Febrewary
The new Columbia, MD brewery, Black Flag, is holding a homebrew competition with Maryland Homebrew (MDHB). The rules for this one “t” shy of a competition are simple. Submit 3 beers (all the same) during the week of February 8-15, 2017. No wild yeast, bacteria or barrel aging. The beers should have a label showing beer name, brewer and contact information and style. Ingredients should be available from MDHB. For first prize, your beer is brewed by Black Flag. Second and third prizes are $150 and $75 gift certificates from MDHB. Pretty cool stuff!
Homebrewing
For me, a homebrewer, the world is my oyster. If I try making enough beers, I will find that special pearl, that delicious beer. Entering a competition makes finding that “pearl” even harder, since the homebrew must be ready during a specific time frame. In this case, it is February 8-15. I am excited to enter a beer into the competition. The million dollar question is, what beer to enter? Should I make a hoppy IPA, a stout with cocoa and coffee flavors, perhaps a hoppy, apricoty beer or should I choose from the many belgian styles?
Mighty Pint Homebrew Competition
Before I answer that question, let me relate my one and only previous homebrew competition experience. It was 2 years ago, at the Towson University radio station competition, Mighty Pint Homebrew Competition. I learned of the competition about 5 weeks before submission. The beers were to be served to the public, as well as a panel of judges. I did not have a beer ready, so I turned to my go to IPA, Every Day is Saturday IPA. Past batches were delicious and popular among my friends. My head was filled with images of taking home first place, or at least placing. I had to rush my beer, since it usually is a 6 week process. The result was a flat beer with an off taste. Let’s call that off taste, “heather”.
I resolved the flatness with my handy SodaStream. The process of carbonating the beer live was kind of a spectacle, drawing lots of attention. We all served our beer outdoors in the pouring rain. Despite the rain, I had the opportunity to try other homebrewers’ beers and talk to beer lovers for hours. I was in heaven. Although a few found my “heather” beer interesting, my hopes of grandeur did not pan out. However, I resolved to enter another competition, this time being better prepared.
Homebrew Options
So, again, what beer to enter? Giving my past competitive experience, I do not want to rush my beer. My best bet is to use a beer already made and ready. Currently, I have 5 different homebrews in my beer cellar. The pumpkin with white labs 350 yeast, an actual cooking pumpkin and bourbon barrel flavors was quite different and a real hit for Thanksgiving. My collaborative tripel, was also bourbon barrel-aged, rivalling its clone, Curieux. The black “pearl” of my bourbon barrel beers, is a chocolate stout blended with bourbon and oak flavors. Many call it my best homebrew, ever. Unfortunately, these three are barrel-aged and therefore not eligible for submission in this competition. It is a shame, because all three are absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself.
That leaves two beers, a solid porter made about a year ago, and a Christmas specialty 
beer that I call Krampus. The porter is scrumptious, with a creamy mouthfeel and cocoa and coffee notes. It is the kind of beer that a brewery could easily make. It is also seasonally appropriate for February. Unfortunately, that beer is a collaborative beer, and not truly mine to claim. I will recommend that the brewer submit that beer. That leaves Krampus, a 14% brandy like beer that is pretty much flat and takes about a year to make, with 10 months of lagering. It is a big, unique beer, with cherry sweetness and a wonderful, warming alcohol flavor. Having it served at a brewery on tap with carbonation could be quite interesting.
My other option is to make a beer. With Krampus as my fallback option, I think I might give it a try. I have had success with a Sam Smith Winter Welcome clone that I was hoping to make anyway. I have just about 6 weeks, so, I see a brew day in my near future.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
Cheers!
Warren
Best of luck in the competition.
Thanks!
I was faced with the same dilemma. What beer to choose?
I found that many of my beers are still a bit green. So I narrowed my choices down to two. My Barleywine and Russian Imperial Stout been in bottle for 5 months or more.
It was a tough choice, but I ultimately decided to submit the Barleywine. I’ll be dropping it off today.
Very nice! Best of luck to you!