It was a weekend in Greyton for Tim and myself, while Hester, who had drawn the short straw, stayed behind in Cape Town to keep all our regulars happy on Friday and Saturday.
The Grumpy Gits got off to a flying start with lunch at Old Potters as a warm up to an afternoon of beer judging for the Homebrew competition.
Some great beers – and some not-so-good ones to be honest – and plenty of time to catch up with fellow judges while we sipped the beers and made our notes. Hats off to Andy and Craig for their management of the entire judging process, including the regional rounds.
After that, it was out into the cut and thrust of homebrew clubs from around the country, all trying to convince the punters that they had the best beers on offer. Fortunately, 
the standard was pretty high and pretty much everyone fell foul of the generous tasters being offered at the various stands. We were looking for the best Saison and there were plenty of contenders.
Debate about beers and brewers continued well into the night around the braai, where we were joined by our housemate for the weekend, Juan Barnard. Things were a little more subdued the following morning while we enjoyed coffee and rusks before heading off to make last minute preparations at our stand.
Once we had sent photos to Hester for her approval of the set-up we were ready to pour the first beer of the day. We had Rauchbier, Dark Mild and Saisin on tap as well as Another G&T. With so many other beers available at the multitude of brewery stands it was perhaps not surprising that many people tracked down 
the G&T and it was our biggest seller of the day!
A big thank you to Chantel and Corné, and Andy who relieved us behind the bar and gave us a chance for a sit down and a bite to eat. Weather was fantastic – no wind, and warm but not too hot, Just hot enough to ensure visitors had a thirst that needed to be quenched.
By 7:00 p.m. we had had enough. It was getting dark and chilly but the party continued without us and we enjoyed an excellent meal with friends at one of the local restaurants.
Was it worth it? Financially, it was a disaster as usual. Too many breweries chasing too few punters. As an experience, it is second to none. Got to taste so great beers, meet some new friends and spend some quality time with the old ones.
Will we be back next year? Trevor has already asked us that question and we are just waiting for his phone call to confirm the date – although we suspect is will be around 1st April 2024.
See you there!
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