Is it time for a National Home Brew Conference in NZ?

[Peter Smith]

I have been watching with interest the US and Australian HBC 

Is it time for a weekend conference here in NZ?

Brewing presentations?

Brewery Visits?

Would it be best to link this with the SOBA NHB Competition?

I think the support would be there , just need the organisational skills to make it happen....

[Samuel Loader]

Yeah possibly palmy north. Massey for the venue and local for accommodation

[Paul Finney]

What about Nelson for a place to hold it. It is near the hop growing area and there is plenty of decent local brewers. 

I'd pay $300-$400 for a well ran weekend event with guest speakers. 

I think the same as Pete, it just needs to get started. If ran in conjunction with the NHC then there will also naturally be judges around who are well trained in the beer world and could be asked to do presentations too. It would save money ferrying them around twice. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops. 

There is nothing to stop the local homebrew club organising it if we want it to travel around. Wellington with the Hutt Valley team, Chch with my club, Dunedin has a club etc. It would spread the load, and stress, of organising and each one would want to go better than the last so it would keep it fresh whilst learning from the previous events. 

[paul m]

i agree with all the disadvantages of auckland. Definitely do it combined wih the NHB competition. I reckon try and keep it cheaper to make it more accessible.

[Jamie McQuillan]

Good idea. It could be the start of something great. A gig effort would be involved for sure. Makes sense to involve SOBA and it would maybe be a good idea to attach it to a bigger event, (as a satellite event) at least in the early stages. Beervana for example would be a great choice.  It would make the cost of travel more worth while ( 2 for 1) and also many of the brewers and potential speakers would be likely to be there already. Wellington is also pretty much in the middle of the country and has a good concentration of breweries and craft bars. As a Dunedinite, It is also cheaper to fly to Wellington than to Nelson believe it or not. If the location was to alternate it could be associated with a South Island beer fest, such as the Dunedin Beer fest or the Great NZ Beer Fest. 

[Peter Smith]

Check out the photos....

https://www.facebook.com/NHC2014?fref=nf

[Samuel Loader]

Looks like so much fun!

[Martin Bridges]

I like the idea, although I think we're perhaps a little way off the critical mass needed for something significant.

As an introductory step I'm looking at organisizng a group trip to the Aussie NHC in Canberra in October. It's the week before Sydney Craft Beer Week so the 2 could be combined. Ping me a note if you're interested.

[oliver]

I'll be there, already booked my flights :)