I entered my first homebrew competition on Sunday 20th May. The event, organisesd by SOBA Nelson and held at the Sprig & Fern in Nelson, was relaxed and informal. There were 30 different beers, entered by around 15 home brewers. The beers were judged by the entrants so we each had a chance to try 30 different beers. The overall standard was very good, there were a lot of top notch beers. My personal favorites (apart from my own of course) were Jason Bathgate’s Manuka Black Cofee Porter, Stink Hammer IPA, Smoked Moose Knuckle Brown Ale and Adam Tristram’s American Pale Ale. I was actually more impressed with the standard of beer at this event than what was on offer from the pros at this year’s Marchfest. Also it was a great chance to meet and socialise with other local home brewers.
(Still from Matt’s video)
My beers didn’t place but they seem to have been quite well recieved by most people. I entered two recent batches, batch 13, Double Cascade Pale Ale and batch 15, Digital(ish) IPA. I actually thought the heavily hopped IPA had the best chance of placing but it was the milder Pale Ale that got the more favourible reviews.
The results of the competition are posted here. My entries were nos. 3 and 4. Here’s are the scores and comments I got (as best I could make out from the scrawl on the judging sheets):
Double Cascade Pale Ale
| Judge No. | Comment | Score (out of 10) | Placed in top 3 |
| 1 | It IS an APA! | 8.5 | |
| 2 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Not too bad, nice, tasty no. | 6 | |
| 4 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 1 | |
| 6 | good | 6 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | ||
| 8 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 5 | ||
| 10 | 8 | ||
| 11 | Strong hops, nice colour | 7 | |
| 12 | Good colour, cloudy. Clean, not quite enough hop. | 7 | |
| 13 | Looks great, head great. Belgian notes. | 6 | |
| 14 | 4.5 | ||
| 15 | cider flavor? not very good | 4 | |
| 16 | 5 | ||
| Average score: | 6.06 |
(2 judges did not comment or score)
Digital(ish) IPA
| Judge No. | Comment | Score (out of 10) | Placed in top 3 |
| 1 | Something sweet but nice! | 8 | |
| 2 | Good drinkability, balanced | 7 | |
| 3 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 8 | ||
| 7 | Good hops balance, body is a little lacking | 6.5 | |
| 8 | Good example | 8 | 2 |
| 9 | Belgian characteristics | 5 | |
| 10 | 5 | ||
| 11 | metalic | cider | 4 | |
| 12 | 5 | ||
| Average score: | 6.04 |
(6 judges did not comment or score)
