Good morning. Want to push your homebrewing to the next level? You could try to be like this homebrewer who attempted to make a 3,000 year old beer recipe using rare figs and an ancient yeast strain.

He clearly was bit by the Sam Calagione bug.

-Brandon Copeland

The Results Are In... AHA Homebrew Competition

This year I entered my first homebrewing competition; not because I thought I was going to win (spoiler alert: I didn’t) but because I wanted to see how the process worked, and to share it with you all. I entered the AHA Homebrew Competition, the biggest in the United States, and I just received the results this week.

Results Are In: 27/50

I received the results by email, and they were actually incredibly thorough - the review was done by two separate certified cicerones with detailed notes on the different qualities of the beer. The categories included aroma, appearance, flavor, and mouthfeel.

The cicerone’s graded each category and left detailed notes - it was really interesting to have two separate opinions. One of the cicerones said that the beer was oxidized and it took away from the flavor - possibly an issue with the bottle. The other cicerone did not cite this and mostly just blamed low carbonation and bitterness, which is a review that I agree with more.

The two grades were then averaged together, a 25 and a 29, for the average score of 27. This puts it in the “Good” range, which I would agree with - it’s not the best beer I’ve ever made, but definitely a solid pale ale. I plan on brewing it again with some tweaks to try to improve the quality of the beer. With this feedback, I have ideas on how to adjust the recipe and improve it on future brews.

Links:

1. Competition Results

2. Recipe on Brewgr

Beer Trivia Question

🍺 When and where did the first homebrewing competition take place?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Homebrewing Equipment Deal

15% Off All Kegs and Kegging Equipment

If you’ve been looking to get into kegging or to expand your kegging setup, Adventures in Homebrewing is having a 15% off sale on all kegging options. There are some exclusions, but this can be a great chance to get some equipment you have been eyeing recently.

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

Good Buddy APA-- Small Batch BIAB

If you’re looking for a reliable pale ale that also celebrates the pups, this APA is for you. With a grain bill dominated by Pale 2 Row with Perle hops front and center, this pale ale would be perfect on a hot summer day.

Credit: BigDan

Poll Results: Are You Brewing Any Lagers This Summer?

The response was generally yes for brewing lagers this summer, and the ones who said yes generally didn’t have a setup that would allow them to ferment under cooler temperatures. It seems like Czech lagers are at the top of most people’s lists.

And the Answer Is...

🍺 In 1979 in Boulder, Colorado the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrew Competition kicked off with only 34 entries. As of 2023, ~163,000 homebrew entries have been evaluated, making it the largest homebrew competition in the world.