Dondlelinger
Well-Known Member
I'm curious about whats the largest most well known home-brewing competition or more specifically who's the Wayne Gretzky(all time best) of home-brewers? :rockin:
Best Homebrewer? Biggest competion?
- Thread starter Dondlelinger
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Well... JZ is a really decorated homebrewer. He has a few awards for his beer.
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Dondlelinger
Well-Known Member
JZ?
If hes someone on this forum that's cool, but I'm seriously looking for like the best and most famous homebrewer of all time. Like someone who has won many, many brewing competitions.
If you believe that is JZ, can you tell me his actual full name so I can read a bit about him?
If hes someone on this forum that's cool, but I'm seriously looking for like the best and most famous homebrewer of all time. Like someone who has won many, many brewing competitions.
If you believe that is JZ, can you tell me his actual full name so I can read a bit about him?
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Dondlelinger
Well-Known Member
Well upon some research I think one of the largest and well known competitions is the AHA homebrew competition.(please correct me if I'm wrong)
Now to find out who has the best record within this competition.
Now to find out who has the best record within this competition.
Jamil Zainasheff. JZ.
Thanks Yoop. I should have done that.
Jamil, I guess you could add Gordon Strong. Probably the most famous homebrewer would be Charlie Papazian I guess. Denny Conn maybe? Michael Tonnsmier? There's a guy here in Michigan named Sully who sweeps just about every contest he enters, especially every one where the prize is a pro-am brewing gig...and we all think he needs to retire so we can have a shot.
I don't know what you're getting at, are you gonna try to take them down?
I don't know what you're getting at, are you gonna try to take them down?
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Dondlelinger
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys
Haha no, I don't think I can beat them with my coopers kit and kilo beer XD.. Just want to read some stuff about them and see if I can find any articles/books from them to learn more about the process. I like to learn from the best of the best, so I can better myself.
Haha no, I don't think I can beat them with my coopers kit and kilo beer XD.. Just want to read some stuff about them and see if I can find any articles/books from them to learn more about the process. I like to learn from the best of the best, so I can better myself.
Scruffy1207
Well-Known Member
Revvy said:
Wait it's not Revvy?
Frankly anyone who's gotten the Ninkasi award more than once could be put into an exclusive category. Jamil has that going for him (2 wins) and he's got more online media coverage. Gordon Strong took the Ninkasi three years in a row and he's a BJCP grand master 5 judge. Both are published authors on the topic of homebrewing.
Of course, some will argue winning homebrewing competitions doesn't mean you're better than some other homebrewer that doesn't fit competitions into their scope but really, this is the most accurate measuring stick we have.
Of course, some will argue winning homebrewing competitions doesn't mean you're better than some other homebrewer that doesn't fit competitions into their scope but really, this is the most accurate measuring stick we have.
+1
Ninkasi Award
The Ninkasi Award is the prize given by American Homebrewers Association for the brewer who gains the most points in the second round of the National Homebrew Competition judged at the National Homebrewers Conference. Points are gained from the brewer's winning entries in the 23 categories of beer and several categories of mead and cider. At least 2 points (1 bronze placement) must come from a beer entry. The winner of the Ninkasi Award is widely considered the best homebrewer of the year.
The Ninkasi Award is named in honor of Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer.
Past winners
1992 - Steve & Christina Daniel
1993 - Walter Dobrowsky
1994 - Michael Byers
1995 - Rhett Rebold
1996 - Tom Bergman & Chas Peterson
1997 - George Fix
1998 - Art Beall
1999 - Tom Plunkard
2000 - Joe Formanek
2001 - Brian Cole
2002 - Curt Hausam
2003 - Curt Hausam
2004 - Jamil Zainasheff
2005 - Paul Long
2006 - Joe Formanek
2007 - Jamil Zainasheff
2008 - Gordon Strong
2009 - Gordon Strong
2010 - Gordon Strong
Scruffy1207
Well-Known Member
I believe jamil does a show on the brewing network called Brew Strong, good show.
I would check out Gordon Strong's new book, Brewing Better Beer. If you want advice from a big time homebrewer. Or check out JZ and Palmer's Brewing Classic Styles.
IMO the best way to get the best information is to hang out here and read and learn. I've read Gordon's book and it's not bad, but almost all of the same information is here.
Furthermore, it's very hard to emulate a big time homebrewer's style because a lot has to do with feel and instinct. Even if you have the same equipment, brewers tend to do things a bit differently from each other. Gordon recognizes this and that's why his book is geared towards explaining how HE does it and why, but not so much "this is how you should do it."
In order to win all of those awards you really need to brew a LOT, and brew each style many times. They displays a full understanding of not just your equipment and process, but each beer style, and how recipe formulation can affect the final product. There are a TON of variables if you are shooting to do this.
My personal philosophy is to learn all I can and utilize that knowledge on my equipment and try to make the best of the few batches I brew. This is not going to get me a Ninkasi. But I'm always changing equipment and trying different recipes. I don't have a chance to perfect a style.
Once I have equipment that I'm comfortable with and makes my brew day as easy as I want it, then I'll probably start focusing in only on the recipes and gaining that "feel" for brewing great beer all the time.
IMO the best way to get the best information is to hang out here and read and learn. I've read Gordon's book and it's not bad, but almost all of the same information is here.
Furthermore, it's very hard to emulate a big time homebrewer's style because a lot has to do with feel and instinct. Even if you have the same equipment, brewers tend to do things a bit differently from each other. Gordon recognizes this and that's why his book is geared towards explaining how HE does it and why, but not so much "this is how you should do it."
In order to win all of those awards you really need to brew a LOT, and brew each style many times. They displays a full understanding of not just your equipment and process, but each beer style, and how recipe formulation can affect the final product. There are a TON of variables if you are shooting to do this.
My personal philosophy is to learn all I can and utilize that knowledge on my equipment and try to make the best of the few batches I brew. This is not going to get me a Ninkasi. But I'm always changing equipment and trying different recipes. I don't have a chance to perfect a style.
Once I have equipment that I'm comfortable with and makes my brew day as easy as I want it, then I'll probably start focusing in only on the recipes and gaining that "feel" for brewing great beer all the time.
Jamil Z. and John Palmer, of How to Brew fame. Great show.
It'll be a while till I try some more recipes & try to repeat the ones I really like. Not to mention learn more about what I can do to make them the best they can be. I'd love to take an extract brew to one of those & beat everyone. It has been done,& more than once. I still think my recombinant extract theory can work. But,like everyone else,read,learn, experiment, repeat.
Denny Conn is a very cool guy, and I'd recommend checking out his website, I think it's something like dennybrew.com. He's pretty humble, and doesn't toot his own horn at all, but if you ever have a question on beginning AG brewing and batch sparging (he basically wrote the book on batch sparging), he's very helpful. His HBT ID on the forum is simply Denny.
How could I forget John Palmer! He wrote the book on homebrewing that I use the most, and his first edition is free online: http://howtobrew.com/
He's also very laid back and very helpful, and is a great guy.
Jamil is also a goldmine of information. Jamil and John do Brew Strong together on The Brewing Network, if you like Podcasts. Also, a great podcast is Basic Brewing Radio, with host James Spencer. They are all on iTunes.
All of the brewing authors and experts I've ever met are very cool people and eager to share their info. Charlie Papazian, John Palmer, Jamil Zainasheff, Ray Daniels, Randy Mosher, Denny Conn- all awesomely friendly guys. I'd read anything by them, and highly recommend them as brewing idols!
Jamil and John have a book out called "Brewing Classic Styles" that is a great resource for brewing simple extract (and more advanced beers) for each beer style.
Randy Mosher's "Radical Brewing" is a great help and resource. Ray Daniels "Designing Great Beers" is really good for designing your own recipes.
Of course, Charlie Papazian's The Joy of Homebrewing is probably what got many of us started and is also a great resource.
As I mentioned earlier, Denny Conn's website is great for helping to see the equipment and technique in action. He's on the governing board of the AHA, but I've never heard of him entering competitions.
of course, winning AHA national homebrew competition is a great accomplishment, but I would say that most of those guys I mentioned (except for Jamil) don't enter and that's why you don't hear their names winning.
remilard
Well-Known Member
Best competition brewers in recent history, IMO.
Jamil Zainesheff, Gordon Strong, Norman Jufer, Kris England, Joe Formanek, Rodney Kibzey, Jon Plise, Mike McDole.
Giving a lot of weight to what I think are the two prizes people try the hardest to win (ninkasi and longshot) and also to the most competitive regional circuits (eg midwest HBOTY and California HBOTY).
AFAIK Norman Jufer hasn't won any of these but he wins at big competitions all over the country and is a factor in the NHC second round, year after year.
Well Denny Conn, John Palmer, Randy Mosher, Ray Daniels and Charlie Papazian are talented and accomplished people, none of them are great answers to the OP's questions. Ray Daniels did have non-trivial competition success, but not at the level of the people listed above.
Of course competition success is only an indicator of competition success and not worth as a human or whatever, but that is what the OP asked about.
Jamil Zainesheff, Gordon Strong, Norman Jufer, Kris England, Joe Formanek, Rodney Kibzey, Jon Plise, Mike McDole.
Giving a lot of weight to what I think are the two prizes people try the hardest to win (ninkasi and longshot) and also to the most competitive regional circuits (eg midwest HBOTY and California HBOTY).
AFAIK Norman Jufer hasn't won any of these but he wins at big competitions all over the country and is a factor in the NHC second round, year after year.
Well Denny Conn, John Palmer, Randy Mosher, Ray Daniels and Charlie Papazian are talented and accomplished people, none of them are great answers to the OP's questions. Ray Daniels did have non-trivial competition success, but not at the level of the people listed above.
Of course competition success is only an indicator of competition success and not worth as a human or whatever, but that is what the OP asked about.
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