Home-brew-off

[D3ling]

Hey folks.
I need to pick a few brains here. My local brewery has decided to 1, form a homebrew club. But more importantly, 2, they have decided to host a homebrew competition to it's members.
They are still working out the details of the competition but it is scheduled for April of this year. I'm not wasting any time as this will be the first time entering a competition and I need as much time preparing/testing as I can get.

They have released the general format of the competition and it is a peer-judged event in that patrons of the brewery will be judging the entries. This makes it more of a popularity contest than a "best in style" type of competition.

General rules are as follows;
No Lagers... the brewery will not tie up their gear that long.
No ingredients not readily available for mass production...ie smoking your own malts or home grown hops ect.
Must submit 24, 12 oz bottles or equivalent amount in keg/growler ect. for "judging distribution."

Having said that....what styles of beer would you submit???
My initial thoughts are to submit an amber, pale or brown ale as I think they are middle of the road beers.
Just wanted to get some feedback on this format.
D3

 

[Zamial]

Must submit 24, 12 oz bottles or equivalent amount in keg/growler ect. for "judging distribution."

I followed you all the way to that... A 6er is normally the most I would EVER send to a comp.

 

[ktblunden]

I followed you all the way to that... A 6er is normally the most I would EVER send to a comp.

Yeah, when I brew a batch I think is good enough for competition I certainly don't want to immediately get rid of half of it. I think they need to re-evaluate the logistics of this competition. Either each person is getting a large sample of each beer, which will result in drunk people completely unable to accurately judge anything, or they just have way too many people judging.

 

[sundaypapers]

That sounds really cool! I'd say the style you pick should have some type if reflection to the style of the brewery. A brewery here in town had a recipe contest recently, the brewery is pretty progressive, they have their tried and true recipes, but they venture out and try all kinds of interesting things, Cabernet oak aging, nitrogen, oak fermenting, etc, and the recipe they chose was a horchata milk stout, going with their "think outside the box" style. Look at what they do and what you do well and see what you can do to impress them and their patrons, they obviously go their because they enjoy that style, right? Just my two cents.

 

[Aa760]

That is a half a batch- that's a hefty amount for sure, especially for a popularity contest. IMHO, I would save your entries for a contest that will at least give you some structured feedback you can work with to brew better beers, I haven't entered many contests, but the ones I have entered in have all been learning experiences based upon quality feedback from judges. If it's a club you want to join, heck, go for it, could be fun, but try some bjcp contests for feedback (and they won't charge you a 50% cut of your brew sessions!)

 

[CityOChampBrew]

I would recommend brewing the style you are most comfortable in brewing


what will the winner receive?

 

[whitehause]

Wait.....I'm not sure I get the "no Lagers....they won't tie up their equip that long".

Are they letting home brewers use the brewery to make their entries? That might be tough if your not used to using professional equip. It tends to be much different than most of our basic homebrew set-ups.

 

[snaps10]

Sounds like they'll be brewing up a batch of the winner. Common around here. 24 bottles, no way.

 

[Brewskii]

I saw a comp like this in VA(maybe NC). The rules even state the yeasts you could use ( a whole 5 ale strains)! As well as pellet hops only and stated that the recipes needed to be submitted and became property of the hosting brewery. Your "grand PRIZE" is having your beer brewed and owned by them -in perpetuity!

I see it as dishonest, low-budget underhanded research and development.

Don't get me wrong, my beer ain't all that an a bag-o' chips, but, this is just under-handed. Sure they tell you all that up front but it's kind of a smarmy way to have people do your thinking for you.

 

[picerjamo]

I'd say the style you pick should have some type if reflection to the style of the brewery.

 

[whitehause]

Sounds like they'll be brewing up a batch of the winner. Common around here. 24 bottles, no way.

Ahhh...yea, Saturday night and a couple Pliny's slow my brain down.

A full case seems crazy though, I'd double check and see if that wasn't a typo. Maybe they meant 2 to 4 12oz bottles.

 

[ktblunden]

I saw a comp like this in VA(maybe NC). The rules even state the yeasts you could use ( a whole 5 ale strains)! As well as pellet hops only and stated that the recipes needed to be submitted and became property of the hosting brewery. Your "grand PRIZE" is having your beer brewed and owned by them -in perpetuity!

I see it as dishonest, low-budget underhanded research and development.

Don't get me wrong, my beer ain't all that an a bag-o' chips, but, this is just under-handed. Sure they tell you all that up front but it's kind of a smarmy way to have people do your thinking for you.

Recipes cannot be copyrighted. So they don't really "own" your recipe. Stone hosts a homebrew competition every year. The winning beer is brewed at Stone (I believe only once) and the winning brewer assists in the brew. It's released as a collaboration with the winning brewer's name on the bottles. I think that's pretty cool, personally, and it certainly doesn't stop that person from continuing to brew his beer. Here's an example.

 

[DromJohn]

White Street makes Golden Ale, Pale Ale, Scottish Ale, Black IPA, Witbier.
So, I wouldn't make anything in those styles.
Their patrons seem to handle the Scottish and the Black IPA.
A Belgian would also tie up their equipment.

A porter/stout seems like a good option.

 

[Brewskii]

Recipes cannot be copyrighted. So they don't really "own" your recipe. Stone hosts a homebrew competition every year. The winning beer is brewed at Stone (I believe only once) and the winning brewer assists in the brew. It's released as a collaboration with the winning brewer's name on the bottles. I think that's pretty cool, personally, and it certainly doesn't stop that person from continuing to brew his beer. Here's an example.

Agreed - beer recipes cannot be copyrighted, I just think that it's tacky.

BTW ... I realize I'm in the minority, but I don't care for Stone's owner ( not brewmaster) because he believes the BMC breweries are insulting the intelligence of their consumers which is a rare kind of egotism that I abhor.... But that's another thread.

 

[D3ling]

Quick Update....
It's still a 24- 12 oz bottle (or equivalent in keg, growler, 22oz) competition. They are using the 1st 100 people that walk into the brewery to be judges... so it's a popularity competition instead of a true to form competition. I'm not sure where I stand on this. On one hand, it would be sweet to know that 100 random people loved my beer enough to vote for it. On the other hand I want useful (dare I say professional?) feedback to improve my brew.
The winner will brew on the brewery equipment and receive a full keg of the final product served in the taproom. In addition, all profit from the sales of the full batch will be donated to the winners choice of charity.
They've got some good things going for them but I may still be hung up on the 24 bottles.

 

[snaps10]

I'd just go and make sure I'm one of the first 100 and drink a bunch of free home brews.

 

[unionrdr]

Idk,even with 100 judges 24 12 ouncers is a lot. Unless all 100 are tasting the same beer at the same time. BJCP comps aren't like that.

 

[ktblunden]

Idk,even with 100 judges 24 12 ouncers is a lot. Unless all 100 are tasting the same beer at the same time. BJCP comps aren't like that.

It works out to just under 3 ounces of each entry per "judge." They would have to have everyone tasting the same beers, otherwise you'll have larger samples which will equal 100 drunk people by the end of the comp. You may still depending on how many entries there are. I don't think they've thought through the logistics on this and it sounds to me like it'll be a clusterf@#$. I'd personally steer clear of this one as it's going to cost you half a batch to enter and you will get no useful feedback. It will be a rowdy popularity contest, plain and simple.

 

[Brewskii]

It works out to just under 3 ounces of each entry per "judge." They would have to have everyone tasting the same beers, otherwise you'll have larger samples which will equal 100 drunk people by the end of the comp. You may still depending on how many entries there are. I don't think they've thought through the logistics on this and it sounds to me like it'll be a clusterf@#$. I'd personally steer clear of this one as it's going to cost you half a batch to enter and you will get no useful feedback. It will be a rowdy popularity contest, plain and simple.

Very this^
What he said

 

[D3ling]

They are only allowing 20 entries in the competition. The club has approx 60 members (and climbing) so chances are it will be judged by other homebrewers that did not enter. Good point on the no useful feedback though.
The cool thing is that it is THE 1st competition they are running. Braggers rights if nothing else.
D3

 

[ktblunden]

With 20 entries at 2.88oz per judge, that's 57.6oz or just under 5 12oz bottles of beer per judge. That's kind of a lot. Aside from the amount of alcohol consumed, the 20th beer is going to be hitting palates that are just completely blown out. They're all going to be tasting the same by that point.

 

[max129]

I've entered 3 or 4 "people's choice" competitions like this where 20-25 brewers each pour 5 gallons for the crowd. Never won (never even come close probably) but it can be a fun experience. You didn't mention whether you'd be serving the beer yourself or not but, if so, that's a great way to get feedback on your brew. Not BJCP judge-level feedback but still helpful comments. I've noticed that lighter beers like APA's and Wits tend to win. Other than that, IPAs do well also.

 

[D3ling]

Update... Homebrew comp has now finished. The winner brought in 20 of his friends/family to vote for him wiping out the rest of the competition. I won't participate in a popularity contest in future competitions.
There has to be some sense of anonymity in order to prevent stacking the deck. It completely violates the "may the best beer win" goal.

 

[Darwin18]

Update... Homebrew comp has now finished. The winner brought in 20 of his friends/family to vote for him wiping out the rest of the competition. I won't participate in a popularity contest in future competitions.
There has to be some sense of anonymity in order to prevent stacking the deck. It completely violates the "may the best beer win" goal.

And that's why I enter only BJCP competitions.

 

[WhiteysBrew]

D3Ling, I was in this competition also and agree completely with you. I had no family or friends coming to the competition and had no expectations of having a chance to win. I entered for fun and to get some feedback. Unfortunately with 100 friends and family of the brewers, nobody really gave honest feedback from what I heard.
I did have a good time and drank some great beer. Hopefully the next competition that the club holds will use this first one as a learning experience and make some improvements.

What beer did you enter ? I brought the blonde ale.

 

[MooseRider]

The winner brought in 20 of his friends/family to vote for him wiping out the rest of the competition.

Was the winning beer even any good? It would be kind of funny if the brewery was stuck brewing a sub-par beer because of their poorly thought out competition.

 

[ktblunden]

Update... Homebrew comp has now finished. The winner brought in 20 of his friends/family to vote for him wiping out the rest of the competition. I won't participate in a popularity contest in future competitions.
There has to be some sense of anonymity in order to prevent stacking the deck. It completely violates the "may the best beer win" goal.

That's lame. Sorry man, it's really too bad you had to waste so much of your batch.

 

[LouBrew13]

I'm doing something like this on Saturday. However, the brewery is supplying grain, water, hops, and yeast. We don't have a huge selection, but if you can design a recipe using their ingredients, it's free. In a month we'll have the competition and the winner gets their beer brewed by the brewery. Sounds fun.

 

[D3ling]

Whitey,
I ended up not entering...that means you know who I am now lol.
For the rest... I wasn't able to enter because I had to work till 1:30 and the registration at the brewery started at 11:30 with a mandatory meeting at noon. Sucks. They sold out of judges tickets right before I got there at 2:30. So not only was I unable to compete b/c of my asshat boss, but I wasn't able to even judge and taste any of the beers entered b/c of my asshat boss. What's the common denominator? My asshat boss. <rant off>
Now, I hope that the winning beer was a deserving entry. The final point tally wasn't even close. The closest competition was @200pts behind the winner...strange things are afoot at the circle k. I find it hard to believe that 1 beer out ranks all the others by such an overwhelming amount, yet not IMpossible.
I hope to see some improvement in structure for the next one in order for me to enter.

 

[D3ling]

AND, it's unfortunate that you didn't get any feedback on your brew. They said that they would hand out any tasting comments at the next meeting so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[whitehause]

If I had wasted a case of one of my more expensive IPA's so one guy could bring a bunch of friends and family and win the competition I'd be Pissed.

I can see a "peoples choice" competition, but they should have had a way to make the samples anonymous.

 

[D3ling]

I'd just like to clarify that the judge stacking is a guess and observation only. I've been known to be wrong before.
The good thing that comes out of this is that all the proceeds from the sale of his winning beer will go to a charity of his choosing.

 

[GrumpySquirrel]

I'm doing the same one Lou is doing I think. Rochester Mills, winner gets brew on tap this summer.

 

[LouBrew13]

I'm doing the same one Lou is doing I think. Rochester Mills, winner gets brew on tap this summer.

Yes you are. Should be a good time.

 

[D3ling]

Ok, time to wrap up this thread.
We had our homebrewers meeting last night and went over the general format. Being the first competition there was input from members to change up the competition a little bit in order to make it a little more anonymous for the judges... IE they wouldn't have to vote IN FRONT of each brewer allowing for a more realistic count. It will still be a popularity contest in the future but everyone knows that before entering.
As far as the winning beer goes, the homebrewers that had entered AND sampled said it was a deserving win.
The rest of the feedback for the contestants seemed to be vague at best. There were a few good tips and general feedback on the beers but not many. In the future they are aiming to have judges provide more useful feedback for the brewers.
Things are moving in the right direction!
D3