National Homebrew comp...what are you entering?

pjj2ba · Apr 8, 2013

Braufessor said:
Yeah.... depends a lot on the style. I have some getting judged in St. Paul this weekend too.

I already rebrewed a pilsner and dortmunder I entered.... If they make it, great - I am prepared. If not, great - I have 10 gallons of my favorite light lagers to drink this summer.

Ditto here. Two lagers and a Kolsch are now fermenting. This coming weekend two more lagers get brewed. If nothing else, I'll also have plenty of beer for summer!

nukebrewer · Apr 8, 2013

iBrewR said:
Were you able to come home with your scoresheets?

I had to leave before the afternoon flight was judged so I didn't get mine back, but I don't think anyone gets them back the day of, even if you're a judge/steward. I imagine it's part of the unfair advantage thing. If I get my score sheets back and have really high scores I have a pretty good idea of how to proceed as far as rebrewing whereas someone who wasn't there wouldn't know until later when the scores are released to everyone.

iBrewR · Apr 8, 2013

nukebrewer said:
I imagine it's part of the unfair advantage thing.

This is true, but I don't really agree. As others have said. If it'll need to be rebrewed for the second round, just do it. Most bigger or dark beers don't necessarily need to be rebrewed. And smaller lighter beers would just be more beer for summer consumption.

I asked because, I know that last year some of the judging locations returned score sheets, but didn't release official results, waiting for the AHA to do that. That's about the same as letting judges and stewards go home with their sheets.

ThatGeekGuy · Apr 8, 2013

I entered my Spiced Porter in three categories, regular porter, vegetable/spice and holiday beers. The spices were somewhat subtle, so I figured it'd go for the regular porter category along with the other two. My first comp, just really looking for good feedback with a win just icing on the cake.

nukebrewer · Apr 8, 2013

iBrewR said:
This is true, but I don't really agree. As others have said. If it'll need to be rebrewed for the second round, just do it. Most bigger or dark beers don't necessarily need to be rebrewed. And smaller lighter beers would just be more beer for summer consumption.

You can't reasonably expect someone to re-brew any beers because they might advance. I agree that bigger beers (except DIPA) probably don't need to be re-brewed, but I don't think it's anyone's place to tell someone they should re-brew a beer that may not even advance. What if they want different beer for their summer drinking? Are you suggesting that people should plan their NHC entries around what they want to drink during the summer?

iBrewR · Apr 9, 2013

nukebrewer said:
You can't reasonably expect someone to re-brew any beers because they might advance. I agree that bigger beers (except DIPA) probably don't need to be re-brewed, but I don't think it's anyone's place to tell someone they should re-brew a beer that may not even advance.

No one is telling them anything. They did that when they chose to enter a style that needed to be judged fresh. But the truth is that most styles will be fine for the second round if properly stored. If your point is giving everyone and equal chance to read their scoresheets and rebrew using those suggestions, then there should be six months or more between the first and second round. I don't think that is what the AHA has in mind.

nukebrewer said:
What if they want different beer for their summer drinking? Are you suggesting that people should plan their NHC entries around what they want to drink during the summer?

What you're suggesting is that people are brewing beer that they don't enjoy drinking for competition purposes only. If that's the case, I feel sorry for those people. Rebrew a small batch and have some variety to choose from over the summer.

If you're serious about the competition and your beer needs to be fresh for the second round, you've already planned that into your brew schedule. Releasing results as they become available shouldn't effect that. You might be jealous that you're not from one of the early judging centers, but you'll get over it.