Anhc Low Abv Brew Comp

[christmasbender]

This comp is open to all who will be attending the conference.

Now we all love our big beers, but youve just got to have a house quaffer. Something you can easily down a few pints of and still be able to say the alphabet backwards if required. So, what were looking for here is your best 3% beer (that is in the range of 3% - 3.9%). So you can brew whatever your heart desires, so long as its within that abv range. Get creative and brew something new or brew us your delicious house beer youve been brewing for years. Up to you.

Entries will be judged by a select ANHC panel. The winner will get to have their recipe brewed on a grand scale and the beer will be served at the conference. They will also be given the opportunity to present their winning beer during the conference and lord it over everyone about how great they are.

Apart from the bragging rights there will of course be prizes, amazing wonderful prizes. 2nd & 3rd place prizes too. In fact these prizes will be so wonderful and amazing that we had to form a crack team of prizeologists to work on the task. Right now they are in the secret ANHC HQ concocting prizes of which you've never seen the likes*.

Entries to arrive at Grain & Grape no later than 15 Sept. 750ml of your beer required. Please label entries with your name, beer name, style (if any), OG/FG and anything else about the beer (ingridents, method, vibe etc)

Conference attendance is required to enter the comp.

Good luck and happy brewing

Any questions email [email protected] or reply to this thread


*In plain English - prize info to follow shortly

 

[Wolfy]

Entries will be judged by a select ANHC panel.

What criteria will be used to judge the beer?
(adherence to style-guidelines, best overall beer, entry most like XXXX Gold ... etc)
What date will it be judged (does the beer need to be ready to drink immediately upon entry)?

 

[andytork]

Jesus, 3% beer. My best 3% beer turned out to be 6%, any others I would watch flowing down the drain !

 

[christmasbender]

What criteria will be used to judge the beer?
(adherence to style-guidelines, best overall beer, entry most like XXXX Gold ... etc)
What date will it be judged (does the beer need to be ready to drink immediately upon entry)?

good question wolfy! there will be a number of bjcp certified judges judging this comp but given the fact that it will be many different styles and probably non-styles too it will come down to best overall beer. the description that you submit with the beer will be considered when judging too so if you say i've brewed this and it tastes like that yo'd be marked down. beers will be judged on or very soon after the final submission date of 15 sept so they will need to be ready to drink right away. but being a low abv beer that shouldn't be too hard to manage.

but you might as well get brewing soon. good luck

Jesus, 3% beer. My best 3% beer turned out to be 6%, any others I would watch flowing down the drain !

yes, 3%. it's scary isn't it :lol: i reckon it's bloody hard to brew a really good tasty 3% beer. but why not give it a go? you never know, you might like it!

 

[Andyd]

3% sounds like you can't get a tasty beer, but when I was over in Oklahoma they proved me wrong - they have a 3.2% alcohol limit on beverages served on premises over there (or at least did when I was there), so the brewers at the Bricktown Brewery had become super clever with what they were doing with their mash regimes and recipes...

It can be done!

Andyd

 

[felten]

is that ABV or ABW?

3.2% ABW is 4% ABV

 

[Andyd]

The Oklahoma laws are ABV, but this comp is ABV.

Nice pick-up Felten,

Andy

 

[Kodos]

How will you verify the strength of the beer's submitted?

In normal competition it's easy for a brewer to submit a beer that's technically too strong for the style, but unless it's obvious, the beer's not likely to get penalised for it.

I would assume that for this competition, the actual ABV is very important as far as qualifying goes.

I think a combination of hydrometer and refractometer readings can give you an ABV, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

 

[Fourstar]

I think a combination of hydrometer and refractometer readings can give you an ABV, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

its accurate enough based on 3-3.5abv (at least in my experience). the OG-FG will tell the tale also.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Too bad this is Vic based. I've just kegged and bottled an extremely tasty 3.5% ESB.

D'oh :-( :-( :-( :-(

 

[Florian]

You can still send it in, it's Open to everyone. All it costs you is a Post bag

 

[Cocko]

Is there an entry form or does the label do all the talking?

So, just get your entry top G&G with a note 'For ANHC 3% comp' ?

 

[Kodos]

its accurate enough based on 3-3.5abv (at least in my experience). the OG-FG will tell the tale also.

sure, but the only way judges can know the OG is if the brewer offers it - then we rely on the honesty of the brewer.

I think a few brewers rarely check their OG, just go off their software's assumptions. It would be a real shame for the organisers if they went to brew the winning recipe commercially and found it was outside the guidlines (or ended up tasting very different to the winning entry because the original didn't conform to the style).

I'm partly playing devil's advocate here, because I find the concept of a competition based on ABV quite interesting.

 

[Andyd]

Good point guys - we'll get an entry form sorted out as well as arrangements for posted entries. FWIW we've had good results with beers being sent down to us for other competitions...

 

[glenwal]

Something like this might be useful

http://www.monashscientific.com.au/BoilingMethod.htm

 

[christmasbender]

Too bad this is Vic based. I've just kegged and bottled an extremely tasty 3.5% ESB.

D'oh :-( :-( :-( :-(

You can still send it in, it's Open to everyone. All it costs you is a Post bag

correct, this comp is open to all who will be attending the conference

Is there an entry form or does the label do all the talking?

So, just get your entry top G&G with a note 'For ANHC 3% comp' ?

you got it - just label it for the low abv comp and that'll be enough. but remember also to include as much info about the beer also as this should assist in the judging process.

further more, i have been informed that the judges will be locked in a room and not fed nor given any further beer, till they come to a consensus on which beer they like the best (supposedly that is how you get the best out of a bjcp judge)

 

[Cocko]

correct, this comp is open to all who will be attending the conference

So you must be attending the conference to enter?

 

[Bizier]

You could see if a more equipped local brewery would let you use their Anton Paar Alcolyzer. If such a unit was available, it would be MUCH quicker and easier than other methods.

I can't make it to ANHC, but I think that this is a fantastic idea for a comp.

I would also suggest that entrants consider using dilution as a valuable tool at multiple stages of the process if you are aiming for a strict end target.

 

[dicko]

So you must be attending the conference to enter?

???????? + 1

Cheers

 

[srcossens]

This type of beer is probably one of the most interesting to make. You not only have to think about the OG, but you have to be wary of the FG if you are going for one at the top of the range to not overshoot. For a beer that is between 3-3.9%, you do have a wide range to be within though.

When I was living in the UK, the club that I was with had a "peoples pint" month, which was a beer that we had to produce anywhere up to 2.8%. Everyone enjoyed the challenge. The reason we had this was because Camra successfully got the UK government to reduce the tax on beers under 2.8%.

From Camra's website
Reduced Excise Duty for Lower Strength Beers Achieved - CAMRA pressed Government to introduce a reduced rate of excise duty for low strength beers (at or below 2.8% ABV). This is allowable under current EU directives and several EU countries already have such a reduced system in place. The UK introduced a reduced rate (50% of the full rate) of excise duty for beers below 2.8% ABV in October 2011. CAMRA is now lobbying the UK Government to lobby the EU to raise the level at which such a reduced rate can be levied to 3.5% ABV.

It was actually quite a difficult beer to make that low. My beer didn't turn out well at 2.1%, but there was some great beers and even some at 2.3-2.6%. Many beers in the UK are between 3.5-4.2% and the champion beer of Britain in 2008 was a 3.8% beer.