Homebrew Alley 2024

[FedoraDave]

I always look for this competition. It's kind of local (Brooklyn isn't all that far from my location), it's the first competition I ever entered, and I've scored three of my four ribbons there (two second place, one third place).

In the past, they've held it the first weekend in February. But I couldn't see any notifications on the BJCP website. I was beginning to wonder if they were going to hold it at all, which would be a shame, since it's been going on for 17 years, and it's one of the biggest (if not the top) competitions in the northeast.

But I see they're listed now at BJCP, for the middle of April. Probably a good idea, since they've had to hold it in the middle of a couple of blizzards in recent years. I can't register yet, but I've figured out that I can enter my new double IPA, and probably even my kölsch, which I'm about to bottle in a couple of days.

I'll keep the Borg updated. As usual, I don't expect to win anything, but I'm interested in the judge's comments. But who knows? I didn't expect much for the entries that got podium spots, either. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[bpgreen]

Good luck!

[FedoraDave]

Yesterday (Saturday, 3/23), I drove down to Brooklyn in a teeming rain to drop my entries off for this competition. I'm starting to distrust shippers, and even though it was a 3-hour round trip, I didn't have anything better to do on a Saturday.

In related news, I think something might be wrong with my bench capper. I kegged the double IPA, and bottled from the tap, sealing with a wing capper. But I bottled the kölsch and a Helles Bock to lager in the glass, and most of both batches are flat, even though they've been in the bottle plenty of time for carbonation.

So I'm going to get crucified on the kölsch, especially in the mouthfeel category, and appearance, due to lack of head. But I'm more concerned with my equipment. I don't bottle that frequently, but sometimes, for dark beers that I want to cellar longer, and for my saison, which I want to have very high carbonation, I do bottle from the carboy. I just hate the idea of having to buy another bench capper.