Gordon Strong judged my beer!

I'm in beer nerd heaven right now. I submitted two beers to a competition in Ohio recently, one of which won second-place BOS. But it was the OTHER beer I entered that I am excited about right now.

I just got score sheets in the mail, open the envelope, and when I flip the score sheet for my English Bitter to the second page, there's his name: "Gordon Strong. Rank: Grand Master VII."

I'm thinking, Holy S&%$!

The outcome? "Modern interpretation. Not much caramel. Focused on bready malt and lemony hops. Nicely balanced. Not a watery beer. Sessionable. 36/50."

I'll take that as a high compliment from one of the greats!

 

What style of beer? Pale ale? Amber?

Congratulations, in any case!

 

Gordon gave me 1st place BOS in a competition in Nashville last year for my German Pils. By far the greatest moment in my homebrew life so far. I got him to autograph my medal for me. Then the party started...

 

[email protected] Grand Master VII

 

Thanks! Gordon judged my English Bitter. My second-place BOS was a Lemon Rosemary American Wheat.

Cheers!

 

Fantastic! Congrats!

 

Congrats to you as well! Nothing like getting a good score from a high ranking judge. I'd rather get a decent score from a good judge than an awesome score from a bad judge. Well, as long as they both come with medals, of course. ;-)

 

I happen to live near Gordon and have had the opportunity to have him taste and informally judge several of my beers, share one of my recipes with him, have him share multiple recipes with me, and sample several of his beers and meads.

 

I might be making an ordinary bitter in the near future, as I continue to explore the wonders of low ABV beers. If Gordon Strong finds it sessionable but not watery, I, for one, would be interested in the recipe

 

I forgot to mention...usually the highest ranking judges are the ones who judge the BOS round, as well. Unless he had a beer entered in the comp that took 1st (I doubt he did), then I would imagine that he had a hand in on picking your beer as 2nd BOS, as well. I could be jumping to conclusions here, but in my experience, this would definitely be true. You dont always know who judged the BOS round b/c they dont include scoresheets with it.

 

I would love to see (and try) your Lemon Rosemary American Wheat recipe. It sounds like if well done (as yours is evidenced to be) it could be excellent!

.. And Congrats !!

 

Glad I wasn't the only one!!


But kudos on the great feedback, OP!

 

Ha! He should be known simply as Grand Master Gordon.

 

Sure thing! Here you go:


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Ol' Bitter Bastard (10)
Brewer: Patrick
Asst Brewer:
Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.22 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.037 SG
Estimated Color: 6.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 86.7%
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.7%
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.3%
4.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.3 %
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - First Wor Hop 5 12.3 IBUs
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 6 11.2 IBUs
0.30 oz Fuggles [4.20 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 1.9 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 8 -
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 Hop 9 2.2 IBUs
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 0.0 Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale 11 -
(Note: I used the slurry of 1469 from a previous batch with a 1 liter starter).

Mash Schedule: Patty's Batch Sparge 1
Total Grain Weight: 7 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash Step Add 12.78 qt of water at 171.5 F 154.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 5.03gal) of 170.0 F water to get approx. 7.5 gallons in the kettle.
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com

 

I prefer the DJ reference over the KKK reference also.

 

Is that like King Henry VII...the 7th heir to inherit the Grand Master title? Capital, my good chap. Capital Indeed.

 

Awesome def gonna try the bitter! Congrats!

 

iambeer: here's the recipe. The Motueka hops have a lemony character already, so I used the zest of just one lemon at flameout. The rosemary sprigs were fresh from my garden. I threw in two whole sprigs, stems and all, at flameout. They were probably about 4 to 6 inches long. Rosemary is quite pungent, so go easy. You can always add some more before bottling, but I didn't need to. Cheers!

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Lemon Rosemary Ale (11)
Brewer: Patrick
Asst Brewer:
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.75 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.043 SG
Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 5.3 %
4 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 42.1 %
4 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3 42.1 %
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4 10.5 %
0.60 oz Motueka [7.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 21.0 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 -
1.00 Items Lemon zest (Boil 0.0 mins) Flavor 7 -
2.00 Items Rosemary (Boil 0.0 mins) Herb 8 -
0.40 oz Motueka [7.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 10 -


Mash Schedule: Patty's Batch Sparge 1
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash Step Add 13.23 qt of water at 170.5 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 5.18gal) of 170.0 F water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com

 

Gordon sounds like the sort of fellow who enjoys cupping and inhaling his own farts.

 

He knows his beer though.

Congrats, OP!

 

Brilliant. Thank you!

 

I chuckled.