After a long gap triggered by the COVID pandemic, we have resurrected the Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge for 2023.  This competition focuses on the Belgian styles as defined in the 2015 BJCP guidelines. This year, judging will be hosted at our home brewery, Tortugo Brewing Company on March 25.  This will give you time to brew for most of the styles.  The Best in Show entry will be brewed by Tortugo as a Pro-Am entry in the Great American Beer Festival.

Here are some of the key details for 2023:

• Entry Registration begins on February 1^st and runs through March 10^th.
• Two bottles are required for each entry with a $10 entry fee.
• Bottle drop-off begins February 25^th and runs through March 10^th. Entries can be dropped off at the brewery, or the local homebrew shops.
• Volunteers for Judges, Stewards and other assistants can sign up now. Volunteers will get the official competition tee shirt.
• Bottle Organizing will be held at Tortugo on Saturday, March 11^th.
• Main judging Saturday, March 25^th at Tortugo.

For general information about the competition, go to http://belgianbrewchallenge.com/  In addition to the beer styles that can be entered, we will cover some sponsor highlights.

Sign-ups for Judges, Stewards and other assistants can be found at http://comp.belgianbrewchallenge.com/  Entry registration can be found here as well starting February 1^st.

So get those brew kettles going now and good luck with your entries!
Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

Other Upcoming Events
January 19th 7:30 PM. January Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company. Style of the month is Winter Beers.
February 1:  Entry Registration begins for LABBC
February 3 or 4th:  First Friday or Saturday TBD
February 16:  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing Company
February 25:  Entry Drop-off begins for LABBC
March 10:  Entry Drop-off Deadline for LABBC
March 11:  Bottle Organizing Session at Tortugo
March 25:  Main Judging Session for LABBC at Tortugo

The 2021 Pacific Brewers Cup will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2021 starting at 8:30 AM.  We are still short of our desired number of judges and stewards.  The registration site for Judges, Stewards and other volunteers is now up and running at http://comp.pacificgravity.com/ .

We will be running both a morning and afternoon session.   If at all possible, please stay and do a second round.  To help me out with planning, when you register, please check your “availability” to reflect the one or both sessions if you can stay for both. We completed the bottle organizing session on the 30th with 172 entries. Entry registration is now closed.

Please note we are asking that all judges and stewards be fully vaccinated in accordance with LA County brewery patron rules.  Joe is allowing us to spread out over the entire brewery floor and will have the doors open.  We will also ask everyone to observe COVID protocols such as wearing a mask whenever you don’t have your nose inside a taster cup.

If you have never done stewarding before it is a fun and simple task.  (A more detailed write-up is found below). The main steps are as follows:

• Your main job is to bring entries to the judging tables when asked by the judges. Do not open any bottles.  They may ask for just one entry at a time, or possibly 2 or 3 depending on the ideal serving temperature for the style. Beers will be organized by category and style.
• Check the table supplies.  Tables should have scoresheets, cups, bottle openers, flight sheets, a dump bucket and bread.
• After the judges finish writing scoresheets, check the math.  Then deliver the scoresheets to Tim, who will be doing data entry.
• The judges may tell you which beers are “keepers”, or “dumpers”.  Recap the keepers.  You are free to sample the dumpers.
• Collect discarded cups as needed.  As part of COVID protocols, do not drink out of any reused cup. Empty the dump buckets if needed.
• After all the entries in a group have been judged, the judges may ask for the keeps to do a final taste-off.
• After any taste-off, the judges may invite you to taste some of the keepers.
• The lead judges at the table will then hand you the “Flight Summary Sheet”.  Verify the math on the form, and make sure the lead judge has signed it.  You can sign the steward line.  Then, hand it to Tim.

This competition is hosted on a rotating basis with Pacific Gravity Homebrewers Club, Strand Brewers and Long Beach Homebrewers.  This is a BJCP and AHA-sanctioned competition.  This is full-category competition based on the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, including meads and ciders.

Our host brewery this year is Tortugo Brewing Co, located at 916 W Hyde Park Blvd Inglewood, CA, CA 90302. Breakfast snacks and a full lunch will be provided to all volunteers.  In addition, we have a bunch of cool swag from Sierra Nevada Brewing and Wyeast, and gift certificates from Stein Fillers, Moonlight Meadery and Williams Brewing.

For more information, check out http://pbc.pacificgravity.com/ .

UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, Nov 5th, early evening:  First Friday at the Daily Pint, 2310 PICO BLVD SANTA MONICA, CA 90405
Saturday, Nov 6th, 8:30 AM:  Pacific Brewers Cup at  Tortugo Brewing Co,  916 W Hyde Park Blvd Inglewood, CA, CA 90302
Saturday, Nov 20,  Noon: Annual Chili Cookoff, Board Elections and Member of the Year voting. At Casa Molloy, 6738 W. 87th Place Los Angeles, CA 90045

Long Instructions for Stewards:

Stewards are responsible for assisting judges during the judging process, and interfacing with the
competition staff to preserve anonymity of entries. If judges have questions or requests during
judging, handle them as best as possible including checking with the competition staff if unsure
of something. One frequent request is to check competition entries against the database to ensure
an entry is correct, and that all supplied information has been provided to the judges.
Stewards bring the beer to the table for judging. This can be done one bottle at a time, or
multiple bottles can be brought at once (this is a common occurrence when using multiple teams
on a category, or if judges think the serving temperature is too cold). Handle the judge requests
as best you can. They may also request ice if they believe the entries are too warm.
Stewards should double-check the entry numbers before presenting the beer for judging.
Announce the entry and category for the judges. Do not open the bottles unless requested. Most
judges prefer to look at the bottles and open them themselves. Remember that beer can contain
sediment, so be careful in the handling of the bottles.

Stewards should monitor the table supplies and replenish items as necessary. Remove used cups
(check with judges first before touching their cups, as judges often save favorite samples for
later). Empty dump buckets as they fill, or if an objectionable-smelling entry is dumped. Do not
remove bottle caps without checking with judges; they may be needed to identify entries.
Judges may request assistance with paperwork, usually the Flight Summary Sheet and the Cover
Sheets. Stewards who do this job for judges will be helping to speed up the competition, and
deserve the thanks of judges. Regardless of other requests, stewards should check the math on
scoresheets, and scan them for completeness and inappropriate comments.
In general while judging is active, defer to the lead judge at the table unless you are directed
against specific competition instructions. Structure your activities so that you are doing your
work while the judges are judging; this keeps things moving along. Stewards who anticipate
judge needs and who pay attention to the judging process are quite valuable to competition
operations.

If stewards are invited to taste while judges are judging, stewards should refrain from
commenting until the judges have completed their scoresheets and turned them in, unless directly
asked by a judge for an opinion. If a steward has entered the competition, the steward should not
work in categories where they have entries.

As we work through the dog days of summer, we have just now gotten the results of the Mayfaire competition.  Congratulations go to Carl Townsend with a 3rd place for Märzen, and a 2nd place for Southern English Brown (using Dean’s virtual big brew recipe!)   And, Craig Corley got a 2nd place for Bpa #43 Belgian-Style Pale Ale.  We had a good judging session up at MacLeod Brewing Co on July 24th, though COVID limitations set this competition back by about 3 months from its normal schedule.

Next up is some just-released info on QUAFF’s America’s Finest City Beer Competition in 2021.  Usually held in February, there is a new entry deadline of August 20th at 9:00 PM.  Entries must be received by that date at Alesmith Brewing Company,  9990 AleSmith Ct, San Diego, CA 92126.  Two bottles are required per entry.  Please visit the site, and sign up at https://quaff.org/AFC-2021/ .  Quaff is also looking for judges. Judging will be at Alesmith on Friday August 27 at 6:00 PM,  and on Saturday August 28th at 9:00 AM.  The competition staff requests that all judges have proof of vaccination.

Coming up in October is the California Homebrewers Association Fall Best of Show Fall 2021.  Five styles will be judged in this competition, including
❏ 6C. Dunkles Bock
❏ 18A. Blonde Ale
❏ 22C. American Barleywine
❏ 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale
❏ 30A. Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

The club is allowed to have two entries, and entrants must be a paid member of CHA.  If you have an entry, please let me know by early October.  If we have 3 or more entries, we will do a mini taste-off to select the two entries.

And don’t lose sight of the long-delayed 2020 Pacific Brewers Cup. (No, 2020 is not a type – just like the Olympics.) We have set a judging date of November 6, 2021 at Tortugo Brewery  (thanks Joe!) Details are still being worked out, and we hope that the current surge of COVID cases doesn’t mess up our plans.  But in any case, you clearly need to get some beer ready to enter, so get those brew kettles going now.

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

Upcoming Events

August 19: VIRTUAL club meeting featuring Tortugo Brewing
September 3^rd: First Friday at Richmond Grill (tentatively in person)
September 16^th: Club meeting @ Tortugo Brewing (tentatively in person)
Summer Party – POSTPONED! Will be Oktoberfest, October 2, 2021

The Maltose Falcons have decided to keep their record string of Mayfaire competitions alive despite the imposition of the COVID-19 crisis!

In order to accommodate socially-distanced judging, the total number of entries has been capped at 100, and the styles have been lumped together into eight broad groupings. Entries, however, must be designated with their respective styles from the Falcons or BJCP stylesguides.

Registration is now open at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2020Mayfaire/  Entries are $10 each and require three bottles.  The entry deadline in Sept 11th, but I’m certain it will max out almost immediately, so sign up now if you have entries.

I’ll make a trip up to the Woodland Hills shop on Thursday, Sept 10th, so if you have entries, you can drop them off with me by Wednesday the 10th.

The Falcons are also requesting judges.  If you are available, please sign up with the above link, and also drop me a line.  All judging will use social distancing techniques.

Also, don’t forget about the CHA “Bragging Rights Only” competition.  At this point, there is only 1 entry, which will win by default if no one else enters.  The deadline is September 13th.