Welsh National HB Comp 2019

[dan125]

Feedback sheets are now available.

My wee heavy scored a 41 and came 3rd best in show. Pretty surprised by that but also well chuffed.

Congrats @JonBrew - that's a great score and to place in the BOS it must have been a cracker :hat:

I can see from the judges feedback that I still have an awful lot to learn about wood aged beers. I was worried my BIPA would get penalised because the wood character was too strong, but none of the 3 judges on the table could even perceive it in the beer

 

[JonBrew]

Congrats @JonBrew - that's a great score and to place in the BOS it must have been a cracker :hat:

I can see from the judges feedback that I still have an awful lot to learn about wood aged beers. I was worried my BIPA would get penalised because the wood character was too strong, but none of the 3 judges on the table could even perceive it in the beer

Cheers bud. Yeah it was a tasty beer but i always felt there was room for improvement with it. I brewed and bottled it early last year and both judges commented that they thought it had been well aged.

Judging seems to be a funny and subjective business - that's my impression at least based on the various feedback I've had from a good number of competitions. I've had beers judged very well in one comp but poorly in others within a short space of time. Sometimes you need to take the comments with a (heavy) pinch of salt.

 

[Ghillie]

Excellent John, nice work! Hats off.

Gutted as my Wee Heavy was lacking head retention which was noted on both score sheets. More oats next time I think.

Nonetheless, delighted as this is the first Wee Heavy I’ve brewed and I’ve never even tried one as I’m not overly fond of dark beers.

Here’s the crit sheets for those interested.

Once again, well done @JonBrew!

 

[JonBrew]

Excellent John, nice work! Hats off.

Gutted as my Wee Heavy was lacking head retention which was noted on both score sheets. More oats next time I think.

Nonetheless, delighted as this is the first Wee Heavy I’ve brewed and I’ve never even tried one as I’m not overly fond of dark beers.

Here’s the crit sheets for those interested.

Once again, well done @JonBrew!

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Thanks @Ghillie. 37 is a great score for a style you've never brewed before or tasted! Interesting to note there was only 4 points between an HM and 1st place in that category - good competition. The only criticism of my example was that carbonation was too low which I agree with. I've taken to using safbrew f2 yeast to ensure my big beers carbonate since I brewed this wee heavy - it works brilliantly.

 

[Ghillie]

Thanks @Ghillie. 37 is a great score for a style you've never brewed before or tasted! Interesting to note there was only 4 points between an HM and 1st place in that category - good competition. The only criticism of my example was that carbonation was too low which I agree with. I've taken to using safbrew f2 yeast to ensure my big beers carbonate since I brewed this wee heavy - it works brilliantly.

Yeah I’m well pleased, as I’m sure you are too!

Get the head retention sorted and I may well have been in the runnings. Still delighted.

Wow, 4 points - that’s a photo finish.

 

[RichardM]

I got 29 for my Bavarian Weizen, one of the judges commented, "Maybe higher wheat content would be better", he was right, there was no where near enough wheat in it as I discovered on brew day that I didn't have as much wheat malt in stock as I had thought.
The American Amber Ale got 30, one of the judges said wild yeast phenols had stripped the hop characteristics. The other judge said something similar but they liked the malt base. I knew there was something not right with it although it is still a good beer. I fermented it with yeast cultured up from dregs of Prober Job. I wonder if that is where the problem came from, although the judges suggested I look at my cleaning process.

I knew neither beer was great, so I'm not too disappointed with the scores and comments