First competition entered. results inside.

ok well I finally entered my first comp. a local brewclub has a comp every year and I decided to enter a beer to see...
well I entered a left hand milk stout clone.
I didn't place but there were over 70 beers in the category 13b

I got a score of 31.5 out of 50. (very good rating)
think im pleased with the score since it was my 1st. I didn't think I would score that high. and only 2 judges sampled the beer.
the one judge checked off ( Phenolic) but didn't say anything about the taste.

overall I would recommend anyone that is hesitant to try a comp to do it. the excitement of getting the paper in the mail and opening it to find the scores was awesome.

I am really considering entering a couple of contests this year. My LHBS has their annual contest and one of our brew pubs is also having one. The prize for best overall in the brew pub contest is to brew your beer on their system and serve it.

I'm hesitant because I've only been brewing a year. The LHBS contest will be very tough competition. I really want to enter just for the tasting notes. I'd like to know my beer doesn't completely suck

Nice job; 31.5 is a decent score. Finding out competition results is always fun. Love competitions that post results soon after judging. I've had decent results in the last few weeks including third-place BOS (319 entries) in one comp. Good collection of medals to start the season and found out I won a new stirplate for most points in one comp. Probably do about five more comps plus the NHC.

I agree. I was happy with a 33 I got. Its pretty exciting to get feedback,I knew of some minor errors in mine,but I did know it was a pretty good beer also.I've only entered one but will likely enter many more. The price of sending it and everything is worth getting those papers back-pretty exciting and you kind of feel accomplished of what you made especially when you feel like its not just an average beer.

Agreed - nice job. I entered my first competitions last spring and found it to be a new motivation in my brewing. I enjoy the challenge of brewing to styles, and it is fun to get the feedback and see what others think of your beer. I agree with Osagedr....many comps. do a great job of posting results quickly and some even do live postings on facebook/twitter as results are announced. As someone who lives 100's of miles from pretty much every competition I enter, I appreciate competitions that take the time and effort to do those sorts of things. I entered a several comps in February, got one this weekend and NHC.... things slow down for a while at that point though.

Braufessor said:

...some even do live postings on facebook/twitter as results are announced...

Click to expand...

It's cool when they do this!

I threw my beers in the state fair in 2012 just to get tasting notes and ratings. I was stoked to find out my Barley Wine made best of show. This was only my 5th batch of beer. It took first in category, and 3rd overall, I was blown away to say the least. I encourage anyone to enter in comps, regardless of how long you have been brewing.