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Actually, that's a really cool idea! Maybe we could say, here's the malt bill, you get 4 oz of hops to use as you see fit or something.
Posted 34 days ago.
Hmmm... what about this one?
Give a list of allowed ingredients. Say, your grain bill must include the following - and nothing but the following - but leave the percentages up to the brewer. Do the same for hops... or maybe give a short list of allowed hops. Leave yeast selection up to the brewer... and see what people can come up with.
I think this would be a *really* cool competition, though I don't know that you could BJCP sanction it.
Or could you?
Posted 34 days ago.
I know im choosing to see the worst in people here, but someone is going to cheat and add something extra. 95% of those submissions it wont matter for, but someone who is good is going to use it to win.
How about making it a style that by definition requires you to be very limited on malts? (Blonde Ale for example), where youre going to notice any hint of extra malt.
I would say pils, but again...i dont want to limit it to people who can only lager.
How about making it a style that by definition requires you to be very limited on malts? (Blonde Ale for example), where youre going to notice any hint of extra malt.
I would say pils, but again...i dont want to limit it to people who can only lager.
Posted 34 days ago.
You're probably right. It sounds like such a cool idea, but it would be tough to identify a cheater.
Posted 34 days ago.
Also, not gunna lie...i think every batch from now on is going to have 2-4oz of flaked barley per 5 gallons. Tho i guess im not 100% sure its that leading to this insane lacing and great mouthfeel (only other thing it could be is the kegging...?), but it seems to be working well so far...
Oh yeah...so im thinking about doing at least 20 gallons this weekend. i need to get starters going for that shit though >____>;
Need to find a pickle jar to do a 1 gal starter in. My new stir bars are crazy and will actually work in a stainless keg on the stirplate....but i'd rather use glass.
I guess i could do a small starter with my london ale or ESB yeast (i have a shitload harvested, it just needs to be woken up), but i dunno. I want to do at least one batch with the SD super yeast i have in a flask, and i do have a BB full of some yeast or another (US-05 maybe?) that i dont think should be infected or anything.
Oh yeah...so im thinking about doing at least 20 gallons this weekend. i need to get starters going for that shit though >____>;
Need to find a pickle jar to do a 1 gal starter in. My new stir bars are crazy and will actually work in a stainless keg on the stirplate....but i'd rather use glass.
I guess i could do a small starter with my london ale or ESB yeast (i have a shitload harvested, it just needs to be woken up), but i dunno. I want to do at least one batch with the SD super yeast i have in a flask, and i do have a BB full of some yeast or another (US-05 maybe?) that i dont think should be infected or anything.
TL;DR: Keezer needs filling. Much brewing to do this weekend. I may or may not (may) be an alcoholic. Not even mad.
Posted 34 days ago.
I kinda doubt someone is going to go to the effort of brewing a batch, entering a comp, and shopping some bottles just to sandbag it.
I actually think it won't be super hard to tell if someone is using contraband malts if we limit them properly.
Posted 34 days ago.
Necropaw, some guy (cough cough me cough cough) has been touting flaked barley for some time now as magical for head retention...
Maybe you are right, Kid. I still think the idea is cool.
Posted 34 days ago.
I'd just really hate for someone to lose out because someone else added one little bit extra, you know?
I dunno, maybe youre right though.
I dunno, maybe youre right though.
Posted 34 days ago.
Okay, check it out. I've given a LOT of thought to this.
I am also buzzed right now, so you may need to account for that.
Anyway, the more I think about this "creativity within constraints" contest idea, the more that I love it. I mean, sure, we could do something like /r/homebrewing is doing... but let's be real. We don't have the reach of /r/homebrewing, or of Brulosophy. If we try to do the same thing, the best we can do is be seen as a J.V. version of those competitions. Maybe once BrewUnited starts to get established, the BU IPA comp might have some weight... but right now, I think that being different is a good thing.
So, we give a specific set of ingredients. You have to use each, though in what ratio (within reason) is up to you. I.e. no using one grain of malt X or one pellet of hop Y, as that breaks the spirit of what we're trying to do. Maybe give a specific list of approved yeasts, or just allow yeast to be a wildcard ingredient.
Anyway, from there, we have three categories - malt forward, hop forward, and balanced beers. This way, we don't have to judge some 80 IBU hop bomb against a cloying Olanbeer; instead, we have at least somewhat reasonable divisions. Sure, the hop forward category's version of a pale ale will probably lose out to it's version of an IPA, since with no artificial guidelines, the beer that is otherwise alike but has a bigger aroma is going to win. But is that a bad thing, really?
I'm just thinking that it would be really cool to have a common ingredient core, but to see the various malty, hoppy, and balanced beers that could be invented off of this. And really, this would have a lot of repeat interest, I would think, since every year, we could vary the ingredients.
I'm seeing a fun, unique, *cool* competition that would really test your skills. Sure, we might have the odd cheater, but I'd like to think that the vast majority of homebrewers have enough pride that they would want to win fair and square.
I feel like this would be a beautiful way to kick off BU as a "real" community.
Okay, tell me why this is a bad idea. Shoot.
Posted 34 days ago.
I don't think it's a bad idea... but it'll become a valid idea once you get judges in order and everything (shipping/judging locations, prizes, entry cutoffs, etc) in order. Go do!
Posted 34 days ago.
Go do, indeed!
I've been exchanging emails with David Houseman, the BJCP competition director. He tells me that we can absolutely get this competition sanctioned by the BJCP, provided that we have *some* sort of style guidelines for the entries.
I gave him the overall idea, that we provide an ingredient list, but leave the amounts and such up to the brewers, maybe allow yeast to be a wildcard. His suggestion was that the brewer brew the beer they want to make, taste it, then enter it into our overall category (malty, hoppy, balanced) but note the BJCP category/subcategory that their beer would fit (he did indicate that the brewer should pick the best fit post brewing, not what they intended to brew). That way, the judges would have an objective list to judge each beer against, as judging, say, a blonde ale against a brown would be difficult.
He did elaborate to say that we would not HAVE to use BJCP guidelines. GABF guidelines are fine, or we could even create internal "club" guidelines - but they would need to be published and available.
For my money, I would think that using the BJCP guidelines would be the simplest thing. Any feedback would be much appreciated.
******************************
Second part:
Okay, I have begun working on prizes, and I'm about to get more serious about it. I'm envisioning three shipping locations - one per category - with judges for each. I have a good idea as to one judge I maybe able to get. I know that several of you are judges now... I also know that several of you are involved in the reddit comp, so you may not be interested in diving into another. However, I'd like to float it out to you guys first, before I start looking elsewhere - would any of you be interested in judging?
I'm figuring that we would set shipping cutoffs two weeks prior to actual judging. That way, we have a little time for lost packages to arrive (provided that the entrant can show tracking info to prove that it was shipped by the deadline), or for broken in transit bottles to be replaced.
On one hand, I rather doubt that we'll be popular enough on the first go round to require a cap on the number of entries... but on the other hand, what if we are? Do you guys think that I should ever be worrying about that right now?
Any other thoughts or concerns?
Thanks!
Posted 34 days ago.
If it's a free comp that is BJCP sanctioned (which gets advertised in Zymurgy and BYO, I believe), expect a ton of entries. I recently judged the first annual Clovis Homebrewing Comp, wasn't expecting it to be big at all, just local entries. We encouraged the organizer to get it sanctioned, she did, but then charged $10 for max entries. Our tiny, un-publicized comp received nearly 200 entries from across the US, which turned into an 8 hour day of judging (2 flights, more points!).
Posted 34 days ago.
It won't be a free comp. I was thinking $10 entry fees, maybe $5 for additional entries, but those numbers are open to discussion right now.
I'm planning on lining up some sponsors to help with the bling factor, but I expect to provide at least some sort of prizes (i.e. medals) from the kitty. We'll also need to provide supplies for the judges. There's bound to be some shipping costs, the BJCP fee (granted, only $30), and other expenses I have not yet considered.
Obviously, the BJCP sanctioning is a big deal. As you mentioned, it gets us listed in Zymurgy and BYO. And we know that I'll push it on reddit... so there may be a decent number of entrants, after all.
Hrm. Back to that cap consideration...
Posted 34 days ago.
I really like this idea. Here's your ingredients, go! Iron Chef: Homebrew edition.
If the timing is right on this, I would really like to enter.
Posted 34 days ago.
Iron chef occurred to me last night. Lol
It will be a few months. I mean, I have to give a minimum of 90 days notice to the BJCP.
Posted 34 days ago.
