# 2015 ESB Homebrew Competition



## Korev (8/2/15)

Hi Guys,

Yes, it's back for 2015 - details are at https://esbcomp.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/its-the-extra-special-brewers-2015-homebrew-competition/

The styles included this year are in 4 groups

1 Bitter – English Bitter, Special and Extra Special,
2 Pale Ale – Belgian, Australian, and American,
3  IPA – English, American, and Australian IPA returning from last year,
4 Hybrid – California Common, Kolsch, and Dusseldorf Altbier.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, ESB Brewing Supplies, Shire Brewing Supplies, The Brew Shop, Muntons and Castle Malting.

Prizes (gift certificates) for the top 3 places in each group and the best beer of competition.

The competition is registered with the BJCP, so all you BJCP Judges can get in some practice and some points. Non BJCP judges and stewards are, as always, very welcome.

Mark your calendars!! Entries close: Saturday 11 July 2015 Judging: Saturday 18 July 2015.


Good Luck
P1


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## barls (8/2/15)

peter, you putting in heating this time around?
could be a deciding factor as to me coming down


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## MCHammo (8/2/15)

At this point, I think we have to put down "location TBD" for the judging itself.


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## Bribie G (17/2/15)

The weather itself was quite pleasant for the time of year.

However the venue.......






 

not knocking ESB, very generous to donate the warehouse for the day..

Count me in this year, will get there a bit earlier assuming they haven't ripped up the Illawarra line like last year.


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## Barry (17/3/15)

Bump; time to start brewing for the comp.


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## Korev (24/3/15)

Hi All,

Judges and Stewards others are welcome to register your interest at http://goo.gl/forms/6AQlDJbE0O

The venue for the judging has not yet been decided - this will be advised in due course.

Cheers
P1


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## Dae Tripper (24/3/15)

I have a few set aside for this comp already


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## Grainer (19/4/15)

my Name down to judge if you want the help.. Non-BJCP simply don't have the time to do it this year but will do it next year


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## gap (19/4/15)

> my Name down to judge if you want the help.. Non-BJCP simply don't have the time to do it this year but will do it next year


So you are coming up to Sydney from Melbourne for the event.


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## Grainer (19/4/15)

Doh... Oversight


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## Barry (16/6/15)

Just a reminder that the comp is coming up soon Entries close: Saturday 11 July 2015 Judging: Saturday 18 July 2015. Judges please contact Korev at http://goo.gl/forms/6AQlDJbE0O


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## boonchu (6/7/15)

Where is the judging being held on the 18th?


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## Korev (7/7/15)

Korev said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Yes, it's back for 2015 - details are at https://esbcomp.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/its-the-extra-special-brewers-2015-homebrew-competition/
> 
> ...


The venue for judging will be at the Peakhust pub, from (08:30 till 13:00ish - dependent on the number of entries) - Entries close this Saturday

I am still looking for BJCP judges - please pm me if you are available.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Peakhurst+Inn+Drive+Thru+Bottle+Shop/@-33.959754,151.062519,17z/data=!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x6b12b93bcf8ab44b:0x6d86ae8661830122!2sPeakhurst+Inn+Drive+Thru+Bottle+Shop!3m1!1s0x6b12b93bcf8ab44b:0x6d86ae8661830122

Cheers
P1


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## Barry (7/7/15)

Entries at The Brew Shop NOWRA close end of this Thursday, they have to be bought up to Sydney.


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## boonchu (18/7/15)

Congrats Pete.
Another well run comp with consistently good beers.
Everything was organised and ran to time.


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## barls (18/7/15)

congrats pete another well run comp ask good work on finally getting heating .
did i hear a rumour you were putting your hand up for the states next year.


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## GrantSpatchcock (18/7/15)

Great to hear it went well, always a well run comp!

I'm eagerly awaiting the results, apologies if any judges copped some undercarbed but otherwise good beers! First time I've carbed my english ales to near cask level too, so I'll be interested to see how those went!

Cheers to all involved!


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## Korev (19/7/15)

Hi All,

Thanks to all of you that entered our competition. Yesterday, 88 beers were judged at the Peakhurst Inn. Thanks to Sam and the staff who very kindly provided us great facilities, heating, dishwashers (non human kind), glasses etc.

Also a big thanks to the judges and stewards who made it all happen.

We encourage you to visit our major sponsor The Brew Shop http://www.thebrewshop.com.au/

* N.B. Due to the large number of entries in Group B, Pale Ale, we used 2 teams of judges. So, a mini Best of Show was used to determine the overall placings. This is why the scores are the way they are – it is not a mistake.

Score sheets, certificates and prizes should be posted out in the coming week. 
https://esbcomp.wordpress.com/results/

View attachment ESB 2015 Comp Results 1.01.pdf
(typo corrected)

Cheers
P1


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## Korev (19/7/15)

barls said:


> congrats pete another well run comp ask good work on finally getting heating .
> did i hear a rumour you were putting your hand up for the states next year.


Well you would know being the originator of that rumour! Totally baseless and without any foundation whatsoever.

P1


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## Colbatt (19/7/15)

Thanks to Judges and stewards and especially ESB for their sponsorship. Absolutely thrilled with the result but I think Michael Ward is the real hero of the comp!


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## MCHammo (19/7/15)

Colbatt said:


> Thanks to Judges and stewards and especially ESB for their sponsorship. Absolutely thrilled with the result but I think Michael Ward is the real hero of the comp!


And you get best of show again!

Brett did pretty well too, with a pair of firsts. Even if one of them was a collaboration that I did 70% of the work on


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## Mikedub (19/7/15)

Colbatt said:


> Thanks to Judges and stewards and especially ESB for their sponsorship. Absolutely thrilled with the result but I think Michael Ward is the real hero of the comp!


...but don't tell Michael Ward that, that guy is a complete tosser.

Thanks again Peter for an enjoyable comp, ran smoother than an aged Porter

Congrats Col for Best in Show


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## barls (19/7/15)

Korev said:


> Well you would know being the originator of that rumour! Totally baseless and without any foundation whatsoever.
> 
> P1


still won't stop me from spreading it though. i have 3 witnesses that saw you acknowledge that esb would run the states.


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## boonchu (19/7/15)

I can second that Barls...I heard Pete say that he would run it


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## brettles4 (19/7/15)

True. Thanks for carrying me again m.c Hammond.


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## christopher.whitten (19/7/15)

brettles4 said:


> True. Thanks for carrying me again m.c Hammond.


Did anyone carry you on your Kolsch Brettles?


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## Colbatt (20/7/15)

Sorry, I missed Brett. I'm feeling even less worthy.


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## moodgett (20/7/15)

Thanks to all the people who make these comps possible. And congrats to winners  i was wondering. Are these aub categories all combined and its simply highest score wins?


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## mckenry (20/7/15)

moodgett said:


> Thanks to all the people who make these comps possible. And congrats to winners  i was wondering. Are these aub categories all combined and its simply highest score wins?


Yep, thats how it works. I would really like to see placings for each style, but I dont volunteer, so wont complain.

Also, do I really want to see that the best Cali Common only scored 25 ?
I'd like to know how many Australian Pale Ales were entered for example. Seeing as Aus Pale (and Belgian PA) are up against American Pale Ale and they has so many APA entries, there wasnt much chance of either of those being in the top 3. (Only speaking statistically, of course they can make it)

Note - I didnt enter either Aus PA or Belg PA, but if I did, it would still be cool to know if you brewed the best Aus Pale at the show, even if there were 3 American Pales that were better.

Being different styles I always wonder if you're not really comparing apples with apples.
Can a Belgian Pale Ale be better than an American Pale Ale?

Anyway, I dont know and I dont help out, so cant criticise.

Thanks to everyone who does. Your effort is appreciated. These are just my rambling thoughts.


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## Colbatt (20/7/15)

Each beer is scored on its merits against the BJCP specification. This considers Aroma (out of 12 points), Appearance (3 points), Flavour (20 points), Mouthfeel (5 points) and Overall Impression (10 points), so a max score of 50.
So within each style the beers are directly comparable but you are not comparing one style against another. 
For the Best of Show a Saison that scores 45 will beat a Stout (ie totally different category) that scores 44 but you are not directly comparing such radically different beers
Hope this helps


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## mckenry (21/7/15)

Yep, I understand that. I have been a judge in the past. What I am saying, is that brewing some styles is easier than others. Its for that reason, all bitters are lumped together and all pale ales etc, but not a good idea IMO.
I do believe its easier to make a good Kolsch than a Cali Common. I dont know if any Cali's were entered, but the results reflect that too.
Thats one reason I'd like to see 1st 2nd and 3rd for every style and what they scored.
The other reason is judges (well used to, imagine its still the same) only judge one style on the day. So you have differences there.
The best Bitter wasnt even as 'good' as the 3rd best Pale Ale?
I find that hard to believe, so why not just place every style judged instead of categorising them?


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## SixStar (21/7/15)

Hi Guys,

Will the score sheets be mailed out to us? Is there a spreadsheet available now by any chance to see how I did?

Thanks!


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## Barry (21/7/15)

The score sheets and gift certificates will be mailed out in the near future.


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## MCHammo (22/7/15)

Most - if not all - score sheets for those not winning prizes have already been sent. Last I heard, gift certificates were being finalised before being sent out with their respective score sheets.


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## donald_trub (22/7/15)

Got my results back last night. I knew I submitted one decent beer and one quite average beer. I got the results back and couidn't believe how poorly my average beer scored. I sat down and read the scoresheets while I had one of the average beers. They're right, it's a terrible beer, but more importantly the judges were able to tell me exactly what was wrong with it, I googled for answers and have had an "Aha!" moment and now realise the stupid thing I let creep into my process - I've started mashing out at a high temperature as I thought I was saving time and causing no harm while possibly allowing me to get extra sugar out. I think this is causing astringency issues. I'm glad I entered this bad beer now. Thanks to the judges for being able to tell me what I couldn't put my finger on!


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

Got my feedback sheets last night so thanks heaps for that 

Just wondering with the overall total is it an average between to two scores you receive? My APA got 32 and 36. Just curious

Cheers
Moodgett


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## barls (23/7/15)

yes it would be if its out of 50.


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## SixStar (23/7/15)

Great feedback for me too. I'm gonna need to add a lot more hops to my styles!


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## mckenry (23/7/15)

SixStar said:


> Great feedback for me too. I'm gonna need to add a lot more hops to my styles!


Me too! I look over my recipes with score sheets and comments in front of me and drink one (from tap though) if I have one.
One recipe has 0.75g/L @ 20 mins, 1gL @ 10 mins and 1.5g/L dry hop for 3 days.
Comments:
Aroma: No hop aroma
Overall impression: More dry hopping and more late hopping. !
Not sure I'd actually like that 'style' myself, seeing as IMO its bursting with hops on tap.


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

mckenry said:


> Me too! I look over my recipes with score sheets and comments in front of me and drink one (from tap though) if I have one.
> One recipe has 0.75g/L @ 20 mins, 1gL @ 10 mins and 1.5g/L dry hop for 3 days.
> Comments:
> Aroma: No hop aroma
> ...


What style was that beer ?


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## barls (23/7/15)

could just of been poor translation to bottle. loss of carbonation will do that to it.


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## mckenry (23/7/15)

moodgett said:


> What style was that beer ?


It was an AIPA. 



barls said:


> could just of been poor translation to bottle. loss of carbonation will do that to it.


Yeah - I try to CPBF my comp beers, but get terrible results. One beer has overall impression: "nice easy drink, no flaws, undercarbonation makes it hard to drink"
Its hard to comment on the judging of your own beers without sounding sour, but I dont understand the remark. Seems contradictory? Thats beside the point, I'm talking about carb levels. Another beer has overall impression: "A nicely balanced beer let down from over carbonation"
I find it hard to nail carb levels for CPB Filling.
Maybe its time to go back to the teaspoon of sugar per longneck (or whatever the rule of thumb was...)
I'd love to know how the highest scoring beers were packaged.

Any of the placers care to comment?


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

Not in this comp but in others. I bottle so I bulk prime with cane sugar. Most beers i do are APA or AIPA. i aim for 2.4-2.5 vols and havnt ever had an issue with carb for feedback


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## mckenry (23/7/15)

moodgett said:


> Not in this comp but in others. I bottle so I bulk prime with cane sugar. Most beers i do are APA or AIPA. i aim for 2.4-2.5 vols and havnt ever had an issue with carb for feedback


Actually, thinking about it, every entry I put in scored 3/3 for appearance. Not enough points to worry about, when flavour, worth 20, can be affected so much with carb levels, which goes towards the overall impression worth 10.

Something I hadnt considered before when preparing for competitions....


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

mckenry said:


> Actually, thinking about it, every entry I put in scored 3/3 for appearance. Not enough points to worry about, when flavour, worth 20, can be affected so much with carb levels, which goes towards the overall impression worth 10.
> 
> Something I hadnt considered before when preparing for competitions....


 just on that. Do you filter, fine or cold crash your beer at all?


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## mckenry (23/7/15)

moodgett said:


> just on that. Do you filter, fine or cold crash your beer at all?


 All three usually.


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

I know this is a subject of contention. I dont do any of those ever. When i have fined cold crashed or tried to get clear wort i have found my beers to subsequently lack hop flavour and aroma compared to when i just tip it in


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## mckenry (23/7/15)

moodgett said:


> I know this is a subject of contention. I dont do any of those ever. When i have fined cold crashed or tried to get clear wort i have found my beers to subsequently lack hop flavour and aroma compared to when i just tip it in


Contentious indeed! Worth a test for me I suppose. Might do a half half of the same batch.


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

mckenry said:


> Contentious indeed! Worth a test for me I suppose. Might do a half half of the same batch.


go for it mate  just smash a whole batch in


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## barls (23/7/15)

i will say we were discussing the clarity of some of the beers on the day.
personally if I'm going to fine and dry hop ill fine then dry hop as yeast will take some hop flavour with them when you fine


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

I dont dry hop, i prefer to add more at flameout. I cant seem to get dry hopping without a grassiness


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## MCHammo (23/7/15)

All my beers bar one were bottled from the keg. Carbonation seems to be all over the place given the feedback. My top scoring Ordinary Bitter was bottled from the keg just like the others. I've invested in a proper bottling gun now, so I should be able to avoid a few issues that came up and wasn't having in the keg prior to entering them (low carbonation and possible oxidation).

I'm betting that the confusing comment before (hard to look up on my phone) was from Matt on an IPA? It was his first time judging. He gave similarly vague feedback on my Aussie IPAs. At least every junior judge was paired with a recognised judge, so that you are still guaranteed some good feedback, and us juniors can learn quite a bit from the experience - both in judging others beers and our own.

It was only my second time judging too, and I tried to be constructive in my criticism. If you entered an APA, chances are that I (Andrew) judged your beer. I will say, that there were very few with good hop aroma, and quite a few with way too much crystal malt. Sometimes these little things can ruin a beer, and too low (or high) carbonation won't help either. A few of my own beers got hammered, but I did receive mostly (Matt) good, constructive, honest feedback.


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

MCHammo said:


> All my beers bar one were bottled from the keg. Carbonation seems to be all over the place given the feedback. My top scoring Ordinary Bitter was bottled from the keg just like the others. I've invested in a proper bottling gun now, so I should be able to avoid a few issues that came up and wasn't having in the keg prior to entering them (low carbonation and possible oxidation).
> 
> I'm betting that the confusing comment before (hard to look up on my phone) was from Matt on an IPA? It was his first time judging. He gave similarly vague feedback on my Aussie IPAs. At least every junior judge was paired with a recognised judge, so that you are still guaranteed some good feedback, and us juniors can learn quite a bit from the experience - both in judging others beers and our own.
> 
> It was only my second time judging too, and I tried to be constructive in my criticism. If you entered an APA, chances are that I (Andrew) judged your beer. I will say, that there were very few with good hop aroma, and quite a few with way too much crystal malt. Sometimes these little things can ruin a beer, and too low (or high) carbonation won't help either. A few of my own beers got hammered, but I did receive mostly (Matt) good, constructive, honest feedback.


 cheers mate my APA landed about where i expected you scored it 36 and I wasnt unhappy with the result.


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## christopher.whitten (23/7/15)

We got a Blichmann gun and after crashing the beers and they are carbed in the keg- we fill them direct. Carbonation is not an issue!


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## MCHammo (23/7/15)

moodgett said:


> cheers mate my APA landed about where i expected you scored it 36 and I wasnt unhappy with the result.


I think the highest mark I gave was a 37, so not a bad effort at all!


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## moodgett (23/7/15)

MCHammo said:


> I think the highest mark I gave was a 37, so not a bad effort at all!


 haha even better


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## GrantSpatchcock (24/7/15)

Got my results back today which were more than pleasantly surprising!

Talk about a tough competition, my Belgian Pale scored 39.5 and still wasn't enough, testament to a high quality comp!

Considering most of my entries were very early in carb, most only 9 days out of the fermenter, I'm very happy with the scores. Oh, and if you guys want a lesson, always manually calculate your hop additions by AA. I used the default in my brewing program for my Cali Common which was 9%AA, and my actual hops were 4.5%. No wonder it had none of the characteristics!

Thanks to all the judges, the detail in the feedback is brilliant. A great comp all round


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## boonchu (24/7/15)

MCHammo I judged the English Bitter, Best Bitter and ESB group and yours stood out above the rest. Barry's clone by Wit was a close second but most lacked hop and malt aroma


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## MCHammo (24/7/15)

boonchu said:


> MCHammo I judged the English Bitter, Best Bitter and ESB group and yours stood out above the rest. Barry's clone by Wit was a close second but most lacked hop and malt aroma


Just a shame that my best bitter and ESB weren't quite so good! Attempting to fix up a few flaws with the Best Bitter tomorrow. I'm fairly sure it was mainly bottling/potential oxidation issues that let the BB down. Will need to see how the new bottle filling gun works out for the Castle Hill comp. Should have just enough time to squeeze in the best.

I can blame Brett for the ESB, he fermented & bottled that one, I looked after the winning bitter


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## lespaul (29/7/15)

Anyone wanna chuck up some recipes for top scoring beers?


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## GrantSpatchcock (29/7/15)

I'll happily share my Belgian Pale recipe that scored a 39.5 but got pipped for places due to the Best of Show if anyone is interested


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## lespaul (29/7/15)

Do tell sir, share the love


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