That was a good day and some excellent beers were entered. I spoke to the judges after the event, and they were all very impressed with the standard of entries. Hats off to Doc and Stuster for their stewarding work. As Scotty said, they handled the stewarding table like absolute pros. Most efficient stewarding I've ever seen. Scotty and I could do nothing but stay out of their way and try to keep their thirsts quenched.
Anyway, to make it official, here are the top three beers:
First place: Darren Robinson (Hills Brewers, NSW), "Secret Squirrel" Chocolate/Hazelnut porter. 43.5 points.
First and second runners up:
Peter Wadey (ESB, NSW) for his Brown Porter
and
Greg Lee (AMB, SA) for his "All India" IPA.
Both runners up scored an average of 39.2 points.
Congratulations to all the place getters. They were all excellent beers to stand out in such a strong field of 46 entries.
Somehow, all of the score sheets safely found their way home with me and I'll be posting them out over the next week or so.
I'd like to thank the Schwartz Brewery and the Macquarie Hotel for sponsoring and hosting this event. The facilities were top notch, the professionalism, co-operation and enthusiasm of the Macquarie Hotel staff was brilliant.
It's great to see the craft brewing and home brewing communities forging bonds. It can only do good things for both communities. Thanks Andrew for taking the reins on this event. I'm sure you'll enjoy brewing Doc's beer, which I'll look forward to trying when it goes on tap.
Photos from the judging following soon.