I Won Something!

I recently got results back from the Spirit of Free Beer competition and hot damn, I won something! The fruitcake ale took second place in the Spice Beer category, which included autumn and winter seasonals.

My second-place swag bag and medal 

I entered this beer mainly because I had a ton of it left over, but I'm always eager to get feedback on a fairly complex tincture recipe.

For this winter seasonal category (30C), entrants have to declare the base style and what fruits/spices were included. I made the rookie mistake of saying what I put in it rather than what someone is likely to taste. While there is citrus zest and a tiny bit of spice in there, it's not apparent so I hobbled myself by declaring it. That said, the cherry and ginger do come through. Nevertheless, the judges had good feedback (it scored a 35) and I'm already thinking how to tweak this for next year.

So what does one get for placing in a category? I got a 8oz bottle of StarSan, a pound of PBW, a triple-scale hydrometer (whose merits and drawbacks I recently discussed), a bottle of Oskar Blues hot sauce and some random tchotchke. Not too shabby.

Oh, and there's the medal. Shiny!

I also entered my amber ale base beer, which is tough since it's designed to be tinkered with when its finished and wasn't intended to stand on its own. It scored a respectable 32 and the judges raved about its appearance, but it did not place.

BURP put on an event last weekend to award the prizes and - living up to the name - drink up all the leftover free beer. Despite the cool and rainy weather, it was good to meet a new bunch of homebrewers and get some live feedback on my beers. Also a good opportunity to scoop up some empties for later competitions.

Free beer in the rain

Some empties, and a few leftover entries from Category 11

My lone entry into DC Homebrewers' Cherry Blossom competition - Snowzilla oatmeal milk stout - did not place. The two judges were a bit at odds over the beer. One thought it was alright, but said it would be a lot better if I just took out the lactose. The second judge couldn't taste the lactose and didn't think much of the brew in general. Huh? This is why you enter the same beer into multiple competitions if you want meaningful feedback.

Also, none of my NHC entries advanced out of Austin. The national comp uses a streamlined scoresheet which won't contain any narrative, but I hope to get some useful info.

Happy National Beer Day!

There's a day for everything, and that includes beer. There is a National Beer Day, which is officially observed on April 7th. Even the Governor of Virginia says so.

So why April 7? That was the day in 1933 that the Cullen–Harrison Act went into effect. It allowed the production of low-alcohol beer, which it defined as 3.2% ABW or the more modern 4.0% ABV. This was the first legislative blow against Prohibition in the US, which would be fully repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment later that year.

After signing the bill into law, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said: "I think this would be a good time for a beer."

Indeed it is.