Chico Home Brew Club Competition Judging Day

Susan and I worked the annual home brew club judging day, as stewards. Which meant we made sure the judging table we were assigned to had their proper score sheets, a beer to judge, water, and french bread. Luckily, we also got to sample all of the brews being judged at our table. Double lucky, Susan and I had tables next to each other, so we got to sample each other's tables too!

After the judging, we got a nice catered lunch from Sierra Nevada, and a tour of the facility. Our tour included grabbing as many hops as we could cram in a 1 gallon ziploc, and a few samples off the fermenters. Overall, we had a blast!

Results won't be announced until this weekend. Random photos below.

Our little prep table, with score sheets and the next beer to be judged:

The Big Room at SN, packed full of brews, judges, and other workers like us:

This was my table. Doug (my neighbor) and Dawn (owner of the home brew shop) were very studious, keeping to themselves then comparing scores afterward. That's when I got to sample. Susan's judges were a bit conversational, and offered her booze earlier:

Susan was a lucky girl, as her table was judging Scottish Ales, Strong Ales, Irish Red, Sours, and Ciders. I was stuck with Blondes, Cream Ales, american Wheats, and Ordinary/Best Bitters. The last couple bitters were very good:

Why hello sample cups:

Free lunch consisted of chicken, salad, rice, and of course Sierra Nevada opened up the taps. I enjoyed my first Summerfest of the year:

During our tour, we were each handed a 1-gallon sized ziploc bag. And set free in the Sierra Nevada hop room! I grabbed a bag packed full of Magnum and a bag of Cascade, both varieties I use frequently:

A happy man:

The main fermenters are suspended from the upper floor, so the bottom floor is very open:

During our tour, we got a chance to sneak a peak into a new room for trying out "smaller" batches. Our tour guy opened up a tap on a fermenter of Kolsch, which was nicely chilled:

Overall, we had a great time. We both agreed that being stewards was a great job that suited our ability to keep track of things.

I entered three beers btw, an American Pale Ale, American Amber, and an American Stout over Cedar (wood-aged category.) Usually they post the results online, but have decided to wait to announce the winners at this Saturday's awards party.

C'

Home Brew: Cascadian Dark Ale

Today is sample day, and this time it is a Cascadian Dark Ale I bottled two weeks ago. This was a wild shot in the dark at making a dark roasty pale ale, and it came out pretty good. Great balance of malts and hops, with a bit of chocolate on the back end.



Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.060 OG
Estimated FG 1.015 FG
Recipe Bitterness 68 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 5.8%
Recipe Color 31° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 4.5%

Ingredients
1.90 lb Alexander's LME - Pale Extract
0.50 lb Brown Sugar, Light Sugar Other
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (US) Grain Mashed
0.20 lb Molasses Sugar Other
1.00 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

1.00 oz Centennial Whole 35 minutes
0.75 oz Cascade Whole 15 minutes
0.50 oz Yakima Golding Whole 10 minutes

4.00 unit Generic ingredient Other 4 teaspoons of cocoa powder
1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp
0.50 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew: Blonde Ale

I sampled my first bottle of Blonde Ale, after two-weeks in the bottle. It is quite nice. I used some Yakima Golding hops in the aroma stage, giving it a nice citrus quality. It is very clean and crisp, with nice carbonation.



Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.059 OG
Estimated FG 1.015 FG
Recipe Bitterness 24 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 5.7%
Recipe Color 7° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 4.5%

Ingredients
2.20 lb Alexander's LME - Pale Extract Extract
0.50 lb Crystal 20L Grain Mashed
0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other
0.50 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

0.75 oz Cascade Whole 10 minutes
0.50 oz Centennial Whole 20 minutes
0.50 oz Yakima Golding Whole 5 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp
0.50 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew: American Amber

Just a nice generic Amber I brewed 4 weeks ago. Been in the bottle for 2 weeks, so I thought I would give it a try. And I'm happy I did, because this is very yummy. Somewhat light on fizz and head, but it has a nice light hoppy aroma, with a full-bodied hop flavor. Nice nuttyness too. And just enough bitterness on the back end to let you know it is an Amber. Great color too.

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity 1.053 OG

Estimated FG 1.013 FG

Recipe Bitterness 37 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.2%

Recipe Color 15° SRM

Ingredients

1.00 lb Crystal 60L Grain Mashed

1.21 lb MrB. Bewitched Red Ale Extract Extract

0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other

0.50 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

1.00 oz Centennial Whole 20 minutes

0.50 oz Crystal Whole 7 minutes

1.00 unit Generic Other 1/2 tsp of salt

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp

1.00 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew Club

I attended my first Chico Home Brew Club meeting on Thursday night. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I'm not very knowledgeable. As it happens it was a great group of people, with about 40 or so members attending. And I didn't feel like a complete noob, as I actually knew what the style guide was. It was essentially two hours of beer tasting, with an emphasis on Bochs this month. A club member brought a few commercially available boch styles to sample, then club members offered up their own home brewed versions of bochs. It was quite a bit of fun to compare. After the bochs, we sampled a few other offerings, including an American Pale Ale, a Pomegranite Cider, and Dogfish Head's Pangea, which is a ginger beer. As usual with DFH offerings, it was over done.

As a member, I got my very own tasting glass:

Susan got one too, as I signed us both up. That gives her the option to attend club functions in the future. Such as a Sacramento Pub Crawl they are doing in a few weeks. They have a bus charted to take us down to a few pubs and breweries, where the club has arranged for samples and tours. Should be a lot of fun.

And I actually got a nice compliment from my neighbor Doug today, who was out changing the front brake pads on his Mercury Cougar. I brought him out a glass of my American Pale Ale I brewed back in January. It seems to be getting better each time I try it. Luckily Doug thought it was very good, and suggested I enter it in the upcoming competition. Not bad, considering he took Best of Show last year! I'm hoping to have three or four offerings to enter.

Oh, and Doug got us signed up to be stewards at the competition. That let's us take part in the pre and post club activities, which includes a lunch at Sierra Nevada and plenty of booze tasting.

C'