By Steve “Snow” Wharton
The annual Queensland Amateur Brewing Championships (QABC) were held recently at Newstead Brewing Co in Milton. The largest event in the competition’s history, 483 beer, cider, and mead entries were brewed, served and judged by 199 participants over 2 days. I personally feel it was the best run competition I have been involved with in my 15 years of judging and stewarding.
Coordinated by a dedicated committee made up of hard-working volunteers; months of preparation culminated in a great event that showcased the best homebrews in Queensland, supported by very generous sponsors, commercial brewers and volunteers.
Given the sheer number of entries, the judging had to be held over 2 days, with your BABBs Deputy Brewmaster Nick Holt generously offering his home for the first round of judging on the Friday night and the second round being held at Newstead Brewing Co the next day. After a few hiccups early on with a couple of missing crates, proceedings went very smoothly with BABBs member and chief steward Aydan Rogers cracking the whip. With judging completed around 3pm, Newstead Head Brewer and former BABBs member Simeon Bonetti took everyone on a personalised brewery tour of the impressive Newstead facility. Afterwards, the celebrations continued at various good beer establishments through the afternoon and night.
This year, BABBs was pipped once again by GOLD Club for champion club. Unfortunately, they were more than clear winners this year, finishing up 13 points clear of BABBs. A result that needs to be redressed next year!
Five BABBs members qualified to send their entries down to Sydney for the National comp, which again is disappointing, given the quality of brewers I know we have in this club. Congratulations to the following brewers for this excellent results:
Mark Bedford (2 x 2nd places),
Shannon Drennan (1st place),
Perry Burt (1st place),
Nick Holt (1st place) and,
Dan Angus (3rd place)
Best of luck flying the flag for BABBs and Queensland in Sydney!