So what if it's just a local homebrew competition!

Hey guys. I entered my first hombrew competition over the weekend. It was a fairly small comp (only 50 total entries), so it was basically just a big "best of show" competition, since they didn't have beers from every category to compare against. Anyways, I took 3rd place for my hefeweizen and 5th place for my american pale ale. They awarded prizes for the top 5 beers, so I got a gift certificate to the LHBS for my hefe, and a local brewery's sweatshirt for my pale ale.

All in all I'm pretty stoked. I know that the same guy took 1st and 2nd place, and he entered at least 4 or 5 different beers. So for me to place 3rd and 5th with the only 2 beers I entered made me pretty proud.

So basically I just wanted to toot my own horn a little bit and thank everybody from HBT who has helped pass on their knowledge and wisdom on these forums!

Hey oh! Congrats.

Gratz! You have to start somewhere and you'll get some good feedback.

Yeah, all I was looking for was some feedback. I got a 42/50 on my hefe, and a 39 on my pale. I think they had some volunteer judges, but at least 2 of them are BJCP certified.

Cool! I hope to follow in your footsteps when I get around to entering something somewhere.

Congrats!

Rick500 said:

Cool! I hope to follow in your footsteps when I get around to entering something somewhere.

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You should have entered something in the Lexington Bluegrass Cup (172 entries). I ended up taking 3rd with my Extra Stout. It was my first real recipe and 3rd batch ever. So you never know, you might have a winner! Still waiting on my scoresheet. Can't wait to get that back.

Way to go, man!

ODaniel said:

You should have entered something in the Lexington Bluegrass Cup (172 entries). I ended up taking 3rd with my Extra Stout. It was my first real recipe and 3rd batch ever. So you never know, you might have a winner! Still waiting on my scoresheet. Can't wait to get that back.

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I was on kind of a brewing hiatus for the past several months and didn't have anything ready. But if you say the judging is good, I'll do it next year. Would love to start getting some competent feedback.

great to hear man! i'm still nervous about any competitions, i'm gonna start by showing a brew or two to my local club before i go competition-crazy.

congrats on the wins:]

Very sweet indeed! Nothing like some props to boost your confidence.

Good job.

Congratulations!

bgough said:

Yeah, all I was looking for was some feedback.

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That's how it always starts, but once you get a medal it's all over. You got the bug now.

Well done!!

The San Diego County Fair is the only comp in San Diego. We have a huge homebrew club down here, and our IPA category gets around 75 entries alone. Needless to say, it is a tough one to win at.

Congrats! Always nice to be recognized.

Not too shabby, Congrats

As long as people stick to the guidelines, you'll get good feedback. Once in a while, there will be a really good beer that is totally out of style. That can trip up beginning judges. Had a 18A. Belgian Blond Ale this year which was excellent, but looked like a stout and had a heavy caramel finish. Probably would have scored 10 points higher in 18E. Belgian Dark Strong Ale, but the color was too much, even for that.