SOBA National Homebrew Competition 2008
This year was the second annual running of the SOBA National Homebrew Competition, and my first chance to enter (I hadn't really got started on the brewing thing last year). I told myself I was only entering to get some feedback on my beers, not for the chance of winning anything, but that didn't stop me from being a little disappointed when the results came back.
I entered 4 beers, all malt extract-based (I hadn't got around to all-grain brewing in time). Entry involved shipping 2 bottles of each beer to Wellington, along with a completed entry form for each one (plus the entry fee of course). Judging took place in September, with the inital results coming out shortly after, followed by the judging notes and comments a bit later. I've lost the actual scores I received, but I can remember that the highest was a 31/50 and the others were in the 14-17 range.
The feedback came on full AHA/BJCP scoresheets. I would include an example because they're very interesting, but my scanner is currently out of commission. I've included a few of the key comments on each beer below:
- Extract of Daisy (American Pale Ale): Hops low on nose for style; cardboard (indicative of oxidation) in aroma and flavour; stylistic accuracy low; technical merit low.
- Storecupboard Larger (Vienna Lager): hop aroma seems inappropriate; more cardboard!; Stylistic Accuracy medium; Technical merit medium-high; "I would drink a pint of this beer"!
- 4BC Altbier (Dusseldorf Altbier): hard to detect aroma; appropriate hop; Lacking malt for style; bitterness too low for style; harsh; technical merit low; sour/acidic flavour.
- 4BeeCee Porter (Honey Porter): Chocolate, phenolic aroma - electrical fire; chocolate, vinegar flavour; medicinal aroma; Stylistic accuracy medium; technical merit low.
Mind you, I've never brewed a beer I couldn't drink, and that's the main thing. Winning competitions is not the main objective of my brewing.
Labels: homebrew
posted by Martin @ 5:19 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi Martin
Great to see the blog up and rolling again. I'll be attempting my first all grain brew shortly so very interested in any pit falls you discover along the way.
Cheers
Jeremy
hi guys, done a few successful malt brews now after a few not so good 1s but that’s how I learnt I suppose, I have now made a few successful hg (hole grain)brews now, A few tips from me would be use bottles (Newcastle brown 1s work great) the caps and capper can be bought from Wilkinson’s for a few pounds, use five gram of sugar to prime making sure your hydrometer reads round 1010 -or+2 before priming ,keeping them in a warm place then for 3-5 days will do the trick, don’t use a grain bag it doesn’t let the wort circulate properly and causes hot spots, make a mash tun from a cooler box there not expensive to make and work great I use a Ritchie’s boiler to boil the liquor(which is the brewers term for water) only, and one last thing I used David lines book of "brewing beers like ones you buy" that helped a lot but don’t be afraid to make personal adjustments next time, good luck !
P.S if you need any more help email: its-daz@hotmail.co.uk
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