Hot Break 2004 is the first annual conference of the newly formed Western Confederation of Brew Clubs. The Edmonton Homebrewers Guild is hosting this half day conference and dinner in conjunction with the Aurora Brewing Challenge (ABC2004), an MCAB7 qualifying event.

The conference is to held June 5th at:
Capilano Community Hall
10810 - 54th Street
Edmonton, Alberta

Registration

You may register for this conference in two ways:

• By mail with cheque or money order (Registration mailing address below)
• On site (Capilano Community Hall - address above)

If registering by mail, send in your Registration Form and cheque or money order (made out to Edmonton Homebrewers Guild) to:
Alley Kat Brewing Company
9929 - 60 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T6E OC7

Rates:

The Registration Form is available at the EHG WebSite http://www.ehg.ca

Agenda

June 5th, 2004:

12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Organizational meeting of the Western Confederation of Brew Clubs

2:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Conference Sessions. See below for listings and times.

6:00-7:00 p.m.
Pre-dinner get-together enjoying homebrew from the Western Confederation clubs

7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Enjoy a barbeque and banquet prepared by EHG members.

8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Keynote address & Award presentation

Sessions

How to prepare for and write the BJCP exam
Time: TBA
Roxy Hastings, National BJCP judge and exam grader; Mark Nesdoly, Certified BJCP judge and exam grader
If you've ever contemplated becoming a beer judge, this session will tell you how to go about doing it. Roxy and Mark will lead a round table discussion of successful strategies to get through the BJCP exam.

Beer Faults commonly encountered in the BJCP exam
Time: TBA
Neil Herbst, Certified BJCP judge and owner Alley Kat Brewing Co.
The BJCP exam involves tasting four beers, at least two of which will have significant faults and probably none will be perfect. Neil will help you to identify the most common faults that you might expect to encounter in the exam.

Quality Brewing using Brew House Kits
Time: TBA
Bob Boufford, EHG newsletter editor; Kevin
Zaychuk, Vice President, EHG
When many of us started homebrewing, the quality of beer kits were less than desirable. That's why we quickly migrated to all-grain. Now there is an opportunity for beginner brewers to experience quality beer with Brew House kits. Come and learn from two master tweakers how to produce unique and awesome brews from a standard Brew House starter.

Dirty Beer (Sanitation for Homebrewers)
Time: TBA
Presenter: TBA
If you're competing at the national level, you probably think you know all there is to know about sanitation. But professional brewers have moved far beyond the basic chlorine bleach. What methods employed by teh pros can we adopt as home brewers? What new products are on the horizon? What's the difference between sanitation and sterilization and does it really affect the homebrewer? Come and find out how to clean up your brewing equipment.

Keynote Address - A Bar to Heaven and a Door to Hell
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Greg Evans, Historian and Curator
This presentation looks at the history of saloons on Vancouver Island from the 1850s to provincial prohibition in 1917; the people, the places, the characters, the role of saloons in society, forms of entertainment (including rat killing competitions); the law - kind of Victoria unbuttoned!

Accommodations

If you are coming from out of town and are looking for inexpensive (okay, free) accommodations, you may be interested being billeted. If you are interested, please contact conference organizers (contact info below).

Presenters

Bob Boufford, EHG newsletter editor
Greg Evans is the Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria. He has nearly thirty years of experience working in museums and heritage organizations in both Victoria and Vancouver.
He has a bachelors and a master's degree in history from the University of Victoria. In 1991, he completed his master's thesis, which is entitled "The Vancouver Island Brewing Industry: 1858 to 1991." Since then he has made numerous presentations on the history of brewing, saloons, hop growing and prohibition, throughout British Columbia and the American Pacific Northwest. He has written articles for industry related publications, developed and hosted beer dinners and tastings, consulted on documentaries and undertaken various consulting projects within the craft brewing industry. He was also on the team that developed the travelling exhibit "Brewer's Gold: The Hop Industry in British Columbia" which opened at the Royal British Columbia Museum in October 2003.
He is currently on the executive of the Campaign For Real Ale - Victoria, is a member of the Brewery History Society of Great Britain and has his own company, Brewers Gold Consulting.
Roxy Hastings, National BJCP judge and exam grader and President, EHG
Neil Herbst, Certified BJCP judge and owner Alley Kat Brewing Co.
Mark Nesdoly, Certified BJCP judge and exam grader
Kevin Zaychuk, Vice President, EHG

Contacts

This conference is being organized and hosted by the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild. For more information about the Guild, please visit the EHG website, http://www.ehg.ca.

For more information about Hot Break 2004, please contact:
Neil Herbst, neil@alleykatbeer.com or
Kevin Zaychuk, zaychuk@edmc.net