Well, Philly Beer Week has come and gone, which means that the flurry of brewing competitions that was my first half of the year, is winding down. So far this year, I’ve entered five competitions – three of which, were AHA/BJCP category formats, while the other two were single-entry competitions. Here’s a little wrap up of the competitions so far this year:
· War of the Worts: This event that was hosted by Keystone Homebrew Supply was the biggest homebrewing competition (based on number of entries) on the East Coast ever, aside from the Sam Adams homebrewing competition. This meant that there would a tougher, larger field of competitors compared to other competitions that I had entered, prior to this. I ended up entering six beers into this competition and ended up getting some great feedback on all of my entries, but didn’t quite have enough to place in any of the categories. I did, however, manage to pull some solid scores – two in the high thirties, one in the mid thirties, and the rest in the mid twenties to low thirties. I have a feeling that two that scored in the upper thirties were close to placing, but just didn’t quite have enough to push them over the edge.
· Battle of the Homebrew Shops: This was a pretty cool concept that they did for the first time this year. Basically, each homebrewer would enter a beer with their local homebrew shop. The winners from each shop would advance to the second round to brew a beer using coffee (but no stouts or porters!). The only guideline for the first round was that it needed to be a session-strength beer (ABV needed to be 4.5% or lower), so it was pretty open stylistically. I ended up entering Theresa’s Ale in the first round and didn’t make it into the finals. It’s kind of a gamble with a competition like this, because the guidelines are so open. I was hoping to make it to the second round, but oh well – definitely looking forward to this competition coming back next year.
· NHC: This was the first year that I entered the National Homebrew Competition. I ended up putting in three entries – Moment of Silence, the blend of Moment of Silence and Moment of Violence, and Theresa’s Ale. I ended up getting two 29s and a 26 in the regional round. It was a little bit of a gut check considering the two Streetlight beers had scored in the thirties in the War of the Worts. However, it seemed like the scores were a bit tougher in NHC (based on a couple homebrewer friends of mine that had similar scores), and the beers that moved on to the finals needed to be in the 30s or higher. So with that in mind, I was fairly pleased with my performance for my first year entering NHC. Once again, no medals, but great feedback from the judges.
· Triumph Homebrew Competition: After making it to the final round in last year’s competition, I decided to do a variation of my Angry Rhino Black IPA (the beer I entered last year) to enter into this year’s competition. I ended up doing a saison version of the beer to mix it up a bit. Although I didn’t get past the first round this year, it was definitely a blast to attend and was much more organized and structured this year.
· Buzz Off: Hosted by the BUZZ Homebrew Club on the same day as the Triumph competition, I was not able to attend this year’s Buzz Off competition. However, I put in seven entries – including my first mead. I ended up getting second place for three of my beers in their respective entries – Belgian Rhino in Belgian Specialties, Moment of Silence in Other Smoked Beers, and the dry-hopped version of my Big Dog Barley Wine collaboration with my buddy Dan in American Barley Wines. On top of that, I got some great feedback on all of my entries. It was a great feeling to finally have a few entries hit home and place after having been in the middle of the pack or on the edge of placing for the last few competitions! Congrats to my buddy Jeremy, who also took home three medals in the same competition!
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| Buzz Off had some pretty cool medals this year. |
The Summer has been very busy (as usual) since then, with non-brewing-related activities (which will be summed up in post shortly to follow this one, hopefully). The next competition probably won’t roll around until early Fall. Until next time, raise a pint, and enjoy life!
Song of the Day: “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones
Beer of the Day: Ommengang Seduction
