Two Big Beer Events on Feb 18th
February 18th is a big beer day in Colorado Springs. Not only is it one day before the fantastic looking Firkin Rendesvous, but it holds two pretty significant beer events as well - The Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium and the Peterson AFB Homebrewing Awards Festival. I'll give you all the details so you can make your decisions. It is possible to go to both events but not without missing something. It's really too bad these events are scheduled on the same day.
Peterson Air Force Base Homebrewing Awards Festival
All the homebrews have been submitted and will be judged this coming weekend. But February 18th is the big celebration day, and I've heard that's it's truly a blast. Here's the info:
This is the fun part! Homebrew entrants, judges and stewards get into the festival for free! It’s at 5:30PM on Feb 18 at the Peterson Club. $9 for Peterson Club members, $12 for everyone else. We are asking that all entrants bring some of their brew to share with other brewers and festival attendees. Those who bring to share get a guest in for free!
Recommend you bring at least 24, 12oz bottles, a couple growlers or the keg equivalent to share on Feb 18, 2011. Ideally, it would be some of the beer you entered in the competition. You’ll be serving next to some of our local micros and there will be prizes for the crowd favorites. All brewers will be responsible for dispensing their beer to festival guests. Size of pour will be no more than 2 oz. The Peterson Club will provide booth space for each entrant to serve their beer – call the Club to let them know that you need booth space.
Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium
The RMMS is a one day series of lectures and presentations about the latest innovations and ideas in the beer industry. The presenters are people in the industry from breweries in the Rocky Mountain Region. A majority of attendees will be head brewers. The attendance is limited to 120 people and the cost is $145. The cost seems quite high to me as a simple event to go to. But if you look at it more as very informative, considering the RMMS to be more of an exclusive symposium, high profile speakers, awesome looking agenda, and a beer dinner at Trinity, the price looks much more reasonable. In my opinion, although it's not stated on the RMMS website, the event is largely made for and attended by people working in the industry. I'll post the agenda below so you can see for yourself. Every year the event sells out, so if you're interested you need to get your tickets immediately. See the link below for details:
Schedule:
8:00-8:50 - Check in and continental breakfast
9:00-9:50 - Hops! - Frank Stonaker, Colorado State University
9:50-10:00 - Break
10:00-10:50 - Steve Breezely, Production Manager, Avery Brewing Co.
10:50-11:00 - Break
11:00-11:50 - Bob Wall, Colorado Malting Company
11:50-12:20 - Get lunch from buffet, browse sponsor tables, network, grab beer!
12:20-1:10 - Keynote address: John Bryant, Oskar Blues
1:10-2:00 - Sponsor table browsing, networking break, beer sampling, general fun time!
2:00-2:50 - Chad Yakobson, Crooked Stave & Brettanomyces Project
2:50-3:00 - Break
3:00-3:50 - Pubs On A Budget - Tom Hennessy, Colorado Boy Brewer
3:50-4:00 - Break
4:00-4:50 - Bryan Pearson, Brewing Science Institute-Lager Yeast
5:00ish-close - Raffle and Close
6:30-? - Dinner Party Reception - Trinity Brewing CO.
More info:
RMMS website and full info here.
Takes place at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
$145