Brewing Award Winning Beer & Being True to Style Presented by Randy Scorby Free Powerpoint Templates

The right beer, On the right day, With the right judges. What is an award winning beer? The right beer, On the right day, With the right judges.

Maintaining The Edge There are great beers entered in every competition, make sure your entries have the stylistic nuances that make them rise to the top. Avoid the hangnails!!!

Thermometers & hydrometers calibrated? Know Your System! System efficiency Temperature loss Thermometers & hydrometers calibrated? Grain mill properly set? Attention to detail!!

Keep your brewing equipment clean! Cleaning and Sanitation Keep your brewing equipment clean! Know where bugs can hide and focus on those areas. Inspect your fermenters before every brew. Beware of beer stone!! Stainless!!!

Beer Stone A grayish brown substance made of calcium oxalate and organic substances that forms on the interior surfaces of your brewing equipment.

Beer Stone Beer stone will build up and eventually flake off on the inside of your brewing equipment and beer lines if not properly cleaned. High levels of beer stone may also have a negative effect on the flavor of your beer.

Practice the three ‘S’ of brewing: Cleaning and Sanitation Practice the three ‘S’ of brewing: Sanitation!

The Beer Wave

The reverse is also true. Your Beer is Ever Changing Beer is alive, and is constantly changing and evolving. A beer that is spot on when you bottle may not be on competition day. The reverse is also true.

Some types of Oxidation; Vegetal character; Inappropriate phenols; Can I Fix It??? Infections; Some types of Oxidation; Vegetal character; Inappropriate phenols; Light-struck; Metallic; Fusel alcohol.

Use the freshest ingredients possible. Sample your grains, smell your hops, taste your water,get the best date on your yeast as possible.

Ingredients Use ingredients indigenous to the style being brewed. If you’re brewing a German Pilsner use German malt, noble hops, and a German yeast strain.

Do you use book recipes or formulate your own? Recipe Formulation Do you use book recipes or formulate your own? Once you brew a winner do you continue to tweak the recipe or leave it alone?

Recipe Formulation Don’t try to get too fancy. Sometimes it’s easier to determine what to add than what to remove.

I start out using the KISS method when brewing new styles: Recipe Formulation I start out using the KISS method when brewing new styles: Keep It Super Simple

Recipe Formulation When brewing stylistically accurate beer, review the BCJP style guidelines carefully for the stylistic requirements, then tailor your recipe to fit well within them.

Recipe Formulation When brewing a specialty beer style, dial in your base recipe first before adding specialty character. Judges are looking for a balance between adjuncts and the base beer.

Classic Rauchbier – BJCP 22A Smoke Screen Classic Rauchbier – BJCP 22A OG: 1.055 FG: 1.012 IBU: 28 SRM: 12

Smoke Screen Weyermann Rauchmalz – 70.4% Weyermann Pils Malt – 11.2% Weyermann Munich II – 10.2% Weyermann Caravienne 51L – 7.1% Weyermann Carafa II 400L – 1% 1.6 oz Tettnang 4%A, 28.8 IBU @ 60 .5 Tsp Irish Moss @ 15 .5 Tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @ 15 Wyeast 2633 Oktoberfest Blend

Single decoction mash, initial rest at 143 degrees. Smoke Screen Single decoction mash, initial rest at 143 degrees. Hold at 155 degrees for 20 minutes then boil for 10 minutes. Return to main mash and hold at 152 under conversion is complete. Fly sparge at 168 until pre-boil amount reached.

Do not allow gravity to fall below 1.012 while sparging. Smoke Screen Do not allow gravity to fall below 1.012 while sparging. Boil for 90 minutes, cool to 45 degrees and pitch yeast.

Planning & Organization Equipment Clean & Ready Grains – Double crush? Brewing Day Planning & Organization Equipment Clean & Ready Grains – Double crush? Water Treatment Hop Additions Avoid unnecessary harshness!!!

Vary mash type for style being brewed. Brewing Day Mash Vary mash type for style being brewed. An infusion mash will produce many fine beer styles, but consider a decoction mash for most lager, and some ale, styles.

Boiling the grist will not create astringency. Brewing Day A decoction mash can develop a rich and refined malt character, better clarity, and a darker color. Boiling the grist will not create astringency.

Choose the proper strain What do you want your yeast to do? Yeast Choice Choose the proper strain What do you want your yeast to do? Five considerations: Style of beer brewed Flavor Profile Fermentation Temps Attenuation Flocculation

Pitch the correct amount- -1.055 direct pitch 1.055 – 1.070 starter Yeast Choice Pitch the correct amount- -1.055 direct pitch 1.055 – 1.070 starter +1.070 starter beer

Yeast Choice Don’t be afraid to experiment with yeast. Try splitting your batch between two or more yeasts to determine which works best with your recipe.

Understanding Beer Styles A Belgian Tripel is not a sugar bomb! American IPA and IIPA do not require harsh hop bitterness to be stylistically correct.

Understanding Beer Styles The best way to understand beer styles is to drink them!! Home brew club meetings – pick a category and compare each style.

Entering Your Beer If you’re happy with your beer, enter it!! Don’t be too concerned if the nuances were present before but are missing on bottling day, it may be riding the beer wave.

Entering Your Beer Understand that some styles are meant to be served fresh, and some are suitable for aging.

Entering Your Beer Always have a control bottle on hand to sample when you receive your score sheets.

Understand the Competitions Demographics Pro vs. Amateur Know your judge pool

Judging beer makes a better brewer BJCP Member? bjcp.org Judging beer makes a better brewer

Judging Beer Three step process Beer Judge Entrance Exam – Online exam, consists of 200 questions in 60 minutes. Pass or fail.

Judging Beer Beer Judging Exam Six beers are judged as if in a competition in 90 minutes. Evaluated on Perceptive and Descriptive abilities, as well as Completeness and providing relevant Feedback.

Written Proficiency Exam Judging Beer Written Proficiency Exam 20 true/false questions and five essay questions. Requires a minimum score of 80 on the Judging Exam to take.

Group beer tasting & evaluation sessions Improve your Palate Sensory Training Group beer tasting & evaluation sessions Books are great resources, but nothing can replace learning from your beer.

Designing Great Beers – Ray Daniels Beer & Brewing Library Designing Great Beers – Ray Daniels New Brewing Lager Beer – Greg Noonan Brewing Better Beer – Gordon Strong

Yeast – Chris White with Jamil Zainasheff Beer & Brewing Library Yeast – Chris White with Jamil Zainasheff How to Brew – John Palmer The Classic Beer Style Series BJCP Style Guidelines

Be your own worst critic!!! Summary Be your own worst critic!!! Never stop trying to improve your brewing processes and your beer. Formulate your own recipes.

Maintain a clean brewery. Get out of your comfort zone. Summary Maintain a clean brewery. Get out of your comfort zone.

Questions??