[First filed: September 03, 2008 @ 16:59]
Brace yourselves.
From 10am until a dangerous “late” Canberra’s first ever craft beer festival is going to grace Olim’s Hotel on 20 September.
From their press release:
- breweries from all over Australia will be showcasing their Craft Beers alongside local gourmet food producers providing tastings to tantalize the most discerning of taste buds. With great prize giveaways and evening entertainment by the Choir Boys, the festival is set to be a highlight on Canberra’s calendar of events this Spring. All profits from ticket sales and a charity auction at the festival will go to support the ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group.
The National Capital Craft Beer Festival is the realisation of a dream for Samara Fuss – Head Brewer at The Schwartz Brewery and Daniel Gaul of Olims Hotel – a huge supporter of the Craft Beer Industry. Samara is one of only a couple of female Brewers in Australia, and has a long string of awards and accomplishments to her name.
Samara said ‘Overall we want to create an appreciation for the Australian Micro-Brewing Industry, and show that Craft Beer is anything but a passing fad. The industry has huge potential, which we believe will boost jobs and tourism all over Australia. The National Capital Craft Beer Festival is a great opportunity for people to discover new beer styles and tastes and increase their knowledge about beer, brewing techniques and the latest trends.’
The Festival is being attended by some of Australia’s premier Craft Breweries. Schwartz Brewery, Little Creatures, Matilda bay, Lord Nelson, Barons Brewing Co, Coopers, Snowy Mountains, Zierholz Brewery, Prickly Moses and many more… Head Brewers from many of the Breweries will be attending to share their expertise in the field of Craft Beer Brewing.
For more info check out their website. Tickets from Olims reception or www.moshtix.com.
UPDATED: To get you in the mood festival organisers have sent through the top ten tips for satisfying home brewing by Richard Adamson, the master brewer at Barons Brewing Co.
- 1. Clean, Clean and Clean. Most homebrew suffers from wild yeast or bacterial infection. Make sure everything that touches the beer-in-progress has been cleaned and sterilized.
2. What to clean with? The pink soap powder the supermarkets and homebrew store sell you are OK but sodium met (metabisulphate) is an anti-oxidant and won’t do the sterilizing job completely. Pick up some idophour to sterilize your equipment. If you clean with bleach rinse well. If you use any metal gear use caustic soda (follow safety instructions carefully) as bleach will react to copper alloys.
3. Cut the sugar. Sugar is easily fermentable by yeast and will produce a thick beer. If you are still at the early stages of brewing with tin kits buy a some malt extract from our homebrew store.
4. Fresh hops. The homebrew kits you buy have hop extract mixed in with the malt. This gives your bitter flavour in the beer but lacks the hop character and aroma that will see your beer really shine. Add some hop pellets into the mix. Your homebrew supplier can recommend the variety and how much to suit your taste.
5. Add some colour. If you want to step your way from kits to full mash brewing one way to dip your toe into the process is by getting hold of some crystal or other colour malts and steep them in some hot water and mix this into your kit brew. This will give you some complexity in malt flavour and some greater control of the appearance of your beer.
6. Mini Mash. Your homebrew store can get you set up with basic and cheap mashing gear that you can blend with your kit. It will give the elements of point 5, a better mouth feel to your beer and you can dispense with the malt extract. Best of all, its a lot of fun!
7. Throw out the packet yeast. Pick up some liquid yeast and start to experience the huge variety of yeast strains available. Both Wyeast and White Labs produce yeast for the home brewer which is a mini version of what the big boys use. Your beer will have a better finish, mouth feel and you have much greater control over the end result.
8. Go the whole hog . Once you have mastered mini-mashing and using liquid yeast it is time you got into full mash brewing. There is a wealth of knowledge on the web and equipment really isn’t that expensive. Making a beer will take longer but, this is a hobby, not just a way of cheating the tax man and getting some cheap swill. You will produce beer that is as good if not better than the commercial stuff (I’m doing myself out of a job here!) and take pride in the knowledge that you have made your pride and joy from scratch!
9. Use a light hand. A lot of home brewers get excited about injecting new flavours into their creations. You and your mates will appreciate the final results much more if you don’t go overboard with the new hops, dark malt, alcohol content or whatever has taken your fancy this week.
10. Clean, Clean and Clean. Worth stating again. Pull everything apart – taps, air locks, seals etc. This is the only way to guarantee your fantastic ingredients and brewing skill will impress and be enjoyed.
BONUS: Also the first two premium members to contact us will win a six-pack of Barons for themselves.
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