Full Work Kits

[wraith]

If comps don't distinguish between kit and AG brews then they should, It's a big difference.

You deserve your placing, it is your beer, though it's just not as much your beer as if you had made it from scratch.

Brewing = Mash/Boil + Fermentation

Wraith

 

[felten]

I see where you're coming from Wraith and others, I just happen to disagree. IMHO if you want to enter a beer in a competition from a FWK, pre-bittered can, or extract batch, go for it.

To Felton, Malting barley isn't brewing, It's malting.

Malting is just as much a science as mashing. You require malt to make beer, but you don't malt it yourself because it's easier to just buy the malt made to the exact specifications you want. I guess it depends where you want to draw the line for what you consider YOUR beer. If you're an AGer it's easy to draw that line at mashing. For an extract brewer who doesn't own the equipment to mash, it's easy to draw the line at fermentation.

Mashing may be considered a simple process (is it?, If it's so simple then why don't people start mashing straight away?) but it's crucial to the brewing process and it takes a good brewer to control the conditions/process.

Mashing IS a simple process. You add X amount of grain (which you can get pre-milled) to X amount of water at X temperature and you make sugar. You can alter a very large range of mashing parameters (temp, pH, crush, time, thickness) and still make sugar.

Fermentation control is a lot less forgiving, bad sanitation, a few degrees too high or low and you won't turn out a beer capable of placing in a competition (which is what this argument is about isn't it?).


[edit] it's a pretty moot argument either way, there's no way you can prove what method someone used to make their beer if they enter it into a comp, so how are you going to police it?

 

[barls]

seriously if your going by that definition it also takes out extract brewing as well.

why do we need to have this discussion every year or so. all it ends up doing is widening the gap between kit and ag brewers and thats not what we want to do on here.

 

[bum]

why do we need to have this discussion every year or so. all it ends up doing is widening the gap between kit and ag brewers and thats not what we want to do on here.

Don't worry, barls. We'd still have 3V vs. BIAB with which to alienate each other.

My way or the highway.

 

[barls]

cheers now wheres speedie? im sure he could add something humorous to this.

 

[bum]

cheers now wheres speedie? im sure he could add something humorous to this.

I've already been through this one with him: you're not a real brewer unless your tun is direct fired (BIAB excluded, naturally).

 

[gjhansford]

Great discussion ...

But ponder this ... the Spotted Cow is running a home brewing comp as part of their Queen's Birthday weekend Beer Festival this year. The Grand Prize is you get to make your beer at a boutique brewery (I think it will be at Stone & Wood) and have it on tap at the Cow in Toowoomba.

Now, let' say the winner is a FWK beer, undiscosed at the time of entry. You now have to, with the assistance of the brewer at the said brewery, scale up your recipe and make a couple of hundred litres. How do you that? Ask Ross for 10 full work kits? I don't think so!

ghhb

 

[Ross]

Great discussion ...

But ponder this ... the Spotted Cow is running a home brewing comp as part of their Queen's Birthday weekend Beer Festival this year. The Grand Prize is you get to make your beer at a boutique brewery (I think it will be at Stone & Wood) and have it on tap at the Cow in Toowoomba.

Now, let' say the winner is a FWK beer, undiscosed at the time of entry. You now have to, with the assistance of the brewer at the said brewery, scale up your recipe and make a couple of hundred litres. How do you that? Ask Ross for 10 full work kits? I don't think so!

ghhb

...............Except that the winning beer is being brewed here at Bacchus, so as long as it's one of our Fresh Worts, it won't be an issue B)


Cheers Ross

 

[Milky11111]

@ghhb

You scalp your prize to an AG'er.

 

[Wolfy]

...............Except that the winning beer is being brewed here at Bacchus, so as long as it's one of our Fresh Worts, it won't be an issue B)

LOL, best come back to this argument ever.

 

[Ross]

On the subject of FWK's in competitions, it's not cheating unless the rules for the comp you enter exclude them.
The whole "kits in comps" debate is currently being discussed between all the States AABC delegates, so if you have a strong opinion either way, then drop your representative a line.

I'll probably start a new thread on this in due course, as the delegates are definately split down the middle on this one & all input is welcomed.


cheers Ross

 

[bradsbrew]

Great discussion ...

But ponder this ... the Spotted Cow is running a home brewing comp as part of their Queen's Birthday weekend Beer Festival this year. The Grand Prize is you get to make your beer at a boutique brewery (I think it will be at Stone & Wood) and have it on tap at the Cow in Toowoomba.

Now, let' say the winner is a FWK beer, undiscosed at the time of entry. You now have to, with the assistance of the brewer at the said brewery, scale up your recipe and make a couple of hundred litres. How do you that? Ask Ross for 10 full work kits? I don't think so!

ghhb

That would be funny to see the face of the brewer as you start unloading your 10 FWK's.

IMO you should add the bittering, flavouring and aroma hops then ferment to call it your own brew. If someone does use one it should be disclosed at point of entry and in result sheets(as should all entries), that way people get to see how they fared against commercial breweries.

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

 

[michael_aussie]