Buttery?

I got my scoresheets back from the Upper Mississippi Mashout.

• Tottenham Mild 32


• Sloppy Terry's Cream Ale 31


• Decemberfest (in mead category) 26.6


• Decemberfest (in specialty beer category) 24.5

I wasn't hoping for much from the Decemberfest, it was kind of a mistake beer, but I thought I would enter anyway to cover some categories for the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year. (You have to enter 10 different categories throughout the year to be in the running). The other two were rated near the low end of the "very good" category, and I have had beers take a 3rd or 2nd place with scores in the low 30's, but as I mentioned in another post, they failed to place.

I thought that most of the score sheets came back with fair assessments of the beers, with the exception of one on the Tottenham mild. One of the judges (out of 3) decided that it had a "diacetyl problem", causing an overpowering buttery flavor. He gave it a 29, the other judges rated it 32 and 34. I'm not sure where this opinion came from. I taste no diacetyl in the beer at all, and neither of the other judges mentioned diacetyl or buttery at all on their score sheets. Also interestingly, one judge said the beer was too carbonated, and another said it was not carbonated enough. Strange.

I will enter the Tottenham in another competition; I still think it's good enough to win. Maybe in the next contest I won't get a judge with butter on his brain.

If first you don't succeed...

Well I'm still bummed that none of my entries even placed in the Upper Mississippi Mashout. That means it's time to enter another contest. As mentioned previously, I plan to concentrate on the competitions in the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year circuit. The next competition on the circuit is the Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha. Unfortunately, the deadline for entries is January 30th, and I don't think I'll have everything ready to ship today, which is probably already too late to send without incurring rush shipping charges. So that one is off the list for me.

The MHBOY rules state that you must enter 4 competitions and 10 different categories throughout the year, which should be no problem. The next one is the Babble Brew Off, and you have until February 19th to get entries in. Conviently held in the Chicago 'burbs, I can just drop off my entries. (If you haven't figured it out yet, this blog is based in Chicago, specifically in the Noble Square Neighborhood).

I think I'll enter my Superbowl Stout, J&H Birthday Lager, and possibly Tottenham Mild, depending on how it's scoresheets from UMMO look.

Soy un perdidor...

I'm a loser baby. I entered the Upper Mississippi Mashout with 4 entries, and not a single one placed. I'm not surprised about two of the entries, they were just ok, but I thought that Sloppy Terry's Cream Ale and Tottenham mild were ribbon winners. We'll see what the scoresheets say when I get them back in the mail. The results are listed in a PDF here. Congratulations to the homebrewers who did win.

Upper Mississippi Mash-Out Beers Shipped!

I walked down to the local UPS store and shipped my entries for the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out. Of course it's about a mile a way, I'm carrying two boxes full of fragile bottles (I shipped some beer to my brother in Southern California too), and I'm walking Bosworth the Wonder Dog at the same time. (See label photos). The boxes had a combined weight of 19 pounds, which doesn't seem like a whole lot, unless you're carrying it precariously balanced with a extremely energetic 60 pound Portuguese Water Dog, who has chosen this very moment to act all crazy psycho, snapping at the leash, pulling as hard as he can, lunging and snapping at other dogs met along the walk. Somehow we made it.

Here's what I entered:

Decemberfest--an Oktoberfest with honey and maple. (Don't ask--actually do ask, I'll post the story how this came about sometime soon).
This was entered in two categories, 23 Specialty Beer, and 26C Other Mead.

Sloppy Terry's Cream Ale--named after my long time (24 years) friend Terry, aka T. Francis. I brewed this beer for his wedding in November and had a few bottles left over. I wish I had saved more, it's a mighty fine cream ale.

Tottenham Mild--Another long time (32 years) friend, Matt, is a big fan of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club. He helped me brew the first (extract) version of this, and now it's all grain, all grow's up. Tasty, but maybe bittered a little too much to win.

Stay tuned to see how they do in the competition.

Midwest Homebrewer of the Year Competition

The Midwest Homebrewer of the Year Competition is a contest which uses the results from a number of homebrewing competitions around the midwest to determine an overall winner. You need to enter at least 4 contests and 10 different types of brew. I made a half-assed attempt to compete in it last year. I finished in the top third and I really intend to improve that this year.

The first competition, the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out, is this month, and entries need to be by the 10th. I'm going to try to get mine out today. They have a new brewer category, so if you haven't entered a contest before, here's your chance!