Win Awards with Extract?

Has anyone ever won an award with an extract brew, beating out an all grain beer?

It happens all the time.

It's not the methods but the brewer who makes great beer.

Read this;
Why can't we all just get along?

We really don't need to get into a heated AG vs Extract argument here, that's been done to death, and it's no fun, and often get's shut down by the mods....


Just concentrate on making the best damn beer you can, be it by extract or with all grain, or with a mr beer kit. And if it's great, it will win. If it sux it won't regardless of how you make it.

CheshireCat won second BOS at last year's HBT competition with a PM batch. He won the APA category and came in second at BOS, while my AG beers won some of their categories but didn't come anywhere near approaching BOS!

Reevy, I wasn't trying to start a debate about extract vs all grain...just was curious if anyone has won any awards with an extract beer.

Thanks for the info Yooper.

dgoldb1 said:

Reevy, I wasn't trying to start a debate about extract vs all grain...just was curious if anyone has won any awards with an extract beer.

Click to expand...

Yup. Heck I even took 3rd in a local comp. with Mr. Beer.

dgoldb1 said:

Reevy, I wasn't trying to start a debate about extract vs all grain...just was curious if anyone has won any awards with an extract beer.

Thanks for the info Yooper.

Click to expand...

I know that's not you're intent, but the history of this place is that it quickly becomes that......

If you do a search for Extract vs All grain threads, you will see there is thousands of them, and some of them are pretty nasty. And the arguments/discussions usally cover your question as well.

The MythBusters would probably rule:

Plausible

Ha, that's awesome. 3rd place with a Mr. Beer kit.

I'm wondering if I should send a couple 12oz IPA that I just brewed into some upcoming competions. Not to actual win any awards but to get some feedback from people who know what they're talking about.

I've never entered a competition nor judged one but I suspect it can be rather subjective. I went to a beer tasting and one of the samples was a coffee IPA. I hated it, one sip and pour it out type of hated it. I thought it tasted of extremely strong, stale, cold coffee as did 4 others at my table. The other member of my table loved it and just couldn't get enough of it. Different tastes.

RM-MN said:

I've never entered a competition nor judged one but I suspect it can be rather subjective. I went to a beer tasting and one of the samples was a coffee IPA. I hated it, one sip and pour it out type of hated it. I thought it tasted of extremely strong, stale, cold coffee as did 4 others at my table. The other member of my table loved it and just couldn't get enough of it. Different tastes.

Click to expand...

Well, in competition, the judges sit with the BJCP style guidelines in front of them (or on their iphone app!) and judge 100% by the style guidelines. While taste is always subjective, the judges are trained to recognize off-flavors, and know what each style should taste like.

None of us who are judging are even told if it's an extract beer or AG beer. We just taste the beer, and judge by aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression, according to the style guidelines. If there are any off-flavors that shouldnt' be there like acetaldehyde, mustic, metallic, etc, you will get dinged for that. Some flavors like DMS, phenols, esters and diaceytl are perfectly acceptable in certain styles but out of place in others.

Sorry to go off-topic here, but saying the beer competitions are subjective got my dander up. Judges go to "judge school" and work hard to study for the bjcp testing, and do it without pay or reward. Judging competitions isn't easy- and you get PLENTY of bad beer. Trying to make constructive remarks to fix a problem takes time and energy, and all of the BJCP judges I know do their best to do that. You won't get a "this beer sucks" scoresheet back. Scoresheets take a long time to fill out properly, and you will get constructive feedback as well as some possible fixes like "this beer has a phenolic character that is not expected in a blonde. Perhaps checking fermentation temperature and/or chlorine in the brewing water would be warraranted", etc.

Anyway, a good beer is a good beer whether made with grain or extract.

In my limited contest experience, my extract entry won 3rd place, and my (early attempts at) AG entries did terrible. So I agree, quality of process is much more important than type of process.

And Thats why we well most of us, Live in the USA! We have the freedom to enjoy and make and drink what we ENJOY drinking and Making!

RM-MN said:

I've never entered a competition nor judged one but I suspect it can be rather subjective. I went to a beer tasting and one of the samples was a coffee IPA. I hated it, one sip and pour it out type of hated it. I thought it tasted of extremely strong, stale, cold coffee as did 4 others at my table. The other member of my table loved it and just couldn't get enough of it. Different tastes.

Click to expand...