Competition Update

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! 

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

Looking Back, Leaping Forward

Time for the obligatory retrospective on 2011 / goal setting for 2012 post.  2011 was definitely a massive year for me, complete with getting married and getting a new job.  It was certainly the most important year of my life!  It also was a great year for completing goals that I set for myself, especially on the brewing front.  I’m looking to keep that momentum going into 2012!

Goals from 2011

I did not meet my goal for fitness in 2011.  I had actually lost a fair amount of weight before the wedding – not the 20 pounds that I had set as a goal, but definitely around 10.  Then, I quickly gained that weight back and am now back up to about the same weight I was at last year.  Most of this can be attributed to me getting busy, falling out of the swing of working out, and having other priorities the last several months. 

On the brewing front, I actually exceeded the goals I set for myself last year.  I had set a goal of brewing 10 beers, and I actually brewed 16 different beers.  I was extremely happy to get that many in.  I learned a lot from all these beers and got to try out a lot of new ingredients.  It also helped me work out the kinks and let me experiment with ideas and see what worked well (dry hopping with orange zest in Theresa’s Ale) and what didn’t work as well (flavoring with roasted bananas in the mash in my Banana Bread Ale).

The other end of my brewing goal was to enter in at least one brewing competition.  I ended up entering four different beers into competition (three into Buzz Off, and one into the Preston and Steve Homebrew Competition).  I even managed to take home a blue ribbon in the English Pale Ale category for the Bass Ale clone that I brewed with my buddy Keith!

Goals for 2012

I am definitely planning on continuing the fitness goal theme and try to lose at least 10 – 15 pounds this year.  This will get be down to a weight where I want to be.  I really want to get back into hiking and I may even pick up a bike to keep in shape.  I will hopefully get back into running a little bit too to stay in shape (running is also a great way to exercise my dog Abby).

On the brewing side, I am not looking to significantly increase my production compared to last year.  I’m thinking that anywhere in the neighborhood of 15 – 20 different beers (which will not all be full batches) will keep me plenty busy.  Instead, I want to try to have a little more focus on building a bit more individual brewing style and really focus on technique this year.  I feel like a lot of my brewing efforts last year went into trying a bunch of different styles, trying some concepts that were in my head, and finding a handful of recipes that I want to repeat on a somewhat regular basis (at least annually).  I learned a whole lot by doing this – some good techniques, and some bad.  However, I do feel like a lot of my brewing this past year lacked focus, so this year I really want to take what I learned last year and expand on it.  I want to build better grain bills, make sure I have healthy fermentations every time (probably the most important thing you can do as a brewer), and have a little more focus and cohesion in my brewing portfolio.  That’s not to say I don’t want to experiment or branch out into more styles.  On the contrary, I most certainly want to experiment and branch out into more styles.  However, I want to make sure that I am approaching new styles and experiments in a well thought-out manner using the lessons that I’ve learned, and ensure that they fit in with my style as a brewer.  In other words, I don’t want to just wing it to get a concept out of my system.  Now, when you’re setting goals, you’re supposed to make them measurable and quantifiable so you can compare your actual results against your goals.  Obviously, I haven’t done that yet in this little rant, so let’s get down to the nitty gritties.

For starters, I want to use a yeast starter in all of my full batches of beer that are going to be over 5% ABV (which is most of my beers).  One of the things that I have neglected as a homebrewer, is the importance of pitching a healthy number of yeast cells into the beer.  Have a strong, healthy fermentation, reduces lag time, decreases off-flavors, and improves the overall quality of the beer.  Healthy fermentations make the difference between good beer and great beer.

On the competitive side, I would like to enter at least two competitions again this year.  Not only did I have a blast at the couple competitions I entered last year, but I also got some great feedback on my beer, which improved me as a brewer.  The more beers I can get feedback on from trained judges, the better.  While placing in these competitions would be fantastic, it’s a secondary concern to me – the main purposes are to network with other brewers and to get feedback on my beers.

I also want to brew at least three collaborations with other brewers this year.  Everyone has their own setup, techniques, and styles that they use in homebrewing.  One of the best ways to grow as a brewer is to collaborate with others and see how they do things.  I am by no means an expert brewer, so brewing with others will be a great learning experience and a great way to brew something that pushes my style further as a brewer.

I really want to get a bit more into cooking with, and pairing food with, beer this year.  Again, this one is tough to put into quantifiable terms.  I will set a goal to make at least three dinners that are four, or more, courses, pairing each course with a different beer.   Also, in general, I want to start cooking more with beer (i.e. using beer in marinades and in the cooking process).

Alright, enough talk about goals – go do something productive, like drink a beer!  (Which, by the way, if you aren’t drinking a beer while reading any of my posts, I don’t know how you get through my dry-ass writing.)  Cheers, and good luck with those resolutions!

Song of the Day: “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion

Beer of the Day: Witte from Brewery Ommegang