AWESOME EVENT! Loved it - and was fantastic to meet some others from the forums, put names to faces and try some exceptional beers.
I do have one real criticism though - WAY too short. Just getting going at 5 and all wrapped up, wish it had have gone on till 8 and then a JBK mini-bus to the narrowboat... Didn't get to try anything like enough beer.
bosium wrote:Pdtnc, I tried your winning ale, it was delicious. I also had the good fortune to sample some of Flack's most excellent IPA and belgian pale, and a bit of lancssteve's smoked Marzen (talk about bacon beer!) amongst others. All delicious. My beer was Angry Yank, it took first in the non-Belgian specialty beer class. Really chuffed that it did well, and truly flattered to win anything at all, let alone the judge's choice award.
Cheers to lancssteve for introducing me to the wonderful thing that is pork scratchings and TT Landlord on cask at the narrowboat. I was so hammered by that stage that all I could manage was a steak dinner at the hotel before passing out - I woke up fully clothed at 3am with a mouth drier than Ghandi's sandals. Also the hotel was right next to a really belly church, so I slept like crap and have been nursing a shocking hangover all day
LOL - that's why you disappeared! Great to meet you - good to swap[ some bottles still blown away at a gift of westleverten!
simple one wrote:I won the Belgian beer category with "The Sky at Night". Most people congratulated me.... although a few were furious, and argued with me that the judges had got it all wrong and that they should have won! (These people were sober and it was not banter I might add!)
steve_flack wrote:I did hear a few rumblings about the Belgian beer category but I know the judge in that category and he knows his stuff.
Got to be one of the hardest categories to judge as 'style' is such a vague term. I noticed a tendency to emphasise a 'lack of banana' in many comments which I tend to associate more with german weissen than belgians. Present abundantly in some not in others - the comments were very useful and well-informed but there were themes that I considered to be one view of Belgian flavours that didn't match my experience in Bruges.
Aleman wrote: Will be waiting for feedback from the NCB as to when and where it will be held next year . . . If the NCB decide to organise it again . . . . I suspect it will be thrown out to all the groups again . . . and see if another group wants to do it.
Looking forward to it already
crookedeyeboy wrote:As someone who is not a total socks and sandals homebrewer,
OI! They're a practical solution to cold floors I'll have you know! As a defiant socks-and-slops wearer when brewing (with added advantage of 'warm foot sensor' which helps you spot a tap left open for example) I resent that comment...
crookedeyeboy wrote: I think they could have laid out the catagories a little clearer, they just assumed that everyone entering knew exactly what every catagory involved. Personally I entered my stout into the dry stout catagory and it could have easily gone into the dark beers section. I might just brew one beer next year and put it in all the catagories!
There were some exceptions like belgians in specialisty and non-belgians in belgian but I was VERY impressed with the organisation of the event and categories...
crookedeyeboy wrote:As Simpleone said there was a little bit of bickering on the Belgian table and TBH it put me off talking to certain people as thats not what the day was all about.
unclepumble wrote:I mentioned to someone I was sampling with that I prefered the fith placed entry to the 1st on the belgian table, as it was more to my taste, and they agreed with me as did a woman standing near us and someone went off like a bottle of pop, (we were just talking between ourselves and expressing an opinion)if that was you and we were the ones you were refering to I appologise It was not meant as a dig, or a slagging off of your beer, it was just not for me, I didn't even enter a beer in the belgians.
simple one wrote:I'm all for expressing opinions regarding what people prefer on the table and a bit of banter. But what I heard when coming over to that table was an assassination of the scoring and judging generally and the scoring and judging of particular beers on the table. It was loud enough to be heard by me stood at the other side of the table and I found it to be belittling peoples (not just mine) achievements.
Thankfully I didn't pick up on that - and hope I wasn't one of the 'bickerers', I thought the Belgian winner was beautifully balanced and a real cut above my abbaye entries and a deserving winner... Was really glad to see how many others were brewing that style. I got 6th for my Wit and remain very pleased and got some great compliments on it which made me *very* happy for only doing AG for a year and first ever comp. I thought it was both speciality tables were exceptional with varied interesting beers and styles - as I've mentioned above I thought that the judging was good but the phrase 'bananas' did seem to come up very often in comments on Belgians which to me represents some, but certainly not all belgian beers (and not really the ones I love), so there
was room for interpretation, comment and opinion but no place for the sour grapes of rejection, bickering or belittling. On the subject of sour though:
unclepumble wrote:aleds acid beer was like vinegar, they were apparantly both to style, but thats belgian beer for you, (The judge even refused to give the acid beer a score) very varied and an exciting class to sample & if you don't dip your toe in you don't know if you are going to like it.
TheMumbler wrote:Aled brewed some interesting beers...The acid beer was reminiscent of a gueze, not really my thing.
I rated his acid beer everyone else seemed to think it was just plain wrong! Needs saving, putting in oak and blending in with a younger version to create something truly deeply undrinkable but not sure it deserved 'ungraded' as it was perhaps a 'bit too Belgian'...
TheMumbler wrote:That was my saison, it showered the poor lady who opened it as well
. I did apologise. In my defence they are supposed to be fizzy when served chilled and it had warmed up.
Only bottle of that I've seen do that - still love that saison but guess you'll want the two bottles in my cellar back?
All in all a great day, some amazing beer just wish I'd had another couple of hours to meet people and sample! And still struggling to associate people I met with handles here - corookedeyeboy, bosium and pdtnc and Steve Flack yes, others a little (ahem) hazy - maybe the 5pm finish was a good idea after all!
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