Competition Corner – August, 2012
It’s that time of the year to get out your best bottles of homebrew for the 2012 Pacific Brewers Cup. The entry window is now open online at http://www.pacificbrewerscup.com/. Strand Brewers are putting together what is going to be a great competition. Entries are due by September 6th, and can be dropped off at the Culver City shop. Pacific Gravity always has a great showing in this competition and we hope to keep it up. Strand is also asking for help on judging day, Saturday, September 22, 2012, at the Four Points Sheraton by LAX, the Beer Hotel. They will need every judge and steward we can supply, so please sign up now. The hotel is located at 9750 Airport Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045, next to LAX. (Map).
At the September club meeting, we will be holding a special soda contest for the 2012 Beer, Art & Music Fest. Winning entries get free tickets (a $35 value) to the fest, and get to have your soda featured at the fest itself on October 6th, at the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica. Rules of the competition are simple:
1) You need to bring a keg to the September meeting.
2) Club members will vote on the white board (just like the keg of the month contest).
3) Winners must agree to bring soda to the fest.
This year 18th Street is teaming up with Pacific Gravity member and LA craft beer industry veteran Martin Svab (Stone Brewery & Naja’s Place) to help facilitate the beer side of the festival. Participating craft breweries range from big to small, including the popular and larger Sierra Neveda Brewing and Firestone Walker Brewing Companies, to the smaller but equally great Angel City, Golden Road and Surf Brewing. Martin had hoped to offer Pacific Gravity Homebrew at the fest, but we were limited to non-alcohol offerings due to ATF/ABC restrictions. But, we all know the club can make some great sodas, so bring out your best!
Also at the September meeting will the next Club-Only competition is for Light Hybrid Ales, BJCP category 6, including Cream Ale, Blonde Ale, Kölsch, and American Wheat and Rye beer. If you have any one of these (or more than one) bring three 12 oz. bottles to the meeting and make sure you let Carl know they are here. If possible, please also fill out an entry form, which you can download from http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/0326/entry_recipe.pdf. The club picks up the entry fee, so it is free to you. If your entry is selected, we’ll ship off the two remaining bottles to the national judging site. If you lose, you can take back the two extra bottles. Or if you prefer, you can pop them open to console your losses.
Coming up in October, we have 2 more events: The California State Homebrew Competition (due date TBD) and one more COC for Old Ale, BJCP category 19A. These will be the last two opportunities for the 2012 Homebrewer of the Year award.
Looking back now on the recent competitions, Pacific Gravity has a great showing at the 2012 California State Fair. Congratulations to the following winners:
Brett Wilson 3rd Saison
Brett Wilson 2nd Sour Ale
Carl Townsend 3rd Euro Amber & Dark Lager
Carl Townsend 1st Smoke Beer
Craig Corley 1st Belgian Pale Ale
Craig Corley 3rd Light Begian Strong Ales
Corley Craig 1st Saison
Eric Moreau 1st American Stout
John Rockwell 3rd German Wheat & Rye
Kristofor Barnes 2nd German Wheat & Rye
Maxim Viault 2nd Kölsch
Peter Moran 3rd Biere de Garde/Belg Specialty
Look for results from the LA County Fair real soon too.
2012 Brewer of the Year Competition Schedule
September 6th Pacific Brewers Cup – Entries Due
September 20th COC – Light Hybrid BJCP, Cat #6
September 22nd Pacific Brewers Cup – Judging at Four Points LAX
October (date TBD) California State Homebrew Competition
October 18th COC– Old Ale BJCP, Cat #19
