Brew Con London - A Home Brewing Conference and Expo

[injac]

Would loved to have gone but busy with various home diy projects and a 6 month old baby. It's on a list of definitely maybes for next year though so looking forward to everyone's feedback from this year.

I do have a beer in the competition though...

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[Crastney]

I shall be there representing The Home Brew Festival! Look forward to seeing some of you there. Please do introduce yourselves if you see me.

[bobsbeer]

Has anyone gone to Brewcon?

[richard080561]

It was disappointing. Opened late, so lots of people standing around in the cold for half an hour. Not many exhibitors. The talks were at one end of the main hall with only one PA and one projector for two events happening at the same time making it difficult to hear the speaker.
All in all very amateurish. I won't be bothering next year

[demig]

It was disappointing. Opened late, so lots of people standing around in the cold for half an hour. Not many exhibitors. The talks were at one end of the main hall with only one PA and one projector for two events happening at the same time making it difficult to hear the speaker.
All in all very amateurish. I won't be bothering next year

The speaker for theatre 2 was right near to the curtain which made it impossible to hear. Not well done. That said I had some nice beer, had a great conversation with the head brewer from Black Sheep and got several brewlabs slants.

Rob from the Maltmiller talked me out of spending money... And my dad one day into his seventies discovered he likes sour beer so it was an interesting day.

I would go again but only if I had assurances that the lecture theatres where properly sorted etc.

I also found a nice cafe round the corner so didn’t join that queue!

[richard080561]

It was disappointing. Opened late, so lots of people standing around in the cold for half an hour. Not many exhibitors. The talks were at one end of the main hall with only one PA and one projector for two events happening at the same time making it difficult to hear the speaker.
All in all very amateurish. I won't be bothering next year

The speaker for theatre 2 was right near to the curtain which made it impossible to hear. Not well done. That said I had some nice beer, had a great conversation with the head brewer from Black Sheep and got several brewlabs slants.

Rob from the Maltmiller talked me out of spending money... And my dad one day into his seventies discovered he likes sour beer so it was an interesting day.

I would go again but only if I had assurances that the lecture theatres where properly sorted etc.

I also found a nice cafe round the corner so didn’t join that queue!

Yes, there was some good beer, but it was £5 a pint

[demig]

It was disappointing. Opened late, so lots of people standing around in the cold for half an hour. Not many exhibitors. The talks were at one end of the main hall with only one PA and one projector for two events happening at the same time making it difficult to hear the speaker.
All in all very amateurish. I won't be bothering next year

The speaker for theatre 2 was right near to the curtain which made it impossible to hear. Not well done. That said I had some nice beer, had a great conversation with the head brewer from Black Sheep and got several brewlabs slants.

Rob from the Maltmiller talked me out of spending money... And my dad one day into his seventies discovered he likes sour beer so it was an interesting day.

I would go again but only if I had assurances that the lecture theatres where properly sorted etc.

I also found a nice cafe round the corner so didn’t join that queue!

Yes, there was some good beer, but it was £5 a pint

My dad was paying

[Jocky]

I'll say there's lots for the organiser to learn about - particularly the talks need moving to their own area, but a good first go at this kind of event.

When they got the PA sorted the talks were interesting, and while the expo wasn't very big, everyone was very enthusiastic and spent lots of time talking to you.

The real star event was club night the previous night.

[Secla]

Yes, there was some good beer, but it was £5 a pint

London tax.

Isn't there another one somewhere outside London early next year ?

[bobsbeer]

There is The Home Brew Festival which is being held 11th to 13th May 2018 at Acton Scott in Shropshire. Check out http://thehomebrewfestival.boards.net/t ... cton-scott or our website www.thehomebrewfestival.co.uk

[donchiquon]

Isn't there another one somewhere outside London early next year ?

There is talk of doing one in Bristol in 6 months time. No details yet.


Ian

[donchiquon]

I'll say there's lots for the organiser to learn about - particularly the talks need moving to their own area, but a good first go at this kind of event.

When they got the PA sorted the talks were interesting, and while the expo wasn't very big, everyone was very enthusiastic and spent lots of time talking to you.

The real star event was club night the previous night.

Agreed. I also thought the Brewlab stand with the free slants was good, and being able to talk to Phil the Head brewer at Black Sheep about how to get a Yorkshire bitter dialled in was priceless.

Club night did however mean that the first pint on the Sunday was a little hard to swallow!


Ian

[demig]

Quite, brewlab and Phil definitely the highlight. Enjoyed the sour beer talks and Des de Moor was entertaining as well.

Somewhat ironic that I’ve travelled to London to agree that BrewLabs were the best bit as I passed them on my journey down

[donchiquon]

Brewlab’s yeast talk was good but you couldn’t hear much of it for the crossover with the theatre next door - hopefully they’ll get that sorted next year.

I think I spotted you and your dad and remember thinking that looked like a good idea for a day out!


Ian

[Crastney]

I was there helping set up from about 10am, until 2pm when I had to get back home.

there should have been two projectors, but they didn't have the correct connection cables, so it was decided to use only one, and the work out which presenter needed it most, and move the speakers around depending. The size of the talk spaces could have been better, and the music in the rest of the space was interfering somewhat with being able to hear the talks. But as a first attempt, there's plenty to learn for next year. Hopefully a bigger space would mean separate talk spaces.

yes the beers and food were a bit expensive, but not overly extortionate for London prices. Brisket in a bun for £9 - some might not pay that, but it was incredibly nice brisket, I enjoyed it.

The keynote speech from Yeastie Boys Stu McKinlay was good. Didn't get to hear any others. The discussion on how to taste/judge bitters seemed to be going well, with lots of people sampling the beers. Shame I couldn't stay all day for the other talks.

I was refilling one of the water jugs, and Stu McKinlay said that he was impressed that there was plenty of free water available, as that's not normally the case in the UK. I imagine those that had also been to club night the day before would also appreciate that.

Well done to Simon for organising it. He seemed to be capable of making decisions on the fly, for the best outcomes, and I think the whole thing went well. I'd go again.