CASK Beer Blitz @ Hampton, VA

[Brewskii]

Just think; if we don't place...we get to wait a month for the score sheets!

 

[rebrandsoftware]

I entered my first competition beer, a Belgian strong dark I make as a Christmas present to my friends each year. If it places i will get to modify the label, so I've been refreshing their homepage all morning!

 

[FarmerTed]

Here's a link to the homepage; I wouldn't count on it being updated today. But if it is updated, please post a link to the results page. Thanks!

Edit: the above link goes to the results!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Well, results are up. My Saison took a Gold and my Lambic a Bronze, so two medals out of 5 entries, and I'm not gonna complain.

 

[Sheldon]

Congrats Alex.

 

[rebrandsoftware]

Nice job! No medal for my Belgian Strong Dark but I'm looking forward to some truly objective criticism when the score sheets arrive.

 

[rebrandsoftware]

Maybe I could up my game if there is a good homebrew club in nova? I see Alexandria and Woodbridge posters on this page of the thread. I'm in falls church near Annandale. Any suggestions?

 

[Qhrumphf]

Maybe I could up my game if there is a good homebrew club in nova? I see Alexandria and Woodbridge posters on this page of the thread. I'm in falls church near Annandale. Any suggestions?

Just sent you a PM.

 

[mrphillips]

WooHoo! My American Pale Ale took 3rd place! Not bad for my first competition.

 

[Brewskii]

BOOM Goes the DYNAMITE!

Took Silver for my American Brown Ale out of 31 entries!

No Joy on the O-fest and Brown Porter but still stoked to see the score sheets.

Congrats Q and everybody else

 

[Brewskii]

WooHoo! My American Pale Ale took 3rd place! Not bad for my first competition.

Looks
Like I was in good company

 

[mrphillips]

Congrats Brewskil! And congrats to everyone who submitted and/or placed in the competition! Very cool stuff.

 

[mrphillips]

For those people who placed, do they send your ribbon in the mail along with their comment cards? I'm still very new at this.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I don't know about this year, but last year (the only other time I've entered this particular comp), I got my scorecards, medals, and veritable pile of sponsor schwag in one package in a couple weeks. I would assume this year will be similar.

 

[FarmerTed]

I hope I get a brown participation ribbon for mine!

 

[Danno355]

Stoked my Bitter took gold yesterday! Missed the awards due to a dance recital lol. May take awhile to live that down in the club!

 

[brokebucket]

ahhh, shucks...nothing for me. Oh well, they were all three beers with known flaws. My best beers thus far havent made it past the glass yet, but I will hopefully be ready for a spring/early summer competition.

Congrats to those who placed!

 

[Piratwolf]

BOOM Goes the DYNAMITE! Took Silver for my American Brown Ale out of 31 entries! No Joy on the O-fest and Brown Porter but still stoked to see the score sheets. Congrats Q and everybody else

That brown ale was quite good! We had two tables for American Ales and your brown was the only one from our table that medaled in the mini-BOS. Well done!

 

[Piratwolf]

For those people who placed, do they send your ribbon in the mail along with their comment cards? I'm still very new at this.

You'll get a hat, grain, a medal, and some random swag for bronze. Silver was shirt, grain, medal, and more swag.

 

[Brewskii]

That brown ale was quite good! We had two tables for American Ales and your brown was the only one from our table that medaled in the mini-BOS. Well done!

Thanks! I built it from the ground up using Designing Great Beers to keep me on track. Originally it was supposed to be a rush entry in another competition for a friend of mine so I went with a 45 min hop steep instead of dry hops as originally intended. I think it aged into its own. I'm very happy to hear others did as well.

 

[Qhrumphf]

You'll get a hat, grain, a medal, and some random swag for bronze. Silver was shirt, grain, medal, and more swag.

What's on the slate for a gold?

 

[Brewskii]

What's on the slate for a gold?

Briefcase full of diamonds.

 

[mrphillips]

I was just looking for a new hat! Haha!

 

[brokebucket]

I got my score sheets yesterday:

Robust Porter: 37
RIS: 31 (went to mini BOS)
American Pale: 23

I am very happy for my black beers, but I have a question about american pale ale in general: is there a place in competition for a malt forward beer of this style? BTW, I agree with most comments I got on this beer, and would not have scored it well either. But the way the guidelines are written, it is very open to interpretation.

 

[Piratwolf]

Broken, I had the same concerns about scoring on my ESB (except I would have scored it higher--assigned score was 28 & the only BJCP judge of the four who scored it gave a 35)!

Two things in particular concerned me as far as broad styles go:
1. Several comments that my beer "lacked the deep bitterness of the style"..
2. Kudos for "best malt character I've tasted in the style today" yet it was "too balanced between hops & malt"

 

[aiptasia]

Usually, they try to group novice judges with more experienced ones when they score beers for BJCP competitions. I'm sure this is likely the case for this CASK event. I'm glad our local CASK (Cowford Ale Sharing Klub) out of Jacksonville stole a few medals from you Yankees this year.

That being said, so much of the feedback i've gotten back on my beers when entered into competitions is subjective, and sometimes downright contradictory. For example, my Smoked Cranberry Belgian Dubbel scored high enough to make the BOS round at the Best Florida Beer Championships last year. It scored a 41 and a 42, one a novice judge and the other a little more experienced. Their feedback was very positive and both had excellent palates, picking out the ingredients, malts, yeast type and hops i'd used to make the beer. I'd made the beer with a little mulling spice addition along with the cranberry and 10% smoked malt on the grain bill, and in the BOS round, the guest judge was from a local Tampa brewery. I'd entered it into the spice/smoked beer BJCP category and he panned it because he said he didn't taste the mulling spices. I'm figuring his tongue was fried by the BOS round and I think I lost to a Rouchbier.

Since then, i've stopped putting in the effort into brewing specifically for competition and just enter in beers i'm currently brewing out of my homebrew stash. Maybe it fits the BJCP guidelines for the style, maybe not. However, if you do ever brew up a beer for competition, you better make darn sure that it's 100% right down the middle of the BJCP style guideline with no variation and no originality.

 

[Brewskii]

I thought my silver medal was a slam dunk second. I was a little disappointed that it scored only in the mid 30's. I'm still thrilled and have a couple tweaks to make by the sound of it.
Wow, did they ever get me on my O'fest (25-ouch). The ONLY good news on that was their were no comments on fermentation issues only that it was bitter and unbalanced. Kinda knew that anyway. I did have to chuckle a bit when the BJCP certified judge said the appearance was "pale yellow and very clear"... I can assure you, it's neither.

Edit; I should clarify that I do think the scores were fair; just not altogether what I was expecting

 

[brokebucket]

I'm glad our local CASK (Cowford Ale Sharing Klub) out of Jacksonville stole a few medals from you Yankees this year.

Duly noted. At least you capitalized "Yankee", because when you insult somebody from the capital of the Confederacy, we do appreciate pronouns.

 

[mrphillips]

I thought my silver medal was a slam dunk second. I was a little disappointed that it scored only in the mid 30's. I'm still thrilled and have a couple tweaks to make by the sound of it.
Wow, did they ever get me on my O'fest (25-ouch). The ONLY good news on that was their were no comments on fermentation issues only that it was bitter and unbalanced. Kinda knew that anyway. I did have to chuckle a bit when the BJCP certified judge said the appearance was "pale yellow and very clear"... I can assure you, it's neither.

Edit; I should clarify that I do think the scores were fair; just not altogether what I was expecting

Mid 30's? What was it exactly? I got my notes today, and my score was a 35, so I guess it was a little closer than either of us thought

 

[Qhrumphf]

I think my sheets are stuck at the post office. Why I think that's the case is a long and infuriating story. I'm anxious to see my scores.