It's June... and that means it's time for the annual AHA National Homebrewers Conference! As most of you are no doubt already aware, the conference was held in Baltimore this year, from the 16th through the 18th. We had a very good turnout from UKG and CBS. As has been usual for the past few years, we had one of the largest -- if not the largest -- number of attendees for a non-local club.

Day 0 - Wednesday

Joe, Rodney and myself caught a mid-day flight out of O'Hare. Zemo, Don, and the Germains (Arnie and Sue) were already en-route (driving).

The flight we were on could've qualified as the "homebrewers express" -- it turned out that Jeff Sparrow and Joe Preiser (of CBS) were also on the flight, as well as Ken Schulz (from Rockford), and the Ragers (Alberta and Jackie) from Kansas City. Joe and Rodney had decided to get an early start, and brought some unusual/rare beers (including a Rodenbach Alexander and a 10 year old 24% ABV Eisbock) in their carry-ons... we were passing the bottles back and forth (we weren't in the same row, but we were in adjacent rows), and eventually got caught by the stewardess. She was cool about it though, "as long as it isn't hard liquor like Jack Daniels or something".

Joe Preiser and Jeff Sparrow were up in First Class... Joe went up there to taunt them. We've got better beer than you... nyah nyah. ;-)

We had an uneventful flight, unlike some past conferences (*ahem* Los Angeles... *cough* *cough*). It was a beautiful day, and we arrived in Baltimore well ahead of schedule.

Arriving in Baltimore

We caught the light rail from the airport to the hotel. What a peculiar concept: electric trains which run on tracks in a dedicated lane on the street.

First stop after checking in was a bar right around the corner from the hotel, Max's. Very impressive tap selection, including Belgian imports like Rodenbach and Chimay, and some of the more unusual domestics like Dogfish Head. I opted for a Rodenbach; Joe and Rodney both decided to get pints of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, because they were giving away free Dogfish Head pint glasses.

After having a beer at Max's, it was time for the pre-conference event, a picnic (at the Camden Yards ball park) and Orioles game. The picnic was just so-so. The food was OK (other than the weird-ass grilled chicken sandwiches made with bone-in chicken breasts), but there was another group in the adjacent picnic grove (frikkin bankers convention or something), and they crashed our party and started drinking our beer (we had a couple of kegs of local microbrews, they had Bud Light). By the time we managed to communicate to the security staff that this was an issue, the kegs were empty. Grumble, grumble.

Sue and Rodney at the picnic

Don and Joe

The ball game was good though... Orioles beat Houston 5-1. And they had decent beer at some of the beer stands (Guinness and Smithwicks, also some  local micros), albeit at ball park prices. Most of us ended up drinking a locally brewed IPA. (The name of the IPA escapes me... that was 5 days and countless beers ago! If any of you who were there still remember, let me know and I'll update this!)

Orioles vs. Astros

After the game was the pre-conference pub crawl. Two groups (led by members of local homebrewing clubs) headed off on foot to a couple of local pubs. Our group ended up at The Wharf Rat (a.k.a. Oliver Brewing). It was an absolute zoo when we arrived, on account of the Orioles game just having let out; but it was well worth it. They had several of their own English style ales on hand pull, and they were excellent! Mmmm... English-style ales on hand pull... :-)

Waiting outside the ball park for the pub crawl to depart

The Wharf Rat / Olivers

Phone booth at The Wharf Rat

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