Winter 2022 – Pale Ale
Table of Contents
General Info
The team at Los Molinos Beer Co. wants to see what the Immersion Chillers are made of! All members are invited to participate in this Best of Show style competition to see who can brew the Pale Ale that the LoMo team likes the best. The winner will have the honor of brewing their winning recipe with the LoMo team on the 10bbl system and then having it on tap on the brewery.
No matter who wins, all participants are welcome to hangout at the brewery on the brew day with the winner.
Winner Prizes
Guest Brew Day
The winner will join the brewer at LoMo to brew their winning recipe on the 10bbl system.
Beer Name
The winner’s name will be displayed on the tap list next to their beer at LoMo and also have input on the name of the beer.
Other Prizes
The owners are still discussing other prizes and we will update this list as those are determined. Other prizes being discussed are various merch items, gift cards, medals, etc.
Competition Details
Style: Pale Ale
The owners would like to limit the competition to this one style. The judges won’t be using any style guidelines (BJCP, GABF, etc.) to compare the entries, so your interpretation should cater to what you think the judges would like best.
Competition Format: Best of Show
The beers will be served blindly to the judges in identical glassware. The winner will be picked based on the subjective opinions of the judges. No points will be assessed and no feedback sheets will be returned to the entrants.
Judges: LoMo owners and LoMo brewer
At present, the two owners and the brewer will be the judges and have final say of the winner. This may change as they are still figuring out the details.
Judging Date: Sometime between December 26-30, 2022
The actual date will depend on the judges availability during that week, and they would like some flexibility to work it out.
Entry Details
Entry Cost & Eligibility: Free for Club Members
This competition is free to enter for any current member of the Immersion Chillers Homebrew Club. If you are currently on our Google Group email list, then you are a member and eligible to enter. If you need to join the club, please go to our Google Group and apply.
Entry Maximum: 2 per person
Each homebrewer is allowed to enter up to 2 unique entries for judging. These shouldn’t be the same beer, these should be different in some noticeable way. For example, a split batch with a different dry hop.
Entry Packaging: 24-32oz total
Feel free to package your beer in bottles, cans, growlers, or whatever you want. The beers will be served blindly to the judges by impartial stewards. If you use bottles/cans, please make sure you bring at least two to add up to 24-32oz. Growler entries will be held for you at the brewery until the January club meeting, after that please make arrangements to pick it up with Casey. Make sure you label your entries with your name, email, phone number, and name of the beer. The name of the beer is just in case you have two different entries so that we can distinguish between them.
Entry Dates: December 19-23, 2022
Entries will be accepted at the brewery starting on Friday, December 19, 2022. All entries must be delivered to the brewery no later than 9pm, December 23, 2022. Hand your entry to the bartenders in the tasting room during business hours (noon-8pm) and let them know that it is for the homebrew competition so they can set it aside in the cold box.
Recommendations
Recipe Formulation
Here are some insights that might help your recipe formulation:
- Shoot for around 4.5-5.5% ABV.
- They’re looking for huge hop aromas jumping out of the glass.
- They’re open to the full spectrum of pale ale styles: American, International, Hazy, English.
- Style guidelines might be a good place to start, but the details aren’t as important as how it looks, smells, and tastes in a glass.
Multiple Entries
If you’re planning on submitting two entries, they need to be different enough to warrant the second entry. If they taste almost identical, then just enter the one you think is best.
More on Packaging
Since the beers will be poured by a steward and then served blindly to the judges, it might be best to use 12oz bottles. If a growler is used and the judges request a second pouring, your beer might have lost carbonation by that time and changed the impression. With a 12oz bottle, one can be used for the initial tasting and the second fresh one reserved for a “face off”. Having said that, the ideal entry would be three 12oz bottles/cans.
Feel free to label them however you can that will preserve the information. If you’re using duct/masking/packaging tape, make sure you adhere it to the bottle and write on it BEFORE filling the bottle. Once it’s wet, it won’t stick and it’ll be really hard to write on the tape. Another way to attach a label is to print or write it on paper, place the paper inside a ziplock bag, then rubber band it around the bottle/can/growler.
Brewery Limitations
While there are no restrictions on ingredients or processes you can use in your homebrew, the winning recipe may be subject to some alterations as LoMo sees fit before brewing on the 10bbl system. This could be due to lack of hop/grain availability, scaling issues, cost, or any other reason. As far as process goes, use your best skills at home, but a commercial brewery may not be able to replicate the process exactly.
Results
The judging was held on Thursday, December 29th. There were 14 total entries and 6 judges. The panel of judges included:
- Roman, Co-Owner of Los Molinos Beer Co.
- Shawn, Co-Owner of Los Molinos Beer Co.
- Carrigan, Head Brewer of Los Molinos Beer Co.
- Jon, Head Brewer of Pizza Port San Clemente
- Tim, Co-Owner of Lost Winds Brewing Co.
- Trevor, Head of Brewing Operations of Brewery X
The stewards for the judging were Casey, Joe, and Morgan. Numbers were drawn at random from a bucket and assigned to an entry which then gave them a position in the 4 flights. Two ounces of each entry were carefully poured into tulip glasses that were labeled with a piece of tape on the bottom indicating the entry number.
The judges were blindly served 4 flights and asked to choose a winner of each flight. The winners would advance to the final round where one winner would be chosen. (After the 4th flight, the judges asked to have an additional beer in the final round because they were undecided on a winner from one of the flights.)
The winner of the final flight and overall winner was chosen by unanimous decision by all 6 judges. The names of the brewers were not revealed to the judges until after they had declared a winner.
Award Ceremony
The judges would like to announce the winner themselves at an award ceremony to be held at our next homebrew club meeting, Thursday, January 12th, 7pm. There will be appetizers and a round of beers provided for our club courtesy of Los Molinos Beer Co.
All homebrewers who participated in the competition are encouraged to bring your entries so that we can all taste them! Even if you didn’t participate in the competition, all club members are encouraged to attend and bring beer! This event will be more of a social event than a formal club meeting.
Congratulations to Jason on his winning beer, “Winter Swell Cold IPA”!