KegCon for DC19

[Salem]

Re: KegCon for DC19

I've gathered most of my supplies. Brewing will commence next month, and I will have at least 4 of my kegs on the bus with me.

[veruus]

Re: KegCon for DC19

*poof* Thread moved.

Thanks, and good luck!

Thanks, man.

[veruus]

Re: KegCon for DC19

I've gathered most of my supplies. Brewing will commence next month, and I will have at least 4 of my kegs on the bus with me.

Shit just got real.

[sintax_error]

Re: KegCon for DC19

My brews tend to take a good 2-3 months to mature. Currently experimenting with some stuff that might make an appearance. I'm more of a bottle guy for my stuff, and there are several people that get dibs on the first few that get passed out, so we'll see if I can get a large enough batch going for something like this.

[Salem]

Re: KegCon for DC19

I used to bottle everything. But when brewing 20 gallons at a time, I realized I really don't like filling and capping that many damn bottles.

When I am giving it away as a gift, I find that wine bottles with synthetic corks work well.

[sintax_error]

Re: KegCon for DC19

I used to bottle everything. But when brewing 20 gallons at a time, I realized I really don't like filling and capping that many damn bottles.

When I am giving it away as a gift, I find that wine bottles with synthetic corks work well.

I'll have to keep that in mind. I generally brew no more than 10 gallons per batch, I suppose we'll see when I decide on a brew for con time, likely to start it in late February. Thinking of making another batch of that red ale I brought to 2oorcon in a smaller dose as well.

[snideology]

Re: KegCon for DC19

Wow, guys, this is great! Ok, so I shall contact a few people I know, see if they are still interested in the home-brew event.

Also, I have attempted to contact Toxic folks about the regional micro-brew event, but have heard nothing. Does this interest people? IOW, people bring in micros from around the country, different areas. We not only get a good opportunity for tasting regional beer, we have an excellent excuse why we can't remember any of them the next day. Not that we needed an excuse before, but what the hey...

If that were also to take place at the Rio, I have concerns about corkage fees. But it admittedly would make finding the way back to DC a non-issue

[Xeon]

Re: KegCon for DC19

Wow, guys, this is great! Ok, so I shall contact a few people I know, see if they are still interested in the home-brew event.

Also, I have attempted to contact Toxic folks about the regional micro-brew event, but have heard nothing. Does this interest people? IOW, people bring in micros from around the country, different areas. We not only get a good opportunity for tasting regional beer, we have an excellent excuse why we can't remember any of them the next day. Not that we needed an excuse before, but what the hey...

If that were also to take place at the Rio, I have concerns about corkage fees. But it admittedly would make finding the way back to DC a non-issue

The tricky part of having a regional microbrew event at Toxic is that the park is cracking down on the glass bottle issue and so few microbrews are canned. Sure, we could slip a few bottles by here and there, but for a big contest, it's not worth risking getting Toxic kicked out of the park.

But, a homebrew contest is a great idea and can easily be bottled in plastic soda bottles or kegged. There are even 2.5 gallon kegs and portable CO2 options, so this could definitely happen at the BBQ. Even a 5 gallon keg isn't a stretch to bring. I could bottle a couple 2L bottles off of my next batch to bring.

For a microbrew contest, does anyone have an friendly restaurant contacts in Vegas? My old hombrew club met in the back room of a pizza place, we could maybe do the same with a contest, if corkage fees are a concern. I could not find any policy documents from the Rio about corkage. What does the beer cooling contraption contest do? Could we hold a microbrew contest along side their contest?

[snideology]

Re: KegCon for DC19

The tricky part of having a regional microbrew event at Toxic is that the park is cracking down on the glass bottle issue and so few microbrews are canned. Sure, we could slip a few bottles by here and there, but for a big contest, it's not worth risking getting Toxic kicked out of the park.

But, a homebrew contest is a great idea and can easily be bottled in plastic soda bottles or kegged. There are even 2.5 gallon kegs and portable CO2 options, so this could definitely happen at the BBQ. Even a 5 gallon keg isn't a stretch to bring. I could bottle a couple 2L bottles off of my next batch to bring.

For a microbrew contest, does anyone have an friendly restaurant contacts in Vegas? My old hombrew club met in the back room of a pizza place, we could maybe do the same with a contest, if corkage fees are a concern. I could not find any policy documents from the Rio about corkage. What does the beer cooling contraption contest do? Could we hold a microbrew contest along side their contest?

-----
Good points. It does seem that many microbreweries do not offer kegs, and this had not occurred to me. And the last thing we want is to tangle with the local gendarmes at the park, who have a tendency to win arguments.

So perhaps we can bring some regional brewery kegs to the Toxic, which allows for everyone to taste them (and taste them, and taste them...). Afterwords, we bring the kegs back to the Rio.

Regarding the Rio' corkage fees: I just called them, and according to Joanna in room service, there are none. You can take that for official, or at the very least, plausible deniability. They only said they 'prefer' you do not bring outside alcohol to your room. I reckon this is about equivalent to my 'preferring' to fly first class, n'est ce pas?

The only remaining issue I see is location at the Rio. Since they would be kegs, we could do a pool thing (lifeguards know CPR, so no worries). Or a skybox, or someone's room. However, the so-called 'suites' are not really, at least in the bottom tiers of rooms. The Masquerade Suite is, so if anyone can get their boss to shell out $350/night, that would be a good place also.

[Xeon]

Re: KegCon for DC19

Well, here is the map of the Rio conference area, no telling how it will be set up for DC.

Map of the Conference Area on Page 2

It appears as though there are not the traditional "skyboxes" that were at the riv, but there are plenty of meeting rooms that will be used for those same areas. I highly doubt there will be just a random empty room, but we can probably bribe the daytime inhabitants with some of our wares for room use.

At any rate, we will have some type of beer contest at con! Maybe something like this?:
1. Bring a 6-pack (or equivalent ounces) of the beer you would like to enter.
2. Beer is divided into Homebrew/Microbrew/Craft/Light categories. We search for a champion in each.
2a. The Light category beers are thrown into the community pool for later and their bringers heckled.
3. Participants sit at a tables in groups of 4-8 for initial judging.
4. Two bottles of each beer are opened, divided among the table and sampled.
5. Each person votes for their two favorites, winner(s) move on.
6. When three beers in each category remain, maybe after multiple rounds of at-table elimination, a panel of judges determines 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the category.

Beers eliminated early and whatever other beverages people brought are then enjoyed by all.

Thoughts?

[snideology]

Re: KegCon for DC19

At any rate, we will have some type of beer contest at con! Maybe something like this?:
1. Bring a 6-pack (or equivalent ounces) of the beer you would like to enter.
2. Beer is divided into Homebrew/Microbrew/Craft/Light categories. We search for a champion in each.
2a. The Light category beers are thrown into the community pool for later and their bringers heckled.
3. Participants sit at a tables in groups of 4-8 for initial judging.
4. Two bottles of each beer are opened, divided among the table and sampled.
5. Each person votes for their two favorites, winner(s) move on.
6. When three beers in each category remain, maybe after multiple rounds of at-table elimination, a panel of judges determines 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the category.

Thoughts?

-----
It's the best working idea to date. For the actual judging, I think it's an excellent idea. To be honest, though, my personal interests are mainly tasting the different brews, and then afterwords demolishing a keg with people who can actually hold interesting and enlightening discussions when plowed.

But yeah, those are good rules, and fair to boot. Perhaps those who fly can ship the beers to those driving, or some such. Even 2 - 3 bottles might be enough with these rules, but the more, the merrier - literally!