2012 Home Brew Competitions

Hello Brew Buds!  Señor Brew™ intended to post this calendar before any of the competitions listed actually occurred, but he didn't. Sorry!

It's not a comprehensive list of competitions by any means, just the events that Señor Brew™ intends to compete in this year.  As you can see, most are in Southern California, where Noble Square Brewing is now based, but a few are national, and of course the list includes the Chicago Beer Society competition, where  Señor Brew™ is a member in exile.

The dates are an approximation of when Señor Brew™ needs to send in his entries, not the actual date of the contest.  If you're entering any of these competitions yourself, first of all, good luck. You'll need it competing against  Señor Brew™--look at all of his shiny ribbons at the top of the page! Secondly, check the sites for the competitions for the actual dates--Señor Brew™  may have them wrong, they may not be available yet, or he may be sending them in the early part of the entry window due to other circumstances.

America's Finest City, San Diego  entries were due 2/22 (Sr. Brew™ entered but did not win).
National Homebrew Competition entries were due 3/5 (entered, first round begins in April)
Mayfaire, Los Angeles entries due 4/12
California State Fair, Sacramento entries due 4/27
Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa entries due 5/12
Sam Adams Longshot, Boston entries due 5/25
Los Angeles County Fair, Los Angeles entries due early July?
Pacific Brewers Cup, Los Angeles entries due 9/6
California State Homebrew Competition, San Francisco entries due mid October?
Spooky Brew Review, Chicago entries due mid October

Please note that some of the above links go to last year's competition site if the 2012 site is not up yet.

Señor Brew™ wins a ribbon!

Fall Down Go Boom barleywine took 2nd in the 2011 Pacific Brewers Cup held by the local brew club, Pacific Gravity.  It scored a 41, which is usually high enough to take first, so someone must have scored unbelievably high in this category.  Señor Brew™ also entered his Oktoberfest, Slippy Piggy's Oktoberfest, in this competition.  It didn't score as well, which is strange, because this beer went on to take first in the 2011 Spooky Brew Review, the Chicago Beer Society's annual competition.  More on this to follow.  The barleywine was brewed right around New Year's Day, using the first runnings from the Superbowl Stout brew, before the dark malts were added.  The recipe for both can be found here.  (Both Fall Down Go Boom Barleywine and Superbowl Stout have taken home ribbons this year). Look for the Oktoberfest recipe in my next post.

B.U.Z.Z. Off!

Well, even though I have an O-fer going so far this year in homebrew competitions, I'm going to get back up on that horse, or in this case a buzzard, and try again. The Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots (B.U.Z.Z.) is holding their annual homebrew competition on June 6.

B.U.Z.Z. is the homebrew club of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, my alma mater, so I think it's my duty as a faithful alumna to enter (and win) their competition. If I can get everything together, I plan on entering multiple categories:

Pilsner--Your Mother's Mustache--Classic American Pilsner

Belgian--It doesn't have a name yet Belgian Porter--Belgian Specialty

IPA--Alpha King Clone, Omega King?--American India Pale Ale

Belgian Stong Ale--Tripel Your Pleasure--Belgian Tripel

Spice/Herb/Vegetable--You Sank My Coconut!--Toasted Coconut Porter

Specialty--Toasted Oatmeal Black Lager--Specialty

So far only the Pilsner and the Belgian are bottled, but everything else should be ready to go, it's just a matter of me bottling it. Have I mentioned I hate bottling? Anyway, look for Señor Brew's alter ego in the winners list for the B.U.Z.Z. Brewoff 2009.

0-fered again?

The results of the 2009 Babble Brew Off are in, and somehow, I didn't place in any of my 3 entries. I wonder what is going on--last year about half the beers I entered at least placed in their category, and this year I'm 0-for-7. Maybe I'm spending too much time writing about brewing, and not enough time on the brewing itself?

There's another contest I was planning to enter, The Drunk Monk Challenge. I was going to drop my entries off at the Chicago Beer Society meeting this Thursday, but now I think I'm going to skip this one. I want to see my score sheets from Babble, and I don't think I'll get them in time.

Oh yeah, the photo of Megan Fox had nothing to do with this post, I just liked the picture.

Babble Brew Off!

The Lake County home brew club is having their annual contest, The BABBLE Brew-Off, this Saturday. I entered 3 beers, Superbowl Stout, Tottenham Mild, and J & H Birthday Lager. I took second in the specialty category last year with the 2007 version of the J&H. (It's a Christmas beer--the J stands for Jesus). When the results are posted I'll let you all know how I did. Better than the last contest, I hope.

Friday Night Bottling

I bottled the remainder of the keg of Superbowl Stout tonight. I meant to take a photo of the counter-pressure filler in action, but was so into the bottling, I forgot to do it. Just picture one in your head, ok?

I bottled a few big bottles first, because I wanted to have some to give away, plus it seems like I get more foam when starting out, so I was going to have low fills due to foam, I would rather not have those on the small bottles I enter in competitions. Well that meant I only got nine twelve ounce bottles filled before the keg ran out. Oh well, that's enough for four competitions plus a spare bottle.

Now it's time to take Bosworth the Wonder Dog for a walk.

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!