And The Winner Is...

As many of you noticed from my most recent post, there was a homebrew competition down on Eat Street Tuesday night and I was in the running. I have been homebrewing for about four years now and I have yet to submit a beer in a competition. Why, you may ask? Well, when you submit your beers to a competition the organizers are usually looking for two 12oz bottles of your beer. The very first time I brewed I was stuck with the task that so many of us homebrewers are… washing, sanitizing, filling and capping fifty bottles of beer. I hated it so much that I went out and bought a kegging system while my next batch was fermenting. I have been kegging ever since. There were a few times when I would bottle half a batch and keg the rest but even that seemed too tedious. Long story short this was the first time I have been involved in any kind of brew-off.

It was a great time and I was pitted up against some great brewers. In addition to my IBA, we had a Dunkelweizen, a Biere de Garde, a Dusseldorf Alt and a Blonde Ale with Honey and Violet. If you’ve never been to the Black Forest Inn they offer flights of beer on their menu. If memory serves, you can get a dark beer sampler, a German beer sampler or a create-your-own sampler. This worked out well because we were able to use their nifty little carrying trays and 3oz sample glasses. All five brewers were on hand to talk about the beers, the club and homebrewing in general. Oh, and we were also waiters. It was our job to run samplers around to each of the tables in the restaurant and bar.



I gotta tell ya, it was a lot of fun and the time absolutely flew by. It helped that much of my family and many of my friends were there. Before we knew it, it was 9pm and time to count the ballots. I was very happy with the way my beer turned out but as a certified beer judge I didn’t think it was the best. Thankfully the restaurant agreed. Deep down inside everyone wants to win, but I didn’t want to win because I brought the most friends. The winner was the Dusseldorf Alt, brewed by long time brewer Mike Behrendt. I thought it was great that Mike won. He has been doing this for a long time and is a great brewer, not to mention his beer was a German style beer. Mike won with 35% of the votes and to my delight I came in second with 26% of the votes. I have to thank all my thirsty friends for that.



I really hope I can be a part of this next year in some capacity, whether as a brewer or a volunteer, as it was a lot of fun to be a part of. It was great to take brewing to the competitive stage and was nice to get some positive feedback as well. One highlight of the night for me was the gentleman from New Orleans who came up to us and wanted to “meet the guy who made the Brown Ale”. He thought it was fantastic and just wanted to let me know. Awww…

Thanks to all my great friends. I always say I have the greatest friends in the world and Tuesday they again showed me why. Thanks also to the Black Forest Inn. The food and service were fantastic and they really took care of our every need.

Prosit!