2012 UK National Homebrew Competition

[SamT]

A great event if not epic,some excellent beers, and certainly alot of them. The judges did really well and I'm sure they will have some thick heads in the morning all round well done to everybody involved and who entered.

I didn't have thick head from the stewarding . . . it was helping to empty the bottles left afterwards . . . . and then for some reason going with Ali, Sam and co to the local pub, for another beer or two and a game of pub skittles.

The walk back into central Bristol at 1 in the morning did little to clear my head. . . .

What a fantastic event organised by Ali, it was really good to meet with other forumites and CBA members, to talk brewing and drink beer.

Was good to meet you, and props to Ali for the organisation (and letting me split a bottle of Rogue Old Crustacean with him in return for a room for the night )

[Aleman]

Only one of my 3 beers is showing a score. Is there a significance or am I being impatient?

Thank you to everyone involved in organizing this!

You're being impatient. I should have them all entered into the system by tomorrow lunchtime.

HURRY UP!!! Anyone would think you had a life to lead as well as single handedly organising a National Event and doing all the background admin...

Not forgetting actually brewing!!

You also forgot to mention that he moved 170 miles from Bristol only 10 days before the comp as well

[BrotherLogic]

Any chance of all the scores being released at any point? Just curious about the score distributions within each category (I'm a stats nerd )

[WishboneBrewery]

All in - 465 entries

Categories grouped as follows:

Light Lager, Pilsner, European Amber Lager, Dark Lager - 14 entries
Bock - 5 entries
Light Hybrid Beer - 16 entries
Amber Hybrid Beer - 7 entries
English Pale Ales - 55 entries
Scottish and Irish Ale - 7 entries
American Ale - 37 entries
English Brown Ale - 5 entries
Porter - 25 entries
Stout - 42 entries
IPA - 57 entries
German Wheat and Rye - 14 entries
Belgian and French Ales - 42 entries
Sour Ale, Fruit Beer - 10 entries
Belgian Strong Ale - 28 entries
Strong Ale - 11 entries
Spice, Herb and Vegetable Beer - 19 entries
Smoke and Wood Aged Beer - 17 entries
Specialty Beer - 28 entries
New Zealand Pale Ale - 10 entries

Can we get to know how the groups were collapsed, I'd like to add something to my blog and what is the cut-off point for a style being collapsed into a wider style? Thanks

[orlando]

Hi all,

thanks to everyone involved for a great day.

Can anyone tell me what the marks are out of?

I have 3 scores out of 6 showing on the website and just wondered how good/bad they are

Ta

Where are they located? I can only see the winners, or is that the only scores available?

[WishboneBrewery]

Where are they located? I can only see the winners, or is that the only scores available?

If you log in you can see them on your entries page, be aware some may still be missing so don't panic just yet... I have some missing and my Ta Moko entry isn't there just like on the day

[alikocho]

Any chance of all the scores being released at any point? Just curious about the score distributions within each category (I'm a stats nerd )

They won't be released beyond those that are yours. The main reason for this is that scores and placings are not always in direct correlation in large categories judged by multiple panels that then carry out a mini-best of show at the table to determine placings. It's also worth remembering that judging is a highly subjective practice and the score is what that judge on that day gave it. From a statistical point of view, an analysis doesn't really serve much purpose that I can see. Competitions don't normally give out the data.

And then there's the ugly issue of data protection.

[alikocho]

All in - 465 entries

Categories grouped as follows:

Light Lager, Pilsner, European Amber Lager, Dark Lager - 14 entries
Bock - 5 entries
Light Hybrid Beer - 16 entries
Amber Hybrid Beer - 7 entries
English Pale Ales - 55 entries
Scottish and Irish Ale - 7 entries
American Ale - 37 entries
English Brown Ale - 5 entries
Porter - 25 entries
Stout - 42 entries
IPA - 57 entries
German Wheat and Rye - 14 entries
Belgian and French Ales - 42 entries
Sour Ale, Fruit Beer - 10 entries
Belgian Strong Ale - 28 entries
Strong Ale - 11 entries
Spice, Herb and Vegetable Beer - 19 entries
Smoke and Wood Aged Beer - 17 entries
Specialty Beer - 28 entries
New Zealand Pale Ale - 10 entries

Can we get to know how the groups were collapsed, I'd like to add something to my blog and what is the cut-off point for a style being collapsed into a wider style? Thanks

The general rule of thumb is to try to have things run at top level (i.e. the number of the category in the BJCP style guideline, with the letter as sub-category), which means that actually most things weren't collapsed. And then, it becomes an exercise in deciding what the smallest number of beers you will allow a category to run at along with being sensible about combinations. For example, there were 2 sour ales and 8 fruit beers (many on a sour base), so it made sense for sours to go with them, and the bitty breakdown of lagers meant it weas sensible to group them. Bock was not lumped in as there is a risk that bocks outdo otherwise very good beers on the 'bigger is better' scale of things.

A bit rambling, but I hope you can see some logic here. It's a pretty standard practice in making it work.

[rimski]

Ali

How would someone wanting to become a judge for next years show go about getting the relevant training/qualifications

Cheers

[alikocho]

Ali

How would someone wanting to become a judge for next years show go about getting the relevant training/qualifications

Cheers

Take the BJCP exam. You can study yourself, or you can follow a course for preparation similar to the one just run in Bristol. I need to think carefully about the next course in terms of geography, logistics and cost.

The next BJCP exam in the UK is scheduled for April. The list is currently full, with a long waiting list, but there may yet be space as people drop off it. If you want to be added to my list please let me know.

[alikocho]

Only one of my 3 beers is showing a score. Is there a significance or am I being impatient?

Thank you to everyone involved in organizing this!

You're being impatient. I should have them all entered into the system by tomorrow lunchtime.

HURRY UP!!! Anyone would think you had a life to lead as well as single handedly organising a National Event and doing all the background admin...

Not forgetting actually brewing!!

All in. Told you they'd be done by lunchtime.

[coatesg]

It was a lot of hard work but a great (if long!) day, and I'd echo the appreciation to all the people who helped put it on: judges, stewards, barbequers, other helpers and esp. Ali for getting the whole thing together and organised (Though there was an overwhelming late entry, we got through it all!).

Thanks for the kind words, Tom. Glad you and the judges enjoyed the beer - I honestly wasn't holding out much hope for my entries this year - I just haven't had any time to do much this year really (and hence I haven't been on here in a while too!).

Well done to all those who did well in the competition - there were a lot of good beers that narrowly didn't place despite scoring really high marks - just goes to show the standard of brewing in this country is definitely on the way up.

Also good to see many of you again, and meet many of you in the flesh for the first time (aleman, alix101, vacant, barney to name a few!).

[Stoat on a rope]

Good job Ali... I'm missing a score though entry# 191

[coatesg]

If any prize winners were able to post their recipes, I would be very interested, thanks!

My Schwarz is already in the Brewdays section - should be able to find it (called "San Fran Schwarzbier" on here)

[alikocho]

Good job Ali... I'm missing a score though entry# 191

I'll try to track it down.