Category: Editor’s report and club news

By Sam Highley, Editor

01 The Canberra Brewers Sydney bus tour kicked off early on the morning of Saturday May 15. Collective thoughts of suffering the wrath of our illustrious leader, Dicko, had club members all over Canberra struggling out of bed, long before even the keenest Passer domesticus had uttered a single waft of wind from their avian backsides.

The time was 7am, eyes were bleary, and Richard Watkins, brewmaster and all-round fantastic supporter of the club, opened the doors of the Wig & Pen early for us. Not only did this provide a suitable meeting place, but also the first stop on the brewery tour. Mindful of the early hour and the potential of 16-hours of beer consumption ahead, most of us kicked the day off with a light English or Belgian ale.

Read more »

By Sam Highley, Editor

Authorbox_editor Welcome to the new website of the Canberra Brewers Club, which also incorporates the club newsletter known as The Ferm. Firstly, i'll introduce myself. My name is Sam Highley (aka sammy) and I was elected to the position of Ferm Editor for 2010. I've been brewing for just three years or so, and like most brewers I started out by making kit beers from the likes of Coopers and Morgans. Is that really brewing, or is it just fermenting?

I soon discovered the limitations of hopped-extract kits, and moved into making extract beers with hop additions within just a few months. I was immediately blown away by the possibilities of crafting a beer from malt extract, hops and yeast, and shortly thereafter i'd purchased a mash-tun and was diving into all-grain brewing. I think it's safe to say — and my family will back me up on this — that it has become an all-consuming passion for me, with almost every spare moment taken up with either brewing, or researching brewing and brewing-related topics.

Read more »