Pilsner Urquell Homebrew Contest

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I am working along the artistic impression angle in my batches. They all have some Saaz in them but I have made extensive use of other hops as well. I've also added a few surprises to the grain bill. Not enough to take it out of style, but hopefully it will add a little extra character - in a good way (fingers crossed as they bubble away)

And looking forward to meeting a bunch of you guys in NYC!
 
I brewed it 5 weeks ago today. The krausen finally fell a few days ago, after fermenting at 50 for 3 weeks and then 53 for two more weeks. It ended up at FG 1.012 and is pretty tasty. I transferred it to a keg and will lager at 35 for 3 weeks and then start to carb at that point.
 
Found out the NYC venue is Hospoda in Manhattan. It's a Bavarian/Bohemian/Austrian restaurant. It's a few blocks east of Central Park.

I joined facebook just for this and I think at this point I can officially say that facebook sucks really really hard. Damn what a POS it is.

EDIT: Dibs on Hopsoda as a name for my pils.:D
 
I received an email this morning giving that location. Bonus for me, it is just 9 blocks from my sister-in-laws place. :ban: They used to live just 2 blocks from there so I'm sure I've gone by the place.

As far as meeting up before hand, there is not a whole lot beer wise in the immediate area that I've run across. There is Heidelberg about 10 blocks away, and Cafe d'Alsace a couple more blocks, which has a cicerone on staff, and a smallish, but very good beer list (read $$) I'm sure any locals will know much more than I.

We'll be arriving on Friday so we'll be around the whole weekend if anyone wants to get together then.

On Hospoda's website you need to check out the beer photos!!!! It looks like you can order the SAME beer 4 ways. Each version differs in the amount of head it is poured with, and each has it's own flavor attributes. I would assume this would be related to how much carbonation is lost. The flatter (more foamy) the beer, the sweeter and maltier it will taste.

My beer will be named in honor of one of our former cats, whose name was in Slovak, but the Czech use the same word
 
I received the email today as well -- Hospoda looks really interesting. The ONLY beer they serve is Pilsner Urquell, four ways as noted. I'm not sure I would be ordering a glass full of foam (Mliko) any time soon. Speaking of their pictures, check out the coils under the sink in the fourth interior photo -- what do you think that is for?

pjj2ba -- I noticed you are in PA and mentioned the Slovak cat -- are you Slovak descent? My wife's family (Petrick/Mankovich) is Hungarian from the Greensburg and Hazelton areas.
 
My wife is half Slovak. She had the cat before me. Our second cat had a Polish name, in honor of the numerous visiting Polish scientists in the lab when I was working on my degree. I'll have to check with my Czech friend (doh!) if the Polish and Czech word for that cat's name are the same - it would be a good beer name as well. Yes, I have a Czech friend to act as a beer taster. :rockin:
 
My wife is a refugee from Slovakia! I have no shortage of relatives who will gladly critique my entries and help me decide which to bring...
 
I was thinking about, for "artistic impression," adding oak during the lagering phase. Any thoughts on this?
 
Oak could get a bit strong in a beer that is pretty "simple". It might work, but I bet the hops and oak would clash in a younger beer and it might take a couple months more than normal for the two to meld together.
 
pjj2ba said:
Oak could get a bit strong in a beer that is pretty "simple". It might work, but I bet the hops and oak would clash in a younger beer and it might take a couple months more than normal for the two to meld together.
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I was considering this as well since this is how PU was originally brewed. If you do go with a very small amount of oak (1/8-1/4 oz French or Hungarian medium toast oak cubes) and boil it in a couple changes of water to leach out most of the tannins. I’ll probably end up skipping it this time, but it is on my list for my next attempt at the style.
 
I'm in the competition and live on the Upper East Side.

I'd be happy to meet up with some other HBT'ers and can recommend a great Upper East Side Craft-Beer Pub Crawl if anyone is interested!

Or just meet up at one pub... either way! :mug:
 
Well crap. I'm going to have to bail on this as I got laid off Friday. I don't think my Pils was going to win anything anyway. It's not bad but just doesn't have enough hop flavor and isn't quite bitter enough. Good luck to those in it!
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
Well crap. I'm going to have to bail on this as I got laid off Friday. I don't think my Pils was going to win anything anyway. It's not bad but just doesn't have enough hop flavor and isn't quite bitter enough. Good luck to those in it!
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Sorry to hear about you getting laid off. That is my initial thoughts on mine too. Not quite enough bitterness or hops flavor either.
 
Yeah, I was looking forward to the trip and meeting some HBT folk more than the actual competition. RE: my job, it's just the dawn of a new day. Everything will be fine.
 
Just got an email with the DC competition, which included a form to send them with brewing/tasting notes on my beer (never entered a competition where they wanted to know what I think the beer tastes like). It also seems ambitious that the 5 judges are planning to judge all 50 beers and pick a winer in 75 minutes.

Reasonably happy with the way my beer turned out, although there is a hint more diacetyl than I was hoping for. Here is a shot of mine next to (an oxidized) bottle of Urquell.
 
Oldsock said:
Just got an email with the DC competition, which included a form to send them with brewing/tasting notes on my beer (never entered a competition where they wanted to know what I think the beer tastes like). It also seems ambitious that the 5 judges are planning to judge all 50 beers and pick a winer in 75 minutes.

Reasonably happy with the way my beer turned out, although there is a hint more diacetyl than I was hoping for. Here is a shot of mine next to (an oxidized) bottle of Urquell.
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So did you say that it 'tastes/smells soooo much better than the oxidized crap PU we get over here'?:D

Looks like the old adage will be true with the judges; 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression'.
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
So did you say that it 'tastes/smells soooo much better than the oxidized crap PU we get over here'?:D

Looks like the old adage will be true with the judges; 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression'.
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Hey that bottle had a best by that is still five months away, although reading through an old Brewing Techniques article again this morning I noticed they said they label with a year out from bottling... Mine still has a few weeks, so we'll see.
 
fastricky said:
I'm in the competition and live on the Upper East Side.

I'd be happy to meet up with some other HBT'ers and can recommend a great Upper East Side Craft-Beer Pub Crawl if anyone is interested!

Or just meet up at one pub... either way! :mug:
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My wife and I will be getting into NYC on Monday noon. We'll be hooking up with her sister after the comp for drink. If you have any suggestions for good beer in the area, or if HBT folks are gathering anywhere, please let me know! I've been to Gingerman and Blind Tiger, but that is the extent of my NYC beer exploration...
 
My wife and I are staying with her sister about 9 blocks aways, and the three of us scoped out Hospoda last night. Great place and great beer! A bit $$ for food. The beer was an average price ($8) by NYC standards. Food is upscale. The folks there are excited about the contest as well. It probably will be a pretty full house as seating capacity is only 100 people. One of the waitstaff said they thought they heard they were only expecting 42 brewers so maybe a few dropped out.

We as well would like to meet up with other HBTers. We are not real familiar with Manhattan, just the upper East side around where the sister-in-law lives. We're open to suggestions
 
I still need to put mine into bottles. I've got the bottles cleaned, just haven't mixed up a fresh batch of starsan yet. I guess I'll do that tomorrow.

I have work until 430 Monday, but will head over from my crappy, crappy Long Island City location to the event venue and hang out until my wife shows up.

I wish I could hang out with some of you earlier, but I'm leaving for a short vacation Weds and need to get too much done in prep for that.

If I have enough bottles laying around, I might bottle some peanut butter porter if anyones wants to try some. Maybe I'll put in in a 32oz fliptop and we can sample at the tables?
 
So is the plan to do a beer thing before or after the event?

Some possible places to check out near Hospoda are:

- David Copperfields's: Good tap selection, all craft. Food and service are OK. Can be noisy.

- Marrion Square: Generally quiet and comfortable. Generally only NY craft on tap.

- Earl's Beer & Cheese: Really cool place but small. Nice beer tho' and the food is really good.

- Bier International: a new beer garden in Harlem, it is supposed to be pretty cool.

Cab rides from Hospeda:

- Gingerman is awesome, one of my favs. But will be crowded with wankers.

- Rattle 'n Hum is the new 'Gingerman' in NYC. Great selection, food is nothing special.

- Waterfront Ale House is another of my favs. Great craft on tap and food is good.

- The Pony Bar: Another great bar but kinda small and crowded. Not very comfortable.

Go to beermenus.com for other ideas or to look up these places...
 
I'm thinking apres-event for a few quality brews and maybe an appetizer or two. It may be cumbersome/risky hauling a cooler around before the event. I'll also bring a few bottles of my recent kolsch to taste as well. I've heard good things about Rattle 'n Hum - that's a place I haven't been before. And it looks like they are having a special rarities event that night too... But hey, I'm open to anything good.
 
Apres event sounds good. Hopefully we'll have the energy to go out more as we have been having a great vacation but have been pushing it a little and we are not as young as we used to be.

I'm not sure how much they are going to provide us with food and beverage. The waitstaff did mention they would be setting up a buffet. For free or $, they did not mention. Apparently this place is the first venture for a Czech chef who has a dozen places back in the old world. He was on the Anthony Bordain show about the Czech republic. He originally wanted it to be just beer and Czech food, but quickly found the market in NYC demanded they have some wine and vegetables as well.

Looking forward to meeting you all tonight!! I'll be wearing an orange shirt with white hops and leaves on it. I have glasses and grey/brown hair. My wife is plus-sized and thinks she'll be wearing a blue and white dress, also with glasses, and brown hair.
 
HBT represents!!! It's your turn DC and Chicago. I took 1st, and michaeltrego took 2nd. We ended up sitting next to one another, also sat with fastricky, who is planning to open a brewery just North of the city hopefully opening within the year.

I was a great evening (regardless of the outcome). The beer at Hospoda was phenomenal. We all thought it was different from what we are used to in the States. It is specially shipped cold to them. The food was upscale and delicious. It did take awhile for the judging, but the beer and food kept us happy. All in all we had a great time, which ultimately was what I was hoping for, and winning was just an extra bonus.

We chatted with the judges a bit afterwards. The said they quickly were able to whittle it down to ~15 beers, but then said it got very difficult. One of the judges said lots of the beers had some honey notes, but they were really looking for some more subtle caramelly notes. This may vary as 3 of the 5 judges were locals and probably won't judge the other comps. Mike said he used a fair bit of late hops, I think he said whirlpool. He brought an extra and shared it with us. It had a very nice aroma, which I know the U.S judges liked, one had his beer in 1st. I used a bunch of flavor hops but just a little for aroma. My tweaks were mostly to the grain bill, with a little to the hops. Oh, and a simple infusion (but step mash) won over a single decoction (mike in 2nd) and a triple for the guy who took third.

Whew!
 
fastricky, myself and michaeltrego at the NYC stop of the PU masterhomebrew competition

2011-08-08_21_13_27.jpg



Holy crap! Us with our 1st and 2nd place awards (the key is to the brewery)

2011-08-08_21_25_34.jpg
 
Hey congrats! Looks like fun.

I was wondering if you can give more details on the evening. What time did it run to? Was the food and beer complementary or did it have to be purchased?

Was the winning beer a spot-on clone of Pilsner Urquell, or was it just a 'really good pilsner'??

Thanks, looking forward to Friday, we just need to plan for the evening accordingly.
 
jacko623 said:
Hey dude! A brewclub member and I sat next to her tonight! Unfortunately none of us won :mad:

The winner and the runner-up mentioned they were both on this forum. I wonder if they'll post. Congrats guys! A huge accomplishment!
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Thanks for including her in your group! She seemed to have a good time, despite not winning...

And congrats to the top two!
 
pjj2ba said:
My tweaks were mostly to the grain bill, with a little to the hops. Oh, and a simple infusion (but step mash) one over a single decostion (mike in 2nd) and a triple for the guy who took third.

Whew!
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Congrats! Care to share your recipe, interested to hear what the grailbill was. I went the traditional triple decoctionroute, fun to try once, but not something I want to make a habit of.
 
Mischief_Brewing said:
Thanks for including her in your group! She seemed to have a good time, despite not winning...

And congrats to the top two!
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I'm sorry that our group of HBTers didn't get to meet the other group of HBTers. It was a little crowded in there.


The actual judging was supposed to start at 6:30 but was a little late after comments by PU's head brewer. I believe they divided the beers into two sets, with pairs of judges tasting a set. The head brewer tasted everything and had the final say. By 8:30 the judges had tasted them all, and were taking piss breaks, so those of us waiting for the same got to talk to them a bit. Then they went back and did more tasting of their top choices and about 30 min. after the targeted announcement time (8:30) they announced 5,4,3,2, and then one. I had thought they were just going to announce the top five in no particular order, but they gave the plaque to #3 and I realized, nope, this is it, in order. They called Mike's name and number and I thought wow, that's fantastic! Then they called my number and name and Holy S@@T!

Good luck to everyone. You'll have a great time!!
The food (appetizers) was set up buffet style and was free. We were given 2 tickets per person for beer when we came in. After that, additional beers had to be purchased. Of course this may vary for you guys depending on the venue. The PU they had on tap really was fantastic, likely the best in the States. Maybe PU has a similar set up at the other venues as well if the rest of you are lucky.
 
A little :off:,but I felt the same knock-me-over-with-a-feather shock when I won best in class with my 94 Probe SE at Midwest Mazdafest last year. I was standing there,shell shocked,when they announced my car's #. My wife said "go on,baby! You won!". "Who...me?" "Yeah,baby you did it!". Lord,that's a good feeling! 1st time out for me too. I'm genuinely happy for ya,man! Great accomplishment! That "arena love" is a wild feeling indeed.
 
Oldsock said:
Congrats! Care to share your recipe, interested to hear what the grailbill was. I went the traditional triple decoctionroute, fun to try once, but not something I want to make a habit of.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what kind of sharing I can do at this point. I haven't closely read the fine print - yet. I think I can give a few detail though.


NO decoction!!!!!!. I added two specialty malts to compensate. I did do a step mash (direct heating), including a protein rest. I backed off on the Saaz, and added another good blending hop. I also added a little rye to give back some spiciness lost by dropping the Saaz. I was hoping to tweak the spicy character of the beer, and apparently it worked.

One question I still have is what were they looking for? When we got there, their little printed sheet we got suggested it was a "can you brew the perfect PU clone", and my heart sunk a little. Then the "organizer" a top Miller/Coors person (the PU distributor), said much the same, and again my heart sunk a little more. We decided though that, no, they said 15% artistic impression.

Mike had kindly brought an extra bottle of his version which he shared with us. His beer was definitely not a PU clone, but obviously pleased the judges enough to earn second (1st from one judge). I had thought my beer was definitely different from PU, and it is from what I am used to PU tasting like, but compared to what we were drinking at Hospoda, now I'm not so sure. I'll have a taste when I get home tonight.

Oh, and as they were judging, our group decided that if nothing else, it was ubber cool to have the head brewer of PU tasting our beers
 

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