IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Has anyone here participated in this competition?
Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB)
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aryoung1980
Well-Known Member
I have not but I plan on entering this year. I qualified for category 4. Dark Lager.
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Same here - I have not in the past, but qualified cat. 1,2,8 and 11 and plan to enter this year.
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Grats to the both of you. I qualified for 13E and will be entering as well. Hopefully I can qualify for other categories at the other qualifying events. Was hoping to get some feedback about this comp from someone who has entered in the past years.
Did you qualify in a 2014 comp?
The ones I listed were 2013 comps, for the final to be held this april.
I have cat. 11 qualified so far in 2014, for the final that will be held next spring in 2015. So, if yours is one that you just qualified - you have a whole year+ until the actual final. I will know a little more about it in a couple months.
Their homepage/website has a lot of info on it. I am looking forward to participating in it for the first time this spring.
The ones I listed were 2013 comps, for the final to be held this april.
I have cat. 11 qualified so far in 2014, for the final that will be held next spring in 2015. So, if yours is one that you just qualified - you have a whole year+ until the actual final. I will know a little more about it in a couple months.
Their homepage/website has a lot of info on it. I am looking forward to participating in it for the first time this spring.
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Yeah I qualified in a 2014 comp.
So you will be competing in 2013? Please let us know how it goes.
aryoung1980
Well-Known Member
I qualified for 2014 too. The website does have a decent amount of information on it.
I'm also thinking about entering a couple more qualifiers. I have a Baltic Porter that took 3rd at the Midwinter in Milwaukee. The beer is young so I think extended lagering could bump it up a few more points and bring home a gold from somewhere.
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I'm also thinking about entering a couple more qualifiers. I have a Baltic Porter that took 3rd at the Midwinter in Milwaukee. The beer is young so I think extended lagering could bump it up a few more points and bring home a gold from somewhere.
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
I read through the site. I couldn't find at what location the competition is at or if judging and the awards announcements are even open to the public. Maybe I'm blind but I couldn't find it anywhere.
I'm also planning on entering a few into the coming up May qualifier competition in Oregon. Hopefully I can also get in with my American Wheat and Imperial IPA.
Here is the info for the 2013 Qualifiers and the final that will be judged april 2014.
http://www.masterhomebrewer.org/MCAB_XVI_info.htm
They had this info out in about January of this year.
I think it is kind of a "floating" final - and they need a homebrew club to take charge of it from one year to the next. So, they do not have all the details about the final out until about 3 months before the final. So, for 2014 contests, they have info out about qualifying comps, and they update qualifiers as the results come in - but the actual finals information will not probably be available until next winter i would guess.
http://www.masterhomebrewer.org/MCAB_XVI_info.htm
They had this info out in about January of this year.
I think it is kind of a "floating" final - and they need a homebrew club to take charge of it from one year to the next. So, they do not have all the details about the final out until about 3 months before the final. So, for 2014 contests, they have info out about qualifying comps, and they update qualifiers as the results come in - but the actual finals information will not probably be available until next winter i would guess.
brettg20
Well-Known Member
I have 2 beers that qualified last year for this years final...interested in the feedback
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
I qualified for, and entered a beer into, the 2013 MCAB. I was underwhelmed by the feedback I got. Each criterion had a single line, 3 - 5 words of feedback, from both of the judges. It was the least descriptive/helpful feedback I've ever gotten in a competition. Could be that its hit or miss, but that was my experience.
Congrats on qualifying though, I hope you get some good feedback. Report back, especially if your beer medals!
Congrats on qualifying though, I hope you get some good feedback. Report back, especially if your beer medals!
I won a gold in the 2013 finals and was still dissatisfied with the level of judging and the feedback in the finals. I qualified in two categories this year but I do not think I will bother with the finals.
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I believe that MCAB is more about competition and less about feedback. They use the checklist scoresheet (similar to NHC Finals last year). Every entry at MCAB already won its category at a pretty legit competition. A brewer would have already gotten feedback from other competitions on these beers.
I am not involved in the comp, but my guess is that it makes it more feasible for a local club to take on the responsibility from one year to the next. It is sort of a "traveling" final, and some club has to step up to put it on. These are generally already the same clubs that are hosting MCAB qualifiers, hosting NHC regionals and other good sized comps. They are also drawing from the same regional judging pool that has been in high demand throughout the spring. Hosting yet another competition is probably a real handful.
One of the suggestions people have about improving NHC and getting the best beers entered is to do a "qualifying" system....... well, that is what this is. You have to win to get in. The final judging is about determining the top beers - not giving feedback.
This is my impression of it. I could be wrong, but that is my take. I think it is a great way to do it and keep it a reasonable undertaking for the host club (who is already probably given up a lot of time on other comps.) I send beer to many comps. to get feedback. I send to NHC and MCAB to try to place top 3. I don't care as much about detailed feedback at that level.
I think it is a good point though that people realize the judging system so they don't expect one thing and get another.
I am not involved in the comp, but my guess is that it makes it more feasible for a local club to take on the responsibility from one year to the next. It is sort of a "traveling" final, and some club has to step up to put it on. These are generally already the same clubs that are hosting MCAB qualifiers, hosting NHC regionals and other good sized comps. They are also drawing from the same regional judging pool that has been in high demand throughout the spring. Hosting yet another competition is probably a real handful.
One of the suggestions people have about improving NHC and getting the best beers entered is to do a "qualifying" system....... well, that is what this is. You have to win to get in. The final judging is about determining the top beers - not giving feedback.
This is my impression of it. I could be wrong, but that is my take. I think it is a great way to do it and keep it a reasonable undertaking for the host club (who is already probably given up a lot of time on other comps.) I send beer to many comps. to get feedback. I send to NHC and MCAB to try to place top 3. I don't care as much about detailed feedback at that level.
I think it is a good point though that people realize the judging system so they don't expect one thing and get another.
I mostly agree, until you take first place with a 35 and a recognized and non-bjcp judge as the only judges in the whole flight. Seems like for a national final you should get at least as qualified judging as the qualifier.
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I would agree with you on this point if the rules didn't state that you could either enter the exact beer that gained you entry into MCAB, or you could re-brew it, or you could enter a completely different beer as long as its in the same base style category. Since they have the finals mid-year of the year after you qualified, I'm not sure most of the people are entering the exact brews they qualified with since a lot of those original brews wouldn't hold up that long. So feedback would be nice.
I'm not knocking the comp, I think its a great idea. I just would have liked more feedback. If its supposed to be one of the premier competitions, and your beers are stacked up against lots of great beers from around the country, it seems like a place where brewers would especially want to get detailed feedback - to see how they stack up when it really counts. At least, that's the way I went into it.
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
So the judging was low caliber? Was expecting to see some higher ranked judges for a "National Finals" type competition.
....or..... it could be that the highest ranked judges were selecting the top 3 beers in mini BOS format for each style. Perhaps the lower ranked judges were being used to pass on the 5-6 best beers in a category and then higher ranked judges were putting them in 1-3 order.
I don't know that the judging is "low caliber" - I think it is more likely that the time spent writing comments and providing feedback is limited so that they can efficiently judge everything in one day..... and it is all geared toward isolating the 3 best beers.
If there are 15 or so beers to be judged, the judges can probably eliminate 5 of them immediately upon a quick taste and know that they are not "top 3". Probably can start separating the rest into groups and narrow it down to 4-6 from there somewhat efficiently.
Again - my opinion or perspective as I have not been there to know for sure.
I don't know that the judging is "low caliber" - I think it is more likely that the time spent writing comments and providing feedback is limited so that they can efficiently judge everything in one day..... and it is all geared toward isolating the 3 best beers.
If there are 15 or so beers to be judged, the judges can probably eliminate 5 of them immediately upon a quick taste and know that they are not "top 3". Probably can start separating the rest into groups and narrow it down to 4-6 from there somewhat efficiently.
Again - my opinion or perspective as I have not been there to know for sure.
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IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
All good info, thanks for the replies from everyone.
hiatusbrewing
New Member
I'm planning on judging it this year and will keep these comments about low quality judging in mind. FYI the judging coordinator is a Grand Master and I'm sure he'll address quality score sheets before we begin. I haven't judged this event in the past but this is great info to have guys. Best of luck to all the entrants and send me some tasty beer!
I've qualified for this several times but never bothered to enter. Hardly anyone knows or cares about the MCAB as far as I can tell.
aryoung1980
Well-Known Member
I for one am excited about it. The fact that it's very selective to get in appeals to me. I even dropped the $25 for a t-shirt. I'm probably going to enter a few more qualifiers to try and get myself a slot in another category.
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