Digfest Beer Judging

Another early Saturday morning rolling east toward Columbus, Jeff Fortney grasping for that flick of consciousness while I tick off the miles. Today’s holy grail: Digfest Homebrew Competition, which is part of the larger Digfest (an acronym for drinking in Grandview—I had to ask, too). Judging was held at the Ohio Taproom, a pretty sweet location that features all Ohio craft beer on tap—they had twenty beers on tap Saturday, several I’d never seen before. Still, no matter how suave, they can certainly choke on that OSU “the” for reals. No, I’m not bitter—it’s just annoying.

One downside, however: the Ohio Taproom is small, so we had to judge outside. It was a nice day, so that part was O.K., but it was windy, which meant many a scoresheet went whipping across the sidewalk. I know, I know: improvise and overcome. I did. I judged 23. Specialty Beer, which was pretty much the same as usual: some good, some bad, and a general inability to enter the beers with the correct information. I should be used to it at this point, but I’ll still kick up a fuss. Again, no surprises there. It was also a small flight: eight beers listed, but only five showed up, so we were able to roll through them quickly and effectively. Patrick and Lisa Gangwer’s Pucker Up Or Die, a  Cherry Berliner Weisse, won the flight, and just like the name would suggest, it was pucker-y deliciousness. Nice job, you two. Results are listed here.

After a quick lunch, we sampled a couple of the beers on tap and Jeff participated in the Best of Show. We ran by Seventh Son on the way out of town for a pint and a growler, then headed back to Dayton. And more nap time for Fortney!

(6/1/2013)