South Australian Brewing Club

This month we’re meeting at the Wheaty. Wednesday 18 from 7pm. Bring a bottle of your beer — good or bad! — to share for anonymous assessment and feedback. A table of members will taste your beer and try to guess the style and give feedback on it. It can be anonymous so bring an unmarked bottle. You can ‘fess up it’s yours too! Add an extra bottle to share in bottle bingo too. New members are welcome to join us.

Brew the Burra team beers. Two months ago, for inspiration, the club formed teams to brew beers emulating Lady Burra Brewhouse beers as a jumping-off point. Also to get brewers together to make some beer as a community catchup while Covid lingered.

At a special extra meeting for all on Tuesday, May 24 from 6.30pm, the teams will present their beers to the brewer Mark who will taste the creations at Lady Burra at a special club meeting.

Drop by, join in and have dinner and some of the real Lady Burra Brewhouse beers.

The club committee is also meeting to knock off a few planning details for the upcoming club event BeerBQ and our winter competition as well as some forward events like Beer & BBQ, brewery visits and more.

Members are more than welcome to join us and bring your ideas to contribute.

BEERBQ – Saturday, June 4

If you missed the news, our club’s premier event BeerBQ is on Saturday, June 4 from 6.30pm . What are you brewing for it? There are no limits on who brings beer, so brew something this weekend! Brew it and bring it! You can serve from kegs with taps, mini-kegs, bottles or growlers. There will be a lot of people to share it with.

Food! We’ll do food too. There’s a plan to slow cook some meats. If you are handy with the BBQ let us know.

The venue is the newly renovated East Torrens Kensington Gardens Tennis Club. 

Tickets https://shop.sabrew.com/ You’ll need to log in to get your tix. Members free. Partners etc, $25.

If you missed the news last week, our BeerBQ is back on Saturday, June 4 from 6.30pm in your diaries. Now we need YOUR BEER. There are no limits on who brings beer, so brew something this weekend!

Brew it and bring it! Kegs, mini-kegs, bottles or growlers. There will be a lot of people to share it with.

Food! We’ll do food too. If you are handy with the BBQ or knock up a great salad, let us know.

The venue is the newly renovated East Torrens Kensington Gardens Tennis Club. 

It’s free for members but RSVP is required and will open soon. Tickets for partners TBC.

Facebook event.

Casual brewery visits on the first Sunday of the month*. Yesterday we visited the brand new Brightstar Brewery in Thebarton and got a bonus tour and Q&A with head brewer Steve. His experience from WA to the USA and Mismatch was worth the visit.

*Next month TBC. Because BeerBQ is the night before we’ll look at the best dates taking into account the long weekend.

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Is your SABC membership up to date? Don’t miss out on great homebrewing experiences like this.

Go to https://sabrew.com/join-sabc/. Tips on joining, renewing or checking here.

It’s been a disrupted start to the year. Some of you have asked about getting a 2022 calendar. Now, thanks to Nick, it’s available. Download as a PDF to print and stick on the dunny door. We hope to fit a few more things in, in particular a celebration of SABC’s 10th birthday. Stay tuned.

Also, this month’s meeting will be a cracker. Our guest host will be Briony from Flavour Logic. She is a cicerone and an avid sensory analyst who enjoys sharing how to boost tasting skills and better appreciate what’s in your glass. She works with the food and beverage industry, general consumers and beer lovers of all kinds. RSVP on the Facebook group event please so we know numbers. 

Now the medals and trophy for the summer comp have been presented, it’s time to look to the club’s winter competition. 

Embrace the dark side, the theme this year is Dark and Stormy. 

Brew your best beer in any of the following categories by Bjcp 2021 style guidelines:

• 3B Czech Dark Lager
• 8A Munich Dunkel
• 8B Schwarzbier
• 9B Eisbock
• 9C Baltic Porter
• 13C English Porter
• 14A Scottish Light
• 15B Irish Stout
• 15C Irish Extra Stout
• 16A Sweet Stout
• 16B Oatmeal Stout
• 16C Tropical Stout
• 16D Foreign Extra Stout
• 19C American Brown Ale
• 20A American Porter
• 20B American Stout
• 20C Imperial Stout
• 21B Speciality IPA: Black IPA/Brown IPA
• 23C Oud Bruin

Three entries max per person. One per category.

Judging will take place Sunday, 10th July, 2022. Venue TBA

Club competition rules will appear on the competition website. Open to financial members of SABC ONLY (renew or join here).

Teams brew challenge

At last week’s meeting, we announced the first brewing challenge for the year. It’s a simple one – brew the Lady Burra. In short, make a well-balanced beer that would quench the thirst of after-work city drinkers in the style of one of their current core or seasonal beers. 

We’ll sample (judge) them at the May meeting.

Teams were roughly arranged last year around geography. If you want to get involved in a team’s brew day, drop us a line and tell us where you live and we’ll put you in contact. There are teams – Southern, city, inner northern, hills, western and inner northern suburbs.

Or leave a comment in the Facebook group.

Try to replicate a beer but more simply, get together, enjoy yourselves and make some beer to share.

Casual catch-up, April 3

Brenton Shoemaker won best beer of summer comp a few years ago and now he’s opened his own brewery that’s really got Adelaide beer lovers talking – Kick Back Brewing.

We’ve booked a spot for 12 on April 3 from 2pm. We know in the past we get around that many to a casual catchup and as people come and go we hope we’ll fit. We’ve told them we’re coming so we might get some flexibility. Just turn up and enjoy a beer.

This month’s meeting is next week, Wednesday, March 16. It will be at Lady Burra Brewhouse in Topham Mall, in the CBD.

We’ll meet from 7pm as usual but the kitchen is open from 6pm if you want to eat before. 

Mark and the team will give us a tour and some insight into how they brew. We’ve also lined up a special ‘teams challenge’.

Last year there was the random supermarket ingredients challenge, this month we’ll kick off another one. This one is much more traditional. 

The idea was brewers joined together in teams to brew. It was generally by geographic location. Don’t worry if you weren’t involved before, we’ll get you into a group. It’s fun and you’ll get to meet some members and learn a few things too.

We’ll also present the medals from last month’s Summer Competition. 

The SABC Winter competition will be held on July 9 or 10. The theme is ‘Dark and Stormy’. More details and categories to come.

Finally, SABSOSA 2022 — or the SA Homebrewing Competition as we’re probably calling it now — the state’s peak open amateur brewing competition, will be held on September 10 and 11.

Other events to look forward to:

Keep Sunday, April 3 in your diaries for a casual club get together at Kick Back Brewing in Aldinga.

A ‘classic’ SABC BeerBQ in July (food and all member’s beers now restrictions have relaxed), a special guest and beer pairing in April and a special celebration for the club’s 10th anniversary later in the year.

The competition is running on Sunday, Feb 20. The event is up and entries are coming in — now we need your help. 

As always we need judges. Even if you’ve never judged before, we need your help. It’s just drinking beer after all. 

Register in the portal so you can be allocated even if you’ve entered. We place you in a different style or flight. https://comps.sabrew.com

Don’t be nervous. It’s fun, you’ll be with other experienced judges and you’ll learn a lot that benefits your own understanding of tasting and brewing beer.

The location is in Lonsdale in space that will become a new brewery. So you get to see it in development. 

Social event.

We can also welcome members to come to the venue for the winners’ presentation and share a beer or two. Bring one or two to share around. It’s a social event too.

Of course, you can enter your beer for the competition too. There are limits on the number of entries and entries per style.

Bottle drop will be on the day, at the meeting the week prior and at BeerBelly by 5pm Friday 18th.

The categories are;

• Hop forward beers (IPA, pale ales etc)
• Dark/Stout
• Sours

One beer from each category will be crowned the winner with medals for second and third.

Entry is only open to SABC financial club members, including new financial members who join the club. There can be one entry per category and a maximum of three entries. There will be a cap on total entries..

Entries close on Thursday 17th February. Judges and stewards will be needed. Register your availability in the portal.

We still hope that the winning beer will be brewed by a commercial brewing company and released on tap at our very own stand at the July Beer & BBQ festival.

This Wednesday is our last meeting of the year and as usual, it’s a casual affair with nothing planned except we’ll get in some pizzas.

Bring a bottle of homebrew to add to the ‘secret Santa’ swap.

We’ll also be presenting the club award to SABC Brewer of the Year.

Reminders: Summer Comp closes before judging at Homebrewed on Saturday, Jan 25. That’s only six weeks to brew a beer in the styles being judged.

It’s also only eligible for current financial members — as are all events, meetings, pizzas, barrels and extras the club offers — so if you’re reading this and your membership has lapsed, it’s time to log in and renew. What better gift for the beer lover mate or family friend.

From us at SABC have a merry Christmas and a safe New Years.

Bring your best home-brew to Beer & BBQ Homebrewed festival for summer comp 2022. We are excited to announce our biggest and best Club competition in our ten-year history.

The 2022 SABC summer competition will judge three styles in an exciting collaboration with the Homebrewed Beer and BBQ Festival.

The categories are;

• Hop forward beers (IPA, pale ales etc)
• Dark/Stout
• Sours

One beer from each category will be crowned the winner.

Each winning beer will be brewed by our commercial brewing partner(s) (TBA) and released on tap at our very own stand at the July Beer & BBQ festival.

Beers will be judged at the summer Homebrewed festival on Saturday 22nd January at the Showgrounds and announced on Stage on Sunday 23rd January. 

We expect a large number of entries this year. Entry is only open to SABC financial club members, including new financial members who join the club, at no cost per entry. There can be one entry per category and a maximum of three entries. There will be a cap on total entries (TBC).

Entries close on Sunday 16th January. Judges and stewards will be needed. As a reward, they will receive complimentary weekend passes for the festival.

Indicate your intention to participate via the SABC entry portal when this opens. As well as a commercial release, Beer & BBQ Homebrewed will also be sponsoring additional prizes to be announced. For full competition entry conditions, please see previous competitions announcements here.

Christmas get-together at Shapeshifter reminder

If you missed our plans, we’ve decided to keep the Christmas event simple and head to Shapeshifter Brewing Co and see their new home on Crittenden Rd Findon for a Sunday afternoon get together.

• Date: Sunday 5th December
• Time: 1 – 6pm
• Location: Shapeshifter Brew Co. – Unit 2/54 Crittenden Rd, Findon

There will be a food truck on-site for eating and a wide range of head brewer James McCall’s delicious beers.

Facebook event for RSVP here so we can gauge numbers.

At our meeting this Wednesday at the Wheaty from 7pm we’ll be tasting some of the national AABC medal-winning beers from club brewers and hearing from them about how they were made and any tips on taking a good beer to great. Get your questions ready.

Beer Bingo is on as usual. Bring a bottle of your beer and take another one home. It’s slipped a bit recently so make the effort to bottle something and bring it along. It’s rewarding to get someone else’s beer to enjoy for a change. Judging by our recent successes in competitions, you might get a winning beer.

Say this out loud: Hey Google | Hey Seri, remind me to take a beer to the club meeting on Wednesday afternoon at 6pm.

Christmas event

Our Christmas event this year is a simple affair. We’re going to visit the new home of Shapeshifter Brewing Co on Crittenden Rd Findon for a Sunday afternoon get together.

• Date: Sunday 5th December
• Time: 1 – 6pm
• Location: Shapeshifter Brew Co. – Unit 2/54 Crittenden Rd, Findon

There will be a food truck on-site for eating and a wide range of head brewer James McCall’s delicious beers.

We’ll still have a regular monthly meeting for our annual pre-Christmas pizza get together and secret Santa beer swap (ie beer bingo in a brown paper bag) at the Wheaty on Wednesday, December 15.

Now that the government has given us some indication of when restrictions will be lifted (or not lifted), we’ve decided to keep the Christmas event simple and head to Shapeshifter Brewing Co and see their new home on Crittenden Rd Findon for a Sunday afternoon get together.

• Date: Sunday 5th December
• Time: 1 – 6pm
• Location: Shapeshifter Brew Co. – Unit 2/54 Crittenden Rd, Findon

There will be a food truck on-site for eating and a wide range of head brewer James McCall’s delicious beers.

We’ll still have a regular monthly meeting for our annual pre-Christmas pizza get together at the Wheaty on Wednesday, December 15.

We hope to plan for a summer BBQ + homebrew event in the new year.

Australian Amateur Brewing Competition 2021 results

Congratulations to all the eight SABC brewers that won a medal, including gold in IPA by Craig Blessing, and Greg Weider winning fourth overall. It was judged in Hobart a couple of weeks ago.

The full results are here.