A quick survery for those who have never entered a homebrew comp

[GalBrew]

I take it this isn't getting fixed up then?

I'm going to assume not. I've contacted admin about it but have not heard back. Polls were mentioned in the 'complain' thread and it looks like too much work to fix. Such a shame to lose all of the poll data. On the back of this I am going to put together a slightly more detailed survey which will make up for it. Hopefully people can go through it again, I'll try and make sure it's not too painful. I'll post again when it's ready.

Cheers.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Some of the entry requirements seem a bit confusing and may intimidate or deter potential first time entrants.
and it's easy to get lost in the details of how to actually present your bottle if you've never entered that particular comp before.

I believe there are several reasons one might enter a home brew competition other than the goal of taking first place and these people probably make up a sizeable chunk of the 72% of home brewers that are interested enough to complete a survey but reluctant to put a bottle of beer in the mail. If more involvement is the objective then perhaps tapping into the community outside of the home brew club scene may prove worthwhile.
Cheers,

The bits snipped out above and that I'm not sure my beers would be good enough are the reasons I have not entered a comp yet, I would like some proper feedback on my brews, the folk at work, friends and neighbors are all complimentary about my efforts but that doesn't help me improve. I have been thinking I should join a club, I live in Diamo (Diamond Creek) Vic, recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[manticle]

Worthogs probably

 

[Rocker1986]

For me it's just because I simply haven't gotten around to doing it yet, but I would like to do it and get some feedback other than family and friends.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Worthogs probably

Thanks, I've emailed them

 

[Brewnicorn]

My reasons were because that’s not why I started home brewing. Initially it was a hobby I wanted to try. As I’ve improved I’ve enjoyed the techniques I’ve learned and the equipment I can use to further advance my skills. The forum has added a lot and that community I guess will make me want to meet up with some other brewers and maybe to comps initially. But now as before it’s just not the reason I brew. I like it and my friends do then I’m stoked. I know there are some pretty talented brewers out there with brews spoken of I’d love to try/try to brew, still that’s not the reason to enter a comp. I’ll get the craft right then I’ll have a think. Respect to those who do enter of course.

 

[JeremyFlathead]

This is an old thread with not many recent responses. I've been brewing for a long time generally I'll make a brew with "whatever is in the cupboard" plus ingredients to make up a brew (which inevitably leaves me with some ingredients left over for the next brew) so not only are they different, they don't always fit into a category for competition.

Recently I've wanted to be more consistent in both final product and style so competition (independent, experienced feedback) seems like a good way to validate this. I have enough mates who tell me the beers are good but I want to see where they are on the scale of "good".

As a new "entrant" into the world of competition I now recognise some of the criticism in earlier posts, not enough time from the time the comp is announced to submit entries, not knowing when the next competition is. I'm sure that once I look around more I will find comps that repeat and I'll get into a routine but as a noob it's a hard thing to get into.

I'd expect to brew 3 months before the comp deadline to allow my brews to mature properly - is this unreasonable?

Also the calendar link is either broken or not maintained, this would be ideal to have all the comps/events listed.

Off to find a comp with a deadline about November...

 

[bbqzookeeper]

I started brewing AG in December (coming from a distilling background) and again, many of my peers are complimentary when supplied with free beer. The biggest hurdle I find is brewing to a particular style.

One of the other hurdles is not being on FB, hence it's difficult to join in with clubs and get advice / feedback. This is my fault though, and if I was more proactive, I could travel to meet up with others. Despite my enthusiasm and semi-proficiency, none of my peers are thinking of getting into it and Bankstown (NSW) is a little bit of a black hole for brewers, I believe.

 

[Rocker1986]

I'd expect to brew 3 months before the comp deadline to allow my brews to mature properly - is this unreasonable?

Depends on the style of beer. Pale ales for instance probably only need a month in the bottle to be at their best, so you'd brew them about a month and a half out from the deadline. On the other end of the spectrum, stouts can be aged for a year or more before they hit their best, so you could brew one whenever you wanted and tuck a few away for comps.

 

[lost at sea]

im contemplating entering my first comp if the stars align (NSW brewing championship)

2 things that has me hesitant is:
i work away from home for long periods (months), so preparing a beer for a comp is slightly more logistically difficult with brew times lining up with comp entries ect. (currently have a coopers pale AG clone and my 1st ever oatmeal stout on tap not what id aim to comp enter but they will have to do lol)
not really knowing what style my beers come under. i assume my coopers pale would go under aussie sparkling ale?

but i am defiantly keen to give it a crack, i dont even care if i come dead last (someone has to) as long as my beers get some better feedback than my tightarse inlaws who drink it purely because its free and smile through every glass even though they drink aldi (storm) *****

 

[Dick Dickinson]

There are enough “clipboard people” in my life asking for TPS forms.

Even if comps are nothing like that, I just have a massive aversion to anything that may attract petty tyrants and lifelong bureaucrats.

 

[jackgym]

I'm reluctant to enter my beer in any comp because it would show up how bad the other beers were.

 

[JeremyFlathead]

im contemplating entering my first comp if the stars align (NSW brewing championship)

2 things that has me hesitant is:
i work away from home for long periods (months), so preparing a beer for a comp is slightly more logistically difficult with brew times lining up with comp entries ect. (currently have a coopers pale AG clone and my 1st ever oatmeal stout on tap not what id aim to comp enter but they will have to do lol)
not really knowing what style my beers come under. i assume my coopers pale would go under aussie sparkling ale?

but i am defiantly keen to give it a crack, i dont even care if i come dead last (someone has to) as long as my beers get some better feedback than my tightarse inlaws who drink it purely because its free and smile through every glass even though they drink aldi (storm) *****

What is it with some palettes that "good" flavoursome well crafted beers are not appreciated, I haven't come across many but it surprises me when a good beer (not necessarily mine) is rejected in favour of the mainstream high volume beers? Each to their own it leaves more of the good stuff for me.

 

[Rocker1986]

What is it with some palettes that "good" flavoursome well crafted beers are not appreciated, I haven't come across many but it surprises me when a good beer (not necessarily mine) is rejected in favour of the mainstream high volume beers? Each to their own it leaves more of the good stuff for me.

They're just not used to it I suppose, years of drinking the same thing, brand loyalty etc. Going from drinking those lagers to something full of flavor is probably a bit of a jump straight up. I used to think all those megaswill beers were alright too, one night I tried a JS Amber Ale because I liked the color and that was the moment I began exploring more styles and completely went off megaswill altogether. To us it's boring swill but to them it tastes great because they've never tried anything else or they think that's how beer should be or they just can't bring themselves to go away from the brand they've drunk for decades. I used to have a mate who thought Millers was the best beer on earth and fruity pale ales were rubbish. He at least enjoyed a good porter though.

 

[Quokka42]

It wasn't my original reply, but now I feel more than ever the beers I prefer to brew don't match any of the BCJP (or whatever it is) guidelines.
I tried to emulate commercial beers for many years, with varying degrees of success - in recent times I actually find I often prefer my own versions to the original over the long term. I still think the commercial brewers are very good at what they do - I just have gotten used to better than what my palate these days consider rather 1-dimensional lagers.
Despite some comments in the past, I have actually tried a few hop-forward beers recently that I really enjoyed - even though they were produced by one of the big players. So, my brewing direction is changing again... I'll still brew for myself, if my friends and family don't like it (doesn't seem to happen much any more,) I get to drink it myself!