packed into the wine cave  at Robert Hall Winery
packed into the wine cave at Robert Hall Winery

This past week I attended the technical summit combo of the Northern and Southern California MBAA districts in Paso Robles.  The meeting was held underground in the wine cave at Robert Hall Winery and we had about 150 attendees. Yep, stuffed into their cave surrounded by barrels filled with wine not beer (though there was more than plenty of beer available to drink).  There were some excellent presentations given on all topics beer related including an excellent discussion on the barrel program at Stone Brewing by lead brewer Steve Gonzalez, a barley update from Mike Davis from AMBA  and a number of other speakers on water, yeast and hops.  And Dr. David Ryder of Miller-Coors had this hilarious clip as part of his talk on communication and perception:  We are Sinking.

Truly looking forward to this joint conference again in 2015!

A view of the vineyards, nice, tidy rows.
A view of the vineyards, nice, tidy rows.
a few samples at Firestone-Walker Brewing Company
a few samples at Firestone-Walker Brewing Company
Have you ever played a full size game of Beer Pong?  It's waaaaay better than Corn Hole.
Have you ever played a full size game of Beer Pong? It’s waaaaay better than Corn Hole.
Our gracious host on Saturday night, Barrelhouse Brewing Company
Our gracious host on Saturday night, Barrelhouse Brewing Company