Club Competition three — 2011

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Spring has sprung, and there is no better way to start the season than by judging an eclectic collection of last runnings. Dicko’s place was again the venue, where we judged the styles of American Brown, Northern English Brown, Brown & Robust Porter, Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Scottish 80/-, Irish Red, Dunkelweizen, American Barleywine, Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer and Classic Rauchbier.

A big thanks to Dicko for hosting, to the judges for judging: Tom Dixon, Chris Duffy, Darren Cullerne, Paul Haesler, Ben Harmer, Ben Cas and David Gilks; and the stewards for stewarding: Chris De La Rue, Peter Collins and Malcolm Scholes.

As a BJCP sanctioned competition, we followed the BJCP rules and guidelines. The quality of beers was very good – all up we had three golds, 16 silver and one bronze award. The top was a Spiced Pumpkin Ale (120 points), followed by Dunkelweizen (119 points) and a Brown Porter (117.5 points).

Enough of my ramblings, here are the award winners:

Flight One: American Brown Ale, English Brown Ale, Porter and Belgian Strong Ale:

1. Patrick Baggoley – Brown Porter – 117.5 –   Gold 
2. Bruce McIntosh – Northern English Brown – 111.5 –   Silver 
3. Chris De La Rue – Robust Porter – 106 –   Silver 

• David Gilks – Belgian Dark Strong Ale – 106 –   Silver 
• Bruce McIntosh – Brown Porter – 105.5 –   Silver 
• Peter Collins – American Brown – 105 –   Silver 
• Megan Watson – Brown Porter – 98 –   Silver 
• Grant Barton – Belgian Golden Strong Ale – 97 –   Silver 
• Steve Sargent – Belgian Dark Strong Ale – 92 –   Silver 
• Luke Falconer – American Brown – 67 
• Chris De La Rue – American Brown – 59

Flight Two: Scottish and Irish Ale, German Wheat and Rye Beer, Strong Ale, Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, Smoke Flavoured and Wood Aged Beer

1. Matt Hogan – Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer (Spiced Pumpkin Ale) – 120 –   Gold 
2. Matt Hogan – Dunkelweizen – 119 –   Gold 
3. Bruce McIntosh – Irish Red – 111 –   Silver 

• Craig Stokes – Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer (Dry Dark Ginger) – 110 –   Silver 
• Paul Haesler – Classic Rauchbier – 107 –   Silver 
• Megan Watson – Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer (Vanilla Coffee Porter) – 101 –   Silver 
• Craig Stokes – Scottish 80' – 99 –   Silver 
• Peter Collins – Irish Red – 97 –   Silver 
• Steve Sargent – Irish Red – 94 –   Silver 
• Mark Bilbrough – American Barleywine – 94 –   Silver 
• Luke Falconer – Irish Red – 88 –   Bronze 

Next up are the ACT Championships from 23-25 September 2011, kindly hosted by the Wig & Pen. Thanks to all that have offered to help – I’d still like to hear from more judges (especially the current BJCP course) to step up and help out. Remember this is your club, and through quality judging, we get quality feedback and the opportunity to send to the Nationals the best beers in Canberra. Let me know by email if you are able to judge, steward or be a yardie.

The entry form is now open. Entries will close on 16 September 2011, and Plonk and the Wig & Pen are the drop off points. Out of town entries please email me for mailing details.

Cheers and beers,
Billy (Competition Secretary)