The National.

Well, that was a lot of fun!

This weekend was the National Homebrew Competition in Oxford, the annual contest to find the best homebrews and brewers in the UK. It's all run by volunteers so I went along to help with the judging.

Setting up and organising the categories.

 The day started with a rather early 5:45 alarm! And on a Saturday! But against all probability I got up, showered and got to the train station in time to catch the 7am train to Oxford - thanks in no small part to my girlfriend driving me to the station. Meeting several other dazed Bristol homebrewers on the platform, we boarded the train clutching coffees and headed off.

All the essentials for beer judging.

My first category to judge was British Pale Ales, and while this wasn't the smallest category, it was a much easier start to the day than the poor table with Belgian Strongs. +9% beers at 10am are a test for sure! My category was a mixed bag, with no beers that I felt really stood out as great examples of the style. Quite dissapointing really, but there were a few good ones. I think the problem is that, for competition, brewers tend to focus on the more bombastic styles to create the biggest impact. It's difficult for any Pale Ale to compete with a Double IPA. So I think a lot of the better brewers stayed away from the category.

After lunch I judged the Smoked and Wood Aged category, which was really interesting. A wide range of different styles and some really cracking beers. Though, admittedly, some that were not good! A very good Smoked Imperial Stout, which poured like engine oil, took the category deservedly. It went on to be given second place in best of show.

Getting towards the end of judging now.

I finished off the afternoon judging Hybrid Beers, one of the more boring categories of beer in my opinion! To be fair, some of the beers we judged fitted the style guidelines closely and had been brewed with skill. I just find those styles dull. But following the strong stouts and porters of the earlier round, it was probably good to finish with quite light beers. This was also made more enjoyable because I was judging with a guy I know, Johnny, who brews for a living at Bristol Beer Factory.

So with all the judging finished, it was time for the awards to be given out and I only went a won a medal!!!

YEEEAAAHH!!!!

My Alfresco Saison took second place in the Belgian and French Ales category (Table 12 here). To say I'm happy about this would be understatement of the year! For a start this was one of the largest categories in the competition, with 45 entries. But also, as it's a trendy style and not an obvious one, it was mostly the more experienced brewers who entered beers. I spoke to the judges and they said the standard was really high, so I'm over the moon. The category was won by a hoppy Belgian Wit in the speciality category, so mine was the top rated of all the saisons! Woo!

None of my other beers got placed, which I'm not overly surprised by. I think there were faults/issues with all of them. But mostly due to over-carbonation I think, so it'll be really good to get the judging sheets. As I said before, the feedback and scores is really what I'm after.

So that was competition day. A Long day, yes. A Tiring day, very much so. But a very enjoyable day made even more so by the company of some excellent people. It was great to meet some new brewers and spend a day talking beer! I just need to get planning my beers for next year now...

Competition Time!

Today I dropped off my entries for the National Homebrew Competition! I'm really excited about this, especially so because I'm going along to JUDGE too!

I'm going to put it out there right now, that I don't expect to win! Obvious I know, but that seems to be the first question you get when you say you're entering a competition. What I'm really looking forward to is some good feedback on my beer, from people who know what they're talking about, tasting the beer blind. It'll be really interesting to find out where my beers stack up against other peoples' and maybe get some hints about how to improve. And if I can pick up a medal along the way, then I'm not going to complain!

Labels and entry forms ready to go!

I'm hoping to score quite highly with a couple of my entries, but I've also got a couple that are over-carbonated and will probably gush everywhere when the judges open them - always a good first impression! I've also entered my Legendary Wit, which has only been in the bottle for a week, so who knows whether it'll be carbonated by next weekend!


As I mentioned, I'm also going along to judge! Obviously I won't be doing any of the categories I'm entering. It's going to be a really fun day getting to try so many different home brews, though scoring a lot of beers in one day is going to be tough. I can see the last beers taking longer than the first! I've not done competition judging before, so I'll be paired with an experienced judge on the day. They'll have casting vote if our scores end up far apart, but I'm hoping I can do a good job. We've done several structured tastings to BJCP guidelines at brewclub, so I know the process. And on Thursday we had a refresher and prep session.

Wish me luck!