MASH Ales of Summer Beer Judging

Time to get back on that horse. Blogging. Beer Judging. Brewing. All of those things. You head to Europe for several weeks, and all of your momentum is dashed in one long, extended swoop of non-United States fun. Like exploring the world of Irish craft beer. Or going to Cantillon. But as per usual, I digress. So back to the task at hand: MASH Ales of Summer.

This was a nice, small competition: a morning flight, lunch, then the BOS. The competition was held at Cellar Dweller (aka Valley Vineyards), and was smooth and clean. So I was back home in time to ride out and meet Elli on the way home from work. Proper. Results for the competition are to be found here. See you again soon.

(8/6/2016)

Bockfest 2015 Beer Judging

Git’cher goat on, people. Time once again for Bockfest, and much last last year, this was a mercenary trip, although I did make one brief side trip after judging to score free buttons from James Billiter, who was set up at Arnold’s Craft Menagerie. But after the buttons, I got the hell out of dodge. 

Since it was Bockfest, it should come as no surprise that I judged Traditional Bock beers. In fact, I believe this marks the third year in a row I’ve judged bock beers . Maybe longer. I did judge Dopplebocks once, but who remembers when the hell that was? Obviously not me. Other than that, though, straight Traditional Bock. Sorry, I am still dreaming of the underground labyrinthine caves beneath all this goat-inspired madness. But I digress. Three groups of us judged all those Traditional Bocks, did a mini-BOS, and declared a winner. I’d pass along a link to the list of winners, but my internet sleuthing skills have failed me yet again. And I didn’t stick around to hear the names of the winners—like I told you, I got the hell out. 

(3/7/2015)

CMI All-American Beer Judging 2015

So after a long and most likely unforgivable hiatus, I’m back. In addition to my own personal disappearance, it has been a couple of years since I last participated in the All-American. But it is a new year and all that other malarkey, so here we go. 

I rode down to Cincinnati on the solo because all the people I used to judge beer with from Dayton have either become professional brewers or are lame. That last part probably sounds really mean.

For the morning flight, I got to judge English Browns, followed by Specialty in the afternoon. The English Browns were so-so, while the Specialty category was rather nice. The winning Gose from Specialty ended up taking Best in Show as well, so a shout out to Luke Shropshire for a well-made beer. The rest of the results can also be found here.

I also got to participate in my first BOS, which was fun. While I was away, I horns-waggled my way into being a National judge. Which really only means that I’m on the hook for more potential work. But since that work most likely involves beer, I can live with that.

(2/14/2015)

Ohio Brew Week Beer Judging 2014

Another year, another trip to Athens to loiter at Jackie O’s. Yes, I love Ohio Brew Week, but we always end up back at Jackie O’s for both the ambiance and the draft beer line-up. After all, if it ain’t broke...

The drive down Friday was good but not noteworthy. Checking into the hotel was another matter: Jody Grenert must hate Dayton judges, because over the last three years our hotel has gotten increasingly sketchy. This year, the Days Inn on Columbus. Next year, an abandoned hobo camp occupied by vultures. The following year—who knows? Maybe a bed in a tick farm blood donor room.

After checking in at Sketch-Town, we caught a cab to Jackie O’s, driven by a terrible human being who described his Prius cab as a “vagina with four wheels” and who doesn’t drink beer because he is “really athletic” and doesn’t like to get dehydrated. To be fair, he had two (and yes, two, not one) open cans of Red Bull in the console next to him, so he must secretly be really awesome. For verbally offending us the entire ride, he did give us a “free passenger” coupon for our next ride. He even confided that he didn’t normally give them out. It made the entire ride that much more special.

The rest of the evening could only be uphill. And, thankfully, it was. Jackie O’s to the rescue! We did make one foray to the Cat’s Eye, but beat a hasty retreat to Jackie O’s to recover our newly found mojo. During the cab ride home, our new cabdriver confirmed that our initial cabdriver was as loathing-worthy as we initially suspected.

Beer judging on Saturday was smooth but busy: I got a morning full of Belgian and French, and an afternoon of Sour and Wood-Aged beer. Sure, the last two aren’t a perfect fit, but sometimes that happens. After we were finished, there was a brief round of Worst in Show before our triumphant return to Jackie O’s. We ducked out for some food and to try a few beers around town, but we ended up back where it all started not too much later. The Talking Heads cover band later was awesome, bringing with it the Vander-dancing of yesteryear. Ah, nostalgia!

And finally, no beer event is complete without hugs from Jason Brewer. What sweet nothings passed between us during our fond embrace? Shhhhhh! I’ll never tell.

(7/12/2014)

AHA NHC Zanesville Beer Judging

This year’s version of the AHA NHC regional in Zanesville was much the same as last year: we were again located at Weasel Boy Brewing and Frank Barickman made plenty of bad jokes. Some things will never change. My compatriots in crime for the trip to Zanesville this year were Jake Browning and Jon Vanderglas. So basically a mini-YHCS roadtrip, since Chris Wyatt was in for the fun on Saturday.

So where to begin? How about four beer judging sessions in two days: two Friday and two Saturday. And two rough days it was: Friday was American Ales and IPAs while Saturday was Stouts and Strong Ales. So basically I drank through starter categories for home brewers on Friday, started with that again on Saturday, and closed out Saturday afternoon with even bigger beers with the Strong Ales. So Saturday was especially rough. As well, there was a lot more hot and fusel alcohols in the beers I judged this year; I’m not sure if I was just that unlucky, or there was some sort evil mojo curse circulating. Either way, after the two sessions on Saturday, I was in a bad place. So after a few rounds of our now-classic “Worst In Show” beer drinking game and the award segment of the evening, we opted to return to the hotel and drink Snakebites made with PBR and Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider. After all those big, dark, and burny beers earlier in the day, that PBR and Woodchuck went down like a dream. 

(4/4 & 5/2014)

Bockfest 2014 Beer Judging

This year I was a bit more mercenary in my Bockfest beer judging experience. There was no messing around afterwards and having a beer, no visit to the underground labyrinthine caves beneath the brewery, no trip to Party Source or 50 West, no ogling giant goat heads. Just judging. Drive down, judge some beer, drive home. I kinda liked the experience.

Like last year, I judged Bock beers; I was paired with Scott Lafollette, who runs the show at Blank Slate, and a third judge whose name embarrassingly escapes me. Oh well. My shame is now publicly acknowledged, so I can move on. Anyway, as per usual, Scott was an excellent judge partner, as was our to remain nameless third judge partner. So after we rolled through our section of the flight, I left Scott to mini-BOS judging and got the hell out of town. Back to the DYT.

(3/8/2014)

SODZ Beer for [Women] Beer Judging

Today started out rather poorly. A certain unnamed someone (Jake Browning) offered to drive. Since I normally drive, I was quick to take advantage of his offer. Sadly, Jake forgot to heed Sarah’s advice and fill the tank with gas. I know, I know. That’s what a gas gauge is for, right? But said gauge is broken: as we coasted to a stop on the side of the freeway, it still read a quarter tank. Classy. You what is pretty low on my list of fun Saturday morning activities? Walking down I-70 at 8 a.m. in mid-40° F temperatures.

So after walking to the next exit, finding a gas can and walking back to the car (oh yes, the first gas station didn’t carry gas cans—classy touch, no?), we filled up the car, got some McDonald’s for breakfast, and rolled on to Zanesville. Surprisingly, we arrived right as judging started. I’m not sure how with an hour delay we still made it on time. It probably has something to do with the 100+ mph driving to make up lost time. I just imagined we were re-living a scene from Cannonball Run—the original film, not the hack Cannonball Run II. And yes, I expect you all to know the difference. Although in terms of rugged manly looks, Jake Browning is no Burt Reynolds—he’s more a Bizarro Thomas Magnum doppelganger (check out the shot of Magnum hosing himself off; that’s my man Browning’s style). But I digress.

In the morning I judged Belgian and French, followed by Dark Lagers in the afternoon. Easy flights, and a well run competition. After the competition, we sampled a couple of the fine products at Weasel Boy, and then Nate Cornett joined us for the ride home, which included stops at Buckeye Lake and Seventh Son.

And to reiterate: I stand by my complaint from 2011 regarding the title of the competition. Hence my modification of the name. Casual sexism. Results are posted here.

(11/9/2013)

CMI Oktobersbest Zinzinnati 2013 Beer Judging

This year’s Oktobersbest was all about more good times in a round, round hotel. Unlike last year, Scott LaFollette’s opening presentation was interesting, useful, and to the point. No made up material, or material embellished to make the speaker sound grandiose. I do wish Jeffrey would have heckled Scott, but I also understand why he didn’t.

I judged Porters in the morning flight, and Belgian & French in the afternoon flight. The morning flight was a bit underwhelming overall, but that is bound to happen. The afternoon flight, however, featured some good beers, specifically Jon Covey’s Hibiscus Saison, which I thought was the best beer in the flight. But nobody puts Frank Barickman in a corner. And, to be fair, the beer Frank wanted to pass did end up winning Best in Show, so maybe he was onto something there.

After a quick trip to the Party Source to score some Crooked Stave beers, it was back to Dayton.

And you can find the results here.

(10/19/2013)

DAI Oktoberfest 2013 Beer Judging

Oh my. Success can beget many a problem for a beer judging competition, and today was a case in point. Last year, this competition was an easy, quick point. This year? I think I judged around 40 beers. Seriously. Before lunch I had judged eighteen beers: two flights of nine, including Oktoberfest and Light Lagers, while after lunch I got smaller flights of American Brown Ales, Scottish and Irish, and English Brown Ales. Oh, and IPAs—I wouldn’t want to forget the surprise last flight of the day. Then I did two mini-BOS flights to determine overall winners, one for a category I did not initially judge. And I think I am missing something along the way as well—there was some other third mini-BOS along the way as well. The afternoon was, needless to say, something of a blur via the sheer volume of beers I judged.

Other than the volume of labor, the competition ran smoothly, however. Highlights include a delicious lunch—mac and cheese sprinkled with bacon, and pulled beef (or pork) sandwiches—sorry, I was more focused on the intake of food to offset the pending chaos of excessive beer judging. My favorite beer of the day was either the Imperial IPA that won the IPA flight or the American Brown Ale that also won the American Ale category. The American Brown was also the only beer that myself and my fellow judge disagreed on during the initial judging—I’m glad I fought to push it on. I’d include the overall results, but they haven’t been posted yet, as the award ceremony is this coming Saturday, September 28th. I’ll try to remember to update this once the places are posted. Update: results are posted here.

(9/21/2013)

Dayton DRAFT Brewfest 2013 Beer Judging

Ah, the home club competition. Where I have to take on an organizational role, and can’t just roll in, judge beer, and roll out. I like that latter option so much more than having to clean up after the unwashed hoards have left the building. But, no, I have to keep agreeing to play the role of Cellar master. Dumbass.

Overall entries were up this year; I didn’t remember to count the entries from out of town judges at the time, but we ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of 255 as a final count. Give or take. Which is a nice increase from the previous three years (168 in 2012, 214 in 2011, and 186 in 2010). As is my wont, I self-righteously claimed all of the second entries from Jule Rastikis—all except his entry in 23A, Coal B’ Tappin’ The Maple, which won the flight and was awarded Best of Dayton. Deservedly so—I had that beer last year, and was already coveting this year’s version. Stupid winning. Other highlights from the day include Frank Barickman getting second place in IPAs for the second year running. I did forget to grab his second bottle to drink during the competition as I did last year, but I can’t always be perfect. The Rockit Cup sponsored a plaque this year, so congratulations to Dan Lechner for winning Scottish & Irish Ales. As well, watching the Gordon Strong show during the BOS is always a delight for the Twitter-perfect one-liners doled out like free bread, like the beer he described as smelling like a stripper. My beers fared moderately: my fresh hop beer and saison were treated with the due diligence of beers only moderate in their production, while the brett blend I entered in category 23 (138a, by the way) got second to that dang Rastikis fellow. Double foiled!

Thanks to all of the out of town judges who made time to help us out. I’m happy to reciprocate when the time comes. Oh, and the final results are here. Go team!

(9/14/2013)

Ohio Brew Week Beer Judging 2013

Ohio Brew Week is back, which means it was time to pack the van and head to Athens to judge some beer. In addition to the usual cast of miscreants (i.e. Jeff and Jeffrey), we added two other members to our indubitable squad, Mike Nereng and Jon Vanderglas (of last year’s Vander-dance fame). I guess they thought the van ride would add to the mystique of the weekend.

Friday night began where all things should begin: Jackie O’s. The best commercial beer of the weekend was Jackie O’s Hop Rye-Mosa, which was the Hop Ryot spiked with orange and grapefruit juice & zest. It was magical. After dinner, we decided to hit the town to sample some other wares. We found some Indigo Imp at the appropriately named Broney’s. I got the Firebrand, a Belgian IPA, and Jeffrey got Jester, the Pale Ale. Mine was better, but both of us lost. You think that after a couple of years they could clean up some of the fermentation issues, but I guess not. Afterwards, we rolled to the J Bar, where we saw the biggest human being any of us had ever seen in our life. He looked like he could pick up and snap NFL players like twigs. (A side note: we did spend the rest of the weekend looking for Gigantor, but we never saw him again. Sad.) Anyway, I couldn’t stomach the chemical peanut butter smell of Listermann’s Peanut Butter Porter with Jelly, so I had the Jungle Honey Pale Ale. After these couple of beers, we voted unanimously to return to Jackie O’s to close out the evening. Which we did.

Saturday morning came, as it is wont to do, and with it came our beer judging responsibilities. I was on 12. Porters in the morning, which was an easy albeit unexciting flight with fourteen beers and two sets of judges—we rolled right through them and moved on to lunch. In the afternoon, I was paired with Jeff Fortney for Belgian Pale Ales and Saisons, which was a pleasant and delicious flight, especially since we got all of the good beers. Another fourteen beer flight with two sets of judges. I may have been a bit too harsh on Matt Aerni’s saison, but since it won the flight, I’m guessing he’ll forgive me.

This year’s “Worst In Show” sampling was cut short by an invite to the craziest beer tasting I have ever attended, easily topping the previous Dark Lord vertical sampling that held the title. We all got to sample something like twenty New Glarus beers that most of us never even knew existed, and for many of them there were multiple vintages to try. It was, put bluntly, an embarrassment of riches from which we all supped. We hung around so long we missed the free dinner and the awards ceremony, but it was totally worth it watching the habanero salsa almost kill Vanderglas. My beers did not fare as well this year as last: Charnel House Quad got second, even with another year of aging on it!

Jeffrey is a winner!

And my American Wild Ale did not even place. Jeffrey’s English Barleywine, Kittens on Ice, however, won the flight and got 3rd in BOS judging.

The rest of the evening was a bit more sedate than last year: Jackie O’s for dinner, followed by more beer samplings at other establishments, including Tyranny IPA by Lagerheads Brewing at the Red Brick Sports Pub and Cosmic IPA by Willoughby Brewing at Pigskin. Cosmic IPA was very well done, and I look forward to trying more from Willoughby; even so, we ended up back at Jackie O’s to close out the night once again. 

Sunday morning we had brunch and spicy bloody maries at Casa Nueva; Jennifer Hermann from Market Garden Brewery joined us for breakfast, while Jason Brewer from Listermann Brewing joined us for drinks. And then the mountain biking began...

[Update: I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the ping pong played at Pigskin. Watching people dodge the errant ping pong ball was both awesome and hilarious, and chasing the ball across the floor of a crowded bar was equally amusing!]

(6/22/2013)

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)

AHA NHC Zanesville 2013 Beer Judging

Ah, beer judging. Promise me you’ll never let me down. This weekend featured the opening round of the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition in Zanesville, OH. Sadly, my beers didn’t make it here—they ended up in Milwaukie. Oh well. At least I got them entered. Judging was held at Weasel Boy Brewing. The good thing about Weasel Boy Brewing is that it has nice spaces for judging. And since there was lots of beer to judge, Jeff Fortney and I got a room at the luxurious and fanciful Baymont. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Saturday morning started early. I mean real early. On the road at 6:15 am to be in Zanesville by 9:00 am. Can you feel the dedication, dear reader? Once the coffee kicked in, though, things got better, especially since I was to be judging 16. Belgian and French Ales in the morning, followed by 17. Sour Ales in the afternoon. Perfect judging selections as far as I am concerned. The only downside to the morning session was that none of the good beers came my way. While I sampled several well-made beers, nothing really stood out: the two beers we passed along to the mini-BOS got booted right off the bat, much as I suspected they would. Still, an enjoyable set of beers. After a quick lunch, it was on to 17. Sour Ales. Again, another pleasant round of beers. I got to try several different cherry lambics, which was nice, but the best beer of the lot was an unblended lambic (17D) that had nice tartness and complexity mixed with a fresh oak vanilla oak bite. Sadly, the judges for the mini-BOS put it in third. But it is still moving on the final round, so I won’t complain. Much.

My new insight from today’s judging: Gordon Strong might be on to something when he argues that brettanomyces doesn’t belong in saisons. While I’m not yet fully convinced, between the 16E and 17D & E beers that I tried today, too many of the saisons with brettanomyces tasted more like lambics than saisons: while the flavors were interesting, they had lost the characteristics that would make them saisons. While I do still think that there is space for a saison with brettanomyces, to be successful it will need to maintain hop bitterness to accompany the dryness and tartness. Because without that—as with the samples I tried today—the dryness and tartness come across more like a lambic/gueuze than a saison. The two flights back to back highlighted this quite well.

After we finished judging, Fortney and I headed to the Baymont for a quick nap before dinner. After all, a day of beer judging + an early early morning = nap time. You try that math. By the time we got back, Weasel Boy had started to swing: the new flavor of the evening was ironic mustaches and patchouli. After dinner and doling out the awards for the day, Jeff and I did our best to introduce several new people to the appropriately patented and trademarked “Worst In Show” beer drinking game (the dump bucket was for the “Worst In Show” winners not even worth drinking). After a couple of rounds, we headed back over towards the band and the influx of ironic mustaches. More discussion was had, which led to the following snarky gem of the evening comes courtesy Frank Barickman. We were discussion IPAs, and someone mentioned Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Frank’s response: “90 Minute IPA? Guys that like that are the guys who trade beer on RateBeer.” I offered a high five for that one. Not surprisingly, it continued to go downhill from there. No wings, though.

The Sunday morning flight was quick and easy: 1. Light Lager. I ended up judging with Fortney, which made the whole process run even smoother. After all, once you drink beer with some one for several years, you start to pick up on the way they will respond to beers. So after rolling through our section of the flight and passing along our beers to the mini-BOS (nice beer, Phil), it was time to hit the road and roll for home. We did stop in Columbus for brunch at the Northstar Café. Who can resist the sweet siren song of brunch? Not this guy. And since I was driving, neither could Fortney.

(4/20 & 21/2013)

SODZ British Beer Fest Judging

Another early morning for yours truly. Jeff Fortney showed up at my door at 7:00 am, we made a quick detour to grab Chris Wyatt in Yellow Springs, and then rolled on to Columbus. The good news: British Beer Fest relocated to Seventh Son Brewing this year, which was a nicer and better lit venue for beer judging that last year. Sorry, but it’s true. While Seventh Son didn’t have any of their own beers on tap yet, the space and the scenery was better suited to beer judging. And more good news: this was again a one flight competition, which means we could hang around and have a beer and hear the winners. Which was an even mix of Frank Barickman, Gautam Bagchi, and Jeff Fortney. Sure, a couple others got thrown in the mix, but those three took most of the cheese. You can check the rest of the results for yourself. My Rockit Cup Mild bombed like the Enola Gay mixed with Rivertown Hop Bomber. Work out that simile on your own, tiger. I’ll just blame Chris again, as it was his recipe. Hey, he said I could throw him under the bus this time.

I spent my morning judging Porters; there were twenty two of them all told, so with the three sets of judges, we rolled through them in short order. For some reason, my pairing ended up judging the extra beer again (yes, the math is on you, dear reader). I’d like to delude myself into believing it has something to do with skill and knowledge, but probably it was more a desire to be finished. After the mini-BOS, it was time for lunch, awards, and that previously mentioned beer, which was Columbus Brewing Company’s IPA in a Seventh Son glass. See? Look at all the light inside the bar!

After the awards, we rolled back to Yellow Springs, where the lot of us got to enjoy some beers and snacks at Yellow Springs Brewery—they were having a small gathering for everyone who had volunteered to help. Don’t you all worry: they’ll be opening soon so you can get yours—April 13th is the Grand Opening!

(3/23/2013)

Bockfest Beer Judging

After a one year hiatus, it was time to return to the Bloatarian Brewing League’s Bockfest 2013 Homebrew Contest. While I didn’t end up in the underground labyrinthine caves beneath the brewery this year (I know, I was sad, too), I did get to judge some damn fine bock beer. A whole lot, in fact, as I was judging 5B. Traditional Bocks; we had two sets of judges, with each set getting 7 or 8 beers. All I know is we judged eight beers, so maybe the other set of judges weren’t pulling their weight. Any who, afterwards, Jeff Fortney and I sauntered downstairs for a ham and cheese crepe (not German, I know, but it certainly was delicious). I also made derisive comments about the stripper pole set up in front of the radio station booth. After all, nothing says classy like a stripper pole. Because when I think of German brewing heritage, the first thing to pop into my mind is, well, strippers. Who don’t?

After a quick deliberation, we voted to head out to 50 West Brewing Company, as neither of us had been there previously. While it is a bit of a ways outside of downtown Cincinnati proper—exacerbated, I will admit, by my taking a few wrong turns—it was certainly worth the visit. Excellent atmosphere and good beer. I tried the Coast to Coast IPA; I can’t remember what Jeff had. My favorite moment, however, was when Jeff inadvertently got one of the bartenders in trouble: Whit Hesser was at the door when we were leaving, and asked us how we liked our visit and what was in the growler Jeff had; when Whit found out it was the Russian Imperial Stout, he looked grumpy and observed it wasn’t supposed to be available for growlers. Whoops! Still, I will certainly be back to check out 50 West in more detail soon.

Oh, and results for Bockfest are here!

(3/2/2013)

AHA Club Only Competition: Un-Session Beer Judging

This was one of the American Homebrew Association’s Club Only Competitions, and the theme was Un-Session Beers. While I’m not quite sure what that means, I’m always happy to help out Frank Barickman when he needs extra judges. The competition was held at Barley Hopsters in Delaware, Ohio, and I judged a flight of Belgian beers (Category 16, mainly Belgian Specialty Ales, and one lone Pilsener) with Jeff Lewis from SODZ. We had a pleasant time, and got yelled at Frank for judging too slow.
 
Winning beer in our flight was a Saison aged for six months on chardonnay-soaked oak; it was a delicous beer with a lot of intangibles that made the beer stand out—the oak and white wine characteristics were subtle and well-balanced, and the Belgian yeast character brought the beer together nicely. I might have liked a bit more attenuation in the body, but still a solid beer. I’a picky bastard when it comes to saisons. There were several other well-made beers in the flight; two, however, took themselves of competition by entering themselves as 16E. but providing no actual information as to what they were. Gordon said it was appropriate and acceptable to make fun of them in the “Overall Impression” section of the scoresheet, which I appreciated. Afterall, to quote the BJCP Style Guidelines for 16E. Belgian Specialty Ale, “The judges must understand the brewer’s intent in order to properly judge an entry in this category. THE BREWER MUST SPECIFY EITHER THE BEER BEING CLONED, THE NEW STYLE BEING PRODUCED OR THE SPECIAL INGREDIENTS OR PROCESSES USED” (23). The key word here being understand: if you don’t understand intention, it is impossible to judge in any practical manner. I do like the all-caps yelling in the second sentence—which is the way it appears in the style guidelines—as it mirrors my feelings everytime I judge this category and people enter beers without any type of description or information to identify the beer (my favorite 16E. entry of all time: the entire description of the beer was “orange.” No style descriptions or any of the other potential details, just “orange”).
 
After we finished judging and the BOS was completed (results are posted here), we all sampled some of the beers available at Barley Hopsters, both on tap and cold out of the case. A nice time, and I do hope to have a reason to return.

(1/19/2012)

CMI Oktobersbest Zinzinnati 2012 Beer Judging

Like N2Deep, it was back to the hotel for this year’s CMI Oktobersbest Zinzinnati beer competition—specifically, back to the 16th floor of the Radisson. Or, to quote the day’s guest speaker, it was all about getting “back to myself.” Can you, my dear reader, sense a theme?

The morning began with a presentation on sour beers by Jason Roeper from Rivertown Brewing. Once that was finished, we mercifully moved onto beer judging, which was Category 14 (IPA). Since there were 33 entries, we had four sets of judges, and we rolled through the lot quickly and efficiently. After lunch in the revolving restaurant upstairs, it was back to business. In the afternoon, I judged Category 12 (Porters) with three other judges; I was paired with Scott LaFollette from Blank Slate Brewing, and everything went smooth and easy—we were generally within one or two points of each other, so the focus was kept on the beer itself. As it should be.

Afterwards, we opted to skip out of the pub crawl and instead head back to Dayton. On the way home, however, we did stop at the Party Source to check out the beer offerings, and we also stopped and had a pint of Fifty West Brewing Company’s Hoppy When Wet at Dutch’s. I do love me some fresh hop beers...

P. S. I hope Scott LaFollette doesn’t hold a grudge for calling him a wet blanket. Oh, and results are here.

(10/20/2012)

Dayton DRAFT Brewfest Judging 2012

Ah, Brewfest. That time of year when I get to lay claim to the second bottle of every one of Jule Rastikis’ beers that didn’t make it to the BOS. And believe me, since the perks of being Cellar Master are few and far between, I make use of my marginal powers every time I can. Thus, all four of Jule’s beers are now safely tucked in my refrigerator at home. Don’t worry—you’ll be hearing about them sometime soon.

Bacon Cheesecake courtesy of Scott Young

This year’s event had a bit smaller of a turnout than in previous years: we ended up with 168 entries in total, broken into 15 flights. As noted, I foolishly agreed to be the Cellar Master again, but the sweet siren call of Rastikis made it impossible to say no. Everything went smoothly, and—shockinginglyest of all—we actually started on time at 9:00 am. We also might have even finished a little bit early. It was almost like we knew what we were doing. Then again, let’s not get too crazy. I was pleased to see that my Scottish 80 Schilling—the Edinburgh version from the 80 Shilling Yeast Experiment—did as well as it did in the overall judging. I’d also like to pillory Ashley for not knowing what a Belgian Quad is, but we all know the parable regarding the beating of a dead horse, and, well, that horse is dead. Even if Ashley was the one who killed it. Oh, and the overall results are listed here.

Thanks to all of the out of town judges who made the time to come to Dayton and help us out. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I’ll be happy to return the favor. Thus, I know where I’ll be on October 20th. That’s right—enjoying the rotating restaurant in the Covington Radisson. Slow revolutions are the best revolutions.

(9/15/2012)

Dayton Art Institute Oktoberfest Beer Judging

Today was a quick round of beer judging for the Dayton Art Institute’s Oktoberfest—I was coerced by Jeffrey to participate, even though I was trying to get ready for tomorrow’s Frankenbike, which, while not beer related, is ever so much more potentially painful and scarring. And by that, I mean good. Painful yes, but good. Anyway, flights were small and quick: Jeffrey & I (yes, we were paired together to judge) rolled through Alts, Oktoberfests, English and Imperial IPAs, and part of the Specialty Beers category. Some good beers, and also some bad ones, but all in all a good time. That Midnight Sleigh Ride was a fantastic voyage. And an easy point on the day, unlike this coming weekend. For all the results, see here.

Highlight of the day: writing on a score sheet that the malt profile of an English IPA tasted “too American,” and then finding out that it was Chris Wyatt’s beer. Ah, the deliciousness. For those of you that don’t get the joke, Chris Wyatt is—how to best put this?—proudly and unabashedly British. As in from England. And for those of you who still don’t get the joke, well, too bad. I’d offer to draw you a diagram, but since I don’t really mean it, that’s just bad faith. Coming from the man whose comedy touchstone is the enjoyment he finds in explaining his own jokes, that’s saying something. And if you don’t get the concept of bad faith, then you’re probably a Republican. Can I get an amen?

(9/8/2012)

Beer & Sweat Beer Judging

So this was the year. I finally hit the rite of passage that is Beer & Sweat, a keg-only homebrew competition run by the Bloatarian Brewing League in Florence, KY. Never you mind the threat of bed bugs and the weird medieval theme of the Drawbridge Motel. Because nothing says excessive like 250+ kegs of homebrew all gathered in one room (they had 268 this year, by the way). Any-who, the event begins with beer judging in the early afternoon—the vacant excuse as to why I was in attendance—and then turns into an evening of drinking and, well, debauchery. After all, what else would you do with all those kegs of beer? Host a yard sale?

I rolled down from Dayton with Jeff, Jeffrey, and Darren—we were all sharing a room. Judging began at noon, but we got there a bit earlier as Jeff had entered four kegs. I was judging category 16. French & Belgian beers; there were three sets of judges to work through 27 beers (or something like that), with a lot of Saisons, a fair number of Belgian Specialty Ales, and a smattering of the rest. Overall, it was a pretty solid flight—some of the Saisons could have been better attenuated, and there was the usual forgetting to include the appropriate information for the Belgian Specialty Ales that you find in most beer judging competitions, but if these are my worst complaints, I’ve already scored a big gold star on the day. After helping out with the mini-BOS (I poured for the three judges doing it—I’m not that cool), there was some pizza and a few fancy beers back in the room (thanks, Darren!). We also swapped stories about judging—my favorite was from Jeffrey, who was sitting next to a table with Gordon Strong. Gordon’s judging partner kept obsessively apologizing for not judging beer as quickly as Gordon; at a certain point, the compulsive emphasis on apologizing led Gordon to quip “Less apologizing, more beer judging.” Grandmaster ouch! I’d have felt sorry for the guy, but he’d made an off-color remark to us earlier that Jeffrey handled with a crushing aplomb, leaving Captain Dipshit both clueless and speechless and with nothing to do but walk away. Thus Jeffrey’s story was just more of that deserve-ed icing on the cake.

After our proclaimed recovery sortie, it was time for the main event. And even then, I’m not really certain I was actually ready for the maelstrom of beer and people confronting me when we headed back downstairs. Still, due diligence was the rule of the evening, not that I would (or could) try everything before me, although we did meet one hearty soul who claimed to have tried all of the beers pouring that evening. I went for quality over quantity, although at one point I did get talked into drinking down a row of the kegs, hitting a small sample of each one. I blame you, Jake and Sarah, for that one.



Highlights from the evening include getting to try four different Berliner Weisses in a row—yes, you read that sentence correctly—as well as the all of the various sours, lambics, etc. littering the event. The brewer who brought the blended 1 and 3 year old Gueuze deserves a hearty congratulations (sorry, I don’t know who it was, although I know it was tap number 120 or 121—it was right next to a Rauchbier named “Bacon Fucker,” which I managed to take a picture of in my drunken stupor, but not the blended Gueuze I returned to several times—I blame stupid drunken Tom). But my 

more ham

favorite beer of the evening by far was Brandon Cooper’s Funk Plums, which was described as starting “out as a classic Berliner Weisse and was fermented with lactobacillus and sccharomyces. It was then secondary fermented on 2.5 lbs. of plums per gallon and brettanomyces lambicu was added. The result is something between a fruit lambic and a fruit beer that I call Funk Plums.” It got an Honorable Mention in the flight I judged (the Saison that won that flight, by the way, ended up taking the Best In Show honors), but Funky Plum hit all of the right marks for me—it was fruity dry brettanomyces magic. And I did return to this beer again and again. I even ran into Brandon when he was breaking down his kegs, and asked if I could have one more glass for the road, to which he happily complied. I could be wrong, but I think his actions might qualify him for sainthood.

The beers Jeff entered did well overall: he won category 23. Specialty Beer with his Black IPA, Midnight In The Forest, and second in Fruit Beers for Experiment #6. We got to drink Midnight In The Forest further into the evening than any of the other winners—the balloon that was attached to all of the flight winners got disconnected from his beer, and no one ever fixed it. So drink on, good sirs! Still, it got cashed before it was time to call it a night. As the event began to wind down, many of the people—myself included—headed towards the hotel’s outdoor pool to conclude their evening. Shenanigans, drinking, and discussion continued on. I finished the day by jumping in the pool, somewhere in the vicinity of 2 am. Isn’t that how all evenings should end?

(8/18/25)