Entering Your First Competition

[John Sand]

Well, I'm in. I registered today. Coincidentally, after posting here I read the article in the current BYO: Preparing for Competition. It was also helpful, and made me think that the signs are there. One point that stuck with me from the article is to research past results from the same competition. I did, and found good news/bad news: The Scottish/Irish Ale category is not flooded with entries, so competition is less fierce. But the winners, 2nd and 3rd were almost all Scottish Heavy. We'll see.
Banjo, if you are thinking of entering, there are drop offs for beer in Farmingdale and Baldwin. The judging is in Bayshore at GSB. Maybe I'll see you there!

[Inkleg]

Good luck John.

[John Sand]

Thanks Ink, and everyone. I'll report the results, good or bad.

[John Sand]

I have my scores, and I'm happy with them. The Irish Red scored 37, top of the "very good" category. It was a bit overcarbed for the style, but otherwise good. One judge did comment on "alcohol burn", but no one else has tasted it. The Rare Vos Clone earned a 29, top of the "good" category. It also lost style points on head, body, and complexity, but was judged a good beer. I feel good about the scores, happy to have the feedback, and I enjoyed attending the competition. Thank you all for the encouragement. Sorry for the triple post, but each of these beers has it's own thread that deserve an update.

[BlackDuck]

I'll read each thread but comment here. Great job on the scores. The feedback you get from doing these is awesome. Congrats on some good scores.

[Inkleg]

Great job John. Off to read the other posts now.