Homebrew competition feedback

Once the holidays are over it will be time for me to start brewing for the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) 2016. With this in mind I thought it would be a good time to evaluate the results from the 2015 entries and assess which ones, if any, would be worth re-brewing and entering the ‘hopefully’ improved versions of the recipes.

Each year the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) organize a national competition for its members to submit beer, cider and mead entries. NHC consists of two rounds with the first one being regional and then all medal winners in each category going through to the final round which is judged at the annual National Homebrew Conference.

First & Final Rounds

In early 2015 I brewed and submitted the following beers to NHC 2015 and shipped 2 bottles of each entry to Zainesville, Ohio, during March:

• Dunkels Weissbier (15B)
• English IPA (14A)
• Kölsch (6C)
• Northern German Altbier (7A)

The entries were judged mid-April and shortly after I could see the results on the competition web site. The entries were judged according to the BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines and awarded marks based on Aroma, Appearance, Flavor, Mouthfeel and Overall Impression with a final mark being averaged over two score sheets from two qualified judges. The score is out of 50 marks.

The First Round results were as follows:

• Dunkels Weissbier
  score = 28.5 (good)
  award = Bronze in style
• English IPA
  score = 27 (good)
  award = Bronze in style
• Kölsch
  score = 40.5 (excellent)*
  award = Gold in style & 3rd place in the ‘Light Hybrid Beer’ category
• Northern German Altbier
  score = 24.5 (good)

* went on to receive a mark of 37 (very good) in the Final Round. More bottles were shipping in May and judged mid-June.

In the following sections I will evaluate and summarize the feedback which comes together with the marks and comments on the BJCP score sheets.

Dunkels Weissbier

First Round score sheet (BJCP Certified & National judges):

• Aroma – 9/12 & 7/12
  • Malt = Bready, Grainy & Toasty
  • Esters = Banana
  • Other = Clove
  • Comments = Beautiful Munich malt aroma of breadcrusts and light in aroma.
• Appearance – 2/3 & 2/3
  • Beer = Brown/Black
  • Head = Beige/Cream
  • Head Texture = Fluffy
  • Other = Lace
• Flavor – 10/20 & 10/20
  • Malt = Bready, Grainy & Toasty
  • Esters = Banana
  • Other = Clove
  • Balance = Malty/Even
  • Comments = Acidic finish is too dominant and overpowering the malt profile (which I hoped would be more dominant & complex).
• Mouthfeel – 3/5 & 3/5
  • Finish = Dry
  • Comments = Just a little astringent & puckeringly dry on the finish.
• Overall Impression – 6/10 & 5/10
  • Comments = Missing soft bready characteristics that are a hallmark fo the style.
• Score = 28.5/50 (30/50 & 27/50)

Assessment against the BJC style guidelines:

• Aroma – to style.
• Appearance – too dark in color.
• Flavor – had the correct malt profile and esters but the acidity was overpowering.
• Mouthfeel – missing the richness and fullness but was instead too dry and astringent.

Verdict:

As feared the color adjustment with Chocolate Wheat probably made the color too dark and contributed to the astringency. Perhaps mashing slightly higher may also counter the dryness and reduce the amount of attenuation plus contribute to a richer and fuller mouthfeel.

English IPA

First Round score sheet (BJCP Novice & Grand Master judges):

• Aroma – 6/12 & 6/12
  • Malt = Bready & Caramel
  • Hops = Floral
  • Esters = Fruity
  • Comments = Light medicinal phenols in nose. Light green apple, subtle malt, no hop aroma.
• Appearance – 2/3 & 2/3
  • Beer = Copper
  • Head = Beige/Ivory
  • Other = Lace
  • Comments = Dark for style
• Flavor – 10/20 & 10/20
  • Malt = Bready, Caramel & Rich
  • Hops = Earthy
  • Esters = Fruity & Apple
  • Other = Smoke
  • Balance = Even
  • Comments = Phonels less in flavor, light acetaldehyde.
• Mouthfeel – 3/5 & 3/5
  • Finish = Medium
  • Comments = Light drying note at finish. Lingering husky/grassy notes.
• Overall Impression – 6/10 & 6/10
  • Comments = Likely had chlorine/chloramine in brewing water made chlorophenols. Use R.O. or bottled spring water or treat with campden tablet.
• Score = 27/50 (27/50 & 27/50)

Assessment against the BJC style guidelines:

• Aroma – I believe the lack of hop aroma could be overcome by dry-hopping with whole flowers rather than pellets. The presence of medicinal phenols throws me slightly because I charcoal filter tap water and then leave it overnight to off-gas chlorine. Perhaps the use of campden tablets might help further reduce this.
• Appearance – the color adjustment with Chocolate Wheat may have been slightly too much in this recipe and resulted in a slightly too darker beer.
• Flavor – as with the Aroma, dry-hopping with whole flowers rather than pellets might help here. Same goes for using campden tablets. Not sure where the smoke flavor comes from.
• Mouthfeel – these are pretty much according to style.

Verdict

The improvements regarding water treatment and dry-hopping are relatively easy to make.

Kölsch

First Round score sheet (BJCP Novice & Certified judges):

• Aroma – 10/12 & 10/12
  • Esters = Apple/Pear
• Appearance – 3/3 & 3/3
  • Head = White
• Flavor – 15/20 & 16/20
  • Malt = Grainy
  • Hops = Floral
  • Esters = Apple/Pear
  • Balance = Even
• Mouthfeel – 4/5 & 5/5
  • Finish = Medium/Dry
• Overall Impression – 7/10 & 8/10
  • Comments = Nice job!
• Score = 40.5/50 (39/50 & 42/50)

Final Round score sheet (BJCP National & Certified judges):

• Aroma – 9/12 & 6/12
  • Malt =Grainy & Bready
  • Hops = Citrusy, Floral & Herbal
  • Esters = Fruity, Apple/Pear
  • Comments = Hops & grain dominate aroma. Hops are floral like hibiscus & rose. Malts are Pils in character. The touch of citrus hops are nice but noticeably out of style.
• Appearance – 3/3 & 3/3
  • Beer = Yellow/Gold
  • Head = White
  • Other = Lace
  • Comments = Brilliant gold clarity with a yellow head that is smooth & sudsy. Head is persistent.
• Flavor – 16/20 & 14/20
  • Malt = Bready
  • Hops = Citrusy & Floral
  • Esters = Fruity
  • Balance = Even
  • Comments = Hops are more dominant than expected given aroma. Malts are present but hops win the balance. Very nice balance. Some light fruit is present. Some corn-like present with some honey in sweetness. Even some spice here. Clean ferment missing Kolsch yeast character. the beer is really close to a Pale Ale over a Kolsch.
• Mouthfeel – 4/5 & 5/5
  • Finish = Dry
  • Comments = Medium-light body with good carbonation. Creamy with just a touch of astringency which is ok.
• Overall Impression – 7/10 & 7/10
  • Comments = Congratulations on making NHC Finals. You’ve got a great beer but just off the mark. Take a look at the hoping.
• Score = 37/50 (39/50 & 35/50)

Assessment against the BJC style guidelines:

• Aroma – perhaps a little strong on the malt but the Apple/Pear noted by the judges is to style.
• Appearance – the color, clarity and head appear perfectly to style.
• Flavor – not sure where the citrusy observations from one judge came from as the others did not pick this up.
• Mouthfeel – appears right according to style.

Verdict

This beer appears to be close to spot on but could probably be improved by a slightly lower mash temperature which would allow it to attenuate a bit more and restrain the maltiness whilst at the same time upping the alcohol content slightly towards the upper half of the ABV range. Lagering might also help with rounding out and smoothing out the flavor whilst giving the hops time to lose their intensity.

Northern German Altbier

First Round score sheet (BJCP Novice & National judges):

• Aroma – 6/12 & 4/12
  • Malt = Toasty, Bready & Dark Fruit
  • Esters = Dried Fruit
  • Other = Oxy
  • Comments = Less aroma, huge raisin dominates, strong oxidation (sweet aroma).
• Appearance – 2/3 & 2/3
  • Beer = Brown
  • Head = Tan & Creamy
• Flavor – 10/20 & 8/20
  • Malt = Bready & Dark Fruit
  • Hops = Citrusy
  • Esters = Dried Fruit & Grape
  • Comments = Soapy, touch of noble hops, strong oxidation, grapey, modified malt, cardboard finish.
• Mouthfeel – 2/5 & 3/5
  • Finish = Biting & Dry
• Overall Impression – 6/10 & 6/10
  • Comments = Needs more malt character. Oxidation & grape esters too distracting.
• Score = 24.5/50 (26/50 & 23/50)

Assessment against the BJC style guidelines:

• Aroma – this should have been more restrained and is probably due to fermenting slightly too high at 68 deg F.
• Appearance – slightly too dark due to the Chocolate Wheat adjustment.
• Flavor – unsure where the citrus hop notes came from as Spalt hops were used which should be mild and herbal with spicy, floral and fruit tones. The fruity esters would be addressed by dropping the fermentation temperature as with the aroma. The oxidation and soapy comments are a concern and may be down to a leaking cap on the bottle?
• Mouthfeel – the dryness is not desirable and doesn’t come from attenuation because this beer finished at 1.016 FG.

Verdict

Reducing the fermentation temperature from 68 deg F to 65 may tackle the fruity esters produced in both the aroma and flavor. Reducing the color adjustment would lighten this beer and make it more in line with the style guidelines. The concern is the oxidation and how this came about.

Conclusions

Even with the modifications that could be made for the Dunkels Weiss in the relevant Verdict section this is probably not going to get this beer beyond mid-30’s at best so not a recipe to re-brew for competition.

For the English IPA changing the dry-hopping from pellets to whole flowers and adding a campden tablet to the water are both easy plus reducing the color adjustment but once again would this take this beer from high-20’s to much above mid-30’s score-wise? I suspect not so not a recipe to re-brew for competition.

With the Northern German Altbier making a fermentation temperature adjustment to remove the fruity esters and flavors is easy to do as is lightening the color but the oxidation is harder to fathom. I suspect making these adjustments would not raise the score sufficiently from it’s current mid-20’s so in order to re-brew this style I would search out an alternative recipe.

Finally onto the most successful of the 4 beers, the Kölsch, which with some tweaks regarding mashing temperature and lagering could perhaps move this from being a late 30’s beer into the early or possibly even mid-40’s. This is one beer I will definitely re-brew and enter into NHC 2016.

Comments or questions? If you have any comments or questions on this article please do not hesitate to leave them below.