First homebrew competition results

[bobeer]

Hey all,

I entered a beer in a local homebrew competition and I finally got back the results. I brewed an APA and entered it in as a 10A. I got a 25/50 which says it's right in the middle of "good" (good being 21-29) It was rated by 3 different judges of which gave me a 24, 25, and 26. I'm bummed I only got half the amount of total points possible but this being the first time I had brewed this APA, and the first competition I've entered, I guess it's not all THAT bad.

I brewed a little biab 2.5 gallon batch and I guess I have to work on astringency. I probably over sparged or squeezed the bag too hard. Or my water levels could also be off as I'm on city water and have never bothered to look at the levels. The water doesn't appear as hard.

I also need to get a little cooler with fermentation temps. My basement stays at a constant 65-67 degrees but I guess I need to get it down a few more degrees to really nail it because the main judge said it had a slight diacetyl creaminess to it. From reading the forum I guess lower fermentation temps and even a diacetyl rest can help fix this issue?

All in all it was worth the 5 bucks to get the feed back from people that judge beer. Although one of the judges said the opposite of another on a few comments so I'm not sure how that worked out... Now I at least know what I need to adjust in my process and what new toys I need to buy to do so!!

 

[mcbaumannerb]

First off ... congratulations - not a bad score for a first time brewing a recipe!

I wouldn't worry about over sparging or squeezing the bag - it is doubtful that really did anything with astringency. I'd check your water first (or switch to a spring water,) also what kind of yeast did you use? If dry did you rehydrate or pitch dry? If liquid did you make a starter? I'd say temp control is the biggest possibility - if your ambient temp is 65-67 then your fermenter would be in the mid-70s during peak fermentation which could push the limits of the yeast you used. Another thing to look at are the grains you used (any rye?) and what temperature you mashed at.

 

[bobeer]

Thanks!

I used dry sa-05 and I pitched it dry. Should I hydrate it before pitching?

No rye. Pretty sure it was just 2 row, munich, vienna, crystal 20 and crystal 60. I think I mashed at 154.

I'll try it with spring water, since it's only a 2.5 gallon batch, when I brew it again.

Looks like I'll be needing a chest freezer. Damn!

 

[mcbaumannerb]

Re-hydrating is one of those topics where everyone has an opinion With SA-05 I haven't done it and had great results so you're probably fine there. I think water and fermentation temps are the places I'd look at. If you can't swing the freezer/temp control you could go with a swamp cooler and frozen water bottles and a fan. That would probably get you down enough to be in a safe zone.

 

[bobeer]

I'm going to try and swing the freezer since I'm collecting stuff to start kegging. I'll get some test strips and look into the water too.

Thanks for the replies!!!