2 contests, 1 medal

This summer I entered a couple of local homebrew contests. The first was a Belgian themed contest limited to BJCP categories 16, 17 & 18. I brought home a bronze medal with my Saison (category 16c) entry. It was very exciting as this is my first medal.

The second contest was open to all categories. They did combine several similar categories into groups for judging. I entered a Scotch Wee Heavy (category 9e). I did not win any medals for this beer. But I will get some valued feedback once I pick up my scoresheets. 

Contests are a great way to get an honest opinion of your beer. It takes both effort and commitment to become a BJCP certified judge, it also takes a certain love for beer. Contests allow you to receive an evaluation of your beer, in a blind tasting, from at least one of these judges.

Of course I want to win every contest I enter, but, the real goal is to learn from them and to keep improving.

Learning by drinking

I have now done four all-grain brews. So far only two of those have been bottled, the other two are sitting in carboys. With each brew session I learn a little more about the brewing process and my brewery. Of course there is also a lot to learn from tasting the results! I have added a few more clamps to make it easier to assemble and disassemble the brewery.  It looks like my next big project, maybe this winter, will be a better way to control the mash temperatutre. The way I am doing it now makes it tedious and a little difficult to maintain very tight control.  I am recirculating the mash which seems to be working out pretty good. However, I am controlling the burner manually, which is okay, but I am also igniting the burner with a lighter. I will be doing some research before making any changes but I think my next upgrade will be to add a gas valve and a pilot light. It may not lead to better beer but it should make brewing a little easier. Cheers!

 

My first all grain brew day

I brewed my first all grain beer on Sunday April 14th. The whole process, from start to finish, takes longer compared to extract brewing. There is more equipment to both set up at the start and more equipment to clean at the end. Also, the process itself takes longer because of the mash time. Even though it takes longer it seems somehow to take place at a more relaxed pace.

I have come a long way since my first brew on a borrowed turkey fryer. But, as far as I have come in terms of brewing equipment and my understanding of the process I still have a lot to learn. That, for me, is what keeps it exciting.

I converted one of my extract recipes to all grain estimating the conversion factor. Based on the amount of grain I started with and my starting gravity my brewery efficiency was low, probably in the low to mid 60% range. That is about 10% less than what I was hoping for. I think I need to mash at a slightly higher temperature and, probably more importantly, extend the mash-out time. I know I am already looking forward to my next brew session.