Thread: Gary Foster's Beers

Just thought I'd post an update... the second round judging of the nationals is over and I didn't manage to place, although 3 of my beers went past first round (two firsts and a third). I think shipping them all the way to Florida in the middle of the heat probably didn't do them any favors. I haven't gotten the scoresheets back yet but it will be interesting to see the results. The prizes for the nationals are big and bring out the best of the best, so I'm privileged to even have gotten into the finals considering this is the first year I've competed at that level.

In case any of you are curious what a beer contest looks like, here's a picture a friend (who's involved in coordinating things like this) posted from the best of show judging round for the california state fair:


Imagine being one of those judges and trying to choose the single best beer from all those samples in front of you... those beers were just the ones that *advanced* from their respective flights and weren't all the total entries.

-- Gary F.

My dad brews his own (not as much as he used too) and he passed whatever test is given to be a beer judge at the competition level. He had said that while it can be fun...you have to taste some pretty crappy brew quite often.

That's definitely true. Generally when you get to the Best of Show round those are the creme de la creme. Also the finals for the nationals or the MCAB (masters championship of amateur brewing, you have to win a qualifying event to compete in it) generally all have very strong competitors. I'll be brewing a Scottish for the MCAB this year as well. It's the other rounds and the other contests that can be less than pleasant and as a judge you have to kiss a lot of frogs. I envy their dedication and stamina. You also have to realize that beer, unlike wine, needs to be swallowed in order to get all the flavor components and it's really hard after a while to differentiate and discriminate fine variations in beers after a long tasting round. I'm completely wiped out taste-wise after only 4 or 5 samples and these guys do 15 or so in each flight.

I've tasted some pretty crappy beers and I'm not even a judge. I'm also lucky that I've tasted some really good beers that just shock and amaze you, as well as tasting some good solid beers from new brewers that show real promise (like Mama Bear, /wave). It's a real treat when you can taste a beer, know that the underlying stuff is solid and with just a little encouragement and tweaking you can help push them over the edge into the world class categories.

Then of course there's the guy like my very first brew partner who will never ever ever make good beer because he doesn't care, as long as it's got alcohol he's happy. And of course some of my first batches were so bad I couldn't even force *myself* to choke them down.

Unfortunately those guys enter contests sometimes too...

-- Gary F.

Congrats on the three beers passing the first round ! Surely out of ALL of the Beer tested...I'm sure that must be an accomplishment!!

Whats listed on the score sheet ?

Colleen

Haven't gotten the second round scoresheets back yet, just the first round.

-- Gary F.

Just call me "Curious"...you know the kid who would ask questions all day long...and then ask "but whyyy". That would be me!

So forgive my curiosity....but I guess I'm wondering....whats on the score sheet?? (not number or score info) but does it list things like color....smell.....

Uhhhh...if its OK to ask...?

Colleen

Oh, lol, sorry... misunderstood you. Scoresheets have several different areas. They are broken down into aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression.

There are 50 points total, broken down thusly:

Aroma (comment on malt, hops, esters and other aromatics): 12 pts
Appearance (color, clarity, head retention, head color, head texture): 3 pts
Flavor (malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish, aftertaste, etc): 20 pts
Mouthfeel (body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, astringency, etc): 5 pts
Overall Impression: (overall drinking experience): 10 pts.

You get assigned points in each category, as well as comments. Here's some comments from my 60 shilling (a lighter version of the Scottish I sent Joe) from a comp where I scored a 42 overall with it:

Aroma (10/12): Malty, sweet, slightly fruity... very to style. No caramel or peat which would have been a plus

Appearance (3/3): Dark amber, low off-white head, ok retention. Very clear.

Flavor (15/20): Dry, moderately bitter, malty finish with some slight sweetness. Some caramel character. No to low hop flavor. Clean. Some peat. Very to style (as an asside, the judge was wrong, there's no peat malt in this recipe)

Mouthfeel (3/5): light carbonation, light to medium body, no warmth, little creaminess (all to style)

Overall impression (7/10): A great example of the style. This beer hits all the right points. It is almost but not quite too bitter; the style calls for mostly malty perhaps this is a little big for the style, might do better in 8-B (8-b is scottish 70 shilling).

This judge gave me a 38/50 overall. You usually have 2 or 3 judges and feedback sheets for each beer, and they average them for your final score. However the tricky thing is that the total points awarded for the final score isn't always an average, sometimes it's arbitrarily assigned. For instance, out of the 3 judges at this particular competition I got a 38, a 36 and a 36 but they gave me an overall score of 42 for 1st place. In addition, sometimes lower point beers will advance past higher point beers based on weird circumstances like what we call "mini best of show" rounds within the flights, etc. For example, I entered both my 60 shilling and my 70 shilling in the first round nationals, the 60 scored higher than the 70 but didn't advance, while the 70 took first in the category and did advance.

Basically, what happens is it's usually just best beer on the table wins. The scottish sheets aren't the best for feedback usually since they're a simpler style. You should see the feedback comments for a more complex style like stouts, porters, Belgians, etc. There's so many flavor constituents and different types of esters (flavors thrown by the yeast) that you get some crazy comments back... things like "hints of peach and apricot esters indicate mid to high fermentation temperatures as mandated by the style, nicely balanced against horseblanket character of the brettanomyces" (yes, that's for real lol).

-- Gary F.

and here's one for Miller's lite

Aroma(12/12): Smells like pee

Appearance(3/3): Looks like frothy pee

Flavor(20/20): Tastes like fresh frothy pee

Mouthfeel(5/5): Feels like someone frothily peed in the mouth

Overall impression(10/10): Gives a great pee drinking experience. A perfect model of the american pee beer drinking experience. This beer must be "Mountain Dew"!


no offense to those of you who like miller lite, you can substitute any american manufactured beer if you like. It's al the same to me .

Originally Posted by FUD

and here's one for Miller's lite

Aroma(12/12): Smells like pee

Appearance(3/3): Looks like frothy pee

Flavor(20/20): Tastes like fresh frothy pee

Mouthfeel(5/5): Feels like someone frothily peed in the mouth

Overall impression(10/10): Gives a great pee drinking experience. A perfect model of the american pee beer drinking experience. This beer must be "Mountain Dew"!


no offense to those of you who like miller lite, you can substitute any american manufactured beer if you like. It's al the same to me .

My dad wont let anyone in his house with american beer, he makes them leave the beer outside before they can come in lol.

Originally Posted by FUD

and here's one for Miller's lite

Aroma(12/12): Smells like pee

Appearance(3/3): Looks like frothy pee

Flavor(20/20): Tastes like fresh frothy pee

Mouthfeel(5/5): Feels like someone frothily peed in the mouth

Overall impression(10/10): Gives a great pee drinking experience. A perfect model of the american pee beer drinking experience. This beer must be "Mountain Dew"!


no offense to those of you who like miller lite, you can substitute any american manufactured beer if you like. It's al the same to me .

Substitute overall impression of most American megaswill: This beer reminds me of making love in a canoe...fu**ing close to water.

Ed