NHC v AHA

[mick02]

I was chatting to Dave Carpenter after Brewcon and I was championing the Irish homebrew scene. I told him that it was probably miles ahead of the States.

Anyway there was a bit of back and forth and I posed a challenge to him.

What if we got the best homebrewers in Ireland to make Irish style beers (Irish Red, Irish Stout for example) and US style beers (AIPA, APA etc) and we got the best American homebrewers to do the same and we squared off against each other in a Ryder Cup type format.

Dave was genuinely excited about this challenge and put me in touch with Matt Bolling (AHA events & membership coordinator) and John Moorhead (competition organizer) to work out the details.

John Moorehead got back in touch with me and this is what he had to say ...

Hi Mick!

I like the idea of international collaboration, competition, and celebration of homebrewing.

As far as feasibility on shipping, international entrants ship their beer to NHC sites every year, some just know how to do it better than others.

To continue the brainstorming: who would be eligible to enter the competition (perhaps NHC Final Round winners? A lottery?)? Would be alternate countries each year? To keep it manageable, an entry cap of X would need to be put in place. Also, what do the winner's get out of it?

I didn't have exact answers to John's questions but I did suggest a Ryder cup format which is almost like a match format where beers square off against each other.

There is lots of details to figure out but I was wondering if anyone has any ideas based on John's questions above.

Personally I'd love to put my APA or AIPA up against the AHA and teach him a thing or two (or get a dressing down!)

I'd love to get some feedback on this idea.

[Pheeel]

We'd have to have it in Iceland to be fair to all 🤣

[mick02]

We'd have to have it in Iceland to be fair to all 🤣

I was thinking that myself.

[brian_c]

Ha ha, and maybe get WOW air to sponsor it.

[Roo]

Brilliant. I love spanking a Yank

[brian_c]

RE: shipping, I wonder if any Irish craft breweries that ship to the US, or importers that ship from the US could help?

[irish_goat]

We have plenty of NHC members who fly to the US for work. Wouldn't be too much effort to pay for an extra checked bag.

[Simon_]

We'd have to have it in Iceland to be fair to all 🤣

They're Bobby Fischer and we're the Soviets

[molc]

I think it's an excellent idea.

We don't really have a final round with the nationals right now, so it could be an interesting idea to have all the medal winners go through to a brewoff for this with the best entries going head to head internationally with this Ryder cup format.

[mick02]

We have plenty of NHC members who fly to the US for work. Wouldn't be too much effort to pay for an extra checked bag.

If a member was willing to drag a bag full of beer around the airport. Also I need to check the legal terms of bringing alcohol into the States. We don't want to end up on the US watchlist.

I'll do some digging on this and see if I can get a private shipping company or courier to clarify rates/terms etc.

[mick02]

I think it's an excellent idea.

We don't really have a final round with the nationals right now, so it could be an interesting idea to have all the medal winners go through to a brewoff for this with the best entries going head to head internationally with this Ryder cup format.

Yeah I hadn't thought about how exactly the brewers would be picked. Perhaps past champion brewers could be asked or BOS brewers. Maybe a lottery or we pick from brewers that finish with beer above a certain threshold? The finer details need to be hammered out but I guess coming up with a proposal to bring to our American friends is the first step.

[imark]

You're a glutton for punishment 🤣

[mick02]

You're a glutton for punishment 🤣

I am a fool

[danger_zone]

What about each club nominating one of their members. That way all clubs are represented?

[Roo]

What about each club nominating one of their members. That way all clubs are represented?

Couldn't have put it better myself!