Competition planning

This is cross-posted from my homebrewing blog, 7cubed.ca

As you may have guessed from the above image, I’m pretty excited that Newfermenters (the local homebrewers Facebook group here in Newfoundland and Labrador) have announced the annual brewing competition. At this point, it’s tentatively scheduled for June 18th, so that would be a cool way to spend Fathers Day.

Since my Triple Buzz Stout went over pretty well during the 2016 Advent Calendar, I’ve been feeling more confident in my homebrewing, enough so that I feel ready to enter a competition for the first time. I don’t expect to win; there are a LOT of really good brewers in Newfoundland! That being said, I’m interested in the challenge – to see how well I can meet the style guidelines, and how well I can do that in comparison to my fellow brewers.

This year, they’ve chosen Kolsch (BJCP 2015 Style 5B), and Fruit/Spiced/Vegetable (BJCP 2015 Styles 29/30A) as the two styles to be entered, and at this point I’m planning to tackle both. Kolsch is one that I’ve given some thought to before, because it’s an ale that comes out tasting similar to a Pilsner. Since I don’t have the gear to lager properly, this seems like a good one to try and nail. As for the fruit/spiced/vegetable category, I have an idea that’s been rattling around in my head for a while. Not going to discuss it yet, since I don’t want to reveal too much ahead of time 😉

While June seems a LONG way off, what with all the snow and ice out there, it’s not really when you consider that many beers require at least 2 weeks to ferment, and another 2 for carbonation if you’re not kegging (which I’m not…yet). I’m hoping to put on test batches in the next month or so, to make sure I’ve got the recipes nailed down well before the competition. Since I tend to write in fits and spurts, I suspect that the next post about the competition will be after it’s over. Then again, you never know!