Bockfest Beer Judging

I just returned from the Bloatarian Brewing League’s 2010 Bockfest Homebrew Competition, which was part of the larger Cincinnati Bockfest—in case you didn’t know (and I’m betting you didn’t), Cincinnati is home to the world’s oldest Bockfest. This year’s event runs from March 5-7.

Being that this was Bockfest, entries were limited to bocks (shocking, I know):

5A. Maibock/Helles Bock
5B. Traditional Bock
5C. Doppelbock
5D. Eisbock
15C. Weizenbock
16E*. Belgian Specialty Ale (bocks)
22*. Smoked and Wood Aged (bocks)
23*. Specialty (bocks)
*Base style must be 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, or 15C and must be clearly indicated on the entry.

Besides the Best of Show Award, the special prize of the day involved Christian Moerlein Brewing Company selecting an entry from the Traditional Bock (5B) category to be used as the recipe for a special 2011 Bock release. Damn. That would be a nice perk, hmm?

I helped judge the 5C. Dopplebock category; there were fifteen, split into two flights, with a mini BOS between them to determine the winning dopplebock. All in all, a pleasant afternoon—a nice drive down, some sampling, a quick swing by the Party Source to pick up a growler of Founder’s Centennial IPA (don’t worry, you’ll hear all about it later) and a 6-pack of Rivertown Hop Bomber, and another short jaunt back up I-75 to home. I also picked up a copy of Sarah Stephen’s Cincinnati’s Brewing History, which just came out, to learn more about Cincinnati’s brewing history.

Oh, and they had this awesome giant wooden goat on wheels inside Bockfest Hall (which was the historic Kauffman Brewery at 1621 Moore St.)—I couldn’t find a good picture of it online, but it was certainly the type of thing I’d expect to get trotted out for an event like this, so kudos to the organizers.