Garrison Comp

[Tim Gregory]

Yup, every beer was judged by 3 or 4 judges on the official scoresheets which the brewers should receive at the gala. I for one am in no hurry to drink another weizen, or write the word "banana".

[Keith]

Should have got creative and drew a banana instead lol.

[chalmers]

I wanted to try mine, to get an idea if *I* would have advanced it to the second round, given what I drank Saturday. (I hadn't drunk mine for several weeks, so I wouldn't taint my perception).

One thing mine had going for it that lots did not was the carbonation and creaminess that is important for the style. The aroma of mine was some banana, but more bubblegum (which can be present, but not dominating).

So it *might* have advanced, but wouldn't win, based on the nicer ones our table sent through.

I probably shouldn't be commenting at all on the comp, so that's enough of out of me.

[jacinthebox]

is the gala at the brewery??? I understand it's on March 13th

[Jayme]

One thing mine had going for it that lots did not was the carbonation and creaminess that is important for the style.

We did the same thing after going home. Ours suffered from lower carbonation than it should have - I judged at a different table but can make the same comment. I think the second round is going to be very difficult to narrow down to the final 4 - the ones that did move on were pretty much spot on for the style, so I really don't know how they will pick just 4! I don't want to say too much until after the Gala, but afterwards, us judges can give some general advice to everyone that will help increase the overall scores - there were a number of beers at our table which would score much higher with very minor adjustments (or in some cases, lack thereof!).

And for any of you who think judging is a walk in the park, you try slowly sampling and contemplating 29 (+1 more at home) Weizens over the span of 6 hours, the whole while drinking only enough to become tired but not drunk! It was a hell of a lot more difficult than I was expecting!!

[jacinthebox]

I'm hoping that my attempt to carb at 3.8vols came through...the last bottle I sampled had a thick creamy head with lots of carb...we'll see

[Jayme]

That's a good sign. Daniel (head brewer for Garrison) was very adamant that the beers be properly carbonated, essentially above all else. I tend to disagree with this approach (appearance is only 3/50 and mouthfeel is 5/50 on the BJCP score sheet) as you could have an amazing Weizen with lower carbonation and simply fix that when brewing the commercial batch. Now that said, I don't think we encountered any that were amazing and had completely inadequate carbonation at our table.

[mr x]

I think the second round is going to be very difficult to narrow down to the final 4 - the ones that did move on were pretty much spot on for the style, so I really don't know how they will pick just 4!

So how many move to the next round?

[Keith]

I'm looking forward to having my beer looked at, atleast then I'll know what I did right and wrong. Hoping for some bluntness in the review to be honnest.

[jacinthebox]

I'm looking forward to having my beer looked at, atleast then I'll know what I did right and wrong. Hoping for some bluntness in the review to be honnest.

I hope they lie to me and tell me that it's awesome......comments like "don't change a thing"...and..."we can taste the love"...

[Keith]

I get that from the guys popping over to drink free beer lol.

[jacinthebox]

they can't be wrong ...if they are, I'm not gonna tell'em lol

[Jayme]

I think the second round is going to be very difficult to narrow down to the final 4 - the ones that did move on were pretty much spot on for the style, so I really don't know how they will pick just 4!

So how many move to the next round?

Our table judged 29 entries and moved 3 of those on to the next round. I believe the other two tables moved forward 5 and 4. So we should have 12 total in the second round if I'm correct on what the other two tables put forward.

[Keith]

That's pretty good, almost 16% of the entries moved on to round 2.

[amartin]

What determines if a beer makes it to the second round? Is it whether or not it's in style, or if it doesn't have any obvious flaws?

[Jimmy]

Why aren't you guys judging the 2nd round?

[chalmers]

What determines if a beer makes it to the second round? Is it whether or not it's in style, or if it doesn't have any obvious flaws?

It had to be a great Weizen, so true to style, and no flaws (or the one it had was just a minor one).

[chalmers]

Why aren't you guys judging the 2nd round?

Because that's how the judging was set up. If you're looking for an answer beyond that, best to ask the Garrison folks.

BJCP judges will be judging the Final Four.

[chalmers]

I think the second round is going to be very difficult to narrow down to the final 4 - the ones that did move on were pretty much spot on for the style, so I really don't know how they will pick just 4!

So how many move to the next round?

As Jayme said above, roughly a dozen.

[Jayme]

Why aren't you guys judging the 2nd round?

Because that's how the judging was set up. If you're looking for an answer beyond that, best to ask the Garrison folks.

BJCP judges will be judging the Final Four.

It kind of makes sense to me to have the Garrison folks narrow it down to 4 in a sense - they are the ones who need to sell the beer and have an idea of what they're looking for. We were just lackeys to filter things out! haha. Though I do hope they involve some legit judges for that process - I suppose Tracy will presumably be involved?

As long a day as it was though, I think the quality of the feedback will be much better this year - albeit not perfect, but having 11 people narrow it down is much better than 1 person. I know if I were in his shoes other years, but the end I just wouldn't give a shit! I know my biggest beef about the whole thing years gone past was the quality of the feedback, which now that I've experienced the other side, I can completely understand why it was what it was given the circumstances.

[redoubt]

Sounds like a reasonable way to have the thing judged.

Having tasted five or six weizens plus my own, I'm officially sick of the stuff. I can only imagine you poor judges! *shudder* I know you've all volunteered your time for this so thanks guys. It's been fun and, from the sounds of it, you've taken care to give us brewers some good feedback. Rock on.


-Kirsten

[Jayme]

Certainly hope people find the feedback good! One challenge I did find, is on some beers that were flawed, I can't easily pinpoint where the brewer went wrong without hearing their exact process. So if you do get a score sheet back and a flaw is identified but lacks useful advice on how to fix it, I would encourage you to e-mail the judges to provide more info and I'm sure most of us would be happy to give greater insight. That said - just remember to be nice! Remember, we're all volunteers

[Keith]

Certainly hope people find the feedback good! One challenge I did find, is on some beers that were flawed, I can't easily pinpoint where the brewer went wrong without hearing their exact process. So if you do get a score sheet back and a flaw is identified but lacks useful advice on how to fix it, I would encourage you to e-mail the judges to provide more info and I'm sure most of us would be happy to give greater insight. That said - just remember to be nice! Remember, we're all volunteers

I believe anyone going into a competition where their product is judged should expect critical feed back lol, and suck it up for what it is!

[Keith]

Apparently they have it narrowed down to a final 4. Best of luck gents. Hope 4 Brewnosers end up getting the call.

[jacinthebox]

Wonder when they will announce the final 4