Judging the National Homebrew Competition

Apologies for the hiatus...I had some health issues and some job hunting going on, but both have wrapped up quite nicely. And now, it's back to beer! 

 

I had the honor and pleasure of judging Round One of the National Homebrew Competition in NYC this past weekend (hooray, no having to drive across several state lines to judge a competition!). The festivities were held at Singlecut Beersmiths, a fantastic brewery in Queens. Just over two years old, Singlecut is already a clearly popular place (the spacious taproom was filled to the brim with happy patrons playing board games like Connect Four when I arrived at 6:00 pm on a Friday), but when you walk in, meet the staff, and try the brew, it's little wonder why!

 

That initial evening, I judged Specialty Ales, which is always a fun category! As my fellow specialty judges agreed, "You never know what you're going to get!" My partner was Bryan, an Irish professional brewer and cicerone who had driven down from Syracuse. We pushed forward an excellent beer which ended up placing third in the category that evening. I can't say too much about it, unfortunately, since results have yet to be posted to the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) website. I returned to Singlecut bright and early the next morning, eager to judge Light and Amber Hybrids. This is an often overlooked category, and admittedly one I had to brush up on prior to my arrival. Now having judged it, however, I'm convinced its styles are in need of a renaissance! My, oh, my, were there some commercial caliber beers entered into this section. I helped judge the Mini Best in Show for this group, and ordering our top four was certainly no easy task.

 

My afternoon was devoted to my favorite style grouping: Strong Belgian Ales. Of course, this didn't mean I was in for treat after treat. These big beers are notoriously difficult to brew, and only the bravest, most dedicated homebrewers attempt to craft them. Okay, there are also some very overzealous homebrewers who take a stab at them as well, myself included. The first beer I brewed was supposed to be a Belgian Golden Strong. What it turned out to be was a completely different animal. And a rabid one, at that. The entries from Saturday were much more palatable.

From what I've seen, organizing a homebrew competition is a massive amount of stressful, albeit fulfilling, work. Although were apparently more hitches than I would have guessed at when it came to this latest event, I can honestly say that as a beer judge, I've never been treated better. The organizers ran the show with considerate, amiable enthusiasm, giving us beer nerds a little piece of hobby heaven to bask in, as well as ensuring that the contestants' entries were treated like the liquid gold they were--regardless of it tastes, every batch of homebrew is a craft to be respected. And so, massive thanks to Mary Izett, Chris Cuzme, Jeff Lord, Scott Davies, Kenneth Hettinger, Ed Kurowski, Harlie Levine, and all the stewards who helped us to keep our act together. Cheers, and hope to see you all again!