Brewing for competitions

[treacheroustexan]

We have a huge local competition every year called Son Of Brewzilla. I usually just enter what I have kegged/bottled at the time but wondering if I should change my approach as I want to enter for the sole purpose of winning this year. Just curious how other people approach this.

 

[50calshooter]

I always brewed something new. Never failed. Multiple first places.

 

[Steveruch]

You may want to see if you can find out which categories usually have the least amount of entries. Fewer entries means a slightly better shot at a medal.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I'm "other". I will create a recipe at some point in the year, brew a few edits, have friends taste it, and if I think it's a top shelf beer that I would like to keep in rotation I will enter it in a local competition to see how well it does and to see tasting notes.

 

[Jako]

i entered my first beer. it was just w/e i made. i might make one for this years comp but i already plan on sending this blonde i just made to see how i am doing.

i might brew a black IPA and see how i can do. but if you are trying to win i would brew something to spec.

 

[Gameface]

I start a bout 3-4 months before my local comp and write out a "brewgenda" with the beers I plan to enter, the tentative schedule for when those beers will be brewed, then I acquire the ingredients I'll need and start brewing.

I admittedly game the entry process. I have taken first in the English Bitter category 6 out of the last 7 years. I brew an ESB (strong bitter) all the time just to drink, but for the competition I also brew a Best Bitter and Ordinary Bitter. They have also combined the bitter category with English Commonwealth beers since the 2015 guidelines came out, so to encourage them to split those categories I also enter an English Golden Ale and English IPA, this year I'm also entering an Australian Sparkling ale. If they don't split it gives me a few more shots at hitting my goal of taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the bitter category, although I really want to do that with bitter, not the commonwealth beers.

Right now I have two more batches to make before the Aug 19th entry deadline. I'll have 10 entries.

 

[Braufessor]

Depends..... sometimes I might just enter some things I have on hand if I happen to have something good on hand, and a competition falls when I have time to bottle it up and send some entries.

If it is a competition I am actually trying to do well in (like NHC).... I plan it out. I will plan backwards from judging date/shipping date/time needed for that beer to carbonate/clear/mature, etc.... I might even plan beers leading up to it if I want to build up yeast and use 2nd/third generation yeast. For something like NHC where I have (this year) a limit of 4 entries, I will usually brew 6-8 different styles of beers that I could enter and then select the 4 I think have the best opportunity.

 

[schematix]

Save the beer for yourself. Don't waste bottles and money on a comp. That's winning.

 

[Gameface]

Save the beer for yourself. Don't waste bottles and money on a comp. That's winning.

The judges notes are worth the price of entry and beer IMHO.

Not always really accurate, but it is an unbiased assessment of your beer. Especially good for intermediate level brewers I think.

 

[Jako]

I start a bout 3-4 months before my local comp and write out a "brewgenda" with the beers I plan to enter, the tentative schedule for when those beers will be brewed, then I acquire the ingredients I'll need and start brewing.

I admittedly game the entry process. I have taken first in the English Bitter category 6 out of the last 7 years. I brew an ESB (strong bitter) all the time just to drink, but for the competition I also brew a Best Bitter and Ordinary Bitter. They have also combined the bitter category with English Commonwealth beers since the 2015 guidelines came out, so to encourage them to split those categories I also enter an English Golden Ale and English IPA, this year I'm also entering an Australian Sparkling ale. If they don't split it gives me a few more shots at hitting my goal of taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the bitter category, although I really want to do that with bitter, not the commonwealth beers.

Right now I have two more batches to make before the Aug 19th entry deadline. I'll have 10 entries.

i plan to enter a blond ale i just made, i used that solstice 2 row so we will see how it turns out.

 

[hawkbox]

I sort of plan it but I mostly just brew a lot so I bottle whatever will fill my quota. I'm losing interest though as I've had submissions score 42 in one competition and 18 in the next competition. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to learn from that.

 

[Pkrd]

I've had submissions score 42 in one competition and 18 in the next competition. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to learn from that.

That's a life lesson, not a beer lesson.

 

[hawkbox]

Probably, but when they were bottled within a minute of each other it sure makes you question what the hell the judges are doing.

 

[Braufessor]

I sort of plan it but I mostly just brew a lot so I bottle whatever will fill my quota. I'm losing interest though as I've had submissions score 42 in one competition and 18 in the next competition. I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to learn from that.

There are two explanations for a score ranging from 42 to 18.....
1.) the most likely is infected bottle/error when bottling/cracked bottle etc.

2.) It was a competition with judges that literally knew nothing what-so-ever about judging beer.

The only way I ever really found the feedback truly useful was to enter the exact same beer in about 5 competitions all at the same basic window of time. That gave me 10 score sheets. Eliminate the extremes, and focus on the feedback that came up several times. If 6 out of 10 judges pointed out an astringency issue, for example, I took that to heart. If one judge gave me a 48 and all the other scores were 35 range.... well, that 48 does not count.

When I was doing that, I really felt like it helped me become a much better brewer as I would take the feedback and rebrew the same beer many times with minor changes until I got it where I wanted it.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I'm pretty sure I would give people medals if they sent me beer, excluding major flaws. I'd even provide detailed tasting notes!
Any takers? I'm a high level self certified craft beer drinker.

 

[hawkbox]

There are only 10 competitions a year total in Canada unfortunately. But assuming that I bother to do a second year of it that's kind of my plan.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Probably, but when they were bottled within a minute of each other it sure makes you question what the hell the judges are doing.

Drinking beer all day.

 

[Gameface]

I think there are a lot of things that can influence scores beyond just how your beer tastes.

What other beers are the judges drinking just before yours? What time of day is it? Are the judges really familiar with that style? Are they using a sort of sliding scale and either had some really bad examples so enjoyed yours more than normal, or really good examples and therefore picked out some minor flaws in yours that the others didn't have?

I mean it is subjective, but you don't learn from score sheets based on the number score, you learn from them based on the notes.

I did have an interesting experience last year. I brewed an ordinary bitter and strong bitter, and entered those in their respective category, then blended them and entered the blend as a best bitter. The strong bitter and ordinary bitter didn't do well and both had some flaws mentioned in the notes. The best bitter took first place and none of those flaws from the other beers were mentioned. So yeah, it's subjective and absolutely not foolproof.

I mean I drink the same beer out of the same tap one day to the next and sometimes have a completely different impression from it than I did before. Tasting is influenced by many other factors.