In late June the 35th Annual National Homebrewers Conference was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More than 3,400 homebrewers, professionals, and beer enthusiasts attended the conference presented by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA). The AHA also hosts the world’s largest beer competition — the AHA National Homebrew Competition — and the results of the second round of competition were presented at the closing banquet. Annie Johnson of Sacremento became the first woman in 30 years to win Homebrewer of the Year with her Lite American Lager taking best of show, while David Barber of Orwigsburg, PA won the Ninkasi Award for having the most wins in the final round of competition.
Local homebrewing club QUAFF (Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity) had a strong showing in the first round but lost out to The Brewing Network for Homebrew Club of the Year. A few San Diegans did take home some medals in the second round. In Category 13 (Stout), Daniel Schroeder of Chula Vista won a bronze medal for his Russian Imperial Stout. Almost repeating as the winner of Category 14 (India Pale Ale), Kelsey McNair of San Diego won a silver medal for his American IPA. In Category 19 (Strong Ale), Peter Perrecone of Carlsbad won a silver medal for his English Barleywine. And in Category 24 (Traditional Mead), Harold Gulbransen of San Diego won a bronze medal for his sweet mead.
Lastly, Chris White, founder of White Labs, was presented with the AHA Governing Committee Recognition Award for his outstanding service to the community of homebrewers. White joins the ranks of Randy Mosher, Jim Koch, John Palmer, Gordon Strong, Fred Eckhardt, and others who have helped us all brew better beer.
Also, view the NHC Tumblr live blog by Brian Trout here.
