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2016 Beehive Brew Off

So I've had a good bit to drink tonight but just wanted to update after the Beehive Brew Off results.

YES (Young's Extra Special) British Strong Bitter won the British Bitter category and also took 3rd place in the Best of Show round. That's the third place beer out of 496 entries. It's the second time YES has taken 3rd place best of show.

Worker Bee Bitter took third place in the British Bitter category. This is the third time I have taken 1st and 3rd in the British Bitter category.

Young's Extra Strong finished second in the British Strong Ale category. This was a brand new recipe and I have a revision I think will work even better next year.

So that's it. Four total medals, 1st place British Bitter, 3rd place British Bitter, 2nd place English Strong Ale, British Strong Bitter 3rd place Best of Show.

Very proud of my beers! Very shocked my YES got into the Best of Show awards a second time! That is the beer I make more than any other, the one I like the most, the one any of you who have played poker at my house have tried.

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I expected a few more of my beers to place. I liked my English Golden ale, Australian Sparkling ale and English IPA and they made up 3 of the 10 beers in the British Commonwealth category, but none of them placed. That's a bit of a disappointment.

I liked my Scottish ale but that beer got put into the British Strong Ale category when there had previously been a separate Scottish Ale category.

I was anxious to see what they thought of my English Strong Ale. I have double entered my Strong Bitter as a Strong Ale and it has taken 3rd in that category twice, but this year I made a separate beer as a Strong Ale and it was the most complex recipes I've done with some ingredients I've never used. I haven't read the notes on it yet, but I double entered it as an Old Ale (same category) and those notes were really positive, mostly just saying they were excited to try it when it was actually "old" because it didn't have the necessary characteristics of an Old Ale. The beer that finished just ahead of my English Strong Ale was the overall Best of Show winner, and I wonder if my Strong Ale would have placed. It was the one beer I felt like, if it was well received, could be a best of show winner.

I think my biggest disappointment is that my porter didn't place. It took 1st in the Brittish Brown Ale category the last two years and I was looking to go three in a row.

My biggest personal goal for the last 5-6 competitions has been to take 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the British Bitter category. For the third time I got 1st and 3rd. So... Next year I'm coming after it again! If I ever get it I'll stop entering my bitters.

Third place Best of Show for YES was a surprise. Pretty amazed that beer has finished in the Best of Show round twice in the last 3 years. It isn't a beer style that I think does well in best of show because it's basically just a UK version of a Pale Ale. Not a beer style you get fancy with, one that you make that you're average guy on the street can drink all night at the pub.
 
So I've had a good bit to drink tonight but just wanted to update after the Beehive Brew Off results.

YES (Young's Extra Special) British Strong Bitter won the British Bitter category and also took 3rd place in the Best of Show round. That's the third place beer out of 496 entries. It's the second time YES has taken 3rd place best of show.

Worker Bee Bitter took third place in the British Bitter category. This is the third time I have taken 1st and 3rd in the British Bitter category.

Young's Extra Strong finished second in the British Strong Ale category. This was a brand new recipe and I have a revision I think will work even better next year.

So that's it. Four total medals, 1st place British Bitter, 3rd place British Bitter, 2nd place English Strong Ale, British Strong Bitter 3rd place Best of Show.

Very proud of my beers! Very shocked my YES got into the Best of Show awards a second time! That is the beer I make more than any other, the one I like the most, the one any of you who have played poker at my house have tried.

RlDZBvz.jpg

V139rwn.jpg

ApMw7tP.jpg
Congratulations! I just got in to town since leaving the day I saw you last.

Im a little surprised you didn't pick up a couple other awards but not surprised at all that you got 3rd overall again with your YES. That beer is phenomenal.
 
Congratulations! I just got in to town since leaving the day I saw you last.

Im a little surprised you didn't pick up a couple other awards but not surprised at all that you got 3rd overall again with your YES. That beer is phenomenal.
Thanks! I'm interested in what you think of the strong ale. It took second in a fairly big category and the beer that took first in that category also won first place best of show. It was the one beer I felt like of it worked it could compete in the best of show round. I'm gong to save some to enter over the next few years as an old ale.
 
Thanks! I'm interested in what you think of the strong ale. It took second in a fairly big category and the beer that took first in that category also won first place best of show. It was the one beer I felt like of it worked it could compete in the best of show round. I'm gong to save some to enter over the next few years as an old ale.
Did you end up judging?
 
Did you end up judging?
Yeah.

It wasn't too bad. The first table I was on was judging American Wheat and Cream Ale. I felt good on that table. The next one I did was Wild Ale and I didn't feel very confident judging those beers. I'll request to not judge wild, sour or fruit beers next year. Just a lot of ingredients and flavors I'm not familiar with enough. And the second day I judged Irish Ale and that was pretty good except there was another judge who kind of wanted to dominate the discussion and he was holding beers to standards not listed in the style description and he was making all kinds of assumptions about the way the beers must have been brewed that there is no way for him to have known with any certainty. Being new I didn't stand up to him as much as I wish I would have.
 
Yeah.

It wasn't too bad. The first table I was on was judging American Wheat and Cream Ale. I felt good on that table. The next one I did was Wild Ale and I didn't feel very confident judging those beers. I'll request to not judge wild, sour or fruit beers next year. Just a lot of ingredients and flavors I'm not familiar with enough. And the second day I judged Irish Ale and that was pretty good except there was another judge who kind of wanted to dominate the discussion and he was holding beers to standards not listed in the style description and he was making all kinds of assumptions about the way the beers must have been brewed that there is no way for him to have known with any certainty. Being new I didn't stand up to him as much as I wish I would have.
That sounds fun, Im a little jealous I didn't get the chance to.
 
I finished all of them! They were great! I should have written down notes but I didn't. I shared them lots of people and everyone had good things to say. When I get time at home I'll try and write up more specifics about them. They were greatly appreciated by be and everyone who got a chance to taste them though!
 
I finished all of them! They were great! I should have written down notes but I didn't. I shared them lots of people and everyone had good things to say. When I get time at home I'll try and write up more specifics about them. They were greatly appreciated by be and everyone who got a chance to taste them though!
That's awesome! Glad they were enjoyed.
 
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