2015 ESB Homebrew Competition

[barls]

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

 

[mckenry]

What style was that beer ?

It was an AIPA.

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?

 

[moodgett]

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

 

[mckenry]

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....

 

[moodgett]

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?

 

[mckenry]

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

All three usually.

 

[moodgett]

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

 

[mckenry]

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.

 

[moodgett]

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

 

[barls]

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

 

[moodgett]

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

 

[MCHammo]

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.

 

[moodgett]

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.

 

[christopher.whitten]

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!

 

[MCHammo]

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!

 

[moodgett]

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

haha even better

 

[GrantSpatchcock]

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

 

[boonchu]

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

 

[MCHammo]

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

 

[lespaul]

Anyone wanna chuck up some recipes for top scoring beers?