06 Monday Feb 2017
The local homebrew club, CARBOY, is holding their annual homebrew competition on March 4, 2016 in Raleigh. The event is always a blast and judges receive lunch and a special judge raffle. If you can help judge on March 4, please sign up.
18 Friday Nov 2016
Posted in AHA, Beer, BJCP, Competition, Homebrew
I want someone to explain to me why so many homebrewers find the need to complain about competitions and always try to figure out how the entry which bested them skirted the rules to do so. It’s ridiculous to waste time crying about a loss when the answer is so simple, brew better beer! Recently someone was complained a biochemist had added particular flavors to their beer to create a BJCP flavor profile. Sounds like BS to me, but even if they did I don’t see a problem. They brewed the beer, they had a palate which could pick up flavors and aromas in minute detail to match the guidelines, and they bested the competition with the practice. To be able to put all that in one package and wrap a ribbon around it would be a miraculous achievement. So if you are beaten in a competition suck it up buttercup and brew better beer which emulates the guidelines so you can win next time!
11 Tuesday Oct 2016
Last week I attended my first GABF and thought it might be good for those who have not attended to offer my take on the event. I went to the first session on Thursday night and since I knew we would be entering with 6,000 of our closest friends we probably should arrive a few minutes after the event started. We left the hotel about four blocks away at 5:30pm which was the time the door opened. When we arrived there was a very long line down the sidewalk, but Brewers Association volunteers told us to file into the line so we did. We basically never stopped walking and after an ID check, ticket check, wristband station, and tasting glass station we were in the thick of it by 6pm. I don’t believe they could have run it any smoother and to leave the hotel room at 5:30pm and be in the festival a half hour later was perfect.
Inside the event was laid out by regions and the breweries in alphabetical order. If a brewery was represented in a different area there was a sign to show it was on an end cap or another area of the festival. In addition to the main aisles and end caps, there was a small brewpub section, and a meet the brewer section which was carpeted and quite large. There also was a Pro-Am serving area and a previous winner serving area. If you left without having all the beer you could possibly stand you must have been asleep. Most of the beers I sampled were very good, although we did find a few stinkers which required a dump and rinse. It was crowded in areas, but mostly at large well-known breweries. I refused to wait in a line more than two people deep so I skipped those breweries. Also a few breweries ran out of beer in the first hour and I find that unacceptable. I realize a line may form and the beer you brought may be very popular, but plan for having beer available for at least half the session. A few areas were needlessly tight, mostly near the edges. There was more room available in the convention space so I’d suggest spacing it out a bit more to give 10-20 feet more in those areas.
The last critique was food. It was around the perimeter in convention center spaces. Near the brewpub area on the ends, and in the food court area. It was difficult to get to and cause part of the congestion. IMO it would be better to put food in four locations around the perimeter, or even better just at the two ends along the entire edge and duplicate the food on each side. Then attendees could go to an edge and snag a snack and then get back into the thick of it.
The even reminded me of the AHA Convention pro brewers night with several thousand more people. The AHA can line up just as long as the GABF, but generally at the end of the line is the brewer so a quick conversation can be had to the side if desired. I enjoyed the session and thought it was well executed and with a few minor tweaks could go from great to awesome. Cheers to those who volunteered and put on the event!
16 Friday Sep 2016
It appears I will finally get to attend the GABF this year. For some reason the event has always been out of reach and this year the stars have aligned. Currently planning on attending the Thursday night session if anyone else happens to be going I’m easy to spot because I’ll look like me. 😉
31 Wednesday Aug 2016
Posted in AHA, BJCP, Competition, Homebrew
Apparently the NCABC saw the error in allowing the State Fair to hold a homebrew competition, but to not allow homebrew clubs to have them. The response I saw from Bob Hamilton (edited below) was:
The NC ABC Commission will not prosecute administrative violations as they relate to Homebrew Competitions (such as the one held by the NC State Fair) under the following conditions:
- The only attendees are the judges, stewards, event organizers and media
- The general public is not allowed
- Tickets cannot be sold nor can anyone be charged for beer
- Judges and stewards are the only people allowed to consume the product
- If the competition is held in a brewery’s retail area the area must be closed for alcohol sales
- Any homebrew held at the brewery or retailer’s site must be sealed, separated from stock and clearly marked as competition entries
- Once the competition is complete any open containers must be destroyed or removed before the brewery’s retails sales can resume
The NC ALE Director has been notified of this policy.
Please understand that this policy can and will change if there are future health, safety or welfare issues that we are made aware of.
There are some items in there which I find slightly disturbing such as “will not prosecute” and “this policy can and will change.” Please throw all your support behind Operation Liberate Homebrew once the legislation is introduced in the next session. We should not have to change because the wind blows in a different direction at NCABC and the only way to secure a future for homebrew competitions is to change the statutes.
27 Wednesday Jul 2016
Posted in AHA, Ammo, Archery, BDoY, Beer, BJCP, Bourbon, Champagne, Cicerone, Cider, Competition, Concealed, Cyser, Fermentation, FFL, GABF, Homebrew, Instructor, Kombucha, Long gun, Mead, NRA, Optics, Pistol, Port, Prohibition, Range, Refuse To Be A Victim, Rum, Sake, Scotch, Spirits, Tequila, Wheat, Whiskey, Wine, Witbier
We have 131 people following the blog via email, but only a handful of folks who receive it in their Facebook feed. If you are on Facebook, please take a minute to LIKE the page, not a single blog post, but the Facebook page. Thank you for your support, it is appreciated!
13 Wednesday Jul 2016
The BJCP Members Meeting video from Baltimore is now available on YouTube. Getcha some!
12 Sunday Jun 2016
Beer! Lots and lots of beer!
Always a fine time, heading toward the house today.
11 Saturday Jun 2016
Today, the last day of the conference, will be filled with more seminars and finished after the BJCP Members Meeting. I am skipping the banquet as are several others, mainly because it is pricey with a meal which is either outstanding or inedible and so I figured it would be better to go out and about and find something interesting in the area with some friends.
10 Friday Jun 2016
Today the plan is to attend various seminars all day and then in the late afternoon to sneak away to a BJCP meeting at Birroteca Baltimore. After that I’ll spend my time at Club Night where various clubs bring 8 or more kegs each and there is so much beer and so little time you hardly know where to start. Here is a list of the participating homebrew clubs:
Bangers and Mash 