Hello from Maidstone!

[Kentish Mike]

Hi all,

I've been homebrewing intermittently for over a decade now, tried my hand at beers, ciders and country wines with varying degrees of success.
I often lurk on here and read through forums for troubleshooting and thought it was about time I signed up and started contributing!

Cheers

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum Mike.

 

[Kentish Mike]

Thanks!

 

[The Baron]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Kentish Mike]

Does anyone know of a homebrew club/group that do competitions/bottleswaps/group buys in Kent or The South-East?

 

[The Baron]

I do not know of local ones but some are run on this forum by members every month or so and they swap beers and judge them. Search the forum and you will find them then contact the relevant member.

Competition Results 2022​

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/forums/competitions-meetups-bottle-swaps-events.25/Search this thread above

 

[Kentish Mike]

Thanks, I'll go check them out.

 

[Wrastler]

Hiya Mike welcome aboard!
I'm the same, I'd been reading this forum for years until recently when I decided to finally join.

 

[Kentish Mike]

Hiya Mike welcome aboard!
I'm the same, I'd been reading this forum for years until recently when I decided to finally join.

Cool, thanks. Have you participated in any of the bottle swaps or competitions yet? I'm interested in getting into that side of the hobby.

 

[GazzaW57]

Hi all,

I've been homebrewing intermittently for over a decade now, tried my hand at beers, ciders and country wines with varying degrees of success.
I often lurk on here and read through forums for troubleshooting and thought it was about time I signed up and started contributing!

Cheers

Welcome to the forum. They’re a good bunch on here with a wealth of experience.

 

[Braufather]

Does anyone know of a homebrew club/group that do competitions/bottleswaps/group buys in Kent or The South-East?

There is one in north West Kent, that posts sometime If you have a search on here.

 

[YeastFace]

Whereabouts in Maidstone are you?

@Hazelwood Brewery is also in Maidstone, sure he'll check in with you when back from his hols.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Yes, I live in Maidstone. Hi Mike!

The North Kent homebrew club is very informal and meets monthly in Greenhithe.

Most people on this forum do informal bottle swaps, you normally just ask someone if they fancy a swap. You can also join one of the more organised swaps in the competitions section you’ve been directed to. There’s a tropical stout swap in flight if you just happen to have one brewed and a Sectret Santa swap about to be announced.

The forum runs a monthly competition and again you’ll find these in the competitions section. Lagers are next and need to be submitted to the volunteer judge by the end of November. Many of us also take part in more public competitions too and again we post notifications in the competitions section. The next one of these is the Scottish Nations in January and I think there are still a few places left.

 

[dave_77]

Does anyone know of a homebrew club/group that do competitions/bottleswaps/group buys in Kent or The South-East?

Hi , welcome to the forum.

Below is the link to the thread for the homebrew club that @Hazelwood Brewery gave details on. I do try and remember to post updates on the next meeting the week before so keep eye out if you fancy coming along
Thread 'North Kent Homebrew Club' North Kent Homebrew Club

We did have a meeting a couple of weeks ago(sorry forgot to post) so I would have thought we will meet up again in a couple of weeks.

 

[KentishMan]

Welcome to another Kentish man
Good to have you on board.

 

[Rwilts]

Welcome

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Mike, @Alastair70 has just started the Secret Santa swap thread. Head to the competitions section or follow the link below…

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/secret-santa-2022.100625/

 

[RichieBeer]

@Kentish Mike Is the homebrew shop by the Maidstone prison still going? I'm in Ashford now and supplies are pretty sparse around here

 

[Kentish Mike]

Thanks for all the information and help guys! I'll have to see about making my way over to Greenhithe for one of these meets soon then!
Richie Beer, I'm not sure but I don't think so. Tbh I purchase all of my supplies on line now, as I couldn't find a homebrew store nearby by googling.

 

[Kentish Mike]

I just had a look online and the Maidstone Wine Making Centre seems to still be in operation... I'll head over there next time I have a chance and see.