Brooklyn Wort 2013?

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motorneuron

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I just found out that I was fortunate to be selected as one of the 30 brewers for this year's Brooklyn Wort (which apparently is on September 8th now, not August 17th). Anyone else brewing for this? I've never been to one of these things; what's it like? I understand from looking at last year's thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f209/2012-manhattan-wort-brewers-353032/) that decoration may be involved?

I have a few batches going now that, if good, I might enter, but there's also potentially time to brew something new if it'll have a quick turnaround. So, you know, probably not that oaked imperial oyster lambic, but 3 months is decent for your more straightforward stuff.
 
I was selected too, my first comp entry. I haven't been to Brooklyn Wort before, so I can't contribute much more than that. I'm interested to pick up the score sheets and see any comments.

I'm kind of pissed they changed the date though. I'm getting married on Sept 7th, so making it on the 8th might be a tough call. Or at least a tough sell to the fiance.
 
Haha, I also am attending a wedding on September 7th (though not my own), so the 8th isn't great for me either. But all's fair in love and beer, or something. This will also be my first competition, so I have no expectation of doing well; I just think it will be fun.

My impression from reading around a little is that people tend to make weird things. I guess that makes sense, given that it's an "anything goes," non-BJCP contest. I still can't decide if that means I should try to make something truly odd, or if I should just emphasize making something that I think is my best showing, objectively speaking. I guess I feel like it's more in the spirit of things to go a bit outside the box, but I don't really have any experience with that yet. We'll see!
 
I'm sure it's a mix. I saw that an oyster stout won it last year.

What beer did you enter for the first round? Mine was a session IPA based on a recipe from this site. My main brew buddy submitted one of our saisons too, but didn't get picked.
 
For the first round I submitted my version of the rye saison that's on this site and very popular (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/how-rye-i-am-rye-saison-2011-1st-place-best-show-hbt-comp-238831/). I didn't change the grain bill at all, though I did use slightly different sugar, a different yeast, and some proprietary spicing (nothing too crazy, and nothing that stood out).

I think in the end I'll just use whatever I have on hand that tastes the best in August. I do have a few ideas for some short-turnaround beers. My biggest problem for new batches is that I don't have real temperature control, so it'll be hard for me to do much over the summer that isn't saison.
 
Hah, yea same problem here. First thought was saison, but now you've got me wondering how many others are having the same thought.
 
Decided to bow out from this one. Sucks, but probably the right choice. Best of luck to you, interested to hear how it goes. Maybe there are still some other HBT entrants lurking.
 
That's too bad! I guess it's pretty poor timing with your wedding--unfortunate they changed the date. But on the bright side, at least now you won't have to brew an oyster kolsch to grab the judges' attention.
 
I'm in this contest too, only my second entry into a comp and I'm psyched to have been selected for the next round. However I am struggling a bit with deciding what to brew, like you other posters out there. A few weeks ago I brewed up the wookey jack clone that's posted on the boards here, so that's sitting around in secondary waiting for a keg and some dry hops...may qualify as "out of the box" enough to turn some heads. But i'm still feeling as though I should do another, or two more, brews as backup in case that one doesn't really shape up to be my best effort come september. Any inspiration out there lurking in the dark that someone wants to shed some light on?

I've got the stuff for this one and decided early on I was going to make it for Brooklyn Wort but now I'm thinking it's not "unique" enough. I think what bothers me most is I just don't know what the judges are going to be looking for: a well brewed beer or something well brewed that also stands out as being enough out of style to be daring.

Thoughts?
 
My guess is that excellence is a necessary condition for doing well, and weirdness is gravy. I'm guessing that the beers that place will all be excellent. Among those, it might be that the one that is weirdest wins. But since I can't reliably produce excellent beer, I'm trying to focus on getting something that is without flaws and is really enjoyable to drink; I don't have the luxury to know how to do that and ALSO make something that is wild and crazy.

All that said, I do have a few things going that are not totally straightforward, either--a 100% brett saison, a made-up Kentuckyish common infulenced thing, a Belgian dark strong, and an RIS. If those turn out well, I'll enter them. So if they all wind up weird, I will probably make something hoppy at the last minute (that is, the first week of August) and hope for the best!
 
All that said, I do have a few things going that are not totally straightforward, either--a 100% brett saison, a made-up Kentuckyish common infulenced thing, a Belgian dark strong, and an RIS. If those turn out well, I'll enter them. So if they all wind up weird, I will probably make something hoppy at the last minute (that is, the first week of August) and hope for the best!

I agree that well-brewed beers should come out on top. If there is some part of the rating that is for 'originality', it is probably a smaller percentage and may end up being the tie-breaker.

What are you using in your saison? Commercial yeast or dregs? I've only used 3711 so far and am interested in trying out other yeast options for saisons.
 
The date's coming up. You guys know what you are entering?

I'm still bummed I had to back out, but looking forward to the next round already.
 
Yeah, the date is coming up. I am 80% sure that I'll be entering a Belgian dark strong I brewed in June and July, but I'm a little nervous because (for the first time ever) I had a bottle bomb. It was just one bottle, but I am not excited about the prospect of (1) transporting or (2) serving such potentially overcarbonated beer. I think I may have miscalculated my sugar amount, though I have to go back and look at my notes from bottling. Rookie mistake! I do have a backup plan, which is a Belgian IPA.
 
Hm, have you checked/tasted other bottles to see how carbonated they are? Haven't brewed a BDSA before, but I thought they are generally aged longer than that.

I had my first bottle bomb recently too, but it wasn't my fault. Brewed a Belgian Wit with a buddy, but he bottles it on his own. Brew is really tasty, it's too bad..
 
Actually, I did just check another bottle, and it was not at all over-carbed--if anything, it was a little flat. I think it may just be that, in using old bottles, I used a slightly compromised one. But I'm feeling better now that I am pretty sure it's not an epidemic.

I think many Belgian dark strongs are often aged for a while, but because this one is neither extremely strong (~8.5%) nor extremely dark, I think it'll still offer good drinking right away. The flavors are pretty well integrated from what I can tell, not that I have much experience with aged vs young beers of this type. I did very lightly oak it, too, which initially made me think it'd need some more aging, but the oak is subtle enough that it's not a problem.
 
Never a poster on HBT, mostly a lurker but saw this thread and since (1) I'm competing in the Brooklyn Wort and (2) my buddy FreshBrew was in here for a minute figured I'd wish you gentlemen/women best of luck next weekend. My first competition as well so I'm looking forward to it. Having just switched over to brewing all grain full time in April I brewed up a bunch of fairly straightforward beers for this back in June/July and decided to enter an American Stout based on JZ's recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. Maybe not as sexy for the "weirdness" factor but I just wanted something good and I think I succeeded to my liking. Ended up with a few cases of decent IPA, Amber and Blonde as a result so no complaints here! We'll see how it shakes out but I'm just looking forward to hanging out and meeting a few folks like yourselves.

Cheers!
 
Hey, well good luck to you! I also made a few different things, but I ultimately settled on this dark strong. I definitely learned a thing or two about my process and recipe formulation while doing it, not to mention the massive quantity of beer I now have stockpiled. I have no illusions that I'll win anything, but I'm excited to see the range of great homebrew--and to meet nerds, of course!
 
Not going to lie, it was awesome, sorry the timing didn't work out for you but congrats on getting married! I guess it didn't hurt that I got 2nd place in "best of show" and great feedback from the judges and crowd at my first competition. Met motorneuron and enjoyed a dark belgian strong ale as well as many other fine beers, the turn out was great, lots of nice folks and tasty beers! Can't wait until the next competition...cheeers
 
Hey, congrats on the second place!! I don't know if we actually met--did you meet my girlfriend and co-brewer? My memory might just be dimmed by all the beers I tried. There were some really impressive ones, though I wish I had gotten to try more--personal highlights for me were a rye IPA and the sour wit from up front. I am also happy with the feedback I got from the judges; the scores were pretty good, and they gave me some tips that I agree with. Plus it was a great time! My voice was almost gone by the end, not to mention my palate.
 
Thanks man, I was really happy, the shock kind of settled in on the drive home, certainly whet my appetite to enter future events. I especially enjoyed one like this that were so open and fun. It was great meeting lots of cool people and I agree, I definitely talked A LOT.

I thought we met, I came over to your table (#9 or 10 in the corner right?) and mentioned this thread and thought you knew what I as saying. It was a guy and a girl and we talked about the #8 table and their pro laser cut sign?

Agreed on the sour wit up front, I think that was maybe my favorite of what I tried, unfortunately it seems I missed all the award winners, would have liked to sample those but most of what I tasted was really enjoyable.
 
Ah! Now I remember, yeah. Sorry! I wish I had gotten a taste of your beer. Yeah, that was me at #10.

Being at the competition has definitely inspired me to make some more beer. The problem is that I made like six batches over the summer, and I still don't even have the bottle capacity for all of it right now (some stuff is still sitting in primary or secondary). I suppose this is what people with a predilection for insufferable phrases would call "a good problem to have."
 
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