Hoppy Ale Competition

Well,

The stewarding was pretty fun. For the most part I got to sample all the beers that were submitted. We didn't interact with the judges except to give them the beers. It was really professionally done for the most part. The brew men really stepped up for this competition, but all in all, the beers were all very good. There was a beer submitted by Catherall that definitely had some infections, but the rest were solid. The scores were still higher than I expected with the new BJCP judges, and there were definitely some judging groups that scored the beers more harsh than others, but they did a good job.

Schweit and Dobee, sorry your beers didn't make the cut but they were still very good. I'll let you know what I think may have happened. Schweit, your beer was the only 1 in the competition that didn't have any carbonation in the keg. Typically, we would just connect the hose that you provided, pour the beer until it was pretty clear and then serve it to the judges. Your keg did not pour at all. In fact, we had to hook up a CO2 tank and pressurize your keg. The beer was carbonated, but I think that oxygen could have entered your tank through the lid due to a lack of pressure. Dobee, your beer was extremely merky. I am not sure what it should look like. Even after we poured off 1/3 of a pitcher to clean it up, Rich still asked us to pour off some more just in an attempt to get it as clear as can be. Even after that, it was still very merky. What grains did you use? Those are just some of the things that could have contributed to a little lower score, but honestly the competition was tough and you both made some tasty beers. I was really sweating it as the last entrant to make the top 10, and that is one of the best beers I think I have brewed to date.

Brew men represent. I hope we will all be there for the judging, it will be a lot of fun!!!

I dry hopped in the keg and when I took out the hop bag (right before entering it) some of the hops fell in... That makes me feel good that the only belgium beer (even though it wasn't that belgium) Rich wanted to get in.....