Nsw Amateur Brewing Competition

[Muggus]

No drama, I imagine most people would have been anticipating the comp to be around august, and would have planned ahead accordingly anyway? That said, i just started my lager 2 days ago so will be interested to see how it goes!

Yeah, that's true.
Realistically anyone whose serious about brewing for the state comp, and possibly nationals, has probably got their act together already.

 

[Muggus]

Hey folks,



Apologies for delays in getting this out. It's been a couple of hectic weeks personally, which never helps.

The entry form for the State Comp is below. You'll need to print out a form for each entry, and attach a Label to each bottle you enter.
It is recommended you send 2 bottles for each entry - if you make it to the Championship Best Of Show round, you don't want the judges to taste a bottle that's already been opened!

Any dramas send me an email at [email protected]. No doubt i've probably overlooked something in my hectic rush, and i'm happy to clarify details where I can.

Cheers, and thanks for your patience

Michael Morgan
HUB Committee

View attachment State_Comp.pdf



ps...oh and here's the AABC Style guidelines you'll be judged against.... http://www.aabc.org.au/docs/AABC2012StyleG...agePerStyle.pdf

 

[Korev]

Please clarify is cost $7 or $10 there are two figures in the doc

Cheers
Peter

 

[tiprya]

Also, the 10th of August is a Friday, not a Wednesday.

What sort of feedback will entries get?

 

[sama]

What sort of feedback will entries get?

you get a score sheet returned to you,with marks and helpful comments.

 

[Jay Cee]

Shame its so early, I was expecting late September. Never mind, I have a couple of sub-par offerings that I would love feedback on anyway.

Just a question on this rule:

This competition is open to all brewers whatsoever, without restriction. Entries must not have
been fermented on licensed premises and must be entered under the name of the brewer or
brewers. This includes all beers not made as commercial beer regardless of where the wort
was made i.e. at home, in a brew shop, at Brew on Premises locations or obtained from a
commercial brewery as a Beer Kit or Fresh Wort Pack.

If someone enters a pre-made wort kit, then the 'brewer' would be the the manufacturer, right? If this was an amateur fermenters competition, then the entry name would be that of the individual.

 

[Muggus]

Please clarify is cost $7 or $10 there are two figures in the doc

Cheers
Peter

My bad...had the entry fee down as $10 instead of $7 for Entry.

Here's the amended PDF

Apologies
Michael

View attachment State_Comp.pdf

 

[Muggus]

Shame its so early, I was expecting late September. Never mind, I have a couple of sub-par offerings that I would love feedback on anyway.

Just a question on this rule:

This competition is open to all brewers whatsoever, without restriction. Entries must not have
been fermented on licensed premises and must be entered under the name of the brewer or
brewers. This includes all beers not made as commercial beer regardless of where the wort
was made i.e. at home, in a brew shop, at Brew on Premises locations or obtained from a
commercial brewery as a Beer Kit or Fresh Wort Pack.

If someone enters a pre-made wort kit, then the 'brewer' would be the the manufacturer, right? If this was an amateur fermenters competition, then the entry name would be that of the individual.

Yeah, unfortunately we had to bite the bullet and put it on that weekend because of additional events on weekends after.
Would have loved to get this all ready earlier but unfortunately many of the organisers from last year have been wrapped up with work commitments. We shall persevere anyway.


Good point. The wording is a bit funny - not my own, took it from last years entry form - but I think it's basically saying that you cannot enter a commercially "manufactured" beer, ie the whole process, brewed/fermented/conditioned/packaged, has been conducted in a commercial brewery.

Nothing wrong with entering a Fresh Wort kit, because, lets face it, you can easily stuff one up by not paying attention to your hygiene when fermenting and bottling, and maintaining an ideal temperature and yeast health during fermentation.
At the end of the day, most of the flaws in homebrewed beers are because of these factors...rarely to do with Wort.

So yeah, I see nothing wrong with entering a Fresh Wort Kit, so long as it's fermented and bottled in your home. If it does well, then obviously you've done a good job at fermenting it.
Realistically, I think those who do it themselves, from scratch, have a better chance, and will get better satisfaction out of their results.

Sorry, that was a bit long winded...it's a controversial topic...

 

[mje1980]

Dumb question, if i have 2 bottles of mild for one entry is that $7 ?, or is each bottle an entry, therefore $14??.

 

[yum beer]

Dumb question, if i have 2 bottles of mild for one entry is that $7 ?, or is each bottle an entry, therefore $14??.

$7 - 2 bottles constitute '1' entry.

 

[mje1980]

Ok cool, thought so, just wanted to make sure. Thanks mate

 

[Weizguy]

Dumb question, if i have 2 bottles of mild for one entry is that $7 ?, or is each bottle an entry, therefore $14??.

$7 - 2 bottles constitute '1' entry.

...unless it's two different Milds, then it's two entries, if you want each beer judged separately.
2 of the same beer, hoping for a chance at the BOS round, attracts the base rate of $7 for the single entry.

Clear as mud?

 

[Rob S]

Hi, stupid question time....

On the entry form you have the following information to fill in....

Cat. Category. Style #. Style. Notes for information requiring addition info e.g. 16.1, 16.2 etc. Bottle Cap ID.

Say I want to enter something in the category of 8.3 ESB what do I put in all these fields???

I assume it would be.

Cat - 8. Category - 3. Style number - 8.3. Style - ESB. Notes - 8.3. Bottle cap ID - No idea?

Have I got this right for the categories? What do I put on the bottle cap? The same thing?

Then there's the print out you cut out and put on the bottle. Class. Class Description and Style.

Is that ESB, ESB and 8.3???

Sorry but as Homer Simpson said......It's my first time.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[DJR]

Hey, apologies if this is covered in the flyers but what are the prizes? I can't work out what they are. Fair enough that there are the awards but just wondering what prizes are up for offer as well.

Also I'm assuming that this comp is the qualifier for the national homebrew competition? I can see it sponsors for the US NHC but again not clear on the wording that it is the qualifier for the nationals?

 

[bigfridge]

What do I put on the bottle cap?

Hi Rob,

The bottle cap/ID is for your use if you enter two of the same style ie you enter 2 different batches of Mild - by allowing you to call one entry 'A' and the other 'B' you can match up the score sheets/feedback with each batch.

HTH,
Dave

 

[bigfridge]

Hey, apologies if this is covered in the flyers but what are the prizes? I can't work out what they are. Fair enough that there are the awards but just wondering what prizes are up for offer as well.

Also I'm assuming that this comp is the qualifier for the national homebrew competition? I can see it sponsors for the US NHC but again not clear on the wording that it is the qualifier for the nationals?

At this stage there are no prizes to announce - the committee is seeking the support of sponsors but nothing has been finalised.

Until there is some firm offers of support you will just have to compete for the honour

And yes, it is the qualifier for the AABC.

 

[bigfridge]

Just a question on this rule:

This competition is open to all brewers whatsoever, without restriction. Entries must not have
been fermented on licensed premises and must be entered under the name of the brewer or
brewers. This includes all beers not made as commercial beer regardless of where the wort
was made i.e. at home, in a brew shop, at Brew on Premises locations or obtained from a
commercial brewery as a Beer Kit or Fresh Wort Pack.

If someone enters a pre-made wort kit, then the 'brewer' would be the the manufacturer, right? If this was an amateur fermenters competition, then the entry name would be that of the individual.

Perhaps I can add to Muggus's excellent reply - as I was the one who wrote that parragraph.

Brewing is the process of producing beer - beer is a fermented beverage hence it is the fermentation that defines the transformation of wort into beer. Fermentation is also the point recognised by the law as where beer is produced.

Hence the wort can come from any source whatsoever - but can only be entered by the person that performs the fermentation.

The only restriction is the beer can't have been made as a commercial beer.

HTH,

Dave

 

[MHB]

I promised to supply the BOS prize again this year; I think last years prize was well received.
Havent had time to chance up quite such a unique prize this year so I thought the brewer of the best beer in NSW for 2012 might like some of my favourite brewing books so the BOS prize will be: -
A copy of Kunze - Technology Brewing and Malting
A copy of The ULTIMATE ALMANAC of WORLD BEER RECIPES
And a personal favourite A Handbook of Basic Brewing Calculations
All in its over $400 worth of some of the best brewing publications on the planet and a definite head start for someone wanting to win next years BOS.
Unless of course the committee think otherwise
Mark

 

[Muggus]

I promised to supply the BOS prize again this year; I think last years prize was well received.
Havent had time to chance up quite such a unique prize this year so I thought the brewer of the best beer in NSW for 2012 might like some of my favourite brewing books so the BOS prize will be: -
A copy of Kunze - Technology Brewing and Malting
A copy of The ULTIMATE ALMANAC of WORLD BEER RECIPES
And a personal favourite A Handbook of Basic Brewing Calculations
All in its over $400 worth of some of the best brewing publications on the planet and a definite head start for someone wanting to win next years BOS.
Unless of course the committee think otherwise
Mark

Woah! That's a bloody impressive prize Mark!
Many thanks for offering it. Definitely must have literature for any serious brewer...homebrew or large scale.

 

[schooey]

Last year HUB ran a well organised comp, the feedback from the judges was excellent and the posting of results by Schooey was incredibly quick, which is fantastic. I was one of the first people to extend my sincere gratitude to Schooey and the other organisers of the comp on the NSW comp results thread. The glasses that I received for first place were excellent and take a proud place in the brewery.

Only first place received a prize and 2nd and 3rd certificates. That in itself is not an issue but what concerns me is that I was told by Schooey on this forum that those who placed first in each cat would be receiving vouchers to the tune of about $50 a win. So far there has not been any sign of these vouchers. When I made enquiries about the progress of receiving them, I hit a bit of a wall. I havent seen Schooey on this forum since September and the president of HUB did tell me he would look into it but I havent heard anything back since Feb. I know he hasnt been well lately and in all fairness perhaps someone else from HUB could have chased it up?

Its not the fact that the vouchers never came that is the problem, its that there was never any communication as to why. If there was perhaps an issue with sponsorship and prizes could not be finalised, then share this info. Some of you may see this as a whinge and thats your opinion, however when you shell out $130+ in entry and courier fees and someone tells you that you will be receiving $100 in vouchers, then its a very welcome bonus. Perhaps those from HUB could discuss this at their AGM next Friday and provide an answer?

Hi Matt,

Apologies that this response is indeed a little late. It is also somewhat unsolicited from the club in general, as frankly, I haven't been much assistance to them for the past 12 months. Hopefully this will explain somewhat to you what has happened and how we can resolve your gripe.

At the time of last years comp, we had limited resources available to the club (time. people available, funds etc) but nobody else really wanted to pick the ball up and run with it, so we jumped in. All was on track for a really great comp (and I still personally believe it was), up until the a week or so after the comp had finished. At the time, my employment changed, along with my wife's employment, some family circumstances on top of that as well as some other financial stresses and curveballs thrown in. I don't wish to make excuses or bore you with the details, but as you can imagine, when you have been away from home for 46 of the past 58 weeks, you're concentrating on keeping your marriage, your family and your house, your priorities shift a little...

Now, onto the prizes... As a club, we didn't officially plan any, apart from the BOS prize that Mark from MHB kindly took upon himself to arrange, and donate. As an aside, when I collected the entries from the pick up spots, I asked them verbally if they were willing to donate some vouchers to the tune of $50 for category prizes. All of the pick up locations pledged their support, some with 2 pledges, as well as a couple of local businesses here, Craftbrewer, and a few other odds and sods. Due to the timing, I was fortunate enough to get the trophies out (with some small delays), the rsults posted and our BJCP obligations filled. However, the pledges for the vouchers were never collected upon, nor have they ever been cashed in. Hopefully that will dispel some of the things I've seen flying around about corruption from the HUB club, or it's members.

Now, you might say that I could have passed on this duty to somebody else to fulfill, but at the time, I had made the promise, and I wanted to get it done. To my poorer udgement though, I didn't get this done, and I am happy to accept full credit for it. This should no way be reflected on the HUB club, or it's current members.

So, going forward, I don't think I could reasonably expect the guys that made pledges for 12 months ago to simply cough up, so I guess if you want the three vouchers or whatever it was you won, you'll have to PM me your bank account details, and I'll sort it out with you personally. I am happy to accept the blame.

As for this years NSWABC comp, I fully believe that the HUB guys will run an awesome competition in the same light as last year. I would love nothing more than to be able to assist, but I simply won't be around, and after this whole thing, I don't ever want to put my name against any promises until I'm either unemployed or retired. I hope anybody that is/was considering entering this year has not been put off by some of negatives in this thread; I can assure you there are some of the countries most knowledgeable beer community involved again in this years comp and that your entry fees will be well worth it.

I hope this allays the concerns thus far.

Cheers,

Tony