Thanks

[Simon David kelly]

I'd like to be the first to thank Mike and Colin for organising a fine inaugural Wellington (home)Brewers Conference at the Malthouse, I had a great afternoon and it’s so nice to be able to put names to faces.

Congratulations to Steff for winning.

Also a big thanks to Soren (sorry if I’ve misspelt) for the shout of a pint of “8 wired”. Very nice.

[MrC]

so we sussed out some potential judges who might be as soft as we were this time

Why judge soft? I'd rather be judged firmly and fairly even if it seems harsh at times. Surely to brew the best beer we can we need the judges to provide feedback on all faults. Is being out of style seen as a fault? If a beer is not judged against style then what is it judged against?

[Stu McKinlay]

My quote above was meant to have not between 'might' and 'be'.

I don't think anyone who read their notes will think we judged soft. The better beers probably had less notes agains them than I would have liked but i felt like i was draggin the train a bit already. The highest beer would have only averaged below 35. Assuming it was out of 50 (though it may have been 45) none of them would have medalled in any score based system I've ever judged in. Most of the top scoring beers were out of a little out of style - heading towards IPA or Amber. I'd imagine that is a common hombrewer 'fault'.

We definitely judged to style... there will be a few notes out there about not being to style.

[Soren]

Oh, any one with negative feedback to my brown ale, please speak up, either in public or to me personally. I may brew another batch with in a few weeks and I will not quit tweeking the recipe until I make the best damn brown ale there can be! I know it's hard to critizise other brewers, I hate it myself, but don't be affraid to hurt my feelings. I already have a couple of tweeks in mind but other peoples feedback is a lot more valuable than my own!

[MrC]

Cheers for the free beer Søren ;-) It was my first beer of the evening and it went down very well.

I'll send you with my thoughts in a PM.

[Stu McKinlay]

I need another taste but can tell you it was very moreish. I'd love to try it on handpump.

[Jed Soane]

Great work everyone. I think I managed to get a photo of every brewer that entered. Let me know if I have spelled anyone's name incorrectly and I'll fix it up.