Pilsner Urquell Homebrew Contest - Page 12

**pjj2ba** · 08-09-2011, 03:41 AM

fastricky, myself and michaeltrego at the NYC stop of the PU masterhomebrew competition

Holy crap! Us with our 1st and 2nd place awards (the key is to the brewery)

**Champurrado** · 08-09-2011, 09:41 AM

Congratulations!

mklawz · 08-09-2011, 12:31 PM

Hey congrats! Looks like fun.

I was wondering if you can give more details on the evening. What time did it run to? Was the food and beer complementary or did it have to be purchased?

Was the winning beer a spot-on clone of Pilsner Urquell, or was it just a 'really good pilsner'??

Thanks, looking forward to Friday, we just need to plan for the evening accordingly.

Mischief_Brewing · 08-09-2011, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacko623

Hey dude! A brewclub member and I sat next to her tonight! Unfortunately none of us won

The winner and the runner-up mentioned they were both on this forum. I wonder if they'll post. Congrats guys! A huge accomplishment!

Thanks for including her in your group! She seemed to have a good time, despite not winning...

And congrats to the top two!

Oldsock · 08-09-2011, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjj2ba

My tweaks were mostly to the grain bill, with a little to the hops. Oh, and a simple infusion (but step mash) one over a single decostion (mike in 2nd) and a triple for the guy who took third.

Whew!

Congrats! Care to share your recipe, interested to hear what the grailbill was. I went the traditional triple decoctionroute, fun to try once, but not something I want to make a habit of.

**pjj2ba** · 08-09-2011, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mischief_Brewing

Thanks for including her in your group! She seemed to have a good time, despite not winning...

And congrats to the top two!

I'm sorry that our group of HBTers didn't get to meet the other group of HBTers. It was a little crowded in there.

The actual judging was supposed to start at 6:30 but was a little late after comments by PU's head brewer. I believe they divided the beers into two sets, with pairs of judges tasting a set. The head brewer tasted everything and had the final say. By 8:30 the judges had tasted them all, and were taking piss breaks, so those of us waiting for the same got to talk to them a bit. Then they went back and did more tasting of their top choices and about 30 min. after the targeted announcement time (8:30) they announced 5,4,3,2, and then one. I had thought they were just going to announce the top five in no particular order, but they gave the plaque to #3 and I realized, nope, this is it, in order. They called Mike's name and number and I thought wow, that's fantastic! Then they called my number and name and Holy S@@T!

Good luck to everyone. You'll have a great time!!
The food (appetizers) was set up buffet style and was free. We were given 2 tickets per person for beer when we came in. After that, additional beers had to be purchased. Of course this may vary for you guys depending on the venue. The PU they had on tap really was fantastic, likely the best in the States. Maybe PU has a similar set up at the other venues as well if the rest of you are lucky.

**unionrdr** · 08-09-2011, 01:59 PM

A little

,but I felt the same knock-me-over-with-a-feather shock when I won best in class with my 94 Probe SE at Midwest Mazdafest last year. I was standing there,shell shocked,when they announced my car's #. My wife said "go on,baby! You won!". "Who...me?" "Yeah,baby you did it!". Lord,that's a good feeling! 1st time out for me too. I'm genuinely happy for ya,man! Great accomplishment! That "arena love" is a wild feeling indeed.

**pjj2ba** · 08-09-2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldsock

Congrats! Care to share your recipe, interested to hear what the grailbill was. I went the traditional triple decoctionroute, fun to try once, but not something I want to make a habit of.

I'm not sure what kind of sharing I can do at this point. I haven't closely read the fine print - yet. I think I can give a few detail though.

NO decoction!!!!!!. I added two specialty malts to compensate. I did do a step mash (direct heating), including a protein rest. I backed off on the Saaz, and added another good blending hop. I also added a little rye to give back some spiciness lost by dropping the Saaz. I was hoping to tweak the spicy character of the beer, and apparently it worked.

One question I still have is what were they looking for? When we got there, their little printed sheet we got suggested it was a "can you brew the perfect PU clone", and my heart sunk a little. Then the "organizer" a top Miller/Coors person (the PU distributor), said much the same, and again my heart sunk a little more. We decided though that, no, they said 15% artistic impression.

Mike had kindly brought an extra bottle of his version which he shared with us. His beer was definitely not a PU clone, but obviously pleased the judges enough to earn second (1st from one judge). I had thought my beer was definitely different from PU, and it is from what I am used to PU tasting like, but compared to what we were drinking at Hospoda, now I'm not so sure. I'll have a taste when I get home tonight.

Oh, and as they were judging, our group decided that if nothing else, it was ubber cool to have the head brewer of PU tasting our beers

**fastricky** · 08-09-2011, 02:13 PM

Phil and Mike, you guys rock!! A big congrats and it was great hanging with you celebs!

Look forward to the next time!

**pjj2ba** · 08-09-2011, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastricky

Phil and Mike, you guys rock!! A big congrats and it was great hanging with you celebs!

Look forward to the next time!

Let's make the next time at your brewery, a year from now!!!