2016 Thirsty Classic

[SomeGuyBrewing]

So I entered my first competition. 1 Entry. A Blonde Ale.
Went up against 9.
2nd Place...Silver!!!! Woohoo. They emailed and said the medal was in the mail!
A score of 35 and 39 (<- I like him better LOL) for a final score of 37.

Obviously the tasting of anything is very subjective but it was nice to place my first time out.
Even nicer was getting notes from someone who was not my family or friend (who I feel tend to be biased and try to spare feelings). Both judges were BJCP certified and one checked off "professional brewer" so thats cool, for what its worth.

[SomeGuyBrewing]

for the record, I don't taste the "blunt bitter taste at the end" and the other judge didn't seem to either. When I saw that I was like, Oh no I must of messed up somewhere, but maybe that judge is just sensitive to bitter? I don't know?

[BlackDuck]

That's fantastic...congratulations. I love getting that kind of feedback, even if you don't medal, the judges comments can be invaluable. They have helped me make better beer.

[Beer-lord]

A big congrats to you for your medal.

[BigPapaG]

Way to go!

Congrats, and Welcome to the Winners Circle!

[John Sand]

Love the score! 37 is great!
Judges do their best, sometimes they make odd comments. Don't let one remark worry you.

[bpgreen]

Way to go!

[MadBrewer]

Congrats, great score.

My first completion was the Thirsty Classic! Ironically it was also a Blonde Ale that I entered, it was a partial mash with Mr Beer I think. It was a lager I brewed and I felt it wasn't quite lagerish so I entered it as a Blonde Ale, and glad I did.

[FrozenInTime]

Nice!

[Inkleg]

Congratulations!!!

[SomeGuyBrewing]

Thanks everyone!

It was definitely fun entering a competition for the first time. Loved being able to get unbiased feedback which was really the main reason I entered. I think it will prove valuable in helping me become a better brewer.
Damn near everything I know, I learned from stalking around here and a little bit over at HBT (90% here though )
So big thank you to all the guys and gals dropping knowledge all over this site!

[Kealia]

Congrats to you. It's cool that you got what you wanted from the experience, plus a medal!

Loved being able to get unbiased feedback which was really the main reason I entered. I think it will prove valuable in helping me become a better brewer.

This would be the only reason I would ever enter a competition - BUT the thing that is holding me back is that I don't want to brew a beer to somebody else's standard or a sheet. I want to brew to what I like. Granted, they don't have to to be mutually exclusive, but I tend to like my pale ales on the hoppier side and something I brew would likely be dinged for being unbalanced (for an example).

But I digress.....congrats on the medal!

[Dawg LB Steve]

Awesome job! Judges palates and comments are subjective, and have to take that into account. Great scores and also great to get feedback as you said from someone who isn't friend or family telling you what they think you want to hear.

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