Seasonal Forum Competition - November 17

[DoctorMick]

In a recent thread about the forum competitions @The Idiot suggested a recurring competition with a loose brief. Rather than trying to explain it myself I'll just copy what he said at the time

I once used a forum for charcuterie and smoking, sadly now defunct as the owner died, but they ran competitions on a bi-monthly basis. The brief was always loose but contained one 'must do' thing. For example, make a sausage that includes and highlights prunes and brandy, or dry cure a piece of offal. There would always be a good lead time so people could discuss the brief.

What then followed would be a very lively (often the most active) thread on the forum as people discussed possibilities, methods, potential recipes, etc.. It didn't need to be a sticky because it was constantly being pushed to the top. The outcome was that people discussed recipes, helped each other with techniques and generally shared ideas. There was no secrecy, so everyone had a good idea of what the others were doing. It didn't matter, because even if a recipe was followed by everyone they'd all be different in some way. The activity in the thread saw more people interested and subsequently entry numbers increased.

Also, relavtive newcomers realised that they could still enter even with very basic products. Many of them would do so not just for the feedback, but also for the support and information they received along the way during the pre-judging period.

What was also very good was that all feedback was published in the thread too. Because people had discussed what they'd done, the feedback was interesting for everyone, even non competitors. It gave people a chance to see how various combinations or techniques had impacted on the final product.

The looseness of the brief meant you never had to make anything you didn't want to eat, but that there was a definitive point that would be judged. However, what was the real driver was that the threads were always active, informative and - because it was a competition of the loosest kind - humorous to boot!

So, with the above in mind I'd like to suggest that we spend a few weeks getting together suggestions and then settling on the theme of the November competition. After that, anyone who wishes to enter can discuss their plans etc on this thread. Standard competition rules would apply (post a bottle to the judge by the end of November etc) but in this case all feedback will be posted on the thread...it's always constructive anyway and with the themes it'll be great for us all to find out what worked and what didn't.

We'll need to find a judge if anyone is interested?

I'll definitely try and enter this, I'm sure we'll end up with a very interesting theme!

 

[dan125]

We'll need to find a judge if anyone is interested?

I think @TheIdiot should get first refusal, but if not I would be well up for judging this or a future Seasonal comp.

As for suggestions - my brain's a bit frazzled after a full on work week, but I suppose it needs to be something that keeps it very broad and open to all.

I've never made a fruit beer, but would something like including a particlar fruit mean every, kit, extract & AG brewer could get involved, or would it put people off, having to making a batch of a beer they may not want 40 pints of??

As its 'seasonal' how about a beer with a Xmas pudding ingredient?

Which makes me think - is Nov a bit soon for this comp?

 

[DoctorMick]

I think @TheIdiot should get first refusal, but if not I would be well up for judging this or a future Seasonal comp.

As for suggestions - my brain's a bit frazzled after a full on work week, but I suppose it needs to be something that keeps it very broad and open to all.

I've never made a fruit beer, but would something like including a particlar fruit mean every, kit, extract & AG brewer could get involved, or would it put people off, having to making a batch of a beer they may not want 40 pints of??

As its 'seasonal' how about a beer with a Xmas pudding ingredient?

Which makes me think - is Nov a bit soon for this comp?

With a fruit beer you could add the fruit to the fermenter so could split the batch rather than make 5 gallons? I've never made one but I'd give it a go, I'd be especially interested if the theme was a specific fruit.

Christmas pudding sounds good but, as you ialude to, it needs a good conditioning period.

November is 3 months away, I thought any longer than that and people's interest may wane? I'm happy to push it out if that's what people think is best tho.

 

[MickDundee]

November is the right time for a Christmas comp IMO because entries will need to be in 30 November with judging in December. If it was the December competition, judging would be in January and takes some of the "magic" away from a Christmas beer.

Even if we extend the deadline to, say, December 10th and judge in mid-December so it's more seasonal?

 

[dan125]

With a fruit beer you could add the fruit to the fermenter so could split the batch rather than make 5 gallons? I've never made one but I'd give it a go, I'd be especially interested if the theme was a specific fruit.

Christmas pudding sounds good but, as you ialude to, it needs a good conditioning period.

November is 3 months away, I thought any longer than that and people's interest may wane? I'm happy to push it out if that's what people think is best tho.

I'd be up for having a crack at a fruit beer too

With the Xmas pud idea I was thinking folks could pick a single ingredient that is found in a pud, so could be a fruit, spice or nut.

Think you're right about the timescale.

:thumb:

 

[The Idiot]

If you wanted to pin fruit down a bit, maybe go for berries of some type, as there's always a good selection available including frozen or tinned options. Plus, you'll have all the hedgerow stuff in September so people can forage for bits.

I think that doing something closer to Christmas might fall over as life tends to get in the way of good brewing intentions!

 

[The Idiot]

With the Xmas pud idea I was thinking folks could pick a single ingredient that is found in a pud, so could be a fruit, spice or nut

Suet Stout anyone?

 

[AlanManley]

I have previously made a cracking Blueberry IPA I'd throw in for a fruit/berry idea.

I do like the idea of a choc orange/brandy stout though...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Budgie]

I think this is a great idea. I've never used any fruit or spices in my brews so this could be a good excuse to get creative.

 

[dan125]

I have previously made a cracking Blueberry IPA I'd throw in for a fruit/berry idea.

I do like the idea of a choc orange/brandy stout though...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

choc orange stout is a great idea - think I'll have to have a crack at this regardless.:thumb:

 

[Old_P]

This sounds like a great idea, making a winter or other brew with berries incorporated. Just to have someone taste my beer and give me constructive feed back would be great. I'm not short of people who want to drink my beer, but I don't know anyone who brews and can give some good advice.
I'm not sure how much it will cost to send from Germany, but I'll look into it. Even without the feed back this sounds like a fun thing to do.

 

[hamster]

How would we go about submitting the entries ?

 

[MickDundee]

I've started considering doing a gingerbread amber ale for Christmas instead of a Christmas IPA, this thread might have just swung it!

 

[The Idiot]

Is it worth pinning this down as some might want to do a trial batch and some beer styles will need aging?

 

[DoctorMick]

How would we go about submitting the entries ?

Post a bottle to the nominated judge. As long as you pack it well it's safe enough.

 

[Bleery]

The chocolate orange stout sounds pretty interesting to me - would be happy to try using fruit for the first time too though.

 

[DoctorMick]

Is it worth pinning this down as some might want to do a trial batch and some beer styles will need aging?

Definitely. Are the 2 options suggested berry beer or Christmas pudding themed beer?

 

[The Idiot]

I think Berries or Flavours of Christmas (pudding kind of limits it a bit but if that's what people want go with it) seem to be the general contenders. Maybe this calls for a poll or just someone to read back and work out a consensus. My vote would be berries, because I've got hedgerows aplenty, but I'm easy!

 

[DoctorMick]

I think Berries or Flavours of Christmas (pudding kind of limits it a bit but if that's what people want go with it) seem to be the general contenders. Maybe this calls for a poll or just someone to read back and work out a consensus. My vote would be berries, because I've got hedgerows aplenty, but I'm easy!

That'd be my vote too.

@Chippy_Tea - can you add a poll to this thread or is that not possible?

 

[MickDundee]

I think Berries or Flavours of Christmas (pudding kind of limits it a bit but if that's what people want go with it) seem to be the general contenders. Maybe this calls for a poll or just someone to read back and work out a consensus. My vote would be berries, because I've got hedgerows aplenty, but I'm easy!

Yeah I'd prefer "flavours of Christmas", purely because I'm brewing a gingerbread brown ale (finally sorted my recipe despite it saying Amber in my sig) as this year's festive tipple and was hoping to enter it.