Recent content by OLBrews

The 2025 Southern New England Regional Homebrew Competition is open for beer, mead and cider entries. We have an entry limit of 5 per entrant and will be limiting the competition to the first 400 paid entries. Signup and details up at https://snerhc.com/

Competition organizers generally have to group like beers into tables in order to have enough entries at each table. Judges are aware of the entered style and judge according. More on the recommended methodology from the BJCP is posted at...

The syringe setup will work well for fining in the keg, but I would not recommend it for gelatin. Gelatin works great, but can clump up and block the ball lock (it doesn't take much). Biofine or other fining agent will work better for the syringe injection.

I routinely do this at home: get the keg properly carbonated with CO2 then put on 100% Nitrogen for serving via a stout tap. Haven't noted a loss of carbonation while the beer is on tap, but the stout tap is knocking a good chuck of it out anyhow. This setup allows me to dual use the nitrogen...

I think the core confusion is that (in my opinion) Gordon's quote was from the perspective of where an organizer could place a NZ Pils in a competition, not how an entrant should select the correct category. In the end it is about the characteristics of the beer brewed rather than the intended...

The current 2021 BJCP guidelines do still include NZ Pils as category X5. If this category isn't listed on the competition entry page you were correct in reaching out to the organizer to determine if this was intentional or not. If this comp has indeed elected not to include X5 (it is their...

I would experiment with a couple of bottles prior to processing the entire batch. Individually dose bottles with EC-1118, put in a warm water bath at 85F or so (EC-1118 range is up to 86F), and hold temp if you can to speed the process along. You could do one with no sugar addition and one...

You might get some traction on local Facebook groups for homebrewers. Here are a couple of CT ones that are active: https://www.facebook.com/groups/798046467028687 https://www.facebook.com/groups/997481340452969

From YEAST MASTER by David M Taylor Perma-Living it shows Diamond Lager from Lallemand to be a dry yeast equivalent. I cannot attest for any differences between the two, but have used Diamond Lager yeast in several brews and found it works well. Happy brewing!

Please don't do this: electrical tape leaves a sticky mess and wastes time while the sorting through all the entries. Bottle caps that are properly applied will stay on just fine. Concentrate on the packing and per Joe's comment using dedicated shipping boxes like Whale Pod and Spirited Shipper...

Filling technique with any of the methods discussed here are important. I was fortunate enough to have a local brewery allow me to test this using their Hack 3100 dissolved oxygen meter. Using a 10 second purge and careful filling I could repeatably hit low DO levels (< 15 ppb) with the Beer...

I fill both cans and bottles for competitions, so for me the Beergun has been my choice since I can handle both with one setup. With a proper purge and careful filling, you can achieve very low oxygen pickup in either format. If I was bottle only, I certainly would have given the Tapcooler a go...

The 2024 Southern New England Regional Homebrew Competition site will be open for entries tomorrow Aug 1st at 9 AM. We have an entry limit of 5 per entrant and will be limiting the competition to the first 400 paid entries. We filled up last year and expect to do so again. We've added drop...

Something weird here - I put your grain bill in Brewer's Friend and got the expected 1.042 OG. Try saving, closing your browser, then reopening. If that doesn't work reach out to Brewer's Friend directly, I've found them to be very responsive.

I know NYC wasn't able to finish over the weekend - no idea on Philly. Got to say I'm not a fan on the amount of time between results from the various regions. I completely understand that the logistics of all regions judging the same weekend are not workable, but it isn't exactly a level...