After a four year COVID-driven hiatus, the Australian National Homebrewing Conference (ANHC) is coming back to Melbourne on October 14 and 15.
Held at the William Angliss Conference Centre, the ANHC‘s return will see Australia’s homebrewers back together under one roof in what will again be the nation’s biggest celebration of all things homebrewing.
Headlining this year’s line-up of presenters are two amazing brewers from the USA in The New IPA author Scott Janish – who is an award-winning homebrewer and founder of Sapwood Cellars who specialises in experimenting with hop-forward beers – plus Yazoo Brewing‘s Brandon Jones – co-founder of the largest independently-owned professional wild beer program in southern USA and an avid proponent of the art and science of funky fermentation. The ANHC has a stacked program of local presenters as well, including the Beer Diva herself Kirrily Waldhorn and many more.
ANHC CEO Andy Davison said ANHC 2022’s overarching theme is “provenance and change”.
“The COVID pandemic has really driven home how important it is to think about where our ingredients are coming from, and how quickly the world around us can change and adapt,” Andy said.
“So this year ANHC is exploring what those things mean to us as homebrewers and beer lovers more generally.
“After a crazy two years, where most of Victoria and large parts of the nation were just not able to come together in large groups, it’s a relief to think that in a few short months our homebrewing family will be back together, sharing a few frothy beverages while hearing about some great innovations and news from our wonderful presenters, as well as being able to get involved in some special events we have planned.
“Who doesn’t love a conference where the beer starts flowing at 9am!”
ANHC 2022 is also bringing back their signature food and beer pairing dinner where they showcase beers from the best homebrewers our nation has to offer. The list of this year’s homebrewers is still under wraps, but brewers from the Northern Territory and Tasmania will be represented at the table for the very first time this year.
Club Night 2022 will go ahead too, where the homebrewers and homebrewing clubs of Australia celebrate as only homebrewers can – with over 50 kegs of beer and a party atmosphere to match. Even if you’re not planning on attending the full conference, you can still head along to this event. “Just make sure you come dressed to impress so you’re in with a chance to win some of the prizes on offer from the ANHC sponsors,” Andy added.
ANHC will again run back-to-back with the Australian Amateur Brewing Championship where the top-ranked beers from every state and territory come together and are judged to decide who our nation’s best homebrewers are.
At the time of writing ANHC 2022’s supporters included Imperial Sponsors Grain and Grape and Grand Cru sponsors KegLand and NewEra Brewing. ANHC will also have some very special beers made just for the conference by Billson’s Brewery and Deeds Brewing.
When they go on sale, tickets will be available at the ANHC website, with a Basic package giving access to the presentations and Club Night, and a Premium package offering the presentations, Club Night and the pairing dinner. A Barfly package will also be available for punters just wanting to get in on the fun at Club Night. Early birds who purchase tickets before 11:59pm on August 14 will be offered the Premium package for the price of the Basic. People are advised to get in quick as the Premium package is only available for a limited number of tickets.