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So here it is, late on a Sunday night, I’ve got The Worthouse News “View” to write and ARRGH!!! I’m out of drinkable homebrew! What?? Impossible you say. How could one of Canada’s most competitive homebrewers be out of beer at this time of year, on the cusp of our competitive brewing season? Does this mean no beers into this year’s competitions from Roxy? Is it a wide-open field for Brewer of the Year in 2004?
Hardly. Read that first sentence closely my friends for I did not say I am out of beer or that I am out of homebrew. Sadly, I am merely following the marching orders that I spewed out a few months ago. For while there is a basement full of homebrew, I have currently run out of homebrew that I can drink. What?? Did Roxy have a bad run in with a cracked racking cane? Well, I hope not. For you see, all the homebrew in my basement, some 100 or so bottles, is committed to competition – it is no longer mine to consume. All those beautiful bottles of brew now belong to competition organizers in Regina, Lethbridge, Calgary and of course, you lucky devils – Edmonton, to freely dispense to their judges in fair and open competition.
My current sad state of affairs has arisen from a wee bit of temporal bad planning – a streak of brewing lagers along with big and nasty ales. All of my potentially drinkable beer is just that – potentially – because it’s currently all still in carboys!
You will now remember, I am sure, that a few months ago I suggested that for each batch you brew you set aside seven bottles for competition AND that to your mind you make those seven bottles no longer yours. Seven bottles will ensure that you have enough entries to get through the first rounds of the AHA (2 bottles), being hosted in Regina, and the final rounds if you should be so good as to get through (3 bottles). Plus it will give you enough to enter into Edmonton’s MCAB qualifier (2 bottles). If you should not be so lucky as to go on to the AHA finals, you will still have enough beer left over to enter into either of Lethbridge or Calgary, regional competitions well worthy of entry regardless. Plus, if you should be using those bottles to compete in the latter two cities you will actually have one bottle remaining, as those competitions require only two bottles.
That remaining bottle is important. So important in fact that if you think you’ve brewed a real zinger – hang on to eight bottles rather than seven. That remaining bottle will be your consolation prize for giving competitive home brewing a go, for trying to better yourself as a brewer, and for having the pride to represent your club on the national stage.
After some 15 years in this sport I know homebrewers all to well. So I know, that in all likelihood, that bottle will be the last bottle of brew that you have from that particular batch. The rest will have been well consumed many weeks to months ago. As your consolation prize, take the time to savour the flavour of that wonderful bottle of brew. Think about where it took you. This is best done while pouring over your competition score sheets, trying to figure out how to do better next year. You’ll think about how that beautiful beer showcased your potential talents at no less than three first class homebrew competitions. But most importantly you’ll remember how much fun you had doing it. Then, at the end of the competition season in mid-June you can take a few moments to congratulate yourself for a job well done, you’ll have earned it!
Have a great competition season. Best of luck to all Edmonton Homebrewers Guild members and indeed, to all homebrewers across western Canada.
P.S. Thank God for Alley Kat. Thanks to Neil and his staff, I may be out of drinkable homebrew but I’m never out of excellent beer!
Well, it’s been one of the coldest weeks of the winter season. But I’m pretty warm right now with a Scotch Ale made from a modified Brew House kit. In this really cold weather when we can’t brew outside and many of us don’t have the luxury of an electric brewery, the Brew House kit is a good way to ferment some drinkable homebrew when all our all-grain brewed beer is committed to competitions.
And speaking of competitions, the deadline is coming up for our first annual Brew House Brew- off. So get your entries ready and bring them to the February meeting. Thanks to the efforts of Greg Wondga, the competition is now BJCP sanctioned. I understand the competition has already grown beyond the Edmonton city limits with entries coming from Saskatchewan where it was the coldest on Earth yesterday, January 28 at –52C. I’m sure the kits have been handy for them.
As Roxy has mentioned in her View from the Top of the Tun and you will see in Greg Wondga’s Beerstein column this month, you only need to set aside 7 to 12 bottles to meet all of the major competitions for the season. To keep track of my beers for competition, I have started to put the completed entry forms on the bottles as soon as they have dried after bottling. The forms also serve as warning signs for me and others to “not touch the bottles!”
Both ALES and Lethbridge have posted their entry forms with the EHG and Calgary entry forms coming to a website near you very shortly. If you don’t have the entry forms for this years competition, use last years until the new ones come out, or duplicate several EHG entry forms as they follow a fairly standard format. The important thing is to not dip into your competition brew when there is no drinkable homebrew. Get a Brew House kit or visit Alley Kat for your drinkable brews.
At the February meeting and in this newsletter, we are announcing the second annual BURRP! contest with more Really Ridiculous Parameters. There are two Outrageous awards this year and I’m aiming to get them both this year!
The EHG 2004 Aurora Brewing Challenge on June 3-5, 2004 has been registered with both the BJCP and the AHA. The Edmonton Home Brewers Guild is proud to once again to be hosting this event as an MCAB qualifier.
Basic Competition Information
ABC/MCAB7 Canadian Qualifier 3-5 June 2004
Entries Due:
Friday 28 May 2004 to
Alley Kat Brewing Co
c/o Neil Herbst
9929-60 Ave
Edmonton, AlbertaT6E 0C7
Styles:
All 20 MCAB styles plus additional non-MCAB categories.
Entries:
Two, 300-500 ml bottles - any shape, type or color but must be unmarked and with plain or blacked out caps. Groelsch swing top bottles are accepted.
First three entries are $6.00 per entry with the fourth and additional entries at $4.00 CAD per entry.
We encourage brewers to enter as many beer styles/subcategories as they wish. You may enter more than one entry per subcategory. Please identify multiple subcategory entries on the entry form with a unique name or number.
All entries must identify a style and subcategory. Acceptable subcategories are listed under the style.
Special awards for Best of Show (top 3 brews), Brewer of the Year (most medal points in competition), and Best Club (most medal points).
Medals will be awarded in each beer style and in the mead category. Each split category will have it's own set of medals. Beers entered into the split category will be judged in a second round to determine the MCAB qualifiers. Only the top beer of the style advances to MCAB finals.
Judges qualified under the Beer Judge Certification Program will perform judging. Everyone who enters will have an evaluation form returned within 30 days of the end of the competition. Results will be posted on the EHG website within 48 hours.
Competition entry forms for ABC/MCAB7 are being updated for 2004 and should be on our web page http://www.ehg.ca by early February.
The 11TH ALES Annual Homebrew Open Competition will again be hosted by the Regina A.L.E.S. Club at the Bushwakker Brew Pub. It will be bigger and better than ever. ALES is proud to announce that for the first time its competition will also act as a qualifying site for the American Homebrews Association National Homebrew Competition which expects to draw over 3800 entries.
The ALES Club, along with our major sponsors, Bushwakker Brew Pub, Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, The American Homebrewers Association, Harvest Brewing and Wyeast, will be offering major prizes totalling over $1200.00 in value.
Introducing for the first time to the ALES Competition is the New Entrant category. Come and learn with us. Also for those way out brewers, ALES is showcasing our own new Extreme Category, #99, EXTREME BEER. This new category is designed to test and exceed the limits of the style guidelines, the brewer’s skills and the pallet. For the Extreme Category #99 we have only two specifications, the SG must be 1.070+, and you must tell us why it's Extreme.
Our competition mirrors the ALES Club’s mission: we are about learning and training. We encourage entrants to enter their beer into more than one category and let some of the best judges in the country tell them about their beer, with constructive comments to help the brewer improve.
Cost to enter is $6 each for the first 6 entries; each subsequent entry is $1. Example; 6 entries for $36, or 10 entries $40 or best yet $15 entries for $45. This works out to only $3 per entry. Our entry form, with the official rules, will be available online at http://www.alesclub.com
Competition deadline is April 30, 2004. All entries can be sent to:
The Bushwakker Brewpub
2206 Dewdney Ave.
Regina, SK S4R 1H3
For more information contact Competition Co-Chair Russ Temple at rtemple@accesscomm.ca
It time for the second annual BURRP! - Brewing Under Really Ridiculous Parameters! - an in-house competition to see who can brew the best beer within certain limitations. Since beer historically has been served to workers as a source of sustenance, this year’s BURRP! is themed “The Breakfast of Homebrewing Champions”
To start there will be the same limitation of starting with 10 lbs/4.5 kg of Westcan 2-row pale malt as your base malt. As with last year's BURRP!, you can roast, toast, smoke and stew to make any specialty malts for your recipe. To have Really Ridiculous Parameters, along with the malt, you need to add at least 1 lb/0.45 kg of cold breakfast cereal (no Quaker Oats) for a beer that will truly be the “Breakfast drink for homebrewing champions!”
Your mission, should you decide to accept this ridiculous challenge, is to take that 10 pounds of base malt, and we mean base and try to make your own Munich, your own crystal, your own black or brown or smoked malt. Then throw in a pound of cold breakfast cereal for something really delicious and nutritious. How about a Cocoa Puffs stout? Or, a Honey Nut Cheerios brown? Or, what may be a real challenge, Fruit Loops Lambic. And since St Patrick’s Day is coming up, there is Lucky Charms Irish Ale. For those less daring, you can make a Spoon-size Shredded Weizen.
EXTRACT BREWERS – As with last year, you’re in the game also, but the rules are a wee bit different for you. Instead of 10 lbs of malt you will start with 5 lbs of DME and 5 lbs of malt but you still need to include at least 1 pound of cold breakfast cereal.
THE BREW HOUSE KIT BREWERS - You can be in the game too! But rules area to work with 2.5 lbs of the malt and at least 1 pound of cold breakfast cereal for the 1-2 gallon water addition of either the American Premium Lager or Mexican Cerveza kits. Both kits have primarily Canadian 2-row malt for the base. No other kits are accepted.
Rules of the game:
With some other award categories to be announced in upcoming months (as we think of them)
To help extract and Brew House brewers who might want to take this as the opportunity to try all- grain, Neil and Roxy will donate a Saturday to helping you brew. We will bring all equipment to Alley Kat. You bring your recipe, all your ingredients and a fermenter. We will help you do a single infusion mash and get the wort into your fermenter. You have to get your wort home after it’s made – no fermenting at Alley Kat. To be fair, we will not advise you on how to create the recipe. Sign up at the meeting and Neil and I will arrange a Saturday to do the brews. We will do AM and PM runs with 3-4 people at a time.
Edmonton Homebrewers Guild First Annual Brew House Brew-Off
February 21-22, 2004. Entries due Feb 13, 2004.
The Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild in co-operation with Southside Brew Crew and Harvest Brewing Co. are having the first annual contest for the Best Brew House Brewer!
The competition brochure and entry form can be printed and downloaded from the EHG website, http://www.ehg.ca.
The Lethbridge Werthogs 4th Annual Homebrew Competition
Saturday March 6, 2004. Entries due Monday March 1, 2004-01-27
The Lethbridge Werthogs AHA sanctioned competition is a two 350ml bottle entry with one entry per class but as many classes and categories as you have beer. Cost is $6.00 per entry. Entry forms can be found at http://netcon.ca/werthogs/
The 20th annual Marquis De Suds Calgary Open in Calgary
It looks like june 18 and 19 is the date for the 20th annual Marquis De Suds Calgary Open! Please mark your calendar. Details to follow but it will be a two beer entry, BJCP and AHA sanctioned and, since it was fun to judge last year, there will again be the coveted “Best Lawnmower Beer” award up for grabs. Also, in light of the 20th anniversary of the competition, there will be a special prize, the “Triple 20” Trophy!” for the best tasting non-prize winning beer with…
(Eligible beers that can fit this profile: Wee Heavy, Bocks, and Belgian Strong Dark Ale!). Calgary is putting out the challenge! Who can brew the triple 20 the best? Big prize for whoever does it!
Calgary knows you are up to the challenge so let’s get abrewin’!
Entry forms and web links to follow in an upcoming issue of The Worthouse News.
3-6 June 2004, Edmonton, Alberta
Conference Cost:
$30.00 in advance – till April 1
$45.00 on site
$10.00 spousal or guest to attend banquet
Agenda
Conference Presentations
Conference Notes:
Contact for Conference including fee payment made out to Edmonton Homebrewers Guild and list of judges: Neil Herbst neil@alleykatbeer.com Contact for ABC competition questions: Glen Hannah glhannah@telusplanet.net
Medals. As competitive home-brewers, we covet these babies. A medal is a symbol of competence. Despite the popular misconception that homebrew “tastes like piss”, your friends can know that you are, indeed, someone who can produce great beer. In addition to showing off your brewing talent, winning medals can make you a better brewer. Competition motivates brewers to get better and better. Home brewing clubs compete against one another, and therefore the sharing of brewing knowledge is key to a club’s success. No matter how you look at it, clubs and competitions make home brewers better at what they do. Let’s face it, this is a rewarding hobby, and we all want to make impressive beer.
Some brewers plan out their brews weeks in advance with careful thought regarding the ingredients, brewing process, and yeast selection. The idea is to produce a beer that fits the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) parameters. Other brewers brew without a style in mind, and then enter what they have in a category that best fits the beer and hope for the best. Some brewers take competition very seriously, with a goal to win as many medals as possible for the club, and some just want some genuine feedback. Either way, competing brings out a flavor of camaraderie, anticipation, and often pride.
To be perfectly honest, I am not a very experienced competitor, and therefore have much less advice to offer than could many other members in the guild. However, I have learned a few things from competing.
Don’t ever take this too seriously
This is a fun hobby. The goal is to make great beer, share it, and enjoy it. If competition is taking the joy away by stressing you out, then you have the wrong mindset. Competing gives you the spark you may need to move forward in the hobby and try something new.
Start with beers that are easier, and work your way up to harder styles
The whole idea here, I presume, is to make better beer. In order to improve, I’ve found it’s best to take baby steps. As an illustration, your first beer should not be an all grain Munich Helles. Start with a simple ale such as an American pale or British bitter. Minor flaws are less detectable in beers with plenty of hop flavor, fruit, or spices. Also, these beers are much easier to brew to style.
Research the style before you brew the beer
Zymurgy, Brew Your Own, and the Brewing Techniques Archive are magazines that contain a wealth of information from experienced brewers on how to brew specific styles of beer. Often these articles include recipes that can be copied directly, or used as a guideline to help you design your own version. In the back of every issue of Zymurgy is a list of recipes that have medaled at a prior National Level home brewing competition. If you really want to know a lot about a style, inquire about a set of books called the Classic Beer Style Series. Each book focuses on a particular style and will tell you absolutely everything about it. Many other books exist as well, such as Designing Great Beers and Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide and Greg Noonan’s Brewing Lager Beer. I tend to take any information on the internet with a grain of salt, but some sites offer a lot of useful information. Ask Guild members if they have any good recipes or suggestions. Finally, check out the BJCP style guideline. The judge of your beer will be using that as the guideline, so the beer you make needs to look, smell and taste the way the BJCP says it should. I realize that style guidelines can sometimes place limitations on your creativity. However, if you want to be creative, then do so! You can enter your beer under several creative categories. Examples include the Belgian styles, experimental, spice/herb/vegetable beer, etc.
Don’t get too attached to the style
Even the greatest beer ever made will do poorly if it is entered in the wrong style. Many brewers, experienced or no, set out to brew a specific style of beer but unintentionally end up with a final product that misses the target completely. This “mistake” is NOT a problem! Look through the BJCP guide to see if your beer fits anywhere else. If you are still unsure, bring it to a meeting and ask as many people as you can to try and fit the beer to a BJCP style. If in doubt over two styles, enter the beer in both. You would be hard pressed to find a brewer who has never had to switch styles after the beer was made.
Reserve 12 bottles of your beer
Competition probably isn’t the reason that you entered this fine hobby. Most likely, you just happen to be someone who loves beer and everything having to do with beer – including making it yourself. Use competition as a tool to learn the craft better. The sacrifice is that you will need to put away some bottles from every batch you make. If you feel like you are just paying money to have some stranger drink your beer, then think of it this way instead: You are paying for unbiased, honest evaluation of your beer. If the beer does well, then you will actually save money by winning prizes that will be used to make more beer. You brewing will just keep getting better every time. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Don’t ever take this too seriously
When you get the judge sheets back, remember something Roxy told me; it’s important to keep in mind that “sometimes the judges don’t know shit”. Last year I entered my American Brown Ale into several different competitions under the same class and had a range of scores from 28 to 43! It is this reason especially that you should try to enter the same brew more than once. One bad score certainly doesn’t mean that the beer lacks quality. Even though a judge is BJCP qualified, he or she may still be learning about that style of beer. Consistency is the key.
It’s kind of like the “circle of life” except that it’s really the “circle of great beer”. If you join a club that consists of extremely talented home brewers, you will quickly learn to make better beer. If you make beer and compete, you will get feedback and initiative to improve. Every member’s small improvement then increases the value of the club to other brewers. New brewers join (and taste fantastic beer at the meetings) and the quality of beer just gets better and better. Let’s get those beers going for this year’s competitions and win a ton of medals! We belong to easily one of the best clubs in North America, so let’s do the EHG proud. Oh yeah, and be sure to raise a glass of your finest home brew when you win a medal, and drink that beer with pride.
The club makes an annual hop purchase in November, available only to current Guild members. We purchase fresh leaf hops and plugs. The bulk purchase is a great membership benefit as it ensures we get the best available hops at a good price.
The order placed at the end of November has now arrived. If you place an order for hops, you can pick up your purchase at the February meeting.