October 2019 Competition - Dark Beers

Tim Hunt said:

I’ll be judging next weekend if anyone else wants to send anything. There’s still time

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Can you send me your details got one to post

I only bottled a mild yesterday so it will not be ready to drink for another month at least, I will keep a bottle for the next dark round.

@Tim Hunt you judging tonight mate?

And did my beers arrive in one piece?

How did the judging go @Tim Hunt ?

SteveH said:

How did the judging go @Tim Hunt ?

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He must still be recovering from the rigours of tasting them!

If he's still 'tired' on Monday, it must have been a mammoth session!

Hi all, I ended up having to judge this on my own as friends ended up busy. Given the weakest beer was 5.5% and a decent amount were 8-9% and there were 12 received in total, I’ve split the judging over a few days. Also one more beer turned up yesterday so I’ll be judging that tonight and I’ll send out the feedback to everyone tomorrow and I’ll pick a winner. Had some really interesting and decent beers which I’ve been really impressed with.

Also, when I pick a winner do I share the feedback on it on here or just declare a winner?

Ooooo exciting! I bet you felt worse for wear after I think most people put up their top 3 and then all feedback is sent as a PM and then it's up to the entrant as to whether or not they want to share it. Not entirely sure on the actual rules of judging though so someone else who has previously judged might be of more help.

Any update @Tim Hunt ?

Hello, I'll be sending you all your feedback now and once I'm done I'll announce the winner on here. My apologies for not doing it when I said I would. I do have one beer which I can't match up with a user. Who sent the vanilla twist stout with the following note?

Thanks for the feedback. Really helpful

Ok you should all have your feedback now. Let me know if you havent had it. So I had 12 beers to judge in total and the styles ranged from Dark IPAs, to stouts, strong belgian beers and even a bitter. I don't have a top 3 but 2 people tied for first and 3 tied for second.

So, In joint first are:

MartinHaworth with One Hunder and twenty-three meter spyer - A Russian imperial stout (41/50 Points)
A crazy heavy stout with a very slightly sour edge and some kind of other complex taste I couldn't put my finger on but I loved it, I was a bit tipsy by the time I got round to this one but I'm sure that had no bearing on it

And

Dan125 with an Oak aged BIPA (41/50 Points)
Just a solid IPA, the floral and citrusy flavours were amazing and given it was a dark beer the bitterness had to be perfectly balanced which it was.

In joint second were the following:

Strange Steve - Red X IPA (38/50 Points)
Again another solid IPA, the hop flavours and smells were great and the malt flavours were really well balanced

Brewers droop - Liquorice stout (38/50 Points)
A difficult flavour to balance but it was actually done really well, it was neither over powering nor lost and I didnt get bored of tasting the liqourice by the end which can happen sometimes with a flavour that strong

Cellar Brew - Flemish Stew (38/50 Points)
A belgian heavy, a slight deviation from the normal belgian style, some really interesting estery flavours, I'm guessing it wasn't a standard belgian yeast strain? but an excellent beer and the rest of the flavours were bang on the style


Thanks for sending me the beers, I've really enjoyed tasting them and judging. My apologies for not getting the feedback to you sooner. I'd be interested to see the recipes for some of these as I wouldn't mind having a crack at brewing them

Thanks for the feedback Tim. Looking forward to the results. And thanks for the time and effort you put in.

Cheers tim, looks like you had some damn fine beers to sup

Cheers for the feedback Tim pretty happy with a score of 29 on my first ever AG beer and a lot to build on from the feedback. My palette is quite rich so the beer has been a really good surprise for me but my friends have mentioned that it’s on the strong side. It’s clone based on a dry smoked porter so wasn’t really sure what to expect and whether or not I’ve hit the mark

Wow! I'm made up. I never win anything.

I'm drinking a pint of the ris just now. I appreciate your comments re the smell. I'm finding it opens up over a few minutes in the glass, becoming more rounded.

The recipe was pretty much James Morton's mad Boris, but fermented with farmhouse Voss, pitching at 32C. Details on my brew day thread. It's 3.5mths old now.

Cheers martin

Thanks for the detailed feedback @Tim Hunt

Thank you for judging the competition @Tim Hunt and for the feedback. It was the first time I've entered one of my beers for judging and so I'm chuffed with the score and the positive feedback. Cheers and well done to the winners