National Homebrew Competition 2019

[treacheroustexan]

I didn't see a thread specifically about this years competition, so I figured I would make one and try to keep discussion all in one place.

I applied for 2 entries this year, and this will be my first time entering. I plan on stewarding the Cleveland judging as well.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[surgical_ass]

This will be my second year entering . I shipped 3 entries to Tampa. Hoping the results will come quicker from Tampa then when I did it in nashville...

 

[jdauria]

5 entries for Philly for me...Helles, Schwarzbier, Czech Dark, Hefeweizen and American Light Lager.

 

[surgical_ass]

Porter, munich dunkel, Berliner weisse . Shipped during the latest polar vortex ..hoping the berliner didn't freeze .

 

[JimRausch]

3 into Boston- Altbier, Amber ale, and a Vienna lager

 

[treacheroustexan]

Dropped my entries off Friday. Here they are!

 

[grampamark]

There is a thread here.

 

[TooManyTacos]

I sent 3 beers to Tampa last week. They were a fest bier that won gold at a local competition, A pilsner that I would like some feedback on, and a British Golden Ale for the hell of it.

 

[bembel]

If you sent them to Boston, you lucked out. We we given a cold storage facility to keep them in after we sorted last weekend (780 entries) so all your entries are chillin’

 

[treacheroustexan]

If you sent them to Boston, you lucked out. We we given a cold storage facility to keep them in after we sorted last weekend (780 entries) so all your entries are chillin’

Awesome. Same with Cleveland!

 

[bembel]

Sorting day was exhausting - by the way, but we managed not to break anything. One guy shipped beers all the way from Norway!!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Sorting day was exhausting - by the way, but we managed not to break anything. One guy shipped beers all the way from Norway!!

That's pretty awesome! Wonder how much that cost lol.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Sorry for double post. First round of judging kicked off this weekend! Good luck all.

 

[surgical_ass]

Sorry for double post. First round of judging kicked off this weekend! Good luck all.

Is that for all sites or just the ones listed to start today?

 

[treacheroustexan]

Is that for all sites or just the ones listed to start today?

I think only San Fran and Minneapolis today.

 

[danielthemaniel]

My first year entering NHC. I submitted an American IPA, a pineapple hefeweizen and a belgian tripel to the Indianapolis region. Hoping for good feedback or at least a national best of show

 

[treacheroustexan]

My first year entering NHC. I submitted an American IPA, a pineapple hefeweizen and a belgian tripel to the Indianapolis region. Hoping for good feedback or at least a national best of show

Good luck! They all sound great. Especially the pineapple.

 

[perolavfk]

.

 

[mwilcox]

here's my annual request that we keep details to a minimum for styles where specialty ingredients are used. For instance, beers with fairly rarely-used fruit that are likely the only such beer in the competition.

 

[treacheroustexan]

here's my annual request that we keep details to a minimum for styles where specialty ingredients are used. For instance, beers with fairly rarely-used fruit that are likely the only such beer in the competition.

Good point! Just because there may be a lot of judges lurking through these threads, for anyone questioning why.

 

[bembel]

Boston judging is finished, not sure when the results will be up. We had some awesome judges from many other New England and New York clubs come, as well as judges from Sam Adams and other breweries in the area. I can say I had the pleasure of being paired up with the AHA competition organizer John Moorhead to judge wood aged beers in the afternoon, and we scored two in the 40's. If you have never judged, what's even better than getting a great beer in front of you to score, is arriving at the same score as your other judges and not having to adjust. Consensus tastes great!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Boston judging is finished, not sure when the results will be up. We had some awesome judges from many other New England and New York clubs come, as well as judges from Sam Adams and other breweries in the area. I can say I had the pleasure of being paired up with the AHA competition organizer John Moorhead to judge wood aged beers in the afternoon, and we scored two in the 40's. If you have never judged, what's even better than getting a great beer in front of you to score, is arriving at the same score as your other judges and not having to adjust. Consensus tastes great!

Lucky you! That’s awesome.

 

[chuckthebutcher]

does anyone know why the verification process takes so long after the entries are judged? I know they are working their butt off, but just always wondered why it can take up to ten days to get the results posted.

 

[mwilcox]

does anyone know why the verification process takes so long after the entries are judged? I know they are working their butt off, but just always wondered why it can take up to ten days to get the results posted.

John can, at best, be at one region in a weekend. In those cases sometimes he physically takes the scoresheets with him when going back to Boulder, which saves time on actually sending them to him. Then, he is very thorough, and wants to get things done right. Also, every year there will likely be some unforeseen issue. These tend to be worked out in the early regions, so that he's sure he's got it right by the time he releases results. I find that he's fastest with the later regions. But I'm sure every year is a different kind of cat herding, and only so many lessons learned can be applied.

good luck--
--Michael

 

[chuckthebutcher]

John can, at best, be at one region in a weekend. In those cases sometimes he physically takes the scoresheets with him when going back to Boulder, which saves time on actually sending them to him. Then, he is very thorough, and wants to get things done right. Also, every year there will likely be some unforeseen issue. These tend to be worked out in the early regions, so that he's sure he's got it right by the time he releases results. I find that he's fastest with the later regions. But I'm sure every year is a different kind of cat herding, and only so many lessons learned can be applied.

good luck--
--Michael

Thank you for the thorough explanation. I never realized all that went into getting the scores posted after judging was complete.

 

[pedrobot]

Thank you for the thorough explanation. I never realized all that went into getting the scores posted after judging was complete.

Yeah, that was great, thanks. I've got 2 entries in at San Diego for judging this weekend - American Porter and American Stout (my first BIAB). Probably the best couple of beers I've made, so I've got fingers crossed.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Yeah, that was great, thanks. I've got 2 entries in at San Diego for judging this weekend - American Porter and American Stout (my first BIAB). Probably the best couple of beers I've made, so I've got fingers crossed.

Good luck to you!

 

[juggabrew]

So how does the second round work? Is that what the 2nd bottle is for or does the brewer have to brew a whole new batch? This is my first time entering so not sure how all this works.

 

[chrisgood1]

The second round is completely separate, you will have to ship new beers to the judging location given by the AHA. Depending on the beer you may need to brew a new batch like an IPA so it is fresh for the next round.

When I made the second round I had to rebrew and my efficiency went up so unfortunately my light lager finished too high and I lost points for being out if style.

 

[jdauria]

So how does the second round work? Is that what the 2nd bottle is for or does the brewer have to brew a whole new batch? This is my first time entering so not sure how all this works.

If you entered a beer that ages well, you can send more bottles of the same beer if you have it, otherwise would need to rebrew. When my Schwarzbier advanced two years ago, I took judge comments from other comps it was in and used that to tweak the next batch. Went from a 38 in first round to a 41, but did not place.

 

[chuckthebutcher]

If you entered a beer that ages well, you can send more bottles of the same beer if you have it, otherwise would need to rebrew. When my Schwarzbier advanced two years ago, I took judge comments from other comps it was in and used that to tweak the next batch. Went from a 38 in first round to a 41, but did not place.

yeah I would rebrew most styles. 2 years ago, my IPA got 3rd in the region and my amber lager got first. I rebrewed the IPA and it placed first in the nation and I did not rebrew the lager, thinking a lager would age better, however the lager did not place at all in the finals. Good luck to everyone in this years comp and let's hope we make it past the first round!

 

[chrilr]

NYC and SF posted

 

[Birdskull]

Placed 1st in one category. *smiles stupidly*

 

[yeastseeker]

wtf. My brett saison beer entered in the 28A American wild category got dinged for not having American hop character. Per the judge "since it's entered in the American wild category it should have American hop character"
I have never heard this and its not in the style description at all....

 

[ccous]

wtf. My brett saison beer entered in the 28A American wild category got dinged for not having American hop character. Per the judge "since it's entered in the American wild category it should have American hop character"
I have never heard this and its not in the style description at all....

Yeah, that’s lame. It does not have to. Unless you describe it as a wild pale/ipa, the style has a wide interpretation

 

[treacheroustexan]

Did the judge list an email? I’d definitely reach out to them and at least clarify so they research styles a little more first...

 

[mwilcox]

wtf. My brett saison beer entered in the 28A American wild category got dinged for not having American hop character. Per the judge "since it's entered in the American wild category it should have American hop character"
I have never heard this and its not in the style description at all....

let me just say that my life got a lot less stressful when I realized the judging was a ****-show and that luck was a big part of it. I would agonize over what to enter, spend hours trying to idiot-proof them, and while mostly successful, there have been so many WTH moments in either the First Round or Finals that I've stopped caring. The best beer I ever made received the lowest score I have ever gotten, 14.5 points, in the First Round, a year after I medalled in the same style. Sometimes the judges are wrong.

Gordon Strong had some amazing results but even he assumed 1/3 of his entries would make the Finals. When I asked him how often the feedback made him roll his eyes, the answer was "99%". And Gordon never had a real entry limit, while the last 6 years it has been either 4 or 5 per year.

I know none of this makes you feel better; sorry your judges weren't better. How was the rest of the scoresheet?

 

[brewmasterbryan]

Anyone have any insight on the Minneapolis region? Still waiting for results to post, but saw SF and NY posted yesterday and held judging the same weekend as Minne. Last year, Minneapolis posted fairly quick (within 7 days from judging anyway).

I didn't make the cut last year, which was my first year entering. After brewing a ton, refining recipes, and having a decent 1st year of competing in 2018, the wait for these results is killing me this year!

 

[chuckthebutcher]

Anyone have any insight on the Minneapolis region? Still waiting for results to post, but saw SF and NY posted yesterday and held judging the same weekend as Minne. Last year, Minneapolis posted fairly quick (within 7 days from judging anyway).

I didn't make the cut last year, which was my first year entering. After brewing a ton, refining recipes, and having a decent 1st year of competing in 2018, the wait for these results is killing me this year!

I am wondering same thing. MN region has had an online status of "verifying results" since last Tuesday the 26th. However, I only got an email saying my entries had been judged 2 days ago. Maybe they had to judge a few the following weekend and thus are taking longer to get the results up? Just my thoughts.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I am wondering same thing. MN region has had an online status of "verifying results" since last Tuesday the 26th. However, I only got an email saying my entries had been judged 2 days ago. Maybe they had to judge a few the following weekend and thus are taking longer to get the results up? Just my thoughts.

My beers were judged on Saturday and I got that same email. I think it may have just been a mass email to everyone who had entries in the first two weekends.