HOPS-BOPS 2012 Results?

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No kidding. I am sure there is some difficult decision making to do, but they should just make a decision and be done with it at this point.

I'm holding out hope that they needed to discuss more this Wednesday, when their club meets apparently.

I also wonder if there's any chance they "punted" and contacted AHA and/or BJCP for guidance.

Heard anything, soonami?
 
I am sure they let dennis decker keeep all the awards he "earned". That is why they arent posting the results, HOPS is probably afraid of a revolte......i contacted the AHA and DFH to fill them in on this whole pile of crap
this is what the AHA had to say
I
just spoke with Dennis about his brew system, and he assured me that he uses his homebrew system in the basement of his house to produce the entries he sends to competitions. The web site is a marketing tool to gain account commitments for when his brewery actually becomes reality. As far as I am concerned, he is not breaking any rules with regard to the National Homebrew Competition.

I hope this has addressed your concerns. If not, please e-mail me directly at [email protected] . Thanks.

Havent herd back from DFH
 
I spoke with one of the organizers of the event. I'm not supposed to give too many details, but here are some problems they might be dealing with...
IF Dennis Decker swept the BOS and a decision was then made to DQ him, how will the new BOS winners be determined? They'd have to re-examine all scores, see who would've made the mini-BOS and rejudge from there. For some beers they may have a second beer left over to judge, but not for all.
This is also a problem in individual categories, because you can assume that if one guy sweeps BOS then it is likely he had many entries and many of those also could have placed.

There are a lot of issues to deal with and I'm glad I'm not the organizer, but I wish they would send out some explanation of what is going on so people aren't left in the dark.
 
Its lound and clear he cheated.....i am contacting all of the cordinators for the competitons i enter for the rest of the year to give them a heads up on decker....he cant keep doing this, flooding comps when he is " blatent about his intenetions.....Im sure HOPS has thier hand full......And i give the props for catching him and trying to make a stand
PS....my black IPA scored a 35 first time i brewed it......
pss, im a 3 gallon all grain stove top brewer
 
I'm holding out hope that they needed to discuss more this Wednesday, when their club meets apparently.

I also wonder if there's any chance they "punted" and contacted AHA and/or BJCP for guidance.

Heard anything, soonami?
I know they contacted AHA and BJCP officials for some help interpreting the rules of what qualifies as a home brew. I think this is a grey area because recently we've seen a lot of successful homebrewers take the next step to be a commercial brewer, notably Jamil Zainesheff and locally, Scott Rudich of Round Guys. However, in the rules for HOPS BOPS, it clearly says that the organizers of the competition have the ability to settle any questions or disputes and their ruling is final.

I am sure they let dennis decker keeep all the awards he "earned". That is why they arent posting the results, HOPS is probably afraid of a revolte......i contacted the AHA and DFH to fill them in on this whole pile of crap
this is what the AHA had to say
I
just spoke with Dennis about his brew system, and he assured me that he uses his homebrew system in the basement of his house to produce the entries he sends to competitions. The web site is a marketing tool to gain account commitments for when his brewery actually becomes reality. As far as I am concerned, he is not breaking any rules with regard to the National Homebrew Competition.

I hope this has addressed your concerns. If not, please e-mail me directly at [email protected] . Thanks.

Havent herd back from DFH
It would seem to by ber her own comments, that Janis should be on the side of disqualifying his homebrew from competition because using his homebrew and website as a "marketing tool" to get investors and distribution accounts is in my mind clearly a commercial purpose. This is Part I, 7(c), pertaining to what qualifies as homebrew:
Your homebrew cannot have been brewed on equipment used to brew beverages for any commercial purpose, whether for commercial research, production or any other purpose, including equipment at brew-on-premises establishments.

There are different interpretation of the rules. The brewer clearly thinks that what he is doing is okay. I tend to think that the rule means, you can't count something as homebrew if you are using it in anyway to make money. This means not just selling the beer, but fine tuning recipes specifically for commercial sale, entering the beer for advertising, using the competition to build a "brand" image, as a marketing tool to tell potential investors, "other people think my beer is good too, look at all these awards..."

Even if the AHA says this is legal, I don't think it passes the smell test. Just like SCOTUS Justice Potter Stewart has difficulty defining what is or isn't pornography, I think the line of reasoning he used of "I know when I see it," applies here as well. The words, actions and intentions here do not fit together into what a homebrewer is. Without the website and facebook page, then there might not be an issue, but the blatant use of commercial language, and self references as "headbrewer," calling the brewery a "local business," and directly telling the AHA that his website is a marketing tool screams to me that is his trying to become a professional, that is his intention. This is not a hobby, this is an attempt to make brewing a career.

Also, iirc the brewer in question did not win any categories that would've qualified him for the Extreme Homebrew Competition with DFH, so that is (fortunately) a non-issue.

I spoke with one of the organizers of the event. I'm not supposed to give too many details, but here are some problems they might be dealing with...
IF Dennis Decker swept the BOS and a decision was then made to DQ him, how will the new BOS winners be determined? They'd have to re-examine all scores, see who would've made the mini-BOS and rejudge from there. For some beers they may have a second beer left over to judge, but not for all.
This is also a problem in individual categories, because you can assume that if one guy sweeps BOS then it is likely he had many entries and many of those also could have placed.

There are a lot of issues to deal with and I'm glad I'm not the organizer, but I wish they would send out some explanation of what is going on so people aren't left in the dark.
Yes. This is the part I forgot to mention. If they are to disqualify a person that won a flight or category, they'll have to bump people up in each flight to determine who should then win each flight and then be eligible for the BOS. Since this was a two bottle contest, determining who should win each flight is easy because all the second bottles that lost the mini-BOS are still leftover. However, for the competition BOS, there a logistical problem because all the second bottles were used in that tasting. So then you'd have to get people to resubmit bottles for that round of tasting. Another possibility is not to have a BOS winner and rank everyone points for each flight to determine who wins each flight if an entry is disqualified.
 
If they contact the people that were in the BOS im sure they would have at least one bottle sitting around......i know im no considered with a score of 35 but i have a 22 and a 12 ounce in the celler:mug:
 
I really don't care about BOS, I'd rather have results without 'em than no results at all, but I'm not in the running anyways.

I don't really care about this Dennis guy anyways. The best beer should win, if that's his, then whatever. If you can't outbrew him, then he should keep his awards. This goes into a strange territory of thought policing. Maybe we should strip Jamil Zainasheff of his awards because of Heretic. The only way to cheat in a homebrew comp is to enter beer you didn't brew yourself or get special treatment from judges. Other than that, there's no reason you at home can't make just as good beer or better than this guy. If he's entering 20+ entries in small comps with investors covering entry fees, that's lame, and he should stop. But it isn't cheating. The event organizers should tell him that he shouldn't enter any more comps with these intentions, and call it a day.
 
If he's entering 20+ entries in small comps with investors covering entry fees, that's lame, and he should stop. But it isn't cheating. The event organizers should tell him that he shouldn't enter any more comps with these intentions, and call it a day.
I think that's why a lot of comps I've seen have a 'one per category' rule...IMO, more comps should have that rule. I think there should also be a limit as to how many entries each brewer may enter. There are enough comps all over the country (maybe even close to where you live) that, if you want feedback on 30 beers, you can get feedback on 30 beers.
 
Would you really want the win at this point? It's like the guy that came in second to Armstrong, or Paterno, et al. You win it by default. I would be happy you have score sheets at this point (hopefully the correct ones!), and leave it at that. Is it really worth the hassel?
 
Would you really want the win at this point? It's like the guy that came in second to Armstrong, or Paterno, et al. You win it by default. I would be happy you have score sheets at this point (hopefully the correct ones!), and leave it at that. Is it really worth the hassel?
I think score sheets are what matter and the ribbons are just a nice reward. Nice thing is that if you get a ribbon, you win a prize. Could be a tee-shirt, opener, or some beer!
I think that's why a lot of comps I've seen have a 'one per category' rule...IMO, more comps should have that rule. I think there should also be a limit as to how many entries each brewer may enter. There are enough comps all over the country (maybe even close to where you live) that, if you want feedback on 30 beers, you can get feedback on 30 beers.
The only thing that sucks is for people like me that heavily favor certain styles. I pretty much only brew sours, Belgians, and stouts.
I brew to win. i didnt win and i dont always win, brewing is fun, competing is exciting......Im not letting this slow me down!
First contest I entered. Got 2 seconds and 2 thirds! I was more looking forward to getting scoresheets back than the placing. However, I'm really stoked at the results and I'm glad it rewards the people that really are passionate about homebrewing and care about making good beer.
My Belgian blond took third in the table. Does this mean I get a prize?
Yes! Depending on whether you are local and can pick up the prize or if it needs to be shipped, you could get anything from brewing supplies, brewery swag, glassware, tee shirts, etc!
 
w00t, third place! Out of 7....haha.

Congrats! I had 2 beers in sour ales and went home with nothing. My beers suffered from undercarbonation. I think they just needed more time in the bottle to fully condition or maybe I should've added some fresh saccharomyces to help the process
 
Dennis Decker has been DISQUALIFIED!

We apologize for the delay in publicizing the winners. Immediately after winners were announced at the end of judging, an entrant's eligibility was found to be in question. The entrant was given the opportunity to explain the discrepancy between certain public statements and his amateur status. After reviewing the case, the Organizing Committee has come out from under the hood and has concluded that his beers were brewed with commercial intent. HOPS BOPS rules disqualify the entries from winning medals, though he has received his scoresheets.

The individual clearly is a talented brewer having won several of the tables. Placements in the affected tables were adjusted by shifting the non-disqualified beers the judges had placed forward, and then filling in the empty slots based on the judges' scoresheets. The Best Of Show round has been completely destroyed, since the disqualified beers would have been replaced by others. Since re-doing the Best Of Show round would be logistically challenging, the Committee has decided to forego the round all-together this year.

We understand that there are a variety of opinions on this matter. We discussed it at length amongst ourselves. The decisions of the Committee are final.

Thank you.
HOPS BOPS Organizing Committee

The renewed results can be found here http://www.hopsclub.org/HOPS-BOPS_2012/hopsbops12.html or just look below:

Table 1 - The Early Numbers (19 Entries)
Anthony DiPrimio, Independent Nutley, NJ Doppelbock 5C Doppelbock 1
Jason Wasnick, Bruclear Pottstown, PA Power to the People Pilsner 2B Bohemian Pilsner 2
Nathan Panek, Keystone Hops Ridley Park, PA Stammtisch Ale 6C Koelsch 3
Table 2 - Grainy Beers (6 Entries)
Nathan Panek, Keystone Hops Ridley Park, PA Malt and Spalt 7C Dusseldorf Altbier 1
Paul Haitkin, Independent Staten Island, NY Heatwave Lager 7B California Common Beer 2
Nathan Panek, Keystone Hops Ridley Park, PA Hefefartzen 15A Weizen 3
Table 3 - God Save the Queen (English Pale) (10 Entries)
Justin Moser, Bruclear Collegeville, PA Evy's Ale 8C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (EPA) 1
Paul Haitkin, Independent Staten Island, NY Paul's Extra 8C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (EPA) 2
Andrew Moore, Independent Reading, PA Oscar's Pub Ale 8A Ordinary Bitter 3
Table 4 - Presidential Beers (American Ales) (17 Entries)
Jeremy Landis, Independent Wernersville, PA Jeremy's Pale Ale 10A American Pale 1
Ken Buonocore, Independent Collegeville, PA All Hail Pale Ale 10A American Pale 2
Matt Schiller, BYOB Montrose, MN Touchdown Brown 10C American Brown 3
Table 5 - Dark Side of the Moon (12 Entries)
Brian Peck, Independent Norristown, PA Midday Mild 11A Mild 1
Alex Dolginko, Brooklyn Brewsers Brooklyn, NY Coal Country Porter 12A Brown Porter 2
Steven Landgren, Upstate New York Homebrewers Associaition Webster, NY Southern Sweetie 11B Southern English Brown 3
Steven Landgren, Upstate New York Homebrewers Associaition Webster, NY Coffee Ice Cream 12A Brown Porter 3
Table 6 - Stiff Upper Lip (13 Entries)
Brian Nasarenko, Independent Kennett Square, PA Soggy Bottom Brew 13C Oatmeal Stout 1
Michael Soo, HOPS Philadelphia, PA RIS 13F Russian Imperial Stout 2
Reggie Springer, West New York brewery Easton, PA Dark and Stormy Oatmeal Stout 13C Oatmeal Stout 3
Table 7 - Heavy Hammers (IPAs) (19 Entries)
Matt Schiller, BYOB Montrose, MN Who Brought the Weed? 14B American IPA 1
Matt West, ALEiens Philadelphia, PA Weschov's Sustenance 14A English IPA 2
Paul Smikovecus, INDEPENDANT Manahawkin, NJ Hop Soup 14C Imperial IPA 3
Table 8 - Happy They are not German (Belgian & French) (17 Entries)
Nathan Panek, Keystone Hops Ridley Park, PA Trois Levure Saison 16C Saison 1
Ed Coffey, Philadelphia Homebrew Club Philadelphia, PA Saison Ville de Poisson 16C Saison 2
Jason Wasnick, Bruclear Pottstown, PA Watergate Wit 16A Witbier 3
Table 9 - Pucker Up (7 Entries)
Joshua Sled, Independent South Burlington, VT Berlinner Weisse 17A Berliner Weisse 1
Jason Wasnick, Bruclear Pottstown, PA Red Dawn 17F Fruit Lambic 2
Jake Endres, Lincoln Homebrewers Waterford, VA Wild Ale 17C Flander Brown Ale/Oud Bruin 3
Table 10 - Sneaky Beers (Belgian Strong) (12 Entries)
Ken Buonocore, Independent Collegeville, PA Ironic Pyrite 18D Belgian Golden Strong Ale 1
Jason Breault, First State Brewers Wilmington, DE Abbey-gale Dubbel 18B Belgian Dubbel 2
Andrew Sidrane, New York City Homebrewers Guild Brooklyn, NY "Wheat, Rye or Brew" 18A Belgian Blond Ale 3
Table 11 - Limey Liquids (10 Entries)
Tyler Flynn, HOPS Ardmore, PA Old Ale 19A Old Ale 1
Gary Bruns, Shreveport Urban Diastatic Spargers Shreveport, LA Ode To Blarney 9D Irish Red Ale 2
Michael Soo, HOPS Philadelphia, PA Slightly Heavy 9E Strong Scotch Ale 3
Table 12 - Carmen Miranda Beers (11 Entries)
Joshua Sled, Independent South Burlington, VT Raspberry Berliner Weiße 20A Fruit Beer 1
Michael Soo, HOPS Philadelphia, PA Berliner Weisse Pfirsich 20A Fruit Beer 2
Bill Schools, ALEiens Homebrew Club Croydon, PA Linda`s WW 20A Fruit Beer 3
Table 13 - Beers Sam Likes (SHV) (22 Entries)
Monty Leach, Independent Allentown, PA Merry Mind Eraser 21B Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer 1
Rich Palmay, Barley Legal Meford, NJ Bee-yoo-tee-ful BasAle 21A Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer 2
Tom Bastian, Bruclear Collegeville, PA Belgian Death Metal 21A Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer 3
Table 14 - Woody Beer (14 Entries)
Kyle Kernozek, HOPS Philadelphia, PA IDCOS-B 22C Wood-Aged Beer 1
Tyler Flynn, HOPS Ardmore, PA Oak-Aged Imperial Brown 22C Wood-Aged Beer 2
Todd and Kissa Reckamp, M*A*S*H Philadelphia, PA None More Black 22C Wood-Aged Beer 3
Table 15 - More Beers Sam Likes (Sp) (16 Entries)
 
I think score sheets are what matter and the ribbons are just a nice reward. Nice thing is that if you get a ribbon, you win a prize. Could be a tee-shirt, opener, or some beer!

I guess that's what I'm getting at. The score sheets that provide feedback are the reason I enter comps. not to win swag. To be honest, I've pretty much got all the brewery schwag I need at this point (and brewing supplies outside of consumables). I understand the argument both ways with what this guy has done, but I dont' think it's something to get this upset about. :shrug:
 
Yea thats why I enter comps is for the score sheet, I like the feedback on both my beer/recipe as well as seeing if my palate is as well trained as some of the BJCP Judges.
 
Holy crap...first at table 4!!!!....with a pale ale that scored a 30. They must have low balled the hell out of everybody.
 
30 is a pretty good score. I heard some of the judges there were very disappointed with the quality of the pale ales and also the IPA's at a different table :p
 
30 is a pretty good score. I heard some of the judges there were very disappointed with the quality of the pale ales and also the IPA's at a different table :p
I was really surprised because I didn't think my pale ale was anything special....I thought for sure someone had entered something better. It definitely needs more flavor hops. I'll take it.:mug:
 
This was a lower scoring competition. I haven't seen anybody post a score in the 40's yet. I have entered quite a few comps over the years and have noticed that some tend to just score lower than others. I have no idea how or why that happens. I scored a perfect 50 on an oatmeal stout at a comp one time and it scored a 25 a week later at a different comp. Both scores were from pretty experienced judges.

There is a small comp near me that is about the same size as this one and they tend to score in the same range. At that one all of the medals were in the low to mid 30s range last year. I took gold for my IPA at the hops bops with a score of 32. I am a pretty good judge of my beer and not cellar blind. I bet that beer scores 40+ in most other comps by me if I had any left to enter.
 
My Alt scored a 40 (1st place table 2) and all others I entered were in the 30's. I agree it was a low scoring competition but I didn't taste any of the other beers. My wife always thought Nodding Head was a dingy place, maybe that has something to do with it, haha.
 
Holy crap...first at table 4!!!!....with a pale ale that scored a 30. They must have low balled the hell out of everybody.

You took first with a score of 30? Something is off, as I took second, but my score was 38.5... oh well, I did it more for the feedback than expecting to place or anything. This was my first competition...
 
You took first with a score of 30? Something is off, as I took second, but my score was 38.5... oh well, I did it more for the feedback than expecting to place or anything. This was my first competition...
maybe I got the wrong scoresheet like some other people on this forum. I don't see anything in the scoresheet linking it to my beer per se (my name, beer name, ingredients, etc.) I think I'm going to email them. I care more about feedback than placing and, if I have the wrong scoresheet, that isn't very good feedback....however, if I have the right scoresheet, and you have a higher score than me, then you obviously deserve to be ahead of me.

EDIT: I just emailed Nancy. Maybe she can tell me if I received the wrong scoresheet or if I was incorrectly awarded first place.
 
You took first with a score of 30? Something is off, as I took second, but my score was 38.5... oh well, I did it more for the feedback than expecting to place or anything. This was my first competition...

Placing is usually determined by a mini-BOS format. Your 38.5 might have been scored by a different set of judges than Jeremy's 30. Some judges score on a different curve than each other and the mini-BOS format for placing neutralizes those variances. In other words, score is not the determining factor in placing. My American Brown also scored higher than 30 and I took third place.
 
Placing is usually determined by a mini-BOS format. Your 38.5 might have been scored by a different set of judges than Jeremy's 30. Some judges score on a different curve than each other and the mini-BOS format for placing neutralizes those variances. In other words, score is not the determining factor in placing. My American Brown also scored higher than 30 and I took third place.

Yup, that's how they do it. My buddy entered a Kölsch as a Kölsch and also a Blonde (in a different comp) and the Kölsch scored higher than the Blonde but the Blonde placed better.
 
Well, I haven't heard back yet, but I was able to track my entry number (I wrote it on the check) and they gave me the wrong scoresheet. Hopefully they send the right one soon.
 
Yup, that's how they do it. My buddy entered a Kölsch as a Kölsch and also a Blonde (in a different comp) and the Kölsch scored higher than the Blonde but the Blonde placed better.

Makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. Like I said, first competition for me...
 
I heard back from Nancy...here's the email:

Hi Jeremy,
Don't worry about scores v. placement. They don't always indicate the judges'
preference. As for your entry number not matching, they are changed when the beers are
registered.
Congratulations!
Nancy


I always thought the BJCP scoring system was there to eliminate preference of the judges (which is subjective). Oh well, I'll take it...horray for me and I'm sorry if you managed to score higher than me and finished lower. Quite honestly, I'd rather have the higher score because, to me, that means I'm making better beer....beer that's close to style and has fewer technical flaws. This is my second first place and my third placement overall in three different comps. It's also the third lowest score I've ever had. Go figure. :mug:
 
the reason sometimes a lower scored beer will take the table is because the person that entered the beer didn't necessarily enter it in the correct category. So while the beer was a sub average helles bock, it would have been an amazing maibock, or something similar. So yeah, it didn't score well in the category it was entered in, but was a damn good beer and should have taken the table.

At least that's my understanding of how that works anyway.
 
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