We at Bel Air Brewing were very blessed, i.e., got lucky again this year with 5 beers that made it to the mini Best Of Show judging round, two in the BOS round, and two gold Medal, 1st Place winners.
Our entries were:
German Pilsner (42 points) mini BOS
Festbier (39 points) BOS judging round - 1st Place Gold
Schwarzbier (39 points) mini BOS
English Barleywine (38 points) BOS judging round, 1st Place Gold
Vienna Lager (41 points) mini BOS
Imperial Stout ( 32 points)
We would be happy to share the above recipes, if anyone is interested. Our German Pilsner (the only one with treated water) was probably the best of the bunch. We are surprised it did not place. But they lump so many sub-categories together, so it is a challenge at best as I am not only competing against other German Pils (5D), but all of the beers in the Pale Bitter European Lager category, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D.
There were 1,267 entries, 3,800 bottles of beer, from 24 states.
My Imperial Stout was not thick enough, or heavy enough, even though it was at 10.4% ABV. A brewing friend told me it needs to be like 40 weight motor oil. That is what the judges are looking for.
One judge commented it was a good beer, but more like between a Big Brown Ale and a Stout.
Well done and well deserved, it appears! Those pilsner and light lager categories are some of the toughest in my opinion (meaning that few poor entries will be entered by entrants). That is just my experience. The better the beers that are entered in a category, the more subjective (hedonistic) the judging tends to get (meaning the individual judge’s palate and likes become more significant in assigning a numerical value - but that is part of the reason for having two or more judges involved in the flight and multiple judge pairings among a category contributing to mini BOS).
Again, well done (two weeks ago I got a silver for an international lager at our club’s annual competition - usually about 800 entries, but I think this year it was only 600+). There were some superb entries.
Thank you!
Some of the beers…well, perhaps all of them were brewed specifically for the Bluebonnet.
I did feel really good about the Barleywine, thinking it had a good chance to place.
I and a couple friends were hoping the Pils would have done better. All judging had at least one pair of judges, one of which was a BJCP judge.
We attended the event at the DFW Sheraton, staying the entire weekend. It was a great time!
Now a serious question, and I am seeking some guidance here…a common theme in the judge scoresheets under Appearance was “head dissipates quickly”. And I got dinged 1 point, in most cases, being awarded 2 out of 3.
I have never used Carafoam malt. A friend suggested it. Might it help?
I bet the stout is great but yeah these days imperial stouts are 15% ABV motor oil. Younger judges who only know this kind of stout can’t think of an 8% stout as the same style–and maybe it shouldn’t be.
i like the idea of a double stout tbh, that is essentially a dry irish stout, with a similar roast level but double that strength (7-8% ABV) and moderate hopping
Thanks! I will check it out. I subscribe to this same theory. The head retention for my beers on draft is not an issue. But it must have been something about the bottles, or perhaps their pour technique.
Ok, here are two recipes that did very well in judging.
Vienna Lager - 10 gallons
20 lbs Ireks Vienna Malt
2 lbs Weyermann Carared
2.0 oz Mt. Hood hops, FWH
2.0 oz Mt. Hood hops 20 minutes
75 minute boil
10 gallons mash water
8 gallons HLT water
W34-70 yeast, 9th Generation
IBU 28
Ferment temp: 54 F
4.9% ABV
BJCP Judges comments: “Very nice Vienna. Great clean malt with just enough hops to support. Bitterness is almost too aggressive, but held in check by the malt, with a very nice supporting roll. Well done!”
Score: 41 points
Festbier
10 Gallons
16 lbs Weyermann Floor Malted Bo Pils
8 lbs Ireks Light Munich
3 step infusion mash -
120 F 40 min
146 F 40 min
160 F 30 min
Mash out @ 170 F
2.5 oz Mt. Hood hops - added at beginning of boil.
Either a 75 minute, or 90 minute boil…did not log that.
Diamond Lager Yeast - 6th Generation
Ferment at 50F
5.3% ABV
Judges comments: “Pleasant tasting beer. Crisp, a pleasure to drink. Nice balance of malt / hops, though a little hop dominate in the finish.”
Score - 38 points
