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Brew Day V2.0

So my Beehive Brew Off lineup is pretty much set.

Pistol Porter (English Porter)
4.7%abv
I've got this one on tap and I have no idea how it will do or how competitive the new category it is in (Brown British Beer) will be, but I'm proud of this one and think it matches the style guidelines extremely well. Excited to see how it goes.

Third Cousin (Scottish Export Ale)
5.4%abv
Turned out a little darker than I wanted but still within the style guidelines. I haven't started drinking this one yet but have tasted a sample. I'm not over the moon, but I feel good about this one. Scottish ale is a distinctly malty beer with very little bitterness, only enough to balance out the sweetness, and very little to no hop aroma or flavor. I think I hit those points well and I don't taste anything concerning so I'll be interested to see how it does.

YES (Strong Bitter)
6.3%abv(est)
Still fermenting. No reason to worry so far. Brewday went well and wort samples were good.
(Gold medal winner English Pale Ale 2012 & 2013)

Worker Bee Bitter (Ordinary Bitter)
3.6%abv(est)
Still fermenting. I cut the honey from the recipe that I used last year.
(Gold medal winner English Pale Ale 2014)

Awards ceremony is at the Bayou on August 9th

Wish me luck!
 
You don't need luck. You're like the Patriots (or Spurs) of brewing. Always the favorite.
 
I would be interested to try the Third Cousin. Of the beer I have tasted, albeit not much, I found I really do not like hoppy bitter beer. My friends here were having a local micro-brew of sorts they said was either made with little hops or a different variety and they termed it a "sweet" beer. I tried it and found it not too bad. Of course I am not a drinker, but the whole topic interests me.
 
LogGrad98 said:
I would be interested to try the Third Cousin. Of the beer I have tasted, albeit not much, I found I really do not like hoppy bitter beer. My friends here were having a local micro-brew of sorts they said was either made with little hops or a different variety and they termed it a "sweet" beer. I tried it and found it not too bad. Of course I am not a drinker, but the whole topic interests me.
Click to expand...

Any idea what it was called? Maybe a Helles or Dortmunder?
 
Gameface said:
So my Beehive Brew Off lineup is pretty much set.

Pistol Porter (English Porter)
4.7%abv
I've got this one on tap and I have no idea how it will do or how competitive the new category it is in (Brown British Beer) will be, but I'm proud of this one and think it matches the style guidelines extremely well. Excited to see how it goes.

Third Cousin (Scottish Export Ale)
5.4%abv
Turned out a little darker than I wanted but still within the style guidelines. I haven't started drinking this one yet but have tasted a sample. I'm not over the moon, but I feel good about this one. Scottish ale is a distinctly malty beer with very little bitterness, only enough to balance out the sweetness, and very little to no hop aroma or flavor. I think I hit those points well and I don't taste anything concerning so I'll be interested to see how it does.

YES (Strong Bitter)
6.3%abv(est)
Still fermenting. No reason to worry so far. Brewday went well and wort samples were good.
(Gold medal winner English Pale Ale 2012 & 2013)

Worker Bee Bitter (Ordinary Bitter)
3.6%abv(est)
Still fermenting. I cut the honey from the recipe that I used last year.
(Gold medal winner English Pale Ale 2014)

Awards ceremony is at the Bayou on August 9th

Wish me luck!
Click to expand...


So I've decided to go a little beyond this list.

First, I've added UGLI Baby and Stifle Tower. These are both IPAs brewed a couple months ago and if I was really pushing to win with them (in some of the most competitive categories) I'd have wanted to bottle them as fresh as possible. As it is I don't think they'll be competitive but I'm still really interested in the score sheets and judging comments.

UGLI Baby will be entered as a double/imperial IPA. Stifle tower will be entered as a specialty IPA (special ingredient: Rye) and as an American Pale Ale. The Stifle Tower is at 7%abv and has 50IBUs which is in style for an IPA but for competition purposes I don't think 50IBUs will cut it for an IPA but might work for an APA. Will be interested to compare my score sheets.

I'm also going to blend my Worker Bee Ordinary Bitter and YES Strong Bitter to make a Best Bitter. Changing the name up and calling the blend Goldilocks (YES is a little too strong, Worker Bee is a little too weak, blend them together and they're just right...). I'm totally happy with both the YES and Worker Bee, but I get an extra shot by blending them and entering them as another of the sub styles.

I'm also going to enter the YES as an English Strong Ale, which is different than a strong bitter, but the style descriptions are close enough that I feel a good example of one would make for a good example of the other. Next year I might make two batches of yes to better dial in on these newly defined categories based on my score sheets and judging comments this year.

So that'll be nine entries instead of four. Deploy shotgun!
 
Anyway, my update is inspired by me kegging my Worker Bee Bitter and YES Strong Bitter. I'm really happy with how they turned out. If they don't win I don't feel like it'll be because there was something wrong with them. It's a subjective competition after all and a lot of things can affect the way they beers are perceived at the tasting.

That said, I feel better about my entries this year than I have for any of the previous years entries.

Fingers crossed.
 
I'm pretty busy until the weekend of Aug 22-23.

But if someone wants to meet up at the bayou weekend after next for the awards ceremony...
 
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