Award Winning Homebrew

At Siciliano's 12th annual homebrew competition I finished 2nd place in category 17 F. My beer was position three in a flight of nine. I won a silver medal for my effort and the store employee said congratulations (that praise was an award unto itself). My beer was scored by two judges and was awarded a final score of 38 which is the bottom of the Excellent classification.

(read more about my 'excellent' award winning home brew after the break.)

Judge 1 who is a professional brewer assigned my beer the following descriptors:

Astringent - Puckering, lingering harshness and/or dryness in the finish/aftertaste.

Estery - Aroma and/or flavor of any ester.

Sour/Acidic - Tartness in aroma and flavor. Can be sharp and clean (lactic acid), or vinegar like (acetic acid).

Yeasty -  A bready, sulfery, or yeast like aroma or flavor.

In the five judged categories I was both scored and evaluated as follows:

Aroma: 10/12; Sour fruits, esters, goaty, and earthy. No noticeable peach.

Appearance: 3/3; Golden straw with cloudiness and good head.

Flavor: 15/20; Thin and bready. Highly acidic and fruity esters. Hard to find the actual fruit character itself.

Mouth-feel: 3/5; Mouth puckering sourness. Very mild sweetness.

Overall Impression: 7/10; Good level of sourness, with mild sweetness, and no fruit.

Judge 2 who is a professional brewer assigned my beer the following descriptors:

Estery - Aroma and/or flavor of any ester.

Phenolic - Spicy (clove, pepper), smoky, plastic, adhesive, or medicinal

Sour/Acidic - Tartness in aroma and flavor. Can be sharp and clean (lactic acid), or vinegar like (acetic acid).

In the five judged categories I was both scored and evaluated as follows:

Aroma: 9/12; Sour/lactic aroma blends well with earthy horse blanket yeast phenolics. Fruit flavor not assertive.

Appearance: 3/3; Color is straw/ light gold. Slight haze but mostly clear. Good head retention. Color reflective of fruit used.

Flavor: 14/20;  Strong lactic sourness. Hop bitterness in the background. Fruit flavor is mild and difficult to detect - slight cider like character is present.

Mouth-feel: 4/5; Dry finish and high carbonation, which are appropriate for style. Medium body - highly tart palate sensation.

Overall Impression: 8/10; Needs more fruit character to be representative of the style. Well made beer.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the positive comments: well made, good sourness, and mouth puckering. I'm not surprised about the fruit comments. Each sample was less peachy. This was a great experiance to submit a beer I was proud of to dispassionate judges. Even though my blood relatives and best friends claim that my beer is "great", "good", and "eww craft beer" without an impartial person it's hard to know whether they are shining me on; now I know.