition, head to the competition portal and log in to review your score sheets

Thanks to everyone who judged, stewarded and got this show happening, and of course, everyone who entered.

August meeting, Wednesday 20th at the Wheaty

This month, growing hops in the Adelaide Hills and brewing with them with Stuart Binnion from Silver Hop Springs and Fresh Hops Co-op of Australia.

He will tell us about reviving hop farming in South Australia on his property in Longwood. Also if you do get access to fresh hops, how to brew with them.

Event on Facebook for Y/N/ Maybe

Calendar updates

• August 20: Club meeting, The Wheaty – growing hops and brewing with whole cones.
• September 17: Club meeting, the Wheaty
• September 20-21: ABCSA Judging (Irish Club) — You know what to do.
• October 15: Club meeting, the Wheaty
• November 19: Club meeting, the Wheaty
• December 20: Club meeting, the Wheaty

Subscribe to this calendar in Google (other calendar versions available on the Calendar page).

If you know someone interested in the activities of the club, please forward this email. If you’re reading this and would like to find out more, please email us info@sabrew.com and come to a meeting.

Winter Comp ran yesterday with 33 entries judged over 5 categories. It was a great Sunday afternoon at ETKG with some outstanding beers from our ‘core range’ categories, as well as some interesting herb and spice combinations in Specialty.

The judges and stewards were thanked with a big ol’ batch of Texas chilli (recipe here if you are interested).

We know you’ll be keen for the judges’ feedback so you can prep for ABCSA. We’ll get the scores sheets scanned and uploaded to the portal ASAP. The winners will be announced at the August meeting at the Wheaty on Wednesday, August 20, with BOTY points added to the leaderboard soon after.

The August meeting is all about growing your own hops and brewing with them, with guest speaker Stuart Binnion.

Amateur Brewing Championships, SA (ABCSA)

The next comp on the calendar is ABCSA. The entry portal is OPEN, and you still have seven weeks to brew before drop-offs close, so there is still time to knock out a few!

AGM links fixed

In last week’s newsletter, the links to the president’s and treasurer’s reports weren’t shared correctly. This has been fixed so if you had trouble last week please try again.

• President’s report.
• Treasurer’s report.

Winter Comp

The winter comp will be judged this coming Sunday, 27th June, at ETKG. Entry registration will close at 5 PM Friday, so don’t delay – head to the competition portal now to register your entries. Please also update your profile in the portal to indicate if you can judge or steward. If you can’t make it to ETKG Sunday, drop your entries off at SA Brewing by midday Saturday.

AGM

The AGM was held last week at the July monthly meeting, and there have been a few changes to the committee. The committee for the next 12 months will be:

Position	Name
President	Lachlan Johnson
Vice President	Chris Kerr
Treasurer	Leon van der Linden
Secretary	Gus Kingston
Competition Director	Gerrard Flynn
General Officer (IT)	Julien Gibson
General Officer	Mark Lehmann
General Officer	Glen Phillis
General Officer	Neil Chappell

Minutes of the AGM can be viewed here. The President’s report is here, and the Treasurer’s report is here.

I would like to thank the outgoing committee members: Gary Waters, Nick McAuley and Sam Beard.

August Hop talk

At next month’s August meeting, we have Stuart Binnion from Silver Springs Hops coming along to talk about growing your own hops. Given the hoppy theme of the meeting, it would be great to pair it with a hoppy beer. If you have something you can bring along, let us know and we’ll gift you some free hops in return (as well a points towards Brewer of the Year)

Keg King Kegscale offer

Keg King is releasing a new product called Kegscale that tracks how much beer you have in a keg. It’s similar to the now-discontinued Plato Keg that I have demoed at a few meetings. See a short video here. Keg King is offering the club a bulk buy price of $70 each (minimum order 20 units). If you are interested in this offer, email the club.

If you have any suggestions on other bulk buys you would like the club to consider, let us know!

June Meeting – PH Meters

The June meeting is this Wednesday and we’re back at The Wheaty to talk about pH Meters. Leon, our resident expert on the subject, will dive into the hows, whys and whens of measuring pH during brewing.

We’ll also be offering pH meter calibrations, so bring your meter along and see how it compares to everyone else.

Meeting Tasting Slots

We have 3 tasting slots available this month. If you’ve brewed a great beer you want to show off, or an average beer you want constructive feedback on, bring it along to share, and you can earn BOTY points to add to your tally! Please email us or contact a committee member directly to let them know you would like a slot as they are limited.

BeerBQ, BeerBQ, BeerBQ

There’s less than 2 weeks to go until BeerBQ (Saturday, June 28th, 6PM). You know the drill. Lots of amazing homebrewed beers, lots of delicious BBQ, lots of prizes and BOTY points on offer. Head to the SABC shop to register your free member ticket, purchase a ticket for your friends and/or family and get ready for a fantastic night.

>> Get your tickets now <<

It’s free for members, login to the shop. Please book your ticket so we have catering numbers. Guest tickets are $30.

If you’re able to help out by putting together a salad, please email the club or reach out to a committee member. All ingredient costs will be reimbursed, and a little help will go a long way!

Join the SABC Facebook Group event to chat about what you’re bringing.

Merch

If you’re feeling cold and want something warm to wear to BeerBQ, or be spotted shopping at Norwood Foodland in an SABC hoodie, the shop has merch for sale. Buy now and we’ll bring it to the meeting on Wednesday to save postage.

ABCSA launched

ABCSA, South Australia’s largest amateur beer brewing competition and only qualifier to nationals, has launched for 2025 with a new Facebook page. Follow to keep up to date with the competition dates and details.

Calendar updates

• June 18: Club meeting. The Wheaty – pH meters and water chemistry with LvdL
• June 28: SABC BeerBQ (EKTG) — Tix on sale soon, so renew your membership
• July 16: Club meeting: The Wheaty / AGM and more.
• July 27: SABC Winter Competition (EKTG) Details here
• August 20: Club meeting, The Wheaty.
• September 17: Club meeting, the Wheaty
• September 20-21: ABCSA Judging (Irish Club) — You know what to do.

Subscribe to this calendar in Google (other cals available on the Calendar page)

If you know someone interested in the activities of the club, please forward this email. If you’re reading this and would like to find out more, please email us info@sabrew.com and come to a meeting.

It’s that time of year folks, SABC’s biggest annual event the BeerBQ is now less then 3 weeks away – Saturday 28th June.

This year we’re going all out with a pig on a spit! It will be paired with the crowd favourite slow cooked brisket along with wings, gourmet sausages and all the usual sides and trimmings. An absolute feast!

Then theres the beer. As always members are encouraged to bring along some of their finest to share. We reguarly see the full spectrum from noble German pilsners, to big American stouts to whatever outrageous concoction Kieren has put together.

As part the new Brewer of the Year format, members will receive BOTY points simply for bringing beer to share, with even more points up for grabs in the brewers choice and peoples choice awards. Refer to the BOTY page for more details.

>> Get your tickets now <<

It’s free for members but you must order your ticket so we have numbers. Guest tickets are $30.

Join the event on Facebook to stay up-to-date and give us a sneak preview on what you’ll bring along.

Due to a scheduling clash with Pint of Science, we’re changing venues for the May meeting on Wednesday 21st. Crafty Robot will open their doors just for us – they’re normally closed on Wednesdays. Having the full venue will allow us to run our planned presentation from Jules about his heavily modified Frakenchiller!

Damo will open the doors as 6PM, so head in early if you can to buy an extra round and make it worth their while for opening on a Wednesday. Feel free to bring a guest along too.

The Crafty kitchen won’t be open on the night, however you are welcome to BYO food or have it delivered. Nearby options include:

• Antica Pizzaria – menu
• Ban Ban Korean Fried Chicken – menu
• Curry N Hurry – menu

Date: Wednesday 21st May

Location: Crafty Robot, 180/188 Grote St, Adelaide

Brewer of the Year format change

I’m very excited to announce an overhaul to this years BOTY competition! The goal of the change is to increase the number of point scoring opportunities throughout the year, reward brewers for brewing great beer even if they don’t place in the top 3, and most importantly, reward brewers who contribute to the club outside of competition entries. The competition leader board will be published and updated throughout the year, hopefully adding to the overall excitement and providing more incentive for brewers to brew and share their beer in order to reach top of the table!

For a full run down on the new competition format and how points will be awarded, refer to https://sabrew.com/sabc-brewer-of-the-year/

If you would like to present a beer at a meeting and earn yourself 30 BOTY points, email the club now! Tasting slots will be limited to a maximum of 3 per meeting, and beers brewed for the meeting topic will take preference. There is 1 slot available for Feb.

Feburary Meeting – Brewing with RO

The Feburary meeting is this coming Wedesday 19th at the Wheaty. We’ll be discussing all things reverse osmosis brewing and doing a side-by-side tasting of a blonde ale brewed with RO vs Tap water. If you’re already an RO aficionado (a recent poll suggests 50% of you are!) come along and share your RO knowledge with your fellow members.

Summer Competition Results

The summer competition was run last weekend with 20 entries in the wheat focused categories. The winners will be announced at the Feburary meeting, with full results and the BOTY leaderboard to be posted shortly after.

As the year draws to a close we’ve had a flurry of club activity. The combined Xmas case swap and brew day at SA Brewing supplies was a fantastic event despite the sweltering conditions. The SA Brewing supplies team looked after us with a giant AC and ice cold hop water. Club members contributed with various beers including everyone’s favourite on a hot day, Wolf’s Pils!

The case swap had great participation with all contributors going home with a crate load of fantastic beers, and positives reviews and feedback and flowing in via the Facebook group. If you haven’t participated in case swap before, I highly recommend you mark a slot in your brewing schedules for xmas 2025.

Following the weekend event we had our December meeting at the Wheaty where we distributed prizes from Nationals. Everyone who placed at AABC received one of these fantastic teku glasses.

Then there was the big one – Club Brewer of the Year. In a very tight race Charles on 21 points was just beaten out by Brenton George on 22. Well done to Brenton who had a very strong showing in the Winter comp to set him up for BOTY success.

The day after our monthly meeting we received some more great news when Beer and Brewer magazine posted an article featuring club member Tali and her summer comp winning recipe for a Scottish Light. Well done Tali! Read the article here

As we sign off for 2024 I would like to thank everyone who has helped contribute to the SA Brewing Club in the last 12 months. The sponsors, the members, the committee and anyone who has volunteered their time in some capacity. We appreciate all contributions to club no matter how big or small.

Happy holidays and we’ll see you in 2025!

The Australian Amateur Brewing Championships (AABC) results from this year’s competition in Brisbane have just dropped, and SABC has had another great showing!

At a state level, South Australia has placed third with three Gold, five Silver, and three Bronze awards, achieving a total score of 22.00.

Here’s the rundown of placegetters from SABC

Table 3: Amber & Dark Lager

2ND John Van Der Zalm – Style/Name: Traditional Rauchbier

Table 4: Pale Ale

1ST Sabelo Charles Nzama – Style/Name: Belgian Blond Ale

Table 5: American Pale Ale

2ND Lucas Veitch – Style/Name: NZ Pale Ale

3RD Mark Lehmann – Style/Name: Make Pale Great Again!

Table 6: IPA

1ST Mark Lehmann – Style/Name: Double Cheers IPA

Table 8: Amber Ale

3RD Sabelo Charles Nzama – Style/Name: Son Of The Soil

Table 10: Porter

1ST Darren Williams – Style/Name: Nordic Noir

Table 12: Strong Stout

2ND Maz Ali – Style/Name: Southern Starlight Stout

Table 13: Wheat and Rye Beer

3RD Matthew Kennedy – Style/Name: Plain Beret (Saison)

Table 16: Sour and Wild Ale

2ND Matthew Kennedy – Style/Name: The Goose (Gose)

Table 18: Specialty Beer

2ND Russell Saint – Style/Name: Manuka Smoko

HUGE congratulations to all members who placed by brewing some truly outstanding beers. As club president, I am extremely proud to see both the state and club continue to do very well in the national competition.

The dedication of club members, the quality of ingredients from our LHBS, and the willingness to share advice on how to brew better beer all combine to produce these results.

Next year the competition will be back in Queensland and co-hosted with the Australian National Brewing Conference. It’s not too soon to start planning for 2025 now.

October meeting wrapup

Last week we had another cracking good monthly meetup themed around a show-and-tell of the best and worst brewing tech members have purchased. Facilitated by Sam, we covered all manner of items including pH (pH strips bad, pH meters good!), filters, standard gravity readers, scales and the infamous Kegland Hop Bong! See below for links to some of the recommended items.

We also had a surprise guest appearance with Jon from Yakima Chief Hops dropping in. Jon donated a bunch of hops to the club last year, so we returned the favour with a bottle of the SABC x Pirate Life Barrel Aged Strong!

Xmas brew day and case swap

We can now confirm our good friends at SA Brewing Supplies will host club members* for a Xmas Brewday and case swap on Sunday 15th December at their Maria Street Thebarton store just around the corner from The Wheaty. Jon is keen to start hosting regular brewdays at the store which is a great way to see and learn how others brew their beers.

For this inaugural brew day, we’re doing it System Wars style with a batch brewed 3 ways, specifically trying a different chilling method on each system (immersion vs plate chiller vs no chill). At the January meeting everyone we’ll have a three-way blind tasting to see which method reigns supreme.

The Brew Day will also be the location for the annual Christmas case swap. Refer to the previous newsletter and the Facebook event for swapping details. There are less than eight weeks to go so get those brews down NOW. The event is here to join.

It’s an all-day event and we’re working out the fine details including food. if you’re keen to get involved in the recipe and brewing, sing out info@sabrew.com

Summer competition

A reminder that the Summer Comp has been announced and the theme is Wheat. Refer to the competitions page for categories/dates and drop-off locations.

November meeting

Next month’s meeting, on November 20 at the Wheaty, we’re looking into the best practice of bottling from kegs and pressure fermentors. This is timely with the Christmas case swap coming and you can bottle up some of your best as gifts to your drunk uncles.

Brewing tech recommendations

From the October meeting, here is a list of products members use and recommend.

• Carbonation cap: Easily connect gas or beer disconnects to PET bottles. Useful for filling bottles or flushing beer lines. Very useful for getting that last bit of beer out of a disconnect.
• Hanna PH meter: Good quality PH meter at a reasonable price
• Milwaukee PH meter: A more expensive meter that stores the prob in a solution
• PH Storage solution: Highly recommended for looking after your probe
• Kegland Hop Bong: Initially created so you can purge dry hops before dropping them into a sealed fermenter, Mark Lehman showed us a version he uses for adding fining agents to carbonated beer. Very versatile based on what parts you add to it.

*cough cough.. renew your membership

Calendar Dates Summary

• Nov 20: Club meeting, The Wheaty. Bottle and filling from kegs and pressure transfers
• Dec 15: Christmas bottle swap and brew day!
• Dec 18: End of year drinks and pizzas
• Jan 15: At the Wheaty where we’ll be A/B tasting a certain beer.
• Feb 9: Summer Comp
• Feb 19: A side-by-side comparison of R1 filters and how RO works.
• Mar 19: Frankenchillers!