So, in alignment with my own personally stated brewing goals this year, I've entered all WHOTY (Washington Homebrewer Of The Year) qualifier competitions to date...including cider competitions. The most recent was the B.R.E.W. Mead/Cider Cup. I entered a C1 "New World Cider" and needless to say...it got smacked down. I made this cider with 5 gallons of Skagit Valley Cider and a pack of Wyeast 4766. I believe this cider over attenuated and the result was an astringent, overly alcoholic, dry cider. I don't have any experience with back-sweetening, but based on the results I'd say this cider would likely improve in scoring if back-sweetened.
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4/14/Many months ago, my homebrew club (NorWa) purchased a Jim Beam barrel in an effort to learn more about barrel programs. The club decided to barrel age an IPA for the maiden voyage. Several members in the club (myself included) produced anywhere from 5-15 gallons of IPA and dropped it in the barrel to get to know Jim Beam bourbon up close and personal. A few weeks ago we hopped the barrel with a smattering of varieties in several forms: pellet, cryo, and backyard whole cone. After a week on the hops we racked the beer off into corny kegs and rinsed out the barrel. Sadly the data on this project wasn't well maintained or recorded so the BU:GU, ABV, total yield, total loss, etcetera are really just a guess at this point. I plan to do a review of the beer and post it here at a later date.
Update (4/14/20): I have located the hop packages from our barrel-aged IPA and have listed them below: 3oz Cascade Cryo hops (18.4 Alpha) 3oz Amarillo Cryo hops (17.4 Alpha) 13.2oz 2019 Harvest Backyard Whole Cone "C" hops (? Alpha) The barrel was dry hopped for ~7 days. In preparation for the upcoming National Homebrew Competition (Seattle) there were 750 entries that needed to be sorted, labeled, and boxed. I was able to volunteer in hopes of learning more about the entire judging process, end-to-end. After arriving at Bosk Brew Works I was assigned to a table with two other volunteers. Each table worked through a particular style and anonymized the entries by removing the bottle labels that were submitted by the brewers and replacing them with randomly generated judging numbers. The bottle labels were collected and stored for reference and two boxes for each style (Box A and Box B) were filled with the now "anonymous" entries. I assume that "box A" will be placed on the judging table and the corresponding "Box B" will be used to replace any beers that the judges deem unfit to judge (i.e. infection, broken, etcetera). I met several brewers from other local clubs (shout out to Brad from G.E.B.L.), received some merch from BSG (Brewers Supply Group), and had a delicious Marzen from the Bosk Brew Works tap room.
The results from the Hop Idol IPA competition, hosted by Reuben's Brews, came in the mail and sadly, the results weren't great. There were two mentions of astringency, missing hop balance, and an overall mediocre score of 29. I checked my brew sheet from the RIPA brew day and didn't see an elevated temperature for the mash (which would lead to astringency), I also don't believe that I over-sparged, but alas the results are...the results. Consistent throughout the judging of this beer was a lack of balance (i.e. lack of bittering hops) so I will adjust my hopping in the next version of the RIPA. All said, it's good to get feedback on your brews and make adjustments accordingly.
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Jamie WeissHomebrewer, Recognized BJCP Judge, aspiring Certified Cicerone Archives
November 2023
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