It’s Belgian month at the Canberra Brewers meeting on 1 May 2025 at the Polish White Eagle Club in O’Connor. The six pack swap is on again (sign up on FB or the forum) and the raffle will have some special Belgian treats up for grabs. Don’t forget to bring your latest and greatest brews to share!

Education

This month’s education session will be on beer, breweries and bars of Belgium!! A few lucky Club brewers have recently returned from a European Beer pilgrimage and have brought back some awesome experience and some great prizes for the raffle.

Six pack swap

The six-pack swap is on again! Add your beer details to the FB or the forum, bring your 6 beers to the meeting and walk away with a mixed six-pack to enjoy at your leisure!

Raffle

The raffle will be on again with some special prizes up for grabs! Along with some fantastic Belgian beers from our sponsors, the grand prize will be a Westvleteren 12 gift pack. This beer is almost impossible to get outside of Belgium (I’ve seen them sold for $100 per 330mL bottle in Melbourne)!! Don’t forget to bring your latest brew along to earn NOOKIE points with raffle tickets purchased.

See you at the May Meeting!

Brewers,The next Canberra Brewers meeting on 3 Apr 2025 at the Polish White Eagle Club in O’Connor. This is the first full meeting for the 2025 committee. The six pack swap is on again (sign up on FB or the forum) and the raffle will have a range of amazing prizes up for grabs. Don’t forget to bring your latest and greatest brews to share!

Education

This month’s education session will be presented by Pat and David, demystifying the art of sensory analysis and beer judging. The ability to judge beers is a critical skill for any brewer. It helps you accurately assess your beers to determine if there are any off-flavours or imbalances that you can factor into brewing the best beer possible. Pat and David will take you through some simple tips and tricks to evaluate a beer and use these skills to improve your product!

Six pack swap

The six-pack swap is on again! Add your beer details to the FB or the forum, bring your 6 beers to the meeting and walk away with a mixed six-pack to enjoy at your leisure!

Raffle

The raffle will be on again with great prizes up for grabs! Thanks to our sponsors who often donate prizes or provide significant discounts on great products. Will the committee win again?? Buy some tickets and stick around for the draw at the April meeting. Don’t forget to bring your latest brew along to earn NOOKIE points with raffle tickets purchased.

Club Competition

The Canberra Brewers Autumn Comp. is on this coming Saturday, 29 March 2025 at a location known to those who are judging and stewarding. Thank you to all judges and entrants, and to the club sponsors as well! Results will be announced in due course after the comp, perhaps at the April meeting.

BJCP Judging Exam

The Canberra Brewers have booked a Beer Judge Certification Program judging exam for 10 May 2025 and need 6-12 participants. We will host a series of exam preparation sessions in the weeks leading up to the exam. For more information, and to express interest, send an email to bjcp@canberrabrewers.com.au or check out the recent posts on the Facebook group or club forum.

We need your beers!!!

As we prep to host the BJCP exam, we need home brew good, bad and in between to practice judging and for the exam itself. For the exam, we need about 2L, but for the practice sessions 500mL will be enough. We can keep the submissions anonymous if you prefer, and can provide feedback if you would like. Pat can collect donated beer at the April meeting or arrange to come and collect it.

Returning officer David Gilks dissolved the 2024 committee and members elected a new committee for 2025. All members were elected unopposed. Anthony Ween as returned as president, supported by Amber Hutchison (treasurer), Ed Wunsch and Nicole Coombe (competition secretaries), Daniel Davenport (editor), Andrew Lewis (education).

Ordinary Committee Members: Simon Watt, Stephen Nielson (memberships), Charles Newton and Jason Reilly (Multicultural Festival).

Before the AGM, the president and treasurer delivered an annual report.

Read the highlights from 2024

The next Canberra Brewers meeting on 6 March 2025 at the Polish White Eagle Club in O’Connor.

There’s no education this month as we make way for the AGM, but the six pack swap is on again (sign up on FB or the forum) and the raffle will have a range of amazing prizes up for grabs (we promise it’ll happen this time). Plus don’t forget to bring your latest and greatest brews to share!

AGM and Committee positions

With each new year comes a new committee. If you’ve previously thought about volunteering, why not make 2025 the year to give black to the club.

All committee positions are up for reelection, including office bearers (the president, treasurer, social secretary, competition secretary, education officer and editor) and ordinary committee members (the webmaster, assets manager and assistant committee member/s). If you’re interested in finding out more about these roles, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the current (or previous) committee members.

Gilks has generously offered to be the returning officer this year, please send all nominations to him at bjcp.e3506@gmail.com

Club Competition

Registration for the Canberra Brewers Autumn Comp (Saturday March 29) has opened today. You can register your brews as well as sign up for judging or stewarding here. The venue is yet to be confirmed.

BJCP Judging Exam

The Canberra Brewers have booked a Beer Judge Certification Program judging exam for 10 May 2025 and need 6-12 participants. We will host an information session in the coming week and then a series of exam preparation sessions in the weeks leading up to the exam. For more information, and to express interest, send an email to bjcp@canberrabrewers.com.au or check out the recent posts on the Facebook group or club forum.

NOOKIE 2024

Big congrats to Amber who was lucky enough to win the N.O.O.K.I.E. raffle for 2024! For those not yet indoctrinated, the N.O.O.K.I.E. (aka the Newcastle Or Otherwise Kind of Interstate Experience) is the Canberra Brewers end of year raffle where the lucky winner is welcomed by a brewery (typically somewhere on the east coast) for a brew day and good time.

This is a great prize, and the only way to get tickets is by coming along to the club meetings and sharing your brews! So if you want to be the N.O.O.K.I.E. 2025 winner, then come along!