2015 London and Southeast Craft Brewing Competition
Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:12 pm
I had an opportunity to be in London, UK to volunteer as a judge for the 2015 London & Southeast Craft Brewing Competition in Hackney Wick, NE London at Truman's Brewery at the eastern border of the Olympic village in late April. This was a home-brew competition open to all beer styles with a 250 entry limit. I thought it would be great to see how the UK home brewing scene was doing and meet some fellow international brewers. I was not dissapointed!
http://londonandsoutheast.brewcompetition.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It was a one day event, with judging starting at 9:30am and went until around 1:30p. Afterwards there was a festival in which remaining entry bottles were available on tables grouped by style for the public to try and rate and give a score. Entries were judged by major beer style groups like one for #10: American Ales, #8 English Pale Ales, etc. I was assigned to judge English Pale Ales (20 entries) with another BJCP judge and two apprentice judges. The beer score sheet was a modified version of the standard BJCP scoresheet and it took me some time to get used to. There was a section on condition, which I was told meant to comment on the bottle conditioning (bubbles, packed yeast, etc). I found this part somewhat difficult to judge on and separate from the standard appearance and carbonation/mouthfeel. I went with it though and did my best to try and judge what they were looking for.
Another aspect of the event was a competition for best beer label, which was kinda neat. There were some pretty creative labels. However, I was there for the beer, so didn't really pay much attention to the labels. I also had a chance to try some of what Truman's had on tap. Good, solid craft beers. They have a 40 barrel system and I had a chance to have a short conversation over a frankfurter in between beer tastings with their brewer, German-born and trained Benedikt Ott. He seems committed to the heritage of Truman's but pulling it into the present with the latest trend of american hopped pales. However, the standard British pales are the foundation of their lineup. They're brewed well and great quality session beers.
I think the event went well with a high number of stewards available to take care of arranging all the beers for the judges. It's a great hb community happening in London (and apparently in Bristol as well). From what I understand ingredients are a bit hard to come by, internet orders mostly. Lot's of apartment brewers. I also met someone who started a small scale home brewing company called Homebrewtique, with a similar business model to the Brooklyn Brewshop in NYC in which they sell a small (1 gallon?) BIAB setup for small spaces plus beer kits to use on their systems. This concept makes sense in a large city with small apartments and homes. Overall, great to meet some fellow home brewers and judges in another country. The vibe is the same, very friendly group that's super passionate about beer making and tasting- my kinda crowd!
Some pics from the afternoon public event after the judging - sorry, I was busy tasting/celebrating my PhD defence so had little time to photo-document
http://londonandsoutheast.brewcompetition.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It was a one day event, with judging starting at 9:30am and went until around 1:30p. Afterwards there was a festival in which remaining entry bottles were available on tables grouped by style for the public to try and rate and give a score. Entries were judged by major beer style groups like one for #10: American Ales, #8 English Pale Ales, etc. I was assigned to judge English Pale Ales (20 entries) with another BJCP judge and two apprentice judges. The beer score sheet was a modified version of the standard BJCP scoresheet and it took me some time to get used to. There was a section on condition, which I was told meant to comment on the bottle conditioning (bubbles, packed yeast, etc). I found this part somewhat difficult to judge on and separate from the standard appearance and carbonation/mouthfeel. I went with it though and did my best to try and judge what they were looking for.
Another aspect of the event was a competition for best beer label, which was kinda neat. There were some pretty creative labels. However, I was there for the beer, so didn't really pay much attention to the labels. I also had a chance to try some of what Truman's had on tap. Good, solid craft beers. They have a 40 barrel system and I had a chance to have a short conversation over a frankfurter in between beer tastings with their brewer, German-born and trained Benedikt Ott. He seems committed to the heritage of Truman's but pulling it into the present with the latest trend of american hopped pales. However, the standard British pales are the foundation of their lineup. They're brewed well and great quality session beers.
I think the event went well with a high number of stewards available to take care of arranging all the beers for the judges. It's a great hb community happening in London (and apparently in Bristol as well). From what I understand ingredients are a bit hard to come by, internet orders mostly. Lot's of apartment brewers. I also met someone who started a small scale home brewing company called Homebrewtique, with a similar business model to the Brooklyn Brewshop in NYC in which they sell a small (1 gallon?) BIAB setup for small spaces plus beer kits to use on their systems. This concept makes sense in a large city with small apartments and homes. Overall, great to meet some fellow home brewers and judges in another country. The vibe is the same, very friendly group that's super passionate about beer making and tasting- my kinda crowd!
Some pics from the afternoon public event after the judging - sorry, I was busy tasting/celebrating my PhD defence so had little time to photo-document
