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I've used Belle Saison only once on cider, coincidentally it was tart cherry, and it was much more phenolic than I'm used to. But that's one only data point; perhaps it got hot. YMMV. If someone says it's the same as 3711, OK. As for juice it depends on what my goal is. My friends LOVE...

yes, 100% Tart Cherry juice. many major retailers carry it in quart bottles. it CAN be ready fairly quickly. my go-to yeast is Cote des Blancs, but I mostly ferment "plain" cider with it in the winter, very cold, no nutrients. something I like to do in the summer is use 3711 and make fun...

I make tart cherry cider all the time. I use the Knudsen 100% juice, along with some whole montmorency cherries, and am more happy with the combination in achieving a "the whole cherry" profile. I aim for 3/4 apple, 1/4 other fruit. the "problem" is that tart cherry is very strong, and can...

sort of a side note, but I've never called anything "yeast samples" and with eventual uninformed people saying things like "yeast??? what are they making, morphine? We gotta control this substance!" I doubt I ever will. I drop pre-labeled packages at the FedEx counter without saying...

ugh. Yeah I get this. I don't understand the whole societal norm thing in regards to alcohol and time of day. Nowhere in the statement "I had a beer before noon" does it say "...and I plan to continue drinking all day" or "...I have a problem" but there certainly seems to be an unstated...

delivered. Now the truck carrying Jeff Carlson's entries just needs to have an accident and my Cidermaker of the Year award will be in the bag.

Your scoresheets will come direct from Ohio, while the ribbons will come from Boulder.

side note: last year for BOS there were FIVE beers missing; apparently sending only two is not uncommon. Two years ago they made note of it and were stingy on the pours of beers with only 2 bottles; I know someone who only send two bottles who got into BOS. Not so last year. Anyway, for beer...

I would probably chill near freezing, pop them, check that they are what you think they are (it should just require a half ounce or so) and assuming SSA top off with your most similar beer, perhaps even that ESB. quickly re-cap on foam. A little O2 isn't going to ruin this style at this point...

right. but my original reply said that I was disappointed when back in the fall, I found out they would still be using '08. I put quite a bit of time/effort into reviewing them, and was "ready" for the new ones. For them to basically hit reset and re-do everything from '14 - even re-using 11...

Apology accepted. Nobody's perfect. (I very rarely make them either, no biggie)

I'm curious why you think it would have been terrible? The plan WAS to have them available for NHC '15...

Can't speak for the rest of you, but my excitement for NHC diminished a bit when I found out back in the fall that they'd still use the old guidelines.

two previous NHC medal winners scored sub 30, and one set new personal record of 15. haha, drank some last night; delicious. Guess I'm going for Cidermaker Of The Year.

that is a great beer. Would have snagged a medal last year. Will have a good shot this year. good luck-- --Michael

grew up with hops in WA; love me some IPA. now, IPA Fatigue? As in, tired of numerous fine-as-is styles having more hops added to it? Yeah, at times.

One of the few good things about these days of severe entry limits is it is completely possible to have a brew plan that has each entry in peak condition at the time of each round. I cannot imagine trying to get 40 entries to peak at once! P.S. - congrats on the two blue ribbons. Good luck...

judging by the amount of green beer I tasted in the Finals last year, a number of people are re-brewing too late. Hefe, IPA? - I'd re-brew, and have plans to do so before the results came out. Most every other style? Not re-brewing. also, some beers might have benefited from another few...

Yes as long as recipient is also AHA member.

NHC isn't really any nicer, but I admit I do separate them from the others. as for favorites - Hoppy Halloween, easily. I mean, if someone is going to hang a medal on your neck, shouldn't it have glow-in-the dark skulls on it? Yeah, I think so too. probably my favorite swag too, now that I...