BeerBorg

Got a package today with my scoresheets from the 2014 BEER Brew-off... And these!



I submitted four beers as follows:

Category 9E: Strong Scotch Ale
Place: First
Scores: 42 and 42 for a combined total of: 42
Comments: Excellent job with this beer. Wonderful malt and alcohol combination. Complex flavors. I could drink a lot of this beer.

Category 16D: Biere De Garde
Place: Third
Scores: 39 and 37 for a combined total of: 38
Comments: Beautiful looking beer. Well brewed. Nice backbone to the beer... Love the complex malt character and hop support. Finishes long... No off flavors or aromas.

Category 23A: IPL
Scores: 36 and 35 for a combined total of 35
Comments: Love the hops and clean yeast flavor. Pleasant balance of malt and hops. Lagering was done well... Very well made and enjoyable. Good beer!

Category 16E: Dark Saison
Scores: 22 and 26 for a combined total of: 24
Comments: Re-work recipe for more saison character and try this cleanly made beer again. Misses the mark as a Saison and the dark grains don't seem to contribute much. Consider a different yeast strain and grist bill.

Congratulations! Great scores!
You do realize that you beat me?
We competed in Scottish/Irish and Belgian/French.
This isn't over yet. This town isn't big enough for the two of us. You never know when I'll be right behind you. You can brew but you can't hide. (Fill in other cliches as necessary)

John Sand wrote:Congratulations! Great scores!
You do realize that you beat me?
We competed in Scottish/Irish and Belgian/French.
This isn't over yet. This town isn't big enough for the two of us. You never know when I'll be right behind you. You can brew but you can't hide. (Fill in other cliches as necessary)

Hi John... And thanks...

I know... I found the results spreadsheet today on the site and I realized that the way they collapsed the categories put us in direct competition...

[Edit: It's unfortunate that they have to do that as in this case, an Irish Red and a Strong Scotch are very different beers and as such should not be in competition IMHO.]

Your Irish Red (9D) got put in with all the other 9's and your Rare Vos clone (I suspect category 16B?) with all the 16's...

In fact, because of that, my 16E Black Saison was in that group as well... So technically, your Rare Vos clone beat my Saison Noir by 5 points! Well Done sir!

, really great scores BPG.
The Saison seems like it was a well brewed beer, looks like they dinged it for being out of style.

Inkleg wrote: , really great scores BPG.
The Saison seems like it was a well brewed beer, looks like they dinged it for being out of style.

Thanks... Another example of how collapsing categories changes things... It was just mis-understood... Yeah, that's it... Let's go with that...

"In fact, because of that, my 16E Black Saison was in that group as well... So technically, your Rare Vos clone beat my Saison Noir by 5 points! Well Done sir! "


My Belgian was in 18D: Belgian Golden Strong. I lost points because it was found to be too dark, not complex enough, not the requisite "huge, rocky head". They also deducted because it was cloudy. I plead guilty to all except cloudy. Mine are quite clear at home. It could have been a bad bottle, but I suspect rough handling of stirring up admittedly too much trub. In any case, I'm happy with the results. I had fun competing, and should not have been nervous about it. And I'm really happy that your brews won recognition. Here's to the Borg!

Most excellent scores. Huge congrats to you!

Wow, interesting John,... I would have entered it in 16B I think... Even though it's more of an Amber than a Pale... Or even 16E which is a kind of catch all... Sounds like they were judging it more like a Duvel than a Belgian Amber.

In any case, best of luck next time... It's fun yeah?

I firmly expect to come up against you again only next time you might have me!

Keep sending 'em in and reading the sheets... That's what I do, good bad or otherwise... And man have I had some bad ones! Yeah babe... But the comments really helped me improve some of those stinkers I had... (have... Some are still cellared awaiting their respective miracles...)

Nice scores there. Very nice!

Out of curiosity, what yeast did you use in the dark saison? Sounds like it was tasty but not what the judge expected.

Thanks!

For the Dark Saison it was Danstar Belle Saison pitched at 66*F, allowed to free rise to ambient which at that time was probably 70 ish...

Pretty sure I didn't get a lot of character from it...

Also I'm not fond of the hop choices, Williamette for bittering and El Dorado for Flavor/Aroma.

The El Dorado gives it a real bland, candy-like taste, sitting on a non-descript bittering backbone.

Without a good amount of yeast character, this one falls flat.

Hey, sometimes you gotta fail to figure out how to succeed...

BigPapaG wrote:Hey, sometimes you gotta fail to figure out how to succeed...:

This is the main reason I started entering competitions, was for bias opinions on my BREWING process (mash temp, yeast pitch rate, fermentation temp control, etc). If I don't fail at that, then the recipe can be changed IF I want to change it. If I fail due to off flavors in my process, I can change that and make better beer.

Congratulations!

Congratulations on the ribbons!!! Well Done.

BigPapaG wrote:Wow, interesting John,... I would have entered it in 16B I think... Even though it's more of an Amber than a Pale... Or even 16E which is a kind of catch all... Sounds like they were judging it more like a Duvel than a Belgian Amber.

In any case, best of luck next time... It's fun yeah?

I firmly expect to come up against you again only next time you might have me!

Keep sending 'em in and reading the sheets... That's what I do, good bad or otherwise... And man have I had some bad ones! Yeah babe... But the comments really helped me improve some of those stinkers I had... (have... Some are still cellared awaiting their respective miracles...)

It really was fun. And just now I looked it up, you are correct. It may have scored better in 16D. I looked at 16E, but I was put off by this: "THE BREWER MUST SPECIFY EITHER THE BEER BEING CLONED, THE NEW STYLE BEING PRODUCED OR THE SPECIAL INGREDIENTS OR PROCESSES USED."
I submitted these beers without too much planning. My friends really liked the Red, and the homebrew club really liked the Belgian. Then I saw the notice about the competition, or read an article in BYO. So I thought, "What the heck? Do it." Initially I only submitted the Red, but like you, I wanted the feedback. Now maybe I'll submit the Belgian in 16E

Congrats!!