Merri Mashers IPA Comp 2017 Awards and Prizes

[Yob]

all good mate, I'll print out my image above and stick it to the wall in the shed brewery

 

[mtb]

300 scoresheets. 4 scoresheets per entry. Works out to about $600 - reckon most of this would've gone on feeding the judges.

Yep I know, was pointing it out for Grumpy as he appeared under the impression that there were 300 entries.
I'm happy just paying a tenner to have my beer judged, personally. Not expecting to actually get a place in this comp, I entered solely for the feedback.

 

[dave.wilton]

The problem with giving out prizes for second and third place is that it dilutes the main prize. Most sponsors give a $100 value prize which we are very grateful for (there was the one Bintani who gave a lot more malt and we split). $100 split between three people is really diluting the prize in my view (as an organiser of this comp). So we opt for one big prize per flight. Certificates is just more organisation for us and cost, printing them and posting them to winners. If people really want it we will have to look into it next year. Shoot for first! Then you will be in the chance to win a pro brew of your beer (not many clubs offer that!)

Glassware for 2nd and third becomes a big problem because each glass is a 'run' with it's own Artwork (to say the place). Glasses for 1st place totalled out at $200 for one 48 glass run, which gives us enough for three more years worth of glasses - hence not having the year on the glass. This was the minimum run size. If we'd printed 2nd and third place glasses that would have been $600, admittedly for 4 years worth but at a big upfront cost to the club. Perhaps next year we can run off second place glasses, the year after 3rd place. I don't know, but to do it upfront $600 was nearly as much as we take for the competition... $631. We used to engrave glasses so they could be personalised, but this worked out at $26 per glass. If anyone has any sources for glassware and custom printing let us know.

So after glasses we are down $200 to $431 off takings. We supplied lunch for judges and stewards at $15 per head (a very good discount obtained by our friends the Terminus). This I don't have the receipt to hand but we had 25 judges ($375) stewards (10 I believe $150) and you see we are already in the red. Add to that the various misc items and we are seriously in the red, we have never made a $ off this comp.


There were plenty of people at the Termi, although obviously most were upstairs judging. We started lunch at 2 so there would have been people downstairs having lunch around that time. Many of the flights would have finished too. We have tried to have a gathering downstairs in the past but it's never really worked out. Everyone is always welcome upstairs to hear the results BUT we never know when that is going to be. And we were a lot later this year.

Organising a comp is a huge undertaking and there are many people who work very hard to make it happen. So whilst feedback for next year is always welcome please go easy on us! It's only our third year doing this and it's a lot of work for many people who have real jobs too!

Let's remember there would be no prizes at all if it wasn't for all our generous sponsors and you would be entering for nothing but the feedback and your name on the website! So cheers for to the sponsors!

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Not wanting to stir the pot but...

Ok I admit....I was trying to stir the pot.

pot stirred I would say - ignore me an carry on.

In all seriousness - Thanks to all the organisers. It is a big undertaking to run the comp and the effort is appreciated. I generally enter to the feedback anyway, so looking forward to seeing it soon.

As a bit of serious feedback tot he MM team - can I suggest one thread for the whole comp instead of one for every aspect of the comp.

I find it very hard to keep track of which threads Im trolling

 

[dave.wilton]

Ok I admit....I was trying to stir the pot.

pot stirred I would say - ignore me an carry on.

In all seriousness - Thanks to all the organisers. It is a big undertaking to run the comp and the effort is appreciated. I generally enter to the feedback anyway, so looking forward to seeing it soon.

As a bit of serious feedback tot he MM team - can I suggest one thread for the whole comp instead of one for every aspect of the comp.

I find it very hard to keep track of which threads Im trolling

Haha redeemed yourself by making me laugh. Yeah agree on the posts. I'm not frequent here but I'm sure we can keep it to one thread, makes sense to me.

The full results tables are up now and we hope very soon to have the sheets up. You can take a look where you placed under Past Competitions in compmaster.

David

 

[Cerevisius]

Glassware for other place getters?

Nothing for second and third?

WTF?

Utterly, every other comp provides place getters a trophy.

Unless this changes, I personally won't enter again.

Not wanting to stir the pot but...

300 odd entries at $8 each is $2400

I dont know what trophie cost these days - but assuming 15ish trophies at $10 each is only a small chunk of change out to the takings.

Lucky for me i brew mediocre beer that doesnt ever place...i dont feel so hard done my as a result

Unbunch those panties, friends.

There were 300 scoresheets not entries. Each judge fills in one scoresheet. Most panels had four judges. Ergo, around 300 scoresheets for the 77 or so entries. Sheesh, these maths are not that hard. We wish we got 300 entries.

Entry fees go toward feeding the judges and stewards as well as subsidising glassware for category winners. We are not funding our overseas holidays here, folks. If we handed out a trophy for every place-getter across 10 categories (that would be 30 trophies, by the way) we would need to be charging entrants a lot more. The $10 fee has been set as the standard for 2017 by the VicBrew Committee to better reflect the costs of setting up and running comps, but remains low relative to many other similar competitions.

The overall top three beers in our comp were awarded with significant prizes. The overall best brewer, the best novice and club of show all get major prizes. And each category winner gets a trophy and a neato prize too. But prizes are not really what's at stake entering a beer into our comp.

These comps are for brewers seeking frank feedback from experienced judges. The prizes on offer reflect the great relationship ours and other clubs have with local homebrew shops, breweries and bars and the kind of support the industry is willing to provide the homebrewing community.

The idea that "every other comp" offers trophies for every place-getter is simply not borne out by reality. Every other comp struggles, to some degree, to get the entries to break even, as have we. Our comp has not awarded prizes or certificates for category 2nd or 3rd in the three years it's been running.

If you feel you need recognition for a place-getting beer, try brewing a better beer. Some of the place-getting beers were not stand-outs but demonstrated the low number of entries in some categories. Nonetheless, some were excellent and results for 1st, 2nd and 3rd were published to provide recognition for a job well done. I'm not sure where you would display your certificate for getting a category second or third, though. 2nd or 3rd in the comp overall, maybe...

Rant over, except to say that constructive feedback is always welcome. Ours is a new club with much to learn about efficiently running a succesful comp.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Lucky for me i brew mediocre beer that doesnt ever place...i dont feel so hard done my as a result

The full results tables are up now.....

BAHAAHA....the jokes on me.

Seems I was talking my self up.

Ive seen my score - I dont brew mediocre beer. I brew really **** beer.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Ok I admit....I was trying to stir the pot.

pot stirred I would say - ignore me an carry on.

In all seriousness - Thanks to all the organisers. It is a big undertaking to run the comp and the effort is appreciated. I generally enter to the feedback anyway, so looking forward to seeing it soon.

As a bit of serious feedback tot he MM team - can I suggest one thread for the whole comp instead of one for every aspect of the comp.

I find it very hard to keep track of which threads Im trolling

Unbunch those panties, friends.

I was taking the piss.....

My panties are so unbunched I'm virtually freeballing.

I think there's a bit of pot calling the panties black going on here...

Unbunch your own fella.

You've had a hard weekend - time to relax.

Once again - thanks for organising the comp, it truly is appreicated.

Roolly trooly

 

[mtb]

I'd say a bit of panty-bunching is allowable for Cerevisius & Co as there was a direct implication earlier in the thread that they had run this comp for profit. It's been clarified now that the comp was run with very thin margins, but I feel they shouldn't have had to explain themselves in the first place.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

I'd say a bit of panty-bunching is allowable for Cerevisius & Co as there was a direct implication earlier in the thread that they had run this comp for profit. It's been clarified now that the comp was run with very thin margins, but I feel they shouldn't have had to explain themselves in the first place.

No there was a direct implication that not only do I brew crap beer - I do crap mathematics. Silly old me didnt make the connection that there was multiple feedback forms to be scanned for each entry.

Once again - organisers of comps do a great job.

please dont try to justify someone elses implied right to bunch panties - it only serves to feed the troll

 

[mtb]

All good, mistakes happen. Trolling is a very different story though; it's intentional aggravation and prompts good people like Cerevisius / dave.wilton to have to spend valuable & unpaid time justifying themselves & defending their competition, as they've done in this thread.

If you make a mistake, it's not trolling and you shouldn't call it such, because trolls are pieces of **** who deserve little more than a punch in the throat.

 

[Spiesy]

Utterly, every other comp provides place getters a trophy.

Unless this changes, I personally won't enter again.

I got a certificate, not a trophy, for Pale Ale Mania last year.

I was just happy to get a place, tbh.

EDIT: I also got some sweet prizes; but not a trophy, per se.

 

[SergeMarx]

I reckon a certificate would be a nice gesture - if the unlikely day ever comes I get a second or third, something to stick up in the brewery would be nice.

 

[Yob]

I got a ribbon for first place in Grafton, like the primary school athletics ones.. You know, blue red green.. Old house mate even got one for a dance comp..

I should revise that statement above to read

Every other comp I've entered and actually managed a place has offered a prise for first, second and third, not every one has been a glass or a trophy but there has been something to pin to the wall or sit on a shelf,

We spend our whole lives seeing medals for place getters and while I'm happy to let go and let this die, I stand by my comments that place getters should receive some form of physical acknowledgement of their effort.

Peace yo

 

[GrumpyPaul]

I would like to recommend an encourage award for last place getters.....especially in the Red IPA category

 

[MartinOC]

Hey Guys,

I totally get everyone's comments here.

As a Vicbrew stalwart over the past God-only-knows how many years (Entrant/Steward/Judge/Chief Steward/Committee member/Imbiber of entries ), I know how difficult it is to get a lot of this stuff together for a competition & how much it costs.

Club-based comps will often result in a very small profit, or a very small loss (if done correctly). It's a fine balancing-act.

Notwithstanding the feedback gained, there's something REALLY special in receiving an award/place/trophy (even if it's just a piece of laminated paper) that you can hold in your hand or put on a wall. We blokes are a competitive lot, so having something tangible that gives bragging-rights & acknowledges your efforts is significant to us. It doesn't have to be substantial, just something...

To the MM organising committee, could I suggest that in future, you ask for sponsorship in $'s rather than grain/hops etc. (which is going to cost your sponsors bugger-all & is a tax write-off for them) & put some of it towards trophies. You'll then be able to better balance the books & have something to "book" for next year. Vicbrew went through this in the first few years & we learned the lesson quickly.

LOVE the major prizes of having your beer brewed on Pro. equipment (WOW!!! Kudos exemplified!), but even the place-getters want/need some acknowledgement. Channelling everything into "only" a recognised FIRST prize does nothing to encourage improvement in the quality of the beer you're making (ie. "I got a 3rd place last year year & this year I got a 2nd. At least I placed & I got better, but I'm going to strive to make my beer even better next time").

I would like to recommend an encourage award for last place getters.....especially in the Red IPA category

Vicbrew has considered/discussed a "wooden-spoon" award for stone-motherless last as an encouragement, but haven't actually decided on anything. Maybe this year will be your lucky year, Paul... h34r:

 

[moonhead]

To the MM organising committee, could I suggest that in future, you ask for sponsorship in $'s rather than grain/hops etc. (which is going to cost your sponsors bugger-all & is a tax write-off for them) & put some of it towards trophies. You'll then be able to better balance the books & have something to "book" for next year. Vicbrew went through this in the first few years & we learned the lesson quickly.

Yeah, we certainly tried for that, unfortunately it didn't get over the line this year. Lots of interest from sponsors, but very little seemed keen to just give us a cheque. But, hey, there's always next year to give another go!

 

[SergeMarx]

regardless, i reckon the judges got my score about right, I'm happy. looking forward to the score sheets being posted.

As one of the guys who kinda runs the Macedon Ranges Brew Club, we're keen to learn from any competition that runs as we're thinking of running our own in a year or so. Appreciate the effort that goes into making it happen. Well done.

(and I doubt Paul would want a 2nd place certificate this year... *cough*)

 

[MartinOC]

Sponsorship options are strictly:

$x

$xx

$xxx

If they offer product instead, politely decline.

Love the idea of BOS being offered the Pro-brew, but it doesn't help your club fund the next comp....

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Did I mention my Red IPA may have been incorrectly categorised....it was actually entered as an English IPA