For some reason the images haven’t come through. I’ll fix this later

We thought the AGM each year would be a good opportunity to look back and reflect on the past 12 months. Being the 10th year since the Club’s inception, it seems like doing this exercise will not only be a fun way to recap the year, it will also provide future members with a pretty detailed history of the Club.

Club Events Calendar

We’re on track to hold 21 Club events this calendar year including Club meetings, parties, our 10^th anniversary celebrations, the annual IPA comp and smaller group events like the case swap and Cider Day. Here is the calendar for this financial year:

Changes and major happenings this year

BJCP Course

Cam Eldridge ran a BJCP course this year. The course ran from June until October with the group meeting fortnightly at CoConspirators. The tasting exam was also held there in October and results were received seven months later in May. Course participants were:

Nykolai Garcia McHerron

Sharif Alexander

Bruno Śnski

Matt Zürrer

Dean Panebianco

Adam Macfarlane-Hill

Hayden Henderson (Melbourne Brewers)

Brian Murray

Sophie Goldsmith

Maggie Rose

Dean Smith and Grace Sarta also re-sat the exam and both scored over 80, making them eligible to sit for the written exam and potentially progress to National (or Master!) rank! Sharif also achieved a mark of 80 on his first go, despite suffering a head-cold and diminished sense of taste and smell. (People often work over years to hone their judging skills and increase their qualification by increasing their exam score.)

Jack and Ellie’s IPA launch at CoCon

Jack and Ellie MacCauley’s beer, The Jackel – Hazy IPA, took out Beer of Show at the 2023 IPA Comp. The prize was to have their beer commercially re-brewed at CoConspirators brewpub. On the 9^th of August 2023 this beer was launched at the brewery. The tap label had the Club’s logo displayed proudly.

New Font Build

For the past several years the Club has had a portable font setup, which gets wheeled out at parties, events and ANHC so that members can serve their beer. This setup was pretty basic and starting to look a little ragged. Foamy beer was also a problem in the heat as beer lines to the taps were exposed to the elements.

The committee put together a design brief of what the Club needed and asked members to come up with solutions. Essentially we asked for a way of serving kegs that was modular, stackable, relatively light and solved our warm beer lines issue.

Brian Murray came up with a design that required making insulated, stackable aluminium tubs, which could be used in several ways to serve kegs depending on the use. Matthew Arnold was able to fabricate five of these designs and added a font tower for ease of pouring.

We hope these new Club assets will serve great beer for many years to come.

Head to Head Comp

This was a Club event held for the first time this year, and was so successful we’re planning to make it an annual thing. The idea was to have 16 brewers brew a beer to a specific brief (without telling anyone what they were brewing). We then used the Club meeting in July at Temple to pit these beers against each other in a knockout format. Tasters voted for the beer they liked the most and that fit the brief. It was a really fun and well attended night. We’ve already planned the second iteration of this concept for July this year.

Blobfish

The committee has been discussing ways of promoting the Club and the craft and to that end, this year we attended Blobfish sour beer festival at Meat Market in North Melbourne. This boutique festival (run by the good people at Hop Nation) showcases wild and sour beers. The organisers were a little unsure how we would fit in to the festival, and we weren’t able to serve any beers this time around. However, we put together an engaging stall showing people how accessible it is to make beer at home. We hope in future years to go back to Blobfish and also to be able to serve members’ creations.

The committee

At the 2023 AGM, Holger Detje and Andrew Faz stood down from the general committee, and both Steve Barnett and Sharif Slamet joined the general committee.

This year we’ve got quite a bit of movement. Rhosie Ensink is stepping down from the committee after eight years. Rhosie’s network (she knows everyone in beer in Melbourne) has been invaluable and she has also hosted several Christmas parties at her house in Reservoir. Rhosie is a previous Vice President of the Club and is also the driver behind the Club glasses each year. Thankyou Rhosie for all your hard work for the Merri Mashers.

Michael Horn is also stepping down from the committee after seven years. Michael has held the position of Secretary in the past and also organised the IPA comp. On top of this Michael has organised many events and Club nights. Thanks Michael for your time on the Committee.

Finally, our president Cam Eldridge is stepping down. Cam has been on the committee for over seven years and took over as President of the Club from Tim Martin in June 2019 (he served as Vice President before this). This makes Cam the longest serving Mashers’ President. Cam has represented the Mashers’ with Vicbrew and has set up much of the Club’s IT infrastructure, including the membership database and website. Cam’s contribution to the Club has been absolutely huge – thank you.

Happenings outside the Club

It hasn’t been a great year for the beer and homebrew industry in Melbourne. High inflation has resulted in many people cutting back on their spending. As a result, a number of local breweries have closed or gone into voluntary administration.

Deeds Brewing was one of the biggest casualties. Deeds have been a leading craft brewery in Melbourne for the last decade. In the past they have sponsored our IPA competition, and winners have even had their beers re-brewed at the brewery, canned and distributed. (Rohan Lowe’s Slenderman, 2019 and Paul Verbeek’s Karl’s Big Day Out, 2022.)

Temple Brewery in Brunswick have also announced they’re closing. We held our first head-to-head comp there in July 2023, and were booked in to hold it there again this year. The subsequent closure has meant we’ve had to find another venue.

Hawker’s has also gone into voluntary administration. The Reservoir brewery has long sponsored our IPA comp.

Another closure that has been felt by the Club is that of the Yarraville homebrew store Grain and Grape. Grain and Grape have been around for over 30 years and have been awarded the best homebrew store in Australia many times. They’ve sponsored our IPA comp and supported Vicbrew and ANHC for many years. They’ve also stocked many grain varieties, yeast and hops which weren’t easily available elsewhere. G&Gs owner, John, has decided to retire, and we wish him all the best for this next stage of life.

We’ve recently learnt that Matt and Pete, who worked at Grain and Grape, will be opening a new store called Backyard Homebrew Co in the coming months.

Award winners

Westgate Brewers Stout Extravaganza 2023
Cam Eldridge – 3^rd Specialty Stout

Bruno Schivinski – 3^rd Porter
Paul Verbeek – 1^st Stong Stout, 2^nd Specialty Stout, 3^rd Stout

Brewer of Show Paul Verbeek
Merri Mashers Club of Show

Bayside Brewers Octoberfest Comp 2023

Daniel Horridge – 2^nd Wheat Beer

Brian Murray – 1^st Wheat Beer, 2^nd Amber and Dark Lager

Sharif Slamet – 2^nd Pale Lagers

Champion Brewer Brian Murray

Melbourne Brewers Beerfest 2024

Eric Beck – 2^nd Sour & Wild Ale

Baxter Hogan – 3^rd Smoked & Wood Aged Beer

Jack MacCauley – 2^nd Wheat & Rye
Bruno Schivinski – 3^rd Session

Paul Verbeek – 1^st Strong Ale & Lager, 3^rd place Fruit & Spice Beer

Merri Mashers IPA Comp 2024

Eric Beck – 2^nd Brown & Rye IPA, 3^rd Black IPA

Shannon Brooks – 2^nd Double IPA

Cam Eldridge – 2^nd Black IPA
David Hinchey – 1^st, Red IPA, 2^nd White and Belgian IPA, 3^rd Hazy IPA

Ellie & Jack MacCauley – 3^rd Specialty & Brut IPA

Adam Macfarlane-Hill – 1^st Black IPA, 3^rd Red IPA

Brian Murray – 2^nd Hazy IPA, 3^rd Double IPA

Marc Newbrook – 3^rd White and Belgian IPA

Sharif Slamet – 1^st American IPA, 3^rd American IPA
Shaun Staples – 1^st White and Belgian IPA

Todd Wade – 1^st Brown & Rye IPA, 2^nd Red IPA
Zac Walsh – 1^st Specialty & Brut IPA, 3^rd Brown & Rye IPA

Best Novice Adam Macfarlane-Hill
Champion Beer Zac Walsh
Champion Brewer David Hinchey (2^nd year in a row)
Merri Mashers Club of Show

Yarra Valley Brewers Belgian Beerfest 2024

Ellie & Jack MacCauley – 1^st Wild Beers

Brian Murray – 3^rd Dark Coloured Ales

Chris Schwinghamer – 1^st Light Coloured Ales

Matt Zuerrer – 3^rd Saison

Vicbrew 2023

Andrew Barker – 2^nd Stout

Michael Horn – 2^nd Belgian Ale
Dan Horridge – 1^st Sour & Wild Ale, 2^nd Sour & Wild Ale

Rohan Lowe – 2^nd Cider & Perry

Ellie & Jack MacCauley – 1^st Cider & Perry

Nykolai Garcia McHerron – 1^st Brown Ale

Brian Murray – 1^st Belgian Ale, 2^nd Wheat & Rye, 3^rd Belgian Ale, 3^rd Strong Stout

Sharif Slamet – 1^st Pale Ale, 2^nd American Pale Ale, 3^rd Pale Ale
Paul Verbeek – 2^nd Fruit & Spiced Beer

Todd Wade – 2^nd Pale Lager

Mashers Club of Show
Mashers Best Exhibited Club

Brian Murray Champion Brewer

Brian Murray Champion Beer

AABC 2023

Brian Murray – 3^rd Strong Stout

Club Brewer of the Year 2023

Brian Murray – 15 Points

Key focus/issues for the past year

Apart from organising meetings and events, the Committee also discusses the direction of the Club and issues that impact members. This year two significant and related themes have been: attracting new people to homebrewing, and attracting new people to the Club. Homebrewing numbers seem to be reducing (in America anyway) after the spike in interest that occurred during the Covid period. Research shows younger people in general are drinking less. The Club’s membership has not dropped off at all but we’ve talked a lot about what we can do to attract new members, particularly younger brewers. We’re also conscious of the gender balance in the Club.

As a homebrew Club we have limited capacity to do specific events that are aimed at bringing in new people. However, as one of the largest homebrew Clubs in the country we want to do something. This was the inspiration behind our Blobfish festival stall this year (which we hope will continue to develop over coming years). We’re also interested in having a greater presence at the Darebin Meet the Makers festival in future. This is another chance to serve and talk homebrew to the general public, specifically those in our local area.

Homebrewing trends and changes in the craft

Looking back, there are clear points in the past where the craft started changing. The rise of IPAs for example, the growth of all-in-one brewing systems, and the Australian drought that saw the invention of no chill brewing with cubes. At the time it can be hard to tell what is a fad and what is a significant change. But this is an attempt to work out what happened this year that will change the way we brew.

While they didn’t launch in FY23-24, the growth of Bluestone Yeast has really been huge this year. Prior to Bluestone all liquid yeast came from off shore, and freshness was a definite issue. Bluestone are in most homebrew stores now and their range is growing, with Belgian strains recently added. With importation costs high Bluestone are looking like being the main liquid yeast supplier in Australian homebrew for some time to come.

Staying with yeast and it seems kveik yeast isn’t as big as it was a few years back. Kveik burst onto the scene and everyone was keen to try brewing a beer with only a few days fermenting at high temps. Some said it would change the brewing industry, as big breweries could turn around beer much faster, saving money. Maybe it’s just that it’s not the new thing in town anymore but, while it’s still available and around, it’s not THE thing in yeast any more.

What does seem to be growing in popularity is targeting thiols to get more expressive taste and aroma out of IPAs. There are homebrewing processes that enhance the formation of thiols and there is now even “Thiolised” yeast, which is said to enhance the biotransformation of thiols. These yeasts aren’t available in Australia as they’re GMO, but this year many videos, podcasts and articles have been dedicated to looking at if thiols make a noticeable difference to beer and if so, how to brew to increase thiol production.

Our tenth year

2024 marks the 10^th year of the Merri Mashers. The Club formed in 2014 when Kevin Hawley posted on the Aussie Home Brewer forum about a meet up for those of us in the Inner North of Melbourne.

We’ve celebrated this occasion the way Mashers do… with a party. At the start of April we had a big get together at Matthew Arnold’s garage in Brunswick. Lots of Mashers were there including many who haven’t been around much these days. 

The Saturday event was for members only but on Sunday we had another smaller celebration at CoConspirators brewpub. This one was open to family, friends and other homebrew clubs.

We’re also marking the year with special 10^th anniversary glasses for all members, and hopefully some special edition merch in the merch store.

Special mention

Special mentions can be difficult in a Club like ours as so many people contribute in so many ways. That’s what makes the Club great – we have a party and everyone pulls together to help set up, cook food and provide beer and music etc.

However, this year there are a couple of people who have gone above and beyond, and deserve a special mention.

First up we need to thank Holger Detje. Holger not only opens up his farm for Winter Feast, Cider Day and Barrel Projects days, but he also hosts the Club’s barrels (and built trolleys for each of them). We store large items such as the Club’s marquee at his house, and he’s always busy behind the scenes at events, putting up and taking down the marquee and transporting things. The Club events would not be the same without Holger’s help, so on behalf of the whole Club Holger, thank you.

Second up is Matthew Arnold. Matt was the gracious host for our 10^th anniversary celebration and it took a lot of effort on his part to prepare the space and pack up. He also volunteered many, many hours over the last few months to build the Club’s new font and tower setup for serving kegs at events. Without Matt’s time and skills the Club fonts would not be what they are, as getting them done professionally was too expensive to be viable. Thanks for all your work Matt. We really appreciate it.

That’s a wrap

And that was FY 23-24 for the Merri Mashers! We’ve already got some great stuff planned for the next twelve months. Thanks for being a member and helping make the Club what it is today. Now go have a homebrew!

The Merri Mashers Committee