Since its inception in 2012, the South Australian Brewing Club (SABC) has swiftly grown to become the largest and most successful brewing club in Adelaide and the country. The club embodies a diverse membership of individuals with a broad range of brewing expertise, all coming together to share knowledge and enhance their homebrewing skills. Central to the club’s calenda is the popular monthly meeting on the third Wednesday of each month, regularly attended by over 30 participants, thanks to the generous support of The Wheatsheaf Hotel. In addition to these gatherings, the club also hosts special events and brewery visits in Adelaide and the surrounding region. Find out more on our About SABC page.
The SABC BeerBQ is less then two weeks away, on Saturday May 6th. It’s a bit late to brew but not to late to secure your ticket so we have accurate numbers for catering! Head to the SABC shop for event details: https://shop.sabrew.com/product/sabc-beerbq-2023-member-ticket/
If you’d like to help with catering -> contact us
If you need advice/help on setting up keg -> contact us or reach out in the Facebook group
Hello Members! We are aiming to grow this newsletter to be published monthly. Along with keeping our members that are not on Facebook or unable to attend meetings informed, we would like your input! This could be anything brewing related recipes, tech tips etc. Email submissions to info@sabrew.com and mark it attention Mark Woods. Cheers Mark
This Wednesday 19th of April at 7pm we head back to The Wheaty for our monthly meeting. Award winning hazy brewer Lachlan will deliver a presentation focusing on this style. If you have a hazy on tap at the moment please bring it to share.
Bottle bingo has dropped off slightly – Please bring a bottle to swap and sample other brewers beers.
Anyone that attended the mead workshop please bring the mead for sampling, Raf will be available for feedback. Same for anyone that is brewing no or ultra low alcohol beers. Nick M
SABCs annual BeerBQ is back in just 3 weeks! Once again, ETKG Tennis Club will host us in their club hall and outdoor deck in Kensington Gardens. For those unfamiliar, the annual BeerBQ sees SABC members put on a huge spread of delicious BBQ – think pulled pork, chicken wings, kranskies etc – and pair it with our finest selection of homebrew.
This years BeerBQ will also see teams present their clone beers for the Shapeshifter challenge.
With around 35 members expected from each club (SABC & ETKG) there is going to be a lot of thirsty/hungry mouths to feed, so we need as many brewers as possible to bring along a keg/growler or bottles of their finest.
We also need members to help with catering whether its smoking meats, tossing salads or baking pretzels. If you’re able to help on the catering side, drop us an email or contact a committee member to offer your support! If you’d like to bring a keg but need help dispensing it on the night, drop us an email or post in the Facebook group. There a many members with multi-tap miracle boxes who can help!
Date: Saturday May 6th
Time: 6PM – 10PM
Cost: FREE for members, $30 for guests
Location: East Torrens-Kensington Gardens Tennis Club
Address: East Terrace & South Terrace, Kensington Gardens SA 5068
TICKETS: https://shop.sabrew.com/product-category/events/
After the success of the barrel brew day, Pirate Life reached out to expand the Brewers Shout at The District to incorporate our club. Starting Thursday 4th of May it will run monthly alongside our normal monthly meeting however will be a more technical format. Pirate Life brewers will present a brewing topic each month (May is Non Alc), take questions and provide free beer. Anyone that attended the barrel brew day will confirm not only the generosity of Pirate Life but this promises to be informative and interesting evenings. Big ups to Gary and Luke for locking this in with PL.
Locked in for Sunday 9th July, Location and portal details to follow but get brewing or judging 🙂 ! This year we look to tread the path less travelled with some styles that may not be brewed as often.In preparation for the newly formed ABCSA, Amateur Brewing Championship of South Australia (formerly SABSOSA), and to cover more of the bases of lesser entered categories in AABC, this year we will focus on some interesting and challenging categories, including for the first time, meads! Clinton.
Judging is locked in for the weekend of 26th- 27th of August 2023 at The Irish Club again. Bottle sort will be Saturday the 19th of August, other details TBC. As normal we will need judges and stewards and there is no experience needed (maybe practice at the winter comp?). Note the earlier dates than normal to make way for the National competition AABC. The top three in each category are eligible for entry in the AABC 2023. We lost the best state at the AABC 2022 by count back to Victoria… As a group lets take it this year! Gary and Mark. (and Kam)
AABC , SA hits a big step, nationals get judges here. We will need your support. The venue is not your normal go to , but a spot light on what Adelaide has to offer. We have secured the mezzanine floor of the District Pirate Life Brewery Adelaide Casino. (Thanks to PL again! Mark) This will also be launching pad for the Inner West Adelaide crafty trail….. details pending.So please help, date is Saturday 21st October 2023. Keep it free! Gary
A new member or not 100% confident with your all grain brewing? You are welcome to jump on a one on one all grain brew day. This will be offered on an ad-hoc basis at no cost initially in the inner western suburbs (Torrensville). Retaining and attracting new members has been a topic of discussion with the committee group so these brew days will be flexible and much less intimidating than the group challenge. Contact Mark Woods via Facebook or bagsey@hotmail.com for details. Mark
Why are kangaroos good at brewing beer?
They have hops!
This edition is a little early this month as there are some important dates to save and get those permission slips in! Thanks to Nick McAuley, Nick Hauschild, Josh Smith and Kieren Vercoe for their hard work in arranging these events for you.
Six Twelve Brewery Visit.
**This Sunday 12th of Feb @ 2pm please see and RSVP the facebook event**
Brad and his team have began upgrading their brewery for about a third time including their own kitchen! They are making a big name in the brewing scene having won awards and also venturing into the distilling scene, Five Eleven Distilling. This brewery visit is sure to be great, so get on over from 2pm on Sunday 12th Feb to enjoy some of the great line-up of beers and other drinks these guys have on tap. Brad will be providing a Q&A with members, tour of the brewery, and talk about the journey they made to get where the brewery is now. Nick M.
Summer Competition.
Congratulations to all the winners, the entry standard was well above average with some high scores seen. Best beer of show went to Mark Lehmann with a very impressive Hazy IPA. Lachlan Johnson was only a point away, also with a Hazy IPA. Don’t worry I heard how I cost him a win bahahaha! As always a big thank you to the judges, stewards and organisers that make the competition successful. Mark.
| Place | Brewer | Entry Name | Style | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Christopher Kerr | Greener On the Other Side | LSX5: New Zealand Pilsner | South Australian Brewing Club [Australia] |
| 2nd | Brenton George | Nz Pils | LSX5: New Zealand Pilsner | |
| 3rd | Gerard Flynn | Little P | LSX5: New Zealand Pilsner | South Australian Brewing Club [Australia] |
| Place | Brewer | Entry Name | Style | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mark Lehmann | Mates In the Trenches | 21C: Hazy IPA | South Australian Brewing Club [Australia] |
| 2nd | Lachlan Johnson | Anhazc | 21C: Hazy IPA | South Australian Brewing Club [Australia] |
| 3rd | Nick McAuley | Aussie Aussie Aussie | 35A: NZ/AUS Pale Ale (18B American Pale Ale but must use native ingredients) | South Australian Brewing Club [Australia] |
February Meeting.
At The Wheaty on the 15th 7.00pm. As communicated this looks to be a cracker please see the pinned event in the fb group. Bring your version of hop water for tasting and as always dont forget a bottle of your best for bottle bingo. Nick M and Josh S.
Union Bridge Brewery Visit.
This is locked in for Saturday 4th of March. Time TBC and there will be a facebook event once it has been decided. Stuie Kirk their head brewer will be on hand to provide a tour and hopefully Q&A (If Josh has told him! Ed.) Expect there maybe a special announcement on the day. Nick M and Josh S.
March Meeting.
As communicated last Mash Tun this will be at Shapeshifter on 15th of March at 7pm. See the event (and RSVP pls!) Nick H.
SA Brew Crew hit the Barossa!
Cancel everything else for Saturday 25th of March, …..We are hiring a bus to tour the breweries. What could go wrong? Greenock Brewers, Western Ridge Brewing, Rehn Bier, Barossa Valley Brewing and Ministry of Beer have all confirmed. Obviously this will be a ticketed event with details to follow when finalised. Nick H and Kieren V.
Australian Amatuer Brewing Competition 2023.
It has been confirm this will be held in Adelaide later this year. Now we need judges, lots of judges! Even if you (or your partner) haven’t judged before it isn’t as intimidating as you may think with the head judge of the table there to guide you. State competition and Winter Competition are fantastic opportunities to practice and get involved in the process before the big one! Mark.
New Calendar.
As below lots of Beery good events coming up. Hop on them!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fIJgKA6PAdlzH6w_U9ypbs63TEFrMluh/view
Summer Competition.
Judging will take place from 12pm on Sunday 29th of January at ETKG Tennis Club Kensington Gardens. We need judges please register on the portal. Portal entries close on the 27th and drop off at Beerbelly Pooraka by Friday 27th January or at the judging venue by 11am Sunday 29th January.
Due to Paypal issues this competition will be free to enter. Anyone who has paid already will be processed a refund, please allow the hardworking Julian / Lachlan time to do so. Mark.
Mead Workshop.
14th of January, Raf lead a group of enthusiastic “Meaders” for the inaugural workshop. It seems the warm day was enjoyed by all and there will be a few more entries in the Mead section this year. Keep posted for announcement of a second day. Mark.
Treasurer Report.
“I can report the Treasurer is having a great weekend” Lachlan.
Free Stainless!
Well Jade has done it again, this time it’s the stainless steel type of help. Kegs free to us, make them into 2or 3v systems, make fermenters, hell make furniture. Just 2 things, they need to be depressurised (carefully!!) and we need to coordinate a pick up day prior to the feb meeting. Please signify your interest to Gary ASAP. Gary Mr President.
Fleurieu Beer Festival.
So who ever thought combining an international bike race and with a beer festival in a historic village would work, they were right. Well the beer was cold, the weather was sunny, and most importantly there was a Home Brew Competition , congratulations to Nick Hauschild for coming third. It was fantastic to be involved, and thanks to Nick and BJ for helping get the home brew competition off the ground. As a very direct result of the competition and festival, breweries like Shifty, Kick back, Beer No Evil and yet to be opened Penny Red are very interested in being involved with the club, so watch this spot. Gary.
Your Feedback Wanted!
Last week’s Jan Meeting: event planning for the first part of the year got underway, as part of sharing what was raised we’ll post a calendar shortly with ideas and planning events – we’re really looking for input from you, so you can get the most out of the club with great like minded folk. Please contact Nick McAuley with your ideas. Nick M.
February Meeting.
This will be held at The Wheaty on 15th February at 7.00pm. Let’s see if ppl can brew a hop water, bring it to the Feb meeting for sharing and tasting. Obviously hop water is a pretty loose ‘brew’, but some club members have already seen it as a good way to test out hops in small batches to compare for example Cascade to Nectaron, Eclipse to Topaz before brewing a beer. Josh Smith will be doing a short presentation on his process and will bring some samples to try. Nick M / Mark
March Meeting.
This is locked in for ShapeShifter on 15th March at 7.00pm. ShapeShifter will need RSVP numbers for this one so please do so in the event approximately a week before the meeting. A group challenge will be announced so get your captains ready and a representative there on the night! Nick H.
Happy New Year all! The first monthly meeting of 2023 is this Wednesday in the usual location out back at the wheaty. This month’s agenda is a little different, the committee is seeking input from all club members on what you would like to see at the club over the next 12 months. Bring you ideas for meeting topics, events, competitions, club projects etc. Bring a bottle for bottle bingo.
Summer Comp
The portal for the Summer Comp is open – comps.sabrew.com – so go ahead and add your entries. Note: at the time of writing there is an issue with PayPal payments which we are looking into. You can still add entries, just check back later to make payment.
WE NEED JUDGES….! If you can help, we need you to log into the portal to register to judge.
DATE:
Sunday 29th Jan. Judging starts at midday.
Enter by Friday 27th January on the portal.
LOCATION:
East Torrens Kensington Gardens tennis club
https://etkgtennis.org.au/
DROP OFF:
Beerbelly Pooraka by 5pm Friday 27th January
The January meeting at The Wheaty on Wednesday 19th January (from 7pm)
At the judging venue by 11am Sunday 29th January
CATEGORIES:
1A – American (Australian) Light Lager
1B – American (Australian) Lager
18A – Blonde Ale
12B – Australian Sparkling ale
X5 – New Zealand Pilsner
18B – NZ/AUS Pale Ale (American Pale Ale but must use native ingredients)
21A – NZ/ AUS IPA (American IPA but must use native ingredients)
21C – Hazy IPA
34C – Experimental Beer (for all other creations. Get creative with native AUS/NZ ingredients).
This is a club member competition only for financial members of SABC
This Wednesday we have our traditional casual xmas drinks and pizza meet at the Wheaty. We’ll be in the smaller room at the big kitchen table to make way for a function out the back. Be sure to bring along your Secret Santa homebrew wrapped up for a bottle swap on the night.
For those who weren’t at the 10 year dinner, this will be your opportunity to try the collaboration beer brew between SABC, SABSOSA and the Wheaty! Introducing the BIG Imperial Pils: Worth the Wai-iti
I’ll leave it to Jade to provide one of her signature detailed beer descriptors on the night. If you can’t make it Wed don’t worry as this has made it’s way into 500ml cans for takeaways as well!
I personally won’t make it Wed so let me take the opportunity to say 2022 has been a fantastic year for the club with numerous competitions, events and team challenges. It’s the homebrew that brings us together, but it’s the mateship that keeps everyone coming back! If you feel like having a brew day or catching up for a beer over the holiday break, why not put up a post in the Facebook group and invite some fellow members along. See you in 2023!
Wow, that was an epic night last weekend celebrating 10 year of SABC! It was so great to see members who have been around since day one together with new additions attending their first major event. We had award ceromonies, speeches, prizes prizes prizes, and a silent auction for the SS fermenter which went to new member Jordan at the end of the night.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped pull the night together, to brewers who provided the beer, to Blake and Brad for talking about the club history, to all the attendees who came along and to anyone who helped pack down at the end of the night.
And lets not forget this guy, who finally received the award he so deserves.
The 10 year dinner also saw the 2022 Brewer Of The Year awarded to <drum roll> Mark Woods! In an extremely tight contest Mark Woods clipped Mark Perry by a single point to take top honours. This is off the back of Mark taking out Champion Brewer at AABC, so clearly we have a true master brewer in our ranks and we look forward to many more great beers in 2023. Congrats mate!
There’s some more photos of the event available here – https://photos.app.goo.gl/oHQUKZ4zWqcQkofM9 – upload your own if you have any!
There’s just over 2 weeks to go until we get together to celebrate 10 years of SABC! A 3 course dinner will be fully catered by the Golden Roast, and we need to confirm numbers ahead of time. Ticket sales will close this weekend, so this is your final reminder! If you havn’t purchased one – head to the shop now or miss out!
Another huge prize!
If the kegerator wasn’t a big enough prize to get you attention, we have another. The SABC crew who travelled to ANHC went all out for club night, and their rainbows and unicrorns costume was voted best scoring the club this epic 14 gallon Brew Bucket from SS Brewtech!
If you want to win this prize, you have to be there on the night.
More Beer!
Announcing another beer brewed especially for the night, Craig Blesing has put together a Vienna Session IPA. Described as an “easy drinking IPA for the craft and non craft drinkers”, this beer has been double hopped with Strata, Idaho 7 and mosaic (3 of my personal favs!).
Craig has graciously donated this keg for the event, despite being unable to make it on the night. He is absolutely flat out fitting out his church in Laura to become the new Little Blesing’s Brewery. We look forward to it’s opening and hope to arrange a special event there for club members. Thanks Craig!
November Meeting – Wed 16th
Coming up this week we have the November monthly meeting at the Wheaty featuring Dermott from BeerCo. Several months back Dermott shipped over several recipe kits, each containing new hop varieties and a special ingredient. The club split off into the now familiar N/E/S/W/Hills teams, each running a group brewdays to find interesting and creative ways to utilise the special ingredients. Now Dermott is in town to join us in tasting each one and see which team has come up with the best brew! A big shoutout to Dermott for his continued support of the club. Be sure to check out beerco.com.au for all he has to offer.
Pirate Life Brewday – Sat 19th
Hot on the heels of Wednesdays meeting we have the Barrel Project Brew Day at Pirate Life! Club members will have the opportunity to spend the day brewing a collaboration brew at Pirate Life’s Skycity brewery, working along side their pro-brewers and getting some real world experience in what it’s like to brew commercially. The brew will be barrel aged before being bottled and sold commercially! Club members will even receive a free bottle before the public does!
If you haven’t already done so – ensure you are a financial member, join the event via the members only Facebook group, and complete the required induction prior to arrival on the day.
10th Anniversary Dinner – Sat 10th Dec
Stay tuned for another Anniversary beer drop next week. If you havn’t alrady, purchase your member/guest tickets from the shop now!
The count down to the anniversary dinner continues. Here’s another beer and prize drop.
Kieren’s Gose(s)
Kieren doesn’t need much of an introduction. An SABC member since day 1, a previous committee member for both club and ANHC, Brewer Of The Year Winner and the inaugural winner of the The Mike Leupold Award for Champion Brewer of SA. Kieren has brewed them all and won them all. Perhaps that’s why the beers he turns out these days are frequently in ususual colours, may or may not contain glitter, and are just generally a little out there.
Enter the black and white goses. Why is one black? We don’t know. Why is there two? Because two is better then one. What would happen if you mixed them together to make a black and tan? You’ll have to give it a go and find out. We think it’s better to leave a little mystery around this one, because you just can’t anticipate what this guy is going to brew next. .
Prize Prizes Prizes!
Last week I mentioned there would be some HUGE prizes, and its time to let the first one drop. Its a Series X KEGERATOR! Big big thank you goes to Kieren for this as well! He picked it up in a raffle at the recent ANHC Club night, and has kindly donated it to the club to give away. The only way you can get your hands on this is to be there on the night, so click here to purchase a ticket for yourself and guest(s) if you would like to bring one.
There’s 6 weeks to go until the clubs 10 year anniversary dinner on Saturday Dec 10th. Each newsletter between now and then we’ll release information about the great beers we have on the line up for the night as well as the HUGE prizes that will be exclusively available for attendees.
Wolf’s Pils
Anyone who attended the SABC BeerBQ back in 2018 will remember Wolfgang’s sensational German Pils which won best beer by the popular vote of 80 attendees. This stood out as a huge achievement given the popularity of bigger flavour bombs like hazy’s and imperial stouts amongst homebrewers. Wolf has been a stalwart of clean crisp lager brewing since then winning best beer at the 2020 Winter competition with a Dunkles Bock.
Wolf describes his beer for the anniversary dinner as a “German Pils with a Bohemian twist“. He attributes this to the location of his hometown. “Growing up in Germany just 20 km from the Czech border has most likely influenced my flavour“.
This will be the perfect first beer to fill the SABC commemorative glass you will receive on arrival. Yes, it’s a pilsner glass!
Grab your tickets from the SABC shop now!
10th Anniversary tickets
Tickets for the 10th Anniversary dinner are now on sale in the shop. The anniversary dinner is an opportunity to come together and celebrate 10 successful years of the SA Brewing Club. The night will include guest speakers, an awards presentation for AABC winners, a special collaboration beer brewed with the Wheaty, raffles, prizes and more. Tickets include a 3 course buffet dinner and commemorative glass.
Date: Saturday December 10th
Time: Doors Open 5PM. Last Drinks 10PM
Location: Lavtian Hall. 4 Clark St, Wayville
Members are $30 and Guests are $50 (guest tickets can only be purchased by a member)
Head to the shop to secure your ticket!