Malt Madness Homebrew Competition

This past weekend I headed out to Allentown Brew Works in Allentown, PA to help judge the Malt Madness homebrew competition organized by the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers. The event was a lot of fun and I got to try some real interesting beers, especially because of the categories I judged. In the morning, I judged the Belgian Specialty Ale category, a sort of catch-all for Belgian-style ales that don't fit into one of the more specific categorizations. For example, I had some Belgian barleywines, Belgian IPAs, and oak-aged Belgian ales. In the afternoon, I judged Fruit Beers, which I was admittedly not a huge fan of--I officially hate raspberry now. I had a wheat beer brewed with kumquat, which I've never even heard of before, but from what I can tell belonged to the citrus family based on the flavor. There were two really great peach beers, an American Wheat and a Wit, which ended up being in our top three. The trick with the fruit beers is that you need to strike a balance between the base beer and the fruit. Many brewers struggle with this; the fruit needs to come through in both the aroma and flavor without overshadowing the character of the base beer. For example, some of the raspberry beers were just complete fruit bombs; there was no balance--they almost just tasted like a raspberry soda.

In addition to judging at the competition, I actually entered two of my own beers for the very first time--a Marzen (Oktoberfest) and a Weizen (aka Hefeweizen). Considering this was my first competition, I was happy with the results. I knew my Marzen was a little off style, so I was not surprised that it received a 29.5 consensus score (out of 50), which put me right at the top of the "Good" category ("misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws"). I know that sounds like a bad score, but it's not bad in the scheme of things (I haven't given above a 39 yet to a beer while judging). I was a bit disappointed with the scores on my Weizen, because I thought it was one of the best beers I've brewed yet. I got a 24 consensus score, which is still in the "Good" category, but I felt it deserved better. After reading the judges' comments though, it started to make some sense--here are some of the negative remarks:
--"No clove + banana"
--"low/med carbonation (needs more)"
--"very low aromatics overall for the style"
--"no head. fades fast!"
--"low carbonation affects other areas"
I think the last comment hit the nail on the head. I bottled the beer out of the keg a week before the competition, and although the beer was well-carbonated in the keg, I think it lost it in the bottle. Carbonation is a huge component of a beer, and if it's too low or too high, it could impact all the other components. The low carbonation made the beer seem lifeless and prevented aromatics from being lifted out of the glass. Next time I'll definitely try to bottle the morning of the competition! One thing that did make me feel better is that one judge wrote, "Not quite to style, despite pleasant drinking." So basicaly, I made a great beer, but it just didn't fit the style. That's the tough thing about competitions--with the exception of the specialty categories, it's not just about if the beer is good or not, it's about if you hit the style parameters. I had a good shot, but I missed the bulls-eye.

That's all for now! I'm heading to the Great World Beer Festival in New York City this Sunday, so I'll have details about that after the weekend. Cheers!

Helles Schlenkerla Lager

Once again, it's been awhile--life's been busy, but because of some recent events in my life, I'm going to really make an effort to step it up on this blog. I'm going to forgo a post about Belgium in Cooperstown since it was almost a month ago already--suffice it to say that it was AWESOME and I don't recall much! In terms of more recent happenings, I had a family BBQ this past weekend and served 5 gallons of homebrewed Hefeweizen on tap. The beer went over incredibly well--everyone loved it. Both my father and my aunts, none of whom are big beer drinkers absolutely loved it. It was clean, light, and refreshing--perfect for the hot August weather. And at 7% ABV (okay, it was an Imperial Hefeweizen maybe), everyone was feeling especially good! This was probably my most successful brew yet, and I'm going to be entering it in a competition (Malt Madness, put on by the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers and being held at Allentown Brew Works in Allentown, PA) this coming weekend along with my Marzen. I'll also be judging at the competition (obviously not in the categories I'm entering), so I'll provide some details on that after the weekend.

To kick-off my renewed efforts to update this blog more regularly, I felt it was only appropriate to start with some tasting notes. Tonight, I drank a Helles Schlenkerla Lager from Bamburg, Germany. This smoked helles (a German lager, similar to pilsner, but a bit more malt balanced) is unique in the fact that it doesn't actually use any smoked malt. The smoky character comes from making the beer in the same kettles and using the same equipment as the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer), the famous Rauchbier. The end result is an interesting take on classic Helles...

Aroma: Sweet, pilsner malt backbone with and upfront touch of smoke. There's a slight spicy note in the aroma, and it's hard to distinguish if this is a by-product of the smoke or hop related. Besides the spiciness, there is no hop aroma. Some sulfur is apparent in the background as well.

Appearance: Light golden, almost bright with great clarity. A small white head is formed when initially poured but dissipates quickly

Flavor: Some smokiness initially gives way to a solid pils malt profile. The beer finishes rather dry with a slightly bitter aftertaste, and the smoke lingers in the mouth for awhile. There is no hop flavor and the beer has an exceptionally clean in terms of fermentation byproducts.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body with high carbonation. The smoke gives the sensation that the beer is coating the inside of the mouth, leaving an impression that the beer is a bit heavier than it actually is.

Overall Impression: A great "gateway" beer for those afraid of trying smoked beers. The smoke is mild and welcoming. This smoked helles goes especially well with food (I had it with German-style sausage & peppers tonight); the smoke complements the meal, while the natural crispness of the lager is refreshing and cleansing.

Sam Adams, Homebrewed Hefeweizen, and the N.J. State Fair

Sam Adams Brewery Tour


Just about two weeks ago I finally got around to visiting the Sam Adams brewery while up in Boston for the weekend visiting some friends. To begin with, the brewery is in the middle of nowhere--it's in a small industrial park in an otherwise dead residential area on the outskirts of Boston. The brewery that's open for tours is actually their pilot brewhouse--they have much larger production facilities elsewhere in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania if I remember correctly. When we first got to the brewery, they were holding a small tasting in their hop garden/picnic area for their annual Beer Lover's Choice. The Beer Lover's Choice is an annual "competition" that Sam Adams holds to choose their newest beer. Consumers get to sample two options and vote for the winner. On the menu this year was a Czech Pilsner and an English-style IPA (I'm sure most west coast beer drinkers would cringe at the fact that they called it an IPA, but it's brewed in the traditional English manner--it's not an American, west coast hop-bomb). I was partial to the Pilsner and voted for it a second time (I had voted once already at the National Homebrew Conference). After voting, we began our tour. The tour itself was your standard brewery tour--nothing extraordinary for anyone who knows the least bit about beer and brewing. We sampled some grains, smelled some hops, etc. I was a big fan of our tour guide though (I think her name was Lauren). She had just the right amount of corny, tour-guide humor, and at one point she stopped in the middle of speech, leaned into me, and whispered something about having a few pints already (it was noon...awesome). Following the tour, we got to sample a few Sam Adams brews--their standard Boston Lager, their seasonal Summer Ale, and their limited released Brick Red, which is available only in Boston. Everyone's had the Boston Lager and the Summer Ale, but it was nice to try something new with the Brick Red. It was an Irish Red Ale that was sweet and malty from what I recall--a tasty and sessionable beer. On a final note, we also got a chance to smell an empty bottle of Utopia, a nearly 30% ABV beer produced every other year. The bottle (which is shaped to resemble a copper brewing vessel) had intense maple aromas, which is about all I could pick up.


Hefeweizen Brew Day!


This past Saturday I spent the day in my brewery, brewing up a Bavarian Hefeweizen for a family BBQ we're having in August. Things went very well overall. I had one hiccup in that my yeast starter didn't take off until nearly a day after I pitched. A 24-hour lag time with a starter was cause for a little concern, so I headed to the homebrew shop on Friday to pick up an extra vial of yeast before brew day. I'm guessing the slow start had something to do with the original vial being shipped from California in the hot weather (I had ordered ingredients online--last time I do that!). After my yeast scare, the brew day went great. For the first time, I had a really great mash efficiency--I usually hit about 65%, but this time, with some process changes, I hit 77%, which is perfect. The only problem was, I calculated my malt bill for 65% efficiency, so the beer had a much higher gravity than what I was shooting for. I could've watered it down to bring it within the parameters, but I figured I'd let it be. It'll just be a 7% ABV Imperial Hefeweizen; time to get the family wastyfaced! After the boil and cooling, I used pure oxygen to oxygenate the wort for the first time in order to aid fermentation (I've been having some issues with stuck fermentations). Although I can't say for sure, the oxygen seems to have done the trick. The beer's been fermenting all week at 70F, and it started spewing out of the airlock after 24 hours because fermentation was so active. It finally calmed a bit, and I'm going to clean up a bit tonight and probably replaced the airlock with a new clean, sanitized one. More updates on the hefeweizen when I pour the first pint in August!

N.J. State Fair Homebrew Competition
After a full day of brewing on Saturday, I headed over to the Sussex County Fairgrounds on Sunday to help judge a homebrew competition as part of the New Jersey State Fair. It was a relatively small competition compared to others I've been to, but they had a respectable 106 entries. In the morning, I judged the English Pale Ale and Scottish & Irish Ale categories. There were some really great beers entered--I believe first place went to a Scottish 80/- (the "/-" means Shilling--Scottish beers were historically named by how much tax was paid on a barrel), second place to a Irish Red Ale, and third place to an Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale). In the afternoon, after lunch, I judged the Belgian & French Ale and Sour Ale categories. I don't remember the winners here, but the entries consisted of Witbiers, Saisons, a Belgian Specialty Ale, and a Fruit Lambic. It was a fun competition to judge and I walked away with a t-shirt and beer mug courtesy of Krogh's (a brewpub near the fairgrounds).

Finally, this coming weekend I'm heading up to Cooperstown, NY for Belgium Comes to Cooperstown at Brewery Ommegang. The event is a Belgian beer festival with live music, food, bonfires, and camping on the brewery grounds to top it all off. I'm really excited and will be sure to provide an updated when I return!