(vic) British Ales Comp

[HoppingMad]

Man who open up the can o' whup ass, what a screwed up thread.

Pretty obvious ain't it? :lol:

Good luck to all entering using the information super highway. I've heard that you can do a lot of new-fangled stuff on there and it's a real blast.

Despite the opposition, as Brendo pointed out this comp was a huge success last year and online was the only way to enter then.

From what I gather at Beerfest we had an enormous number enter in this way so a ton of people are finding that handwriting, licking envelopes and looking for rubber bands can be a pain in the ring hole. To those who wish to continue raiding their stationery work cupboards for supplies, good luck - but I think you'll find that Compmaster does save you a bit of faffing around.

Congrats on the new addition Ferg, and looking forward to Stout Extravaganza guys. Have a bottle that I'm going to give a run in yours - not expecting huge things but we'll see how it goes.

Hopper.

 

[geoffd]

Hi Hopper, I wasnt trying to point fingers, just commenting at the general denegration of the thread.
I lost my will to read somewhere around page 2 or 3, so may have missed some decent posting.

 

[sean_0]

Hey, a question about the competition rules - What size bottles are allowed? Is it only longnecks or are pints/stubbies allowed?

 

[geoffd]

Hey, a question about the competition rules - What size bottles are allowed? Is it only longnecks or are pints/stubbies allowed?

Generally all the comps in VIC are 750ml preferred, 500ml minimum, a pair of stubbies is acceptable. Check the rules it should say it there

EDIT: Actually I dont see it on the compmaster website, but would assume what I have said above is correct

 

[sean_0]

Thanks, can't see anything about it on the compmaster site. Don't have any longnecks of the one I think might be worth entering, but I have a few pint bottles.

 

[HoppingMad]

Didn't think you were FJ. Was a fair comment about some old timers not wanting to learn a new trick on the entry front.

I guess what you're suggesting could be a difference between Westgate & MB - being that our 'mature' brewers don't tend to enter much anymore (it's left with the Gen y/x'ers as someone here put it ) - and that's a real shame as some of their beers are darn amazing. It's one of the treats you get rocking up to Club meets - I'm sure you'll agree when you attend your own meets at Westgate and get to taste a good one from an old guy who knows his stuff. You just go - wow that guy should enter that, he'd clean up.

I guess with many experienced brewers they figure they're past getting feedback with comps and filling a shelf with etched mugs and certificates. I know a winemaker in his 70s whose wines are incredible who's won every award commercially under the sun - now they can't be bothered with all that. It's like they've climbed the mountain and now they can sit back and let someone else do it.

Hopper.

 

[brendo]

Thanks, can't see anything about it on the compmaster site. Don't have any longnecks of the one I think might be worth entering, but I have a few pint bottles.

FJ is correct - 500ml minimum, so a pint bottle will be OK, otherwise two stubbies is always acceptable in place of a longneck.

 

[geoffd]

Yes we've a few brewers who have lost the hunger to enter. I'd like to see them enter to try and get a club trophy that's what is driving me to keep entering now, I'm getting to their point with the flower vases & paperweights, but it's always nice to win a bag of grain too
We've also got a few blossoming brewers who should start to get some beers in soon.

I'd have to say almost every meeting we get someone bringing along an absolute corker of a beer, or a mead, or a barleywine, or an athol brose or all of the above

IMO Comps are all about keeping the state standard high for the AABC, jsut a bit of freindly rivalry; personally I see no difference between a Westgater & a Baysider etc, other than the postcode, I dont see any reason why we shouldnt collaborate as much as possible, whether it be knowledge or cost savings or whatever.

 

[WarmBeer]

...personally I see no difference between a Westgater & a Baysider etc, other than the postcode...

Hey, watch your dirty, Western-suburbs language! Them's fightin' words!

<WarmBeer goes and jumps into his Ferrari with his supermodel mistress and roars off into the sunset>



Ninjedit: added smiley, to avoid prompting another shitstorm. Westies love smileys...

 

[brendo]

IMO Comps are all about keeping the state standard high for the AABC, jsut a bit of freindly rivalry; personally I see no difference between a Westgater & a Baysider etc, other than the postcode, I dont see any reason why we shouldnt collaborate as much as possible, whether it be knowledge or cost savings or whatever.

Agreed mate... a stronger club community is a stronger homebrewing community all round. I think the fact that we have a variety of brewers winning at Vicbrew points to a healthy and strong competition scene, rather than one that is dominated by a handful of brewers.

Viva la fermentation!!! :kooi:

 

[Wolfy]

I guess what you're suggesting could be a difference between Westgate & MB - being that our 'mature' brewers don't tend to enter much anymore (it's left with the Gen y/x'ers as someone here put it ) - and that's a real shame as some of their beers are darn amazing. It's one of the treats you get rocking up to Club meets - I'm sure you'll agree when you attend your own meets at Westgate and get to taste a good one from an old guy who knows his stuff. You just go - wow that guy should enter that, he'd clean up.

I don't mean to derail this thread (more than it has been already).
... but it could it be the 'mature' brewers brew beer they like to drink and have perfected to their taste, rather than brewing to rigid style guidelines?

I think it was a recent MB newsletter that suggested in the last few years there had been a noticeable improvement in the quality of HB competition judging. I suspect this is likely due to the 'new' generation participating in JBCP training and accreditation courses. However one thing that does is narrow the focus so the beer is judged as much (or more) on style and how it fits to that style rather than simply being a 'wow darn amazing' beer that you can enjoy on club-night. Past competition results and recipes hint that the 'wow darn amazing' beer has often done well in the past, but that may not be enough to impress the newly educated style focused judges or to even bother to enter knowing that the beer may not have been brewed to a specific style.

 

[brendo]

Westies love smileys...

as a former Westie, I can confirm that that is in fact true

 

[geoffd]

no smile here, too busy coughing up the smoke of Warmbeers tires.......




seriously though, smileys do help convey emotion, as we lack the ability to show facial expresion & vocal tone in writing, probably a good reason why many shitsto[ms start: misinterpretation or misconveyance. Anyway now we really are getting off topic :icon_chickcheers: :super: :wacko: ...Just for you WB

 

[HoppingMad]

I don't mean to derail this thread (more than it has been already).
... but it could it be the 'mature' brewers brew beer they like to drink and have perfected to their taste, rather than brewing to rigid style guidelines?

I think it was a recent MB newsletter that suggested in the last few years there had been a noticeable improvement in the quality of HB competition judging. I suspect this is likely due to the 'new' generation participating in JBCP training and accreditation courses. However one thing that does is narrow the focus so the beer is judged as much (or more) on style and how it fits to that style rather than simply being a 'wow darn amazing' beer that you can enjoy on club-night. Past competition results and recipes hint that the 'wow darn amazing' beer has often done well in the past, but that may not be enough to impress the newly educated style focused judges or to even bother to enter knowing that the beer may not have been brewed to a specific style.

:icon_offtopic:

Think you are right Wolfy.

There is a sense of 'No need brewing for judges, I'm brewing for me". And fair enough for the guys to be doing this. They feel they've earned their stripes, and can now sit back and have a few beers they like. This is something specific to our club I think. As Father Jack says, he has a couple of very experienced guys who do very well at comps and continue to enter - and we are very envious! Haha. We keep asking them to do a footy style - 'draft swap' and trade a few members, but they won't listen

Your point about style focused judging making beer entries more conservative? Not sure about that - is an interesting debate as to whether having more BJCP judges going through the exams etc is a positive thing or making everything too formal and uncreative. I think having more people educated about what makes a good beer, and what is a flaw, and being able to articulate that can only be a good thing towards having better judging comments and having judges who make better beers themselves.

From my view, if a beer pops on a flight during judging, it pops and when that happens it is amazing to see. A murmur goes through the panel and all are in agreement they've struck gold. I think for a beer to 'pop' you need to have a beer grounded in the style guidelines, but you also need to get creative somewhere, or your beer will sit back in the flight and not get noticed. This was true a decade ago, and is true today - particularly when you go back over the old VicBrew books that Ross at Craftbrewer or G&G sell. They have cracking recipes, but looking over them you'd still agree they fit to style, despite the experimentation.

Hopper.

 

[Siborg]

All entries need to have been registered online by this Saturday.

c

Andy

Oh crap! That reminds me (too busy watching the storm, lol). Better log on now and enter mine. I want to get feedback on my scottish ale when its not infected!

 

[Siborg]

Oh crap! That reminds me (too busy watching the storm, lol). Better log on now and enter mine. I want to get feedback on my scottish ale when its not infected!

Just submitted my entry and paid. As I'm judging (other category), I assume I can bring my bottle on the day?

 

[brendo]

Just submitted my entry and paid. As I'm judging (other category), I assume I can bring my bottle on the day?

Yeah Si, on the day is fine - as long as it has been registered and paid for by 12pm tomorrow.

 

[Siborg]

registered and paid for by 12pm tomorrow

done and done.

Gonna take extra measures to ensure no bottle infections this time. I want feedback on the recipe, and thats pretty damn hard when all you can taste is medicinal/bandaids

 

[brendo]

nice work Si.

Just a reminder... entries close at 12pm tomorrow, so make sure yours is in.

Cheers,

Brendo

 

[brett mccluskey]

Oh crap! That reminds me (too busy watching the storm, lol). Better log on now and enter mine. I want to get feedback on my scottish ale when its not infected!

top stuff Si,can't wait to try your Scottish ale without the vinegar added :drinks: