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Nhc homebrew9/8/2023 ![]() ![]() However, I don't think competitions are total crapshoots either. Sometimes you can get an honestly poor judge. There is a chance you get a judge that does not perceive your beer the same way another might. It was a complete waste of time for me, so never again.Ĭompetitions are not perfect for sure, and there is obviously a human element to them. My conclusion is that either the judges are worthless or the process is effed up and they get entries mixed up. They gave it a 34.a beer that I dumped, scored a 34 with not one mention of diacetyl. I felt guilty subjecting them to that beer. I debated sending it in but ultimately thought they might be upset that I entered a beer then didn't submit it. I took it to my homebrew club and the 3 certified judges in the club all took one sip and said the same thing: diacetyl (which I already knew). The second was a New England IPA that turned into a diacetyl bomb. The score and notes were so far off the mark I'm still convinced they mixed up beers somehow. Instead I got a 27 saying it was too hoppy and was not the approachable easy drinking beer for the style. I seriously expected an upper 30's to low 40's score. I thought it was spot on for the style and my non-craft beer friends went nuts over it. ![]() One was a blonde ale based on the Centennial Blonde recipe from this forum. I entered two beers last year and here's what happened: Getting 6-10 scoresheets from various comps, on the same beer can really be useful though in improving as a brewer. I generally only send to comps with 300+ entries that are well established. Also, look for good sized competitions that are well regarded in your area as bringing in quality judges. Sending a couple random beers into a single competition is kind of hit and miss in terms of really "improving" your beers. In my experience, competitions can be a very good way to get feedback and improve your brewing, however, the way to do that is to send the same beer to 2-3 even 4 competitions around the same time and take the feedback in total and look for common themes from experienced judges and go from there. There are many other, cheaper, regional options if that is the main goal. The feedback is not really the primary focus of NHC - the focus is narrowing beers down and finding the best examples. The judging itself is high quality overall, but the feedback on the sheets is generally less. So, likely to try, try again.ĭon't send to NHC for the soul purpose of "feedback" - in general, I think it is a relatively common complaint about NHC that people don't always like the checkmark scoresheets, or feel they did not get enough detailed feedback. I have had a dozen or so that have made it to the finals, and half of those have made mini BOS in the finals.but still empty handed. My reason for entering would simply be attempting to get an elusive medal from NHC. I will likely enter some beers.actually need to sit down and look at the calendar/ship dates and see what I have in the pipeline that will be ready, or what I need to brew in the timeframe I have. Have you gotten good feedback from NHC to improve your brewing? From local competitions? I am not sure if bottling some beers, paying $16 entry fee for each beer, and messing with shipping is worth it. I will admit that sometimes it is hard to get honest feedback from friends, though sometimes competition feedback seems to be more about how the beer fits the style than if it is "good". I don't see myself winning a National Gold Medal or Gordon Strong declaring my beer the "best in the history of brewing". I am a member of a club now and many of the members are certified judges and many of them brew really good beers. I entered many many years ago, but at that time I only knew one other person that brewed a few beers.and I brewed crappy beers back then. I am slightly tempted to enter, but I am not sure why. Given that the shipping window is March 1 – March 14 and the 1st round judging is March 22 – April 14, I have time to brew something else. I have a Pale Ale about ready to kegged (fairly common, Cascade for flavor and aroma, but just a slightly tweaked recipe of a fav of mine). I have a decent Oatmeal Stout (maybe could use some more roasty) and Porter (a bit young to fully evaluate, but seems pretty solid) on tap. I took a break from brewing and have gotten back into it full throttle. ![]()
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