Homebrew competitions

BeerMonkey has a list of homebrew competitions, and I was wondering if anyone here has entered any, and if so, how it went. Does your submission have to be your own original recipe, or can it just be a beer of yours that turned out particularly well?

Any beer YOU brew, you can enter.

5 people could brew the exact same recipe and all 5 beers could be significantly different.

I entered a few competitions a while back to get some feedback from certified judges in hopes of getting some tips on how to improve my beers. Let's just say it left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the BJCP. Without getting too snotty, my opinion of the BJCP judging system is not very good. And before you wonder, I even did well in the competitions. Mainly I hated how one judge can find a faultin a beer while 3 other judges don't taste it, and then that one judge can talk the other 3 down to his level. It is total crap.

YMMV, try a couple out.

Dude said:

Let's just say it left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the BJCP. Without getting too snotty, my opinion of the BJCP judging system is not very good.

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Diacetyl, anyone?

Dude said:

...I'm surprised the freaking a-hole couldn't see the diacetyl as well. Ridiculous...
This pretty much confirms I'll let my friends and myself be the judge of my beers form here on out. I won't be entering anymore competitions for sure--in fact I am considering not even sending in my second round entry. I'm that convinced that the BJCP/judging is a complete load of crap.

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http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9454&page=3&highlight=diacetyl

Good thread.

I may enter one here in the near future. For the same reason Dude said....just to see what they say and get some feedback.

But yea, it has to be extremely frustrating, to have some pompas ass convince the other judges that your beer has flaws. But hey, you won regardless of what he said.

ayrton - check out splitrockresort.com special events. there is a beerfest there this weekend with a homebrew competition if you are interested. probably a 2-3 hour trek from here, but might be a nice little getaway. unfortunately I can't make it. I wouldn't enter the comp anyway, but i would have liked to check out the 30 PA microbreweries...

We have many of them around here, but I've never submitted anything & don't plan to. People's opinions at club events are far more valuable to me than any measurement against a style sheet.

david_42 said:

We have many of them around here, but I've never submitted anything & don't plan to. People's opinions at club events are far more valuable to me than any measurement against a style sheet.

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I totally agree, even considering many of them are BJCP judges. What they say is fine, and means a lot to me, but not when a guy finds a phantom faulty flavor and no one else can detect it and then changes everyone elses opinion.

First I have to admit that I am a certified (and certifiable) judge and when I judge I really try hard to do a good job and give useful feed back to all the entries. But after a couple dozen hoppy ales, or a few dozen barley wines, well it could be piss and I don't think I could really tell. Well, maybe I could, but that is not the point. My point is judging is hard and subjective and unless you have a really committed judge I don't see much use in the whole game.

Brewpastor said:

First I have to admit that I am a certified (and certifiable) judge and when I judge I really try hard to do a good job and give useful feed back to all the entries. But after a couple dozen hoppy ales, or a few dozen barley wines, well it could be piss and I don't think I could really tell. Well, maybe I could, but that is not the point. My point is judging is hard and subjective and unless you have a really committed judge I don't see much use in the whole game.

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Then certain judges should judge certain entries. After a couple of heavy IPA's, I don't think anyone could accurately judge a Wit. So let certain people judge hoppy beers, certain people judge malty beers, and certain people judge specialty.

That is or should be the role of the person who sets the whole shooting match up. And most of the time they try hard to do it, but when a comp, gets really large judges can get slammed with too many entries. In a well run comp. You judge a single style , maybe two. You start mild and get stronger. And you drink a lot of water. If you are lucky you judge Best of Show and generally that is just nice.

I've mailed entries in and actually won but for the price of shipping and entry fees I could have bought more yeast then I got coupons for. The reason I entered the beers was because I thought they were good and the ribbons confirmed it but I just don't think it was really worth the time.

The only comps I enter now are our club comps. No shipping, low fee and then there is the bragging rights amongst the members.

SilkkyBrew said:

ayrton - check out splitrockresort.com special events. there is a beerfest there this weekend with a homebrew competition if you are interested. probably a 2-3 hour trek from here, but might be a nice little getaway. unfortunately I can't make it. I wouldn't enter the comp anyway, but i would have liked to check out the 30 PA microbreweries...

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That was the first one I saw. The Poconos are only ~2 hours from us, but the deadline for entry has passed. I'd still go, but Saturday is bad for me anyway (SWMBO's grandparents' 50th). We'll have to keep an eye out for more local events.

I haven't entered any competitions as I still feel like I have room for significant improvement in my brewing techniques and I hate to handicap my odds (I mean the feedback is good, but so is placing!). I'm also lazy which may be the greater deterrent and I haven't a counterpressure bottle filler.

In any case, I feel like I'm probably on the same page as Dude here. If it's feedback I want (and not a trophy case) I'll submit samples to people whose palates I trust, and maybe even some to people who I don't trust. If I brew a lager and call it an "Oktoberfest", I really just want feedback on how good it was and what the perceived flaws were...I don't want my balls racked over whether it really should have been called as a Maibock or Vienna. Many of the judging reports I read seem to focus not on the quality of the quaff, but the relevance to the category (I understand this is what it's all about for some judges/entrants, it's just not the feedback I'm after right now).

Brew competitions sound kinda like dog shows, where they are judged based on their hewing closely to the "breed standard," rather than whether they like to curl up on your feet.

Good analogy, feathered one. Give me a beer that curls up at your feet in the evening and during the day chases sticks with wild abandon!

I mentioned in the "Goals for '07" thread that I thought we, as a community, should do more beer swaps in the coming year. I'd love to get feedback from the folks around here who I know both really know the mechanics of brewing and don't forget to enjoy it. Plus, I'd love to get some presents in return!

Is there any feeling in the world better than coming home from work, and there's a package waiting for you, and you know that there is BEER inside?

Just a thinking outloud here but why don't we have our own competition? There are some fairly accomplished brewers here so we shouldn't have trouble getting a few judges. We just mail a couple bottles to each judge, they do their own reviews and then discuss amongst themselves. It may take a while to get a final winner but it may mean more to get feedback from our peers instead of strangers.
It would be a lot of work for those certain few judges so I guess it would be up to whoever that would be.

Once I get a few more beers bottled, I'm definitely up for some swaps. I may get the better end of the deal for a few more months (since I've only been brewing for 2), but it should help me improve exponentially by getting feedback and tasting other great beers.

Damn good idea, Todd_k! Damn good idea!

Brilliant friggin' idea, actually. :fro:

todd_k said:

Just a thinking outloud here but why don't we have our own competition? There are some fairly accomplished brewers here so we shouldn't have trouble getting a few judges. We just mail a couple bottles to each judge, they do their own reviews and then discuss amongst themselves. It may take a while to get a final winner but it may mean more to get feedback from our peers instead of strangers.
I guess it would be a lot of work for those certain few judges so I guess it would be up to whoever that would be.

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Why yes. Feel free to send your beer to me. I'll honestly tell you what I *burp* think. This goes for all of you.

But seriously, I like this idea and I'd definitely want to submit something.