Comp Enter - Should I Consider

[whitegoose]

Still deciding.... not yet decided.

I'm not entering anything I've not yet tried. That could be a disaster, plus the feedback I got wouldn't be of any use -as I'd have not tried it to know what it tastes like.

I like BribieG's comment - some people are addicted I've noticed.

The thing is, if I don't enter it this year, it will give me another year of AG brewing experience in the background before I do. Plus I'm doing lots of experiments and at the rate I'm churning out small batches, I could have 10 or 15 varieties down pat and enter-able by next year.

But what's the harm in entering now? You don't have to be the best, plenty of people aren't the best - just enter, get the feedback and keep brewing! Who care's if you get marked down because the beer is too cloudy or not perfectly in style? If you;ve got a half-way decent beer, pick the style it best fits, and enter it!! You're overthinking it!

 

[manticle]

Agree with putting your best foot forward but as whitegoose says - that best foot doesn't have to be the best there is. Just don't enter beers YOU know are shit or don't represent you.

Get the feedback, treat a lot of it with a grain of salt (after all it is a subjective tasting) but take the comments that the judges have in common and see if you can use them to improve your beer.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

The thing is - even if you enter it into the wrong style it will be fine.

The vast majority of the whole judging thing is around whether the beer is actually well brewed or not. You will get all the points attached to that, even if the beer is out of style. And where it is out of style, the judges will tell you what's out of whack and what isn't. If its so severely out of style that it cant really be judged, then it might well be re-classified into a more appropriate category.

A quality, well brewed beer, free from brewing faults and entered into even vaguely the right category - should score reasonably well.

Sure - you are unlikely to win if its out of style... but you get the feedback and you learn about the beer. That's at least 50% of what comps are for IMO.

 

[Scruffy]

As a quick incentive - it's not like you have to perform ballet in front of your mates, or lap dance your gran at the family xmas party, it's pretty anonymous... 'specially at my local (yes, I'll be at the next one... ...bloody work!). Put a couple of bottles in, collect the score card when the comp is over, & read and learn from the notes. My first mini comp beer didn't place (why would it?), but pretty happy with the constructive notes and generous score.
Like a previous poster mentioned, you could take a bottle round to your local home brew shop and prepare some psychology behind those questions, maybe: 'what's wrong with this?', 'I brewed this IPA, is it to style?', or 'How can I improve this?', or maybe, 'maaaayte, trooiye this, it's bladdy ripper maayte, maaaayte... ...faaaak...in'

I think more pertinent questions you should ask yourself, do you like what you drink? is it just to get you pissed? do you want to improve? do you want constructive, anonymous advice?

Enter the comp, maaayte, ...you know you want to!

:icon_cheers:

 

[mahonya1]

Still deciding.... not yet decided.

I'm not entering anything I've not yet tried. That could be a disaster, plus the feedback I got wouldn't be of any use -as I'd have not tried it to know what it tastes like.

I like BribieG's comment - some people are addicted I've noticed.

The thing is, if I don't enter it this year, it will give me another year of AG brewing experience in the background before I do. Plus I'm doing lots of experiments and at the rate I'm churning out small batches, I could have 10 or 15 varieties down pat and enter-able by next year.

So enter it. All it will cost you is $5 and a bottle of beer.... well worth the feedback which you'll hopefully learn and improve your next batch. Take the opportunity to have your beer tasted by qualified judges.

I have just entered 2 a couple into the ESB comp. 1 is still flat as a fart, hoping it will come good in the next week! If it doesn't, well it's only cost me a fiver. When you get the results back, sit read them and drink one of the beers and see if you agree with the comments. This should help your beer tasting skills too.

Why wouldn't you enter?? After all it is not about winning, it's about helping you improve your brewing capabilities.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

OP: where do you live in the Bris region?

Inner North-ish. Between Sandgate Road and Chermside Westfield (for anyone north of Northlakes and south of Mt Gravatt, it's the easiest landmark to reference to).

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I think more pertinent questions you should ask yourself, do you like what you drink? is it just to get you pissed? do you want to improve? do you want constructive, anonymous advice?

Enter the comp, maaayte, ...you know you want to!

:icon_cheers:

I drink for the enjoyment of the flavour. I brew for the creativity.

An example - someone came over for dinner to my (old) house about 8 months ago and brought a six pack of VB. I supplied a boring Euro quaffer I was prepared to drink. Said friend (not drinking buddy) drank one VB and one Euro quaffer, and his daughter, SWMBO and I drank Euro quaffer. 5 stubbies of VB were left at the end of the night. That 5 stubbies is still sitting in the bottom of the pantry, after having moved house in the rest of the pantry box. The day I consider drinking that, is the day I check into AA.

Because I live in the middle of 3 Dan Murphy's and they have extended their local craft brew range (and are storing them all in the fridge now), I've worked my way through a significant number of craft brews and enjoy the flavoursome ones (into lots of hop beers at the moment). I'd like to have the creativity to invent recipes (as I did with the beer I am thinking of entering), brew them and have them turn out as well as the crafties.

I'm not going to do a DSGA, not because I don't like it - but because invention is where I'm at. I have brewing a Dark ale with 5 malts, 3 hops, cherry, brown sugar, good quality honey etc. I've done other darkies with nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, cloves - etc again.

So I suppose in response to manticle's comment - the beers that represent me will either have a truckload of different hops, or will be creative and pushing the boundries. I don't do boring beer. And I'll have to try it to know if it is "me". will keep all tuned, once I try it, as to whether it's good enough to enter.

Thanks all for advice and hoping that anyone else reading this who is in my situation, gets some benefit from it, as I have.

 

[therocko]

This is an open ended question and probably a little vague, but what sort of beer is worth entering into competitions.

I've only just started AG, but have enough years of extract plus grain to understand what tastes good and I have a good nose out of the barrel for what is going to turn out good and what won't.

The reason I ask is that the Qld Amateur Brewing Comp is being held soon (though not on the calendar, I note) and I have an ale that I have successfully classified according to the AABC, so no issue there.

It has been in bottles for a week and will be right to drink by the time the comp closes. It smells like a really good drop. I'll obviously try it before I even think about submitting it.

Now, as for the description, the IBU, colour, ABV%, etc it is spot on the mark for a particular style (though I wasn't going for that style when I made it). But it is likely that the two tallies I submit will have sediment in them (just a little) as they are bottle conditioned. Plus of course, I don't know the carbonation, though it appears to be fine.

I suppose the question is - given the style seems spot on, what quality markdowns does these comps have? Does sediment preclude a good mark for a comp which needs a clear beer. It will be clear, so long as it is decanted with some grace, not poured stupidly.

What is the quality of the comp? I don't want to waste my time and the judges' time, without understanding the "minimum standard" that one should have before thinking of submitting.

If it isn't bang on style (which other than a slightly lower FG it is good), do you end up marked down?

I'm more than happy to receive criticism (for this post) for the beer, as I think it will make me a better brewer, but I'm not going to submit garbage - well comparatively garbage.

Sorry to be vague and sorry to sound like a coward - I'm not, just making sure I don't waste two bottles of beer (as this is an experimental batch, not a fullsize batch) and time getting down there, if I'm not in the same league as other entrants.

 

[hefevice]

[snip]

I'm not going to do a DSGA, not because I don't like it - but because invention is where I'm at. I have brewing a Dark ale with 5 malts, 3 hops, cherry, brown sugar, good quality honey etc. I've done other darkies with nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, cloves - etc again.

[snip]

Class 18.7 Other Specialty (or one of the other specialty categories that fits). Now you have no excuse...enter damn comp!! Regardless of how good or bad you think you might be, the feedback from the comp will help you brew better beer. Also, there is nothing stopping you from entering the same beer in multiple styles (max of 2 per category, according to AABC rules) if you are not sure where it belongs.

Good luck with your entries!