Mad Monk Mash-up 2015

[philm00x]

This is a homebrew competition dedicated to all Belgian beer styles, taking place at the Volusia County Beer Week Festival in Deland, FL. I told myself I wasn't going to do another competition but I just want to get a more objective opinion on what I consider my best beer- Saint Sebastian Tripel. By the time the judging comes, my entry will have aged for a bit more than 5 months in the bottle, so the flavor and aroma should be real good, and the alcohol burn should have subsided. I would have loved for it to be a little bit older but I'll make due with what I've got. The best thing is that the festival and judging is on Feb. 7, the Saturday of the weekend of my birthday. Would be a great b-day gift to bring home a good score, and maybe some hardware!

[Inkleg]

Good luck Phil.

[mashani]

Good luck. If there was an all Belgian comp around here I'd be entering a bunch of beer. Sounds awesome.

[FedoraDave]

Best of luck, Phil! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that weekend, if you'll do the same for me. That's the same weekend as Homebrew Alley IX. Let us know your results when you get 'em.

And happy birthday!

[philm00x]

Definitely will, Dave! I'm sure you'll do great at Homebrew Alley

And thanks about my bday!

[philm00x]

Saw that the winners were posted on facebook and I, unfortunately, was not one of them. Hopefully they send scorecards in the mail or email so I know how it was scored.

[Inkleg]

Sorry you didn't win Phil. Let us know how you scored and what they said.

[philm00x]

It has been well over a month and I just got my scoresheets in the mail. I got a 36 and 37 from the two judges for a combined 36.5. Not awful! Both mentioned the beer was too dark for the style and was cloudy. I didn't use any finings nor cold crashed. It's homebrew, it happens. I can adjust the grains to make it lighter if I really cared, no biggie.

The one thing that both judges mentioned that bugged me was they both said it tasted possibly oxidized/vinous. I'm thinking perhaps whenever I brew it again, I'll swap the blowoff tube for an airlock after the storm from the initial stages of fermentation subside. Other than that, I take real good care to keep from splashing when I transfer to the bottling bucket. Maybe I should start using oxy barrier caps? Don't know...

[Inkleg]

That's a pretty righteous score Phil, congratulations.

The oxidation (if there was any) didn't come from leaving a blow off tube hooked up. If all the connections are tight, then the tube is full of co2 going into a jar of sanitizer. It would have to suck back all the sanitizer before any oxygen.

[BlackDuck]

Good job...congrats on the scores. Those are awesome.

I entered a competition last year and had the same oxidation comments on a couple of mine. And for the life of me, I can't figure it out either. I just don't know where mine would get oxidized in the process. The only places I can even fathom are when I open the fermenter up to take a FG reading. I doubt that's it. And when I transfer from fermenter to bottling bucket. And I doubt that too since it's a slow siphon with no splashing. I use the oxy barrier caps too, so it didn't seem to help my cause either. And the people that drink my beer have never mentioned that they tasted off. Go figure!!!

[philm00x]

One of the judges was apparently a certified Cicerone, and the other was a certified beer server. They said there was residue on the lips of the bottles. Is that just cuz I didn't wipe the lip before capping?

[LouieMacGoo]

I'll drink to that!

Good Luck Phil it would be great for yet another borg member to bring home an award for thier brewing.

I think all of you who have won should post them in your signatures! Maybe?

[mashani]

Those are mighty fine scores!

Considering that I semi-open ferment, and do not get oxidation problems, opening your fermenter to take a sample or the like isn't going to give you
oxidation that anyone would notice. You have to really splash it for that to happen to an extent where it is noticeable at all until many months down the road. Assuming you bottle with a wand, there shouldn't be any significant oxidation going on in that process.

My bet is that the oxidation comments are just a SWAG to some flavor they are perceiving for lack of a better idea.

I can say for sure that vinous flavors can come from hops, sugar, candi syrup, and some Belgian yeasts can throw off esters with such a flavor too, which tend to be more noticeable in lower gravity pale beers.

[philm00x]

It wasn't low gravity, that's for sure. 1.083 OG, but it does use sugar and Ardennes yeast that has a tendency to present dry, fruity aromas that come off as moscato-like to my wife's nose. Perhaps I should increase the hops to balance it out more and increase the OG/IBU ratio?

[mashani]

Don't know what hops you used, but something like Styrian Goldings as finishing hops might be the ticket. I love Styrians as finishing hops in Tripels and Strong Goldens. You probably do not want more IBUs, just more (or maybe not more but different) finishing hops.

You could also try brewing it identically but with Trappist High Gravity (3787) or WLP 530 - Westmalle yeast, and see if that "resolves" it.

That said if you like it as is, you shouldn't give a crap what the judges think in that regards. Everyone likes different things. I know beer judges are not supposed to take personal preference into opinion, but at the scores you are at, it's a matter of nitpicking, and nitpicking to me *is* personal opinion.