CASK Beer Blitz @ Hampton, VA

I just entered my American Pale Ale in the 7th annual CASK Beer Blitz in Hampton, VA - anyone else gunna be there?

It's my first competition, so I'm pretty pumped on it :rockin:

I'm contemplating entering three beers. I went two medals for two entries last year, so it's hard not to consider entering

If you wanna enter, the deadline for CASK to have everything they need (the beers, entry fee, recipe sheet, etc), needs to be in by Nov. 23. Hope you decide to enter! For $7 an entry, it's hard to say no!

I dont have much ready, but i might stick a beer or two in for it.

I'm putting in 5--IIPA, Tripel, Pumpkin Saison, ESB, and BBRIS. I'll be judging too. CASK is awesome!

My club has maybe 10 others doing 2-5 entries each.

I've decided on 5 as well. I'll be going Mild, Sweet Stout, Saison, Tripel, and Straight/Unblended Lambic (I just fill two bottles straight out of the fermenter, it tastes awesome, and fortunately the style is traditionally uncarbonated )

Sigh...I just opened one of the beers from the batch I submitted and it was over carbonated - not a bottle bomb, but the glass was 1/2 foam. Maybe the judges will like a beer with a lot of head. Haha!

This is my first competition, so I'm not sure how the whole event progresses. Can anyone give me a rundown as to what time the judging takes place and how long the whole thing goes for? Thanks guys/gals!

I'll be entering 3 beers myself. Entered 2 last year and got nada. This year I'm entering 2 of my best and keeping my fingers crossed!

mrphillips said:

If you wanna enter, the deadline for CASK to have everything they need (the beers, entry fee, recipe sheet, etc), needs to be in by Nov. 23. Hope you decide to enter! For $7 an entry, it's hard to say no!

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Do you regularly submit recipe sheets with your entries? I could see it being important in 20 or 23 but not so much inthe others. I always think it would prejudice anyone looking at it.

BTW... I'm def. not protective of my recipes...share and share alike.

Hey phillips,

You can remove some of the carbonation by popping the cap off and letting them sit for a bit then recapping. I had to do it with a RIS I overshot on. Put the bottles in something to collect in case of a spillover, and do like a 6 pack at a time....then just recap.

Thanks for the advise. I've already shipped them off to CASK, so I'll just have to let it ride at this point.

As far as the recipe sheet goes, since this is my first contest, I wanted to make sure all my I's are dotted and T's crossed.

mrphillips said:

Thanks for the advise. I've already shipped them off to CASK, so I'll just have to let it ride at this point.

As far as the recipe sheet goes, since this is my first contest, I wanted to make sure all my I's are dotted and T's crossed.

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I was just curious. I've entered several contests but never understood what the benefit was in including recipe info.

If you make it to the final round of NHC, they require a recipe. Otherwise, I usually don't submit a recipe. I don't recall another BJCP comp I've entered ever requiring one.

I just sent a new homebrew in this weekend, too. I can usually find a local comp for a new brew, but there's nothing going on now, so I shipped my beer to Hampton. I'll say this, I wish competitions would come up with a more subtle place to ship beer in to. Going with "7th Annual CASK Homebrew Fest" or whatever on the recipient is a tough sell when you've got to tell the lady at Fedex that you're shipping a box of books.

I am not very confident in any of the three that I have right now (one is taking it's sweet time carbing up), but I put all three in last night.

american pale ale....or british pale if it doesnt carb.
robust porter
russian imperial stout

The die has been cast.
Brown Porter
American Brown Ale
Oktoberfest/Märzen

Good luck to all who entered. I was glad to see that a lot of vendors were willing to act as drop offs this year. Considering its so close to where I work it was cool to be able to drop my bottles off at Alewerks. Saved me $20 in shipping too :rockin:

Just an update--looks like just under 500 entries (489 last I heard) from more than 23 states!

Awesome! Long live this wonderful hobby! I'm counting down the days.

How long does the event usually last? All day?

According to the competition director, they'll have some flights judged Fri night. Then approx 8-5 on Saturday. Hope I don't get Belgian Specialty or Strong Ales first thing in the morning again... : /

Woohoo! Nothin' like a good bottle o' Breakfast!

The old country phrase, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere," needs to be revisited. Haha.

Good luck all, I hope you get second!

J/K, I am looking for some solid feedback mostly, but I would love for my RIS to do well, as I put so much time into getting them carbed right. I will drink one tonight for well wishes!

With the whole event going from 8 to 5, do they tell you when they will be judging the various styles? I only have one entered, and 8 hours is an awfully long time to wait...plus with all the sampling I plan on doing, I might not even remember winning

If anyone's going, can you take a pic of the winner's list and post it? Or maybe just post a link to the results? Thanks.

FarmerTed said:

If anyone's going, can you take a pic of the winner's list and post it? Or maybe just post a link to the results? Thanks.

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Last year I recall the winners being posted on the website within a day or two of judging.

Qhrumphf said:

Last year I recall the winners being posted on the website within a day or two of judging.

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That's correct. I think it was up on Sunday.

Are there tastings there? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

If I can, I'll post a pic... But CASK is really good about posting results.

Morning sessions cover most style, with cider, mead, specialty & wood/smoke beers in the afternoon IIRC.

The tasting room is open tomorrow; we'll be judging in the brewery area.

If anyone pukes, please post that pic!

I hate this waiting part...

Just think; if we don't place...we get to wait a month for the score sheets!

I entered my first competition beer, a Belgian strong dark I make as a Christmas present to my friends each year. If it places i will get to modify the label, so I've been refreshing their homepage all morning!

Here's a link to the homepage; I wouldn't count on it being updated today. But if it is updated, please post a link to the results page. Thanks!

Edit: the above link goes to the results!

Well, results are up. My Saison took a Gold and my Lambic a Bronze, so two medals out of 5 entries, and I'm not gonna complain.

Congrats Alex.

Nice job! No medal for my Belgian Strong Dark but I'm looking forward to some truly objective criticism when the score sheets arrive.

Maybe I could up my game if there is a good homebrew club in nova? I see Alexandria and Woodbridge posters on this page of the thread. I'm in falls church near Annandale. Any suggestions?

rebrandsoftware said:

Maybe I could up my game if there is a good homebrew club in nova? I see Alexandria and Woodbridge posters on this page of the thread. I'm in falls church near Annandale. Any suggestions?

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Just sent you a PM.

WooHoo! My American Pale Ale took 3rd place! Not bad for my first competition.

BOOM Goes the DYNAMITE!

Took Silver for my American Brown Ale out of 31 entries!

No Joy on the O-fest and Brown Porter but still stoked to see the score sheets.

Congrats Q and everybody else