Coffee while going over my score sheets from the Michigan Beer Cup.
I'm thrilled with what I'm reading...but I didn't win anything. I entered a similar beer last year and got 26-27. This year, I made minor tweaks (my own recipe) and paid attention to the water. I got a 35.5 with the more experienced of the two judges giving it a 36. The one ding both judges gave was that it had too sweet of a finish for the style, but I added vanilla beans to make it a vanilla blonde, so I really intended for that to happen (maybe not the best recipe for a competition because of the "non-beer" ingredient).
The "Overall Impressions":
"Delicious, needs to be less sweet in finish."
"Good and drinkable with good balance. Body a bit full, may be able to adjust with mash temp or more attnuative yeast."
I'll take that. Big improvement over a span of a year.