First competition results.

[reinstone]

Entered the drunk monk challenge yesterday. No medal but scored 39.5 with a dortmunder. 33 with a rye ipa and 30.5 with a kolsch........loosing 8 points on aroma for too much pilsner malt aroma not enough hop aroma. God I thought that beer was flawless. I got some great feedback......some I disagree with. Got too much hops.....not enough hops on the rye......main flaw there was that it was under attenuated. I love it though for what it is.....cheers.

 

[reinstone]

Sucks. I feel kinda depressed.

 

[VicariousCynic]

You're the only judge that matters if you're drinking what you like. Take the competition input as constructive criticism. Taste is a subjective thing.

 

[reinstone]

You're the only judge that matters if you're drinking what you like. Take the competition input as constructive criticism. Taste is a subjective thing.

That's true but I really like the unbiased feedback.

 

[TwoGunz]

That's true but I really like the unbiased feedback.

It actually sounds like you don't

 

[cyclogenesis]

Ha! Your marks looks great compared to my 23 for my Bock.. I think I got the category totally wrong.. still a lot to learn about categories etc...

 

[Hogarthe]

you did pretty good, especially for your first comp. yeah, you didn't win, but who knows how good the winning beer was. it coulda been one incredible beer. the thing to do now is get a better score with your next batch. do that a couple times, and you will have the winning entry.

 

[weirdboy]

A 39.5 score on a Dortmunder Export is pretty difficult to manage. Needs to be clean and have a perfect balance between the malt and hops. You may not have gotten a medal, but I'd be very happy with a score that high on such a difficult beer.

 

[Phunhog]

You have to take the scores with a grain of salt.....I just got back the results from a beer that I entered in two competitions. The same exact beer scored a 39 and 38 and made it to the BOS judging in one comp yet in another comp it scored a 20 and 25. Both sets of judges were BJCP recognized.

 

[reinstone]

It actually sounds like you don't

No I do.......I just think its wrong....I'm joking

 

[reinstone]

Thanks dragon....will do.

Reinstone,

I'm pretty sure I judged your Rye IPA (although there were 47 specialty beers entered). If I did I can tell you that it was a fine beer. Under-attenuated IPAs have too much residual sweetness that masks/hides the hop bitterness. A beer that finishes lower will accentuate the hops. Too low and the hops scream through.

My email address was on the sheet or you could PM me here if you'd like to chat about it.

Or post your recipe including the OG and FG and the world can take a look at it.

Joe

BTW, a 39.5 is a huge score and you should be very proud.

 

[homebrewdad]

Reinstone,

I'm pretty sure I judged your Rye IPA (although there were 47 specialty beers entered). If I did I can tell you that it was a fine beer. Under-attenuated IPAs have too much residual sweetness that masks/hides the hop bitterness. A beer that finishes lower will accentuate the hops. Too low and the hops scream through.

My email address was on the sheet or you could PM me here if you'd like to chat about it.

Or post your recipe including the OG and FG and the world can take a look at it.

Joe

Kudos to you for being so open and accessible.

BTW, a 39.5 is a huge score and you should be very proud.

No kidding. 39.5 is an outstanding score.

 

[reinstone]

A 39.5 score on a Dortmunder Export is pretty difficult to manage. Needs to be clean and have a perfect balance between the malt and hops. You may not have gotten a medal, but I'd be very happy with a score that high on such a difficult beer.

Thanks a lot.......I guess here the question is....do you tweak a 39.5 ......I could do fwh or something and add more flavor hops toward flameout.....I guess the question is that my beer was very similar to d.a.b. the German version....which I believe is more authentic than say a Great Lakes (which I think has a lot of ale characteristics). I guess I can redrew this and add some hop schedule changes and see what happens. I have only 5 bottles left so I am kind of hesitant to send it to another competition. Then again....when I mad this beer last November, my technique wasn't where it needed to be. Cheers.

 

[reinstone]

Kudos to you for being so open and accessible.



No kidding. 39.5 is an outstanding score.

I just looked at my score sheets and I can say that joe dragon.....gave some really useful feedback....thanks dragon. I will make sure to send you a pm. I think I understand the comments....,.the rye was an experimental beer. I wanted to see if a really low mash temp could lead to a beer that attenuated well enough even if there is excess crystal. I guess not! I originally planned on using Cali five and wl 001 split batch but the wlp001 froze in transit. I used to only drink German beers and now I'm a hop head so I am just learning ipa technique. I'll get it though. Again, I appreciate all the encouragement I get on here. If there is ever anything I can do to help I try......but there are people on here with much more experience.

I might start the beer judging process soon, I think it would help with my brewing and be fun. Cheers

 

[Braufessor]

but who knows how good the winning beer was. it coulda been one incredible beer.

Me - Got about 2-3 gallons of it left in my basement, and it is yummy

Yours must have been right in the running because my score was just a touch higher than that. As for "do you tweak a 39.5" - maybe, maybe not. And, tweaking may have nothing to do with the recipe(especially with lagers) - it may simply be a better yeast starter, or better temp. control, water profile, etc. My dortmunder only had 3 kinds of grain and one kind of hops..... not much to "tweak." Pilsners are the same. I would say to consider your process, before your ingredients.
Also, one of the best things I have done with my beers and competitions is to enter the same beers in multiple competitions to get a little broader feedback. It has really allowed me to hone in on ways to improve little areas that come up several times. I have a pilsner that was "good" but never quite placed.... multiple comments, from multiple comps, addressing one or two issues. Focused in on those and rebrewed it this fall and it did really well in comps this past month, winning a couple and placing regularly.

As others have mentioned, 39.5 is a great score and I am always pretty pleased with a score in the 34-38 range. When you start getting around 40, that is one darn good beer. Especially in your first competition.

And, there is always "balance" - my amber got crucified with a score of 20..... I don't know if I sent a bad bottle or what - Have to wait for the feedback on that one. So just when you think you are getting something down, there are always wake-up calls and reminders that there is more to learn

 

[roxbob]

Reinstone,

You were probably very close to making the mini BOS with your Kolsch, as my cream ale took second in that category with a 32. I think you should be really proud of yourself for entering three beers in the 30s in your first comp. I've been entering for about a year, and I won't even mention how low mine started out in my first couple comps. Definitely not as high as yours!

 

[gbx]

Did you brew the beers for competition or to drink them? If you weren't brewing specifically for competition then you've done incredible. I decided it was pointless to enter beers unless they were brewed perfectly to style. I don't need to be told my beers are not to style and don't expect any decent feedback on anything other than your style accuracy in that case either. I'm sure the judging crowd will disagree but it seems to help brewing the biggest examples of the category (eg. and ESB over an ordinary bitter). When they are judging a best of category round or best of show round, it takes some amazing palates to not get blown out by a huge RIS and still find the complexity in the dry stout or 60 /-.

I don't want to be a "competition brewer" but last august I brewed my first beer specifically for competition with a recipe from brewing classic styles. Its great the first few sips but it definitely isn't my favourite. Its been in one comp and scored 38 with the only comments related to its age. I'm going to keep submitting it and see how it does.

 

[reinstone]

Reinstone,

You were probably very close to making the mini BOS with your Kolsch, as my cream ale took second in that category with a 32. I think you should be really proud of yourself for entering three beers in the 30s in your first comp. I've been entering for about a year, and I won't even mention how low mine started out in my first couple comps. Definitely not as high as yours!

My dortmunder has a mini best of show checked.? What's that?

 

[reinstone]

Did you brew the beers for competition or to drink them? If you weren't brewing specifically for competition then you've done incredible. I decided it was pointless to enter beers unless they were brewed perfectly to style. I don't need to be told my beers are not to style and don't expect any decent feedback on anything other than your style accuracy in that case either. I'm sure the judging crowd will disagree but it seems to help brewing the biggest examples of the category (eg. and ESB over an ordinary bitter). When they are judging a best of category round or best of show round, it takes some amazing palates to not get blown out by a huge RIS and still find the complexity in the dry stout or 60 /-.

I don't want to be a "competition brewer" but last august I brewed my first beer specifically for competition with a recipe from brewing classic styles. Its great the first few sips but it definitely isn't my favourite. Its been in one comp and scored 38 with the only comments related to its age. I'm going to keep submitting it and see how it does.

. I never thought of a competition till a brews hop owner in Bloomington told me to enter when I visited his shop. I try to be to style but I brewed this kolsch because I had a party and everyone liked it....I have brewed kolsch twice, The Dort was my first attempt at that style. I tried a bohem pils earlier that was no good.

 

[Braufessor]

My dortmunder has a mini best of show checked.? What's that?

They often may have multiple flights within a category - so the same judges might not judge all of the beers in a category. Ultimately, the best beers that each group of judges tasted are put together to be tasted "head-to-head" by the same group of judges to determine the places within the category.

 

[reinstone]

They often may have multiple flights within a category - so the same judges might not judge all of the beers in a category. Ultimately, the best beers that each group of judges tasted are put together to be tasted "head-to-head" by the same group of judges to determine the places within the category.

Braufessor.....are you entering the comp coming up in iowa?

 

[reinstone]

They often may have multiple flights within a category - so the same judges might not judge all of the beers in a category. Ultimately, the best beers that each group of judges tasted are put together to be tasted "head-to-head" by the same group of judges to determine the places within the category.

So that's where they got our dorts mixed up! Just jokin. Later tonight i will pour a beer in my old DAB glass and post a pic of my cheers to you.

 

[Braufessor]

I had thought about it, but I opted not to. I have sent beer off to 5-6 comps. in the last 2 months. Sending some to NHC in a week or two.... just been kind of hectic and don't really have the ambition to get bottles filled and everything sent out. Plus, getting a little thin on what I really have ready to enter.Probably won't enter any other comps. for 3 months or so.... at least not that I am aware of right now.

Hoping to spend some time rebrewing several of the beers over the next months and see if I can finetune (or overhall) some of them.

 

[reinstone]

Me - Got about 2-3 gallons of it left in my basement, and it is yummy

Yours must have been right in the running because my score was just a touch higher than that. As for "do you tweak a 39.5" - maybe, maybe not. And, tweaking may have nothing to do with the recipe(especially with lagers) - it may simply be a better yeast starter, or better temp. control, water profile, etc. My dortmunder only had 3 kinds of grain and one kind of hops..... not much to "tweak." Pilsners are the same. I would say to consider your process, before your ingredients.
Also, one of the best things I have done with my beers and competitions is to enter the same beers in multiple competitions to get a little broader feedback. It has really allowed me to hone in on ways to improve little areas that come up several times. I have a pilsner that was "good" but never quite placed.... multiple comments, from multiple comps, addressing one or two issues. Focused in on those and rebrewed it this fall and it did really well in comps this past month, winning a couple and placing regularly.

As others have mentioned, 39.5 is a great score and I am always pretty pleased with a score in the 34-38 range. When you start getting around 40, that is one darn good beer. Especially in your first competition.

And, there is always "balance" - my amber got crucified with a score of 20..... I don't know if I sent a bad bottle or what - Have to wait for the feedback on that one. So just when you think you are getting something down, there are always wake-up calls and reminders that there is more to learn

Hail to the victor.....cheers, here is to you!

 

[KurtB]

You have to take the scores with a grain of salt.....I just got back the results from a beer that I entered in two competitions. The same exact beer scored a 39 and 38 and made it to the BOS judging in one comp yet in another comp it scored a 20 and 25. Both sets of judges were BJCP recognized.

I think this is the case with any competition. A 18+ point change does seem like a lot, but depending on the specific beer, the amount of time between the 2 competitions, shipping issues, etc. it would not be unheard of. Even the number of beers entered in the category, how many judges are working that category, and what number you were in the flight can affect your score.

Entered the drunk monk challenge yesterday. No medal but scored 39.5 with a dortmunder. 33 with a rye ipa and 30.5 with a kolsch........loosing 8 points on aroma for too much pilsner malt aroma not enough hop aroma. God I thought that beer was flawless. I got some great feedback......some I disagree with. Got too much hops.....not enough hops on the rye......main flaw there was that it was under attenuated. I love it though for what it is.....cheers.

Reinstone - congratulations on the very good dortmunder, and your other solid entries!

I was also very pleased with my DMC scores and feedback. I had entered the same two beers in the Midwinter competition (Milwaukee) a couple of weeks earlier. Midwinter was my very first competition, the DMC was my second.

IIPA:
Midwinter - 27.5 - did not place
DMC - 38(42) - Honorable Mention

Irish Red:
Midwinter - 31.5 - 3rd place in category
DMC - 41 - did not place

Reinstone, you asked about "fixing" a 39.5, and that is a good question. The reason I entered multiple comps in a short period of time was mostly for the feedback. When I read through the scoresheets from both competitions I see some flaws that both sets of judges were able to identify (my IIPA is a bit too sweet and needs more aroma for example). Those are the things that I plan on trying to fix for the next time I brew the beer.

I worked as a steward for the DMC this year, and I will say that the overall quality of the beer that was entered was very high. The afternoon session I was working the large stouts (13d, 13e, 13f), and I think 5 of the 8 beers that went into the mini-BOS had at least one score above 40. I heard similar stories from other judges & stewards that evening.

 

[Darwin18]

BTW, a 39.5 is a huge score and you should be very proud.

Agreed! A 39.5 is a great score and something you should be very proud of. It sounds like you were in a very competitive and large flight. While the lack of hardware can feel like a let down, hang your hat on that score.

I judged my first competition on Saturday and probably judged at least 20 beers that day. I only gave one beer, an APA, a 40 with some in the mid 30's but the bulk in the 20's range. That particular APA made it to a mini-BOS which for our grouping was the top four beers (those scored at least a 36 and up). Surprisingly the 40 "only" came in 3rd with a lower scored beer taking the top stop. A lot can factor into your score including flight position and the beers that preceded it.

I'd re-enter your dortmunder in another competition and see how it goes. Take the judge's feedback constructively and keep on brewing!

 

[KurtB]

+1 to what Darwin said about entering another competition.

The BOSS (Brewers of South Suburbia) home brew club just outside of Chicago will be holding their annual competition in a couple of weeks (http://www.bossbeer.org/ChicagoCup/index.php). I think entries are due by Friday the 15th. If my geography is correct, Sherman is near springfield (I have relatives that live in Lincoln so I am somewhat familiar with the area between there and springfield), so you would either have to drive them up or ship them within a day or two.

I think some of the same local judges that volunteer for the DMC also volunteer to judge this competition as well because they are close to each other. The field is a bit smaller for most categories, so if you are looking for a victory in addition to good feedback, the odds are a bit better.