Crusty
Well-Known Member
I went along this year to check out the 2015 Brewfest which is only in it's second year & it was quite a good turn out.
Good food, entertainment & a really relaxed atmosphere. It was great catching up with everyone. I ended up meeting a forum member at the even too, Brisfox from Brisbane. Shared a few of my beers with him & had a great chat about all things brewing.
I entered the brew comp with 4 entries, a Summer Ale, Amarillo Ale, Liberty Pale Ale & a 3 sheets clone. The 3 sheets has massive amounts of aroma & flavour from the steep / whirlpool addition & it's a really nice beer. Apparently after talking to the judges after the event, I ended up in the top 3 but edged out by a beer called Jim's golden ale. We were lucky enough to sample the winning beer & to be honest, why it won was a little beyond me. It was a pleasant beer & very drinkable but lacked quite a lot in the flavour & aroma department. Carbonation was good but not what I would consider a winning beer. Don't get me wrong, I placed well but just a little surprised that beer won the comp. My Liberty pale ale was similar to that beer with low hops & bitterness & not a lot of flavour which is true to that style. I think the judges may have been looking for something similar to a commercial example which I would describe the winning beer as. I thought as Craft brewers, we strive for flavour & aroma & aim to be different from commercial variates but obviously not what the three judges were looking for. It kind of puts you into a situation as to what to do differently for further competitions. I refuse to change anything on my 3 sheets clone as it's exactly where I want it & the only changes to the other three beers might be to sub the US-05 yeast to Wyeast 1056 & get round to getting my Sanke fermenting kit from Brewers Hardware so I can get fermenting in stainless.
Looking forward to next year & may see some of you guys there next time. It was a really enjoyable afternoon.
edit: Spelling
Good food, entertainment & a really relaxed atmosphere. It was great catching up with everyone. I ended up meeting a forum member at the even too, Brisfox from Brisbane. Shared a few of my beers with him & had a great chat about all things brewing.
I entered the brew comp with 4 entries, a Summer Ale, Amarillo Ale, Liberty Pale Ale & a 3 sheets clone. The 3 sheets has massive amounts of aroma & flavour from the steep / whirlpool addition & it's a really nice beer. Apparently after talking to the judges after the event, I ended up in the top 3 but edged out by a beer called Jim's golden ale. We were lucky enough to sample the winning beer & to be honest, why it won was a little beyond me. It was a pleasant beer & very drinkable but lacked quite a lot in the flavour & aroma department. Carbonation was good but not what I would consider a winning beer. Don't get me wrong, I placed well but just a little surprised that beer won the comp. My Liberty pale ale was similar to that beer with low hops & bitterness & not a lot of flavour which is true to that style. I think the judges may have been looking for something similar to a commercial example which I would describe the winning beer as. I thought as Craft brewers, we strive for flavour & aroma & aim to be different from commercial variates but obviously not what the three judges were looking for. It kind of puts you into a situation as to what to do differently for further competitions. I refuse to change anything on my 3 sheets clone as it's exactly where I want it & the only changes to the other three beers might be to sub the US-05 yeast to Wyeast 1056 & get round to getting my Sanke fermenting kit from Brewers Hardware so I can get fermenting in stainless.
Looking forward to next year & may see some of you guys there next time. It was a really enjoyable afternoon.
edit: Spelling
