Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Olde Hickory Brewery Pro-Am

During the time I have been making beer, I have never entered a competition. I have never had the motivation to package up bottles of beer and ship them off somewhere for judging.  This year, however, our local brewery sponsored a Pro-Am and all we had to do was drop our entries off.  I figured I'd give it a try. 

As a homebrewer, I have never paid particular interest to strictly following style guidelines note for note.  In a competition, this is important.  Beers are judged on how well they meet the definitions of the chosen styles.  When I heard about this competition, I decided I would give it a try.  I had nothing to lose and I thought some professional feedback on my beers would be useful.  I entered four beers:  an american amber ale, an imperial IPA, a blonde ale, and an imperial stout.  When judgment day arrived, two of my four entries won awards.  My blonde ale received a gold and the imperial stout a bronze.  The blonde ale scored 41.7 points out of a possible 50 and the imperial stout earned 42.3.  My imperial IPA and amber ale didn't score nearly as well, but the feedback I got from both of them will help me improve the recipes for next time.