Jon and I attended the 2018 Homebrew Con a few weeks ago. What a fabulous event to have to bring together beer geeks with industry professionals and other fellow enthusiasts for three days of fun, demonstrations, sessions, parties and of course homemade fermented beverages.

After a longer than normal vetting process (about three times as long as listed), we were approved with media credentials to attend the 40th annual National Homebrew Conference on June 28-30. Our hotel had a room ready as we arrived in Portland, Oregon and we checked in and had a quick bite to eat before heading down to the Oregon Convention Center.

Check in was quick and easy with no lines in either the media or regular attendance around 12:30ish. We got our name badges and then were sent off through the line for a bag of swag, a conference booklet, and a commemorative beer (from Rogue, called Charlie 2018 brewed just for the occasion) and a 2018 glass to sip beverages from.

A note: some friends of ours that arrived around 3pm came to find that the conference was already out of booklets and glasses, and received glasses from previous years, which were a different shape and I noted at least one other additional smaller glass style. An order mishap is what was told to our friends who had arrived about four hours after the opening time on opening day for the general public. They were disappointed, but quickly moved on and I was able to give my booklet to someone who wanted it for commemorative sake. Tip: Arrive early to events and festivals for the best selection!

There were sessions and meet ups the night before for industry people, homebrew shops, and BJCP judges before the general conference started on Thursday. It’s nice to see all included in a conference, industry and public and then they mesh together on the Expo floor.

Jon and I went to explore the Expo floor was met with an immediate line and went around and through. Apparently, there were several stations to collect ingredients to brew your own batch of beer of “You Can Call Me Ale” that was brewed by Breakside Brewing and served on the Expo floor at one of the pickup spots! That’s so cool! My bag was weighing down with the specialty swag and beer, so I had time to go run it up to my hotel room across the street and drop a bunch of weight off. Jon continued to walk around and we met up before walking down the long hallways to the first session of our day. There were many sessions to choose from and if you weren’t able to be in two places at once or unable to attend this year, AHA members will have access to the recordings at a later date.

A quick break and then onto the Keynote Address and Welcome Toast, featuring none other than the Godfather himself: Charlie Papazian! We were a few rows back and center and it was quite a speech and presentation (not to mention entrance on a cloud!) from the founder of the Brewers Association! You could feel the energy in the room (fooooaaaaammmm) and pitchers of Charlie 2018 was passed around to toast to the conference and Charlie himself.

A quick dinner break, which consisted of changing to direction to the Oregon Cider Awards a few blocks up the street to capture the winner’s announcement in person and then off to the Kickoff party! Phew! By the time we arrived back at the conference center, the party was in full swing. We went around to the commercial booths, tasting their offerings and the best was worth the wait at the long line at pFriem booth that was pouring an Oude Kriek!

An announcement that came over the loud speaker at 10:55pm as well as the lights coming on overhead, signaled day one of the conference had come to an end.