Who was at home brew con 2022?

[cfrazier77]

I went and it was my first. I had a good time and learned a lot even though I have been brewing since 2009. There were some things i did not care for, but that is to be expected. But I don't have any previous ones to compare it too. If you went and it was not your first what did you think? If it was your first, what did you think?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

It was my first Homebrew Con as well. I have lots of positive things to say.

• Most of the educational sessions I attended were well presented and educational.
• It was useful talking with different vendors (and meeting people like Brad Smith, John Blichmann, Chris and Vito from MoreBeer, etc.) and I came away with a good $100 in free stuff (yeast, hops, puree, grain, etc.). There were some pretty nice raffle prizes (that I did not win).
• I touched base with several people from Instagram, YouTube, etc. I probably could have put more effort into meeting more people.
• I thought that Club Night was great! It would have been a challenge just to try one beer from each booth (I did not make some, and tried several from some booths).
• Julia Herz was a constant presence showing enthusiasm, ideas and an openness to improve the AHA.

Probably the cost was the biggest negative for me, but most of that was the cost of a hotel. It is just a lot harder to find $79 hotel rooms anyplace these days, so $1,000 for 4 nights in downtown Pittsburgh is about as cheap as I can expect these days. The Drury Hotel was quite nice, even if I was not in my room much.

The beers at the knockout party was a big of a cluster****! Given that people had to submit 6 beers for the NHC this year, and people did not have to qualify at regionals before entering likely meant there was a ton of mediocre beers to sample. I had a few good beers, and a few beers that were clearly not to style. I am curious how this compares to prior years.

I heard it was quite a bit smaller than some years past maybe about half of the peak attendance numbers. I am sure COVID has a large impact, both from people leery of large group events and people not happy about the vaccine/testing requirements. NHC entries seem to be way down as well. That might impact a little who attends the conference.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

eta: I did not attend this year.

The beers at the knockout party was a big of a cluster****! Given that people had to submit 6 beers for the NHC this year, and people did not have to qualify at regionals before entering likely meant there was a ton of mediocre beers to sample. I had a few good beers, and a few beers that were clearly not to style. I am curious how this compares to prior years.

This is similar to my experience in the late 2010s.

• Julia Herz was a constant presence showing enthusiasm, ideas and an openness to improve the AHA.

Good to read that. I'm reading similar things in homebrewing web sites where she to participates.

 

[Bobby_M]

I was there. I haven't missed an in-person conference since Oakland, CA in 2009. Attendance this year was on par with 8-10 years ago and it's obvious COVID played a major role. I don't know what AHA was charging for booth fees at the expo this year but something was also deterring vendors from showing. Maybe it was location. We will see next year.