The results are in.
First of all thanks to everyone who entered. We had a very varied mix of beers which made judging tricky - smoked beers, Impy stouts, Porters, Chocolate Stouts, Scottish ales... Comparing between each one was not an easy task.
The overall standard was very high but one beer stood out for both judges as being just a notch above the field.
In reverse order, the medallists were:
3rd.
@Caramel Ox with a very good, very drinkable Rebel Porter. Kudos for the excellent label too.
2nd.
@Broken Toe for a very well made Rauchbier. Smoky but balanced with a very clean fermentation profile. I have a Bamberg trip planned for next year and this whetted my appetite enormously.
1st.
@RichardM for his "Four Pounds in Today's Money" Scottish Export Ale. Not the darkest of the competition entries but it scored highly for the mix of malty complexity and lovely fruity esters. A very well balanced beer that was a joy to drink. Chapeau!
The winner was 2 points ahead of the field on my score card but you could almost throw a blanket over the rest. A tightly fought comp.
As an aside, we judged 2 commercial ringers for comparison: Guinness Original and Black Sheep Milk Stout. They both came in the bottom third of the scores!
