Homebrew Club Awards

Today was the 2012 Chico Homebrew Club Competition awards party.  We arrived around 1pm, just in time to start sampling some of the 179 beers that were entered.  At 2:30, we got to chow down on some potluck, including everything from tri-tip, to seafood salad, to a lovely potato salad Susan made with beer.  Shortly after, they started announcing the awards.

Long story short, I ended up placing 3rd in the cider category for my Pomegranate Cider (which was a big hit with the ladies at the party)  and a 1st place for my Mulling Cider Mead.  Susan also bought some raffle ticketsm and I came home with a 4# can of extract and a growler jug.  Both items I can use.

Me and the fly, after some grub.

What's that?  Two medals?  Oh yeah...

Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale

Leafer Madness. Lovely aroma so far...

And a great taste too.  Usually, 9% and 100+ IBU beers aren't my favorite.  But this has a nice malt sweetness that keeps the alc warmth subdued, while the strong hop aroma and flavor lead to a mellow bitterness.  Quite nice!

owl eggs

2012 Chico Home Brew Competition

We just completed two days of beer judging and sipping, as part of the 2012 Chico Home Brew Competition. I volunteered to be Chief Steward, and Susan volunteered to be a steward.  That means we keep our table full of judges full of beers and score sheets, and make sure they don't run out of cups, bread, and water.  We also get to sip every beer our tables are judging, and any other beers from other tables that received high scores.

Because we were shy of judges, we ended up judging Stouts and IPAs yesterdays from 1 to 4.  We had four tables, and it was very low key.  Today we had 14 tables, so it was a bit more hectic for the first few rounds.  Then we eased into a good rhythm, and before we knew it, lunch was being served.  Sierra Nevada put out a great taco bar spread, and opened up the taps.  Then we had a quick tour of the facilities, including a trip to the hop room, where we were given 1 gallon bags to shove whole hops into.  I grabbed just a tad more than a pound of Citra hops, and a little bit of crystal.

A few pics:

Don't be distracted by the gun show

My table, one of two judging IPAs

Susan cleaning and organizing empty bottles.  Just like at home!

Knee Deep Beer Company Tanilla

Knee Deep Beer Company Tanilla. Very smooth, full bodied, with a hint of vanilla. Nice.

St Peter's Sorgham Beer

Susan grabbed me a gluten free beer for Easter. It was sorta in that realm of a green bottle beer. The irony is that it came in a green bottle beer. Very light bodied, light flavor, with a hint of skunk.

Easter Booze

The Easter Bunny brought me some booze!

More beer sampling

tasting two different versions of my vienna lager

Less Hippy, More Gray?

Hippy hair has been hacked. The amount of gray in my temples has apparently doubled.

Pomegranate Taste Testing

Entries for the Chico Home Brew Competition are due in one week. I have a couple beers I'll be entering, and was contemplating entering a mead or cider. As it happens, I have a pomegranate mead and pomegranate cider both bottled. I wanted to taste each on their own, and then mixed together.

We both agree, the cider on its own is the winner. It has a great tartness, and fit right in the specs for a category 28B Other Fruit Cider.

I like the mead too, but it just doesn't have the ooomph of the other meads we taste from our club. You know, the 15 year old 18% varieties.