Boston Homebrew Competition 2012

Boston Homebrew Competition

One of the Hop Scholars is a BJCP Beer Judge and had the great privilege to taste the fruit of many fellow homebrewers labors at the 2012 Boston Homebrew Competition, hosted by one of the country's oldest and most respected homebrew clubs, the Boston Wort Processors.

Judges worked in pairs to evaluate, rank, and offer notes of advice to entrants relative to the BJCP guidelines. The guidelines have 23 categories, most with multiple subcategories. Judges are assigned specific categories and work together to evaluate and rank entries. Like most homebrew competitions, the Boston Homebrew Competition featured a morning judging session, an afternoon session, and an early evening "Best of Show" judging session. The Best of Show has four to six experienced judges taste and determine the overall competition winner, the second and third place, and sometimes honorable mentions from all of the first place beers in each category.

There was plenty of sunlight for the afternoon session as you can see from the judging table above. This was category 23: pretty much whatever doesn't fit into the other categories. Beers range from light lagers to barley wines with special ingredients(coriander, jalapenos, maple syrup, etc.), special processes and new or hybrid styles. Some are really tasty and interesting; some are just "interesting".

Many categories have so many entries that multiple teams of judges are required to cover all of them. After the the teams are done with their 7 to 12 entries, they select one or two competitors to advance to a mini best of show. The picture above is from the stout category mini best of show round (of which Hop Scholar was a judge). Four teams of judges submitted two entries each to the mini best of show. It was a tough call, but an elegant sweet stout(Cat. 13 B) took first place against some strong competition(literally and figuratively, it won out over some Russian Imperial stouts with three times the alcohol content).

A good part of judging is trying to maintain a level playing field and an intact palate so you don't miss some great efforts and sometimes subtle excellence. The picture below (from the afternoon session) demonstrates the breadth of styles and style interpretations a judge often encounters: these are three of the entries in category 23.

Cheers competitors, judges, stewards, the Boston Worts, and homebrewers everywhere !