Association of Brewers' annual Homebrewers Conference Shatters Attendance Record Beer and Food a Major Theme Boulder, Colo. * June 26, 2003 - A record number of America's homebrewers, professional craft brewers and beer and food enthusiasts gathered in Chicago this past weekend to sharpen their palates, expand their horizons and crown the best amateur brewers in America. The 25th annual American Homebrewers Association national conference, succeeded on all fronts. A crowd of more than 750 enjoyed 238 five gallon kegs (more than 1,200 gallons) of home-brewed beer. Conference attendance was more than triple the number from the previous year. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) is a division of the Association of Brewers. Photos from the conference can be found on www.beertown.org. "The attendance, enthusiasm and speaker lineup far exceeded our expectations. The Chicago area clubs are a big reason this conference was such a success," comments Paul Gatza, director of the AHA. International beer authority Michael Jackson, a long time friend of American homebrewers, kicked off the conference by stressing the importance of homebrewing in the development of the American craft brewing movement, which is now the envy of the beer-drinking world. Other conference speakers included renowned brewers and authors such as Charlie Papazian, president and founder of the Association of Brewers and the American Homebrewers Association; Ray Daniels, author of Designing Great Beers and editor of The New Brewer and Zymurgy; Peter Bouckaert, Brewmaster, New Belgium Brewing Co. former brewer at Rodenbach.; Todd Ashman, Brewer, Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery; Tom Nickel, Head Brewer for the Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co.; and Larry Bell, Founder and Brewer, Kalamazoo Brewing Company. Highlights from the conference included: Thursday's annual club night, with attendance close to 450, had groups from different communities vie for attention with homemade beers, foods and costumes. Groups dressed as bowlers, monks, prisoners and gangsters, manning their booths while dishing out everything from Ohio sauerkraut balls to Texas barbeque and filling cups with everything from roasted pepper ale to oily black Imperial Stout. Judging and sensory training are a common part of homebrew activities and this year was no exception. Both amateur and professional beer judges presented seminars aimed at helping brewers learn more about beer flavor and the causes of both good and bad flavors in beer. Particularly notable this year was Dr. Ed's House of Bad Beer Horrors, which presented beer off-flavors in a Halloween dungeon environment complete with Dr. Ed in a Dracula costume and a display of spooky "beers" containing live leeches and other made-up horrors. Presentations at this year's conference covered a wide range of topics including brewing, beer culture and food. In addition to the usual talks on specific beer styles and brewing techniques (German Lagers, Wood-Aged Beers), this year's program sought to include other food arts such as cheese making and sourdough bread baking and also included several talks on matching beer with food. "As a shop owner, I can't imagine any better way to have hands on contact with our customers and potential new customers, plus gaining tons of new ideas," expresses Chris Graham of Beer Beer & More Beer. "As a homebrewer, it was the mecca for brewing knowledge and talent. And as a Beer Lover, the Chicago clubs did a fantastic job supplying great quality beer." Lucy Saunders, author of Cooking with Beer and beercook.com, led off this section talking about techniques and approaches for cooking with beer. She was followed by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery and author of the recently published The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer and Real Food. His talk spanned the range of beers and food available for pairing. The third talk in the series paired thirteen beers with different cheeses with some surprising results. The overwhelming favorite of those present was Alba Scots Pine Ale paired with and eight-year aged cheddar from Wisconsin's Carr Valley. Finally, the afternoon's parade of beer and food ended with dessert as Fred Eckhardt paired beer with a range of chocolate concoctions, which included: Corsendonk Belgian Abbey Tripel with chile pepper fudge; Three Floyds' Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale with Belgian hazelnut milk chocolate truffles; Two Brothers' Brown Fox Ale with Eli's Chocolate Cheesecake. Saturday night's event called Real Beer Real Food was a walk-around tasting of food and beer open to the general public. "It's an attempt to cross-pollinate the craft food and beer worlds," says event organizer Randy Mosher. "We wanted to show people how many great combinations of food and beer there are, to show it off in it's proper context. And as it has for the last few thousand years, it makes for a pretty enjoyable party." More than 750 guests enjoyed American and imported craft beer of every description, along with foods including artisanal cheese, smoked meats and sausage, pickles, bread, and more, including beer-infused cheesecake and ice cream. "You guys made a mistake. You forgot Elvis's lesson 'Always leave 'em wanting more.' You gave them everything," comments Ken Schramm, author and conference speaker. Schramm signed and sold 200 copies of his new book from the Association of Brewers, The Compleat Meadmaker. The conference banquet, sponsored by Rogue Ales, was held Friday evening with more than 500 guests. As customary, the AHA Board of Advisors Recognition award was presented. This year's winner was Russ Wigglesworth, a volunteer judge with the BJCP for eight years and pillar in the homebrewing community. Second-round judging of the AHA National Homebrew Competition was held onsite June 18 - 19 during the conference. The best of 3,340 beer and mead entries from U.S. and Canadian homebrewers that advanced to the second round of the competition were judged. Winners of the competition were announced at the banquet and were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals in 29 style categories. The National Homebrew Competition winners list follows in a separate press release. Some of the highlights of the awards were the crowning of Homebrewer and Homebrew Club of the Year. Bruce Stott of Hop River Brewers in Rockville, Conn. was named Homebrewer of the Year for his Cee Cee Schwarz beer. Homebrewer of the Year, sponsored by Muntons P.L.C., is given to the Best of Show beer from the 24 beer categories. Homebrew Club of the Year, sponsored by Coopers Brew Products, went to QUAFF for the third year in a row making them only the second club ever to secure the award for more than two years running. The Ninkasi Award, sponsored by Boston Beer Company, is given to the winningest brewer in the 24 beer categories, with six points for a gold medal, four points for a silver medal, and two points for a bronze medal. For the second year in a row the award went to Curt Hausam of Salem, Ore. Meadmaker of the Year, sponsored by Redstone Meadery, was given to Paul Zocco of Andover, Conn. This award is given to the Best of Show mead from the three mead categories. Cidermaker of the Year was awarded to Steve Olson of Menasha, Wis. and is given to the Best of Show cider from the cider category. Tony Simmons of Colorado is the lucky AHA member whose name was drawn during the awards banquet for the Lallemand Scholarship. The Lallemand Scholarship awards one AHA member with the full cost of a two-week Concise Course to the Siebel Institute valued at $2,750 and a $1,000 USD stipend to assist with travel and accommodations. The organizing committee included Brewers of South Suburbia (BOSS), Chicago Beer Society (CBS) and Urban Knaves of Grain (UKG). The 2003 National Homebrewers Conference sponsors are Goose Island, Rogue Ales, Tote-a-Keg, Wyeast Laboratories, Inc., Beer Beer & More Beer and White Labs. The American Homebrewers Association is a division of the Association of Brewers, established 1978 in Boulder, Colo., U.S.A. In 1979, 200 people attended the first AHA National Homebrewers Conference held in Boulder, Colo. Now the conference is recognized as the world's largest-attended conference devoted to amateur brewers. Based in Boulder, Colo., U.S.A., the Association of Brewers (AOB) is a not-for-profit educational, trade association for small and craft brewers. Its mission is to make quality beer and brewing knowledge accessible to all. Visit the website: www.beertown.org to learn more. The Association of Brewers has an additional membership division of 8,000+ homebrewers: American Homebrewers Association. The association's activities include events and publishing: World Beer Cup(r); Great American Beer Festival(r); Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America(r); National Homebrewers Conference; National Homebrew Competition; American Beer Month (July); Zymurgy magazine; The New Brewer magazine; and books on beer and brewing.