A Coopers Club Competition

[Beerlust]

I was wondering with the advent of the new Coopers Club, whether there has been any internal discussion about potentially holding a Competition/Judging day of sorts for Club members where brews are submitted.

 

I'm led to believe that an event like this was staged a few years back (before my time on the forum) along these lines?

 

From my perspective, the home brewing community seems very dis-jointed (for a better word) in Australia, compared to say the USA & Great Britain who seem to have very large communities that hold events like this annually.

 

I'm not sure how the last one went, but I could only see good things coming from such an event if held annually with the right support mechanisms.

 

On a personal note, I'm sort of at a point where I would like to branch out a little further, & possibly begin having a few of my brews judged & meet with like minded home brewers like myself. I've given quite a number of my brews to a fairly large spectrum of people now, & have received some very overwhelming responses in more than a passing few cases that has me looking for a "next step" of sorts with my brewing.

 

Out of curiosity, has anyone on the forum ever had a beer of theirs judged?

 

I'd be interested in all thoughts from forum members.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[Hairy]

There are comps out there if you look for them.

 

In NSW we have the State Competition but also other smaller ones attached to local shows and brew clubs. ESB have one coming up in July which is open to non-club members.

 

I entered a couple of beers in the State Comp last year. My American Pale Ale finished mid-field because it wasn't totally within the style guidelines with regards to bitterness. It was actually within the guidelines but at the lower end so I think with IPAs getting bigger all the time, there may be a bracket creep for APAs for judges. The feedback was useful though.

 

My American Amber Ale finished just out of the placings, which was pleasing. Again some good feedback was given.

 

I didn't intentionally brew these beers for the competition but decided to enter them afterwards. If I was brewing for comps I would ensure I was strictly within the style guidelines.

[PhilboBaggins]

Hey Lusty, if this is how you feel, why have you not looked into joining SABC? They have tastings, case swaps, group entries into the brewing comps at the Gawler Show, and all kinds of community stuff. They are all the things you have expressed a desire for.

 

I haven't joined because I simply don't like socialising in groups . They are all great blokes, and they do a case swap every season (along with an AWESOME grain bulk-buy which I've just got in on) with discussions on Brewadelaide for the days following with feedback and tasting notes.

 

Not meaning to advertise another forum on this one, but it seems that joining may benefit you?

 

Just food for thought.

[Magnaman]

G'day Beerlust, food for thought is the SJPOOR Challenge 2014 ??

[Guzz]

G'day Beerlust' date=' food for thought is the SJPOOR Challenge 2014 ??

 

I reckon you are looking at this the wrong way around!

 

Let's setup our own challenge and get everyone from around the world to send their beers to us for judging (drinking/massive party).

 

I'll build the website and nominate myself as head judge and I get to keep all the empties too.

 

Of course, Im joking (unless you actually want to)

 

 

[King Ruddager]

Anthony, since you arrived here one of your missions seems to have been to get everyone to participate in a group brew-off of some description. Why is that? What drives you?

[JohnE9]

Just another one of Lusty's wacko psychotic brain waves. I tell you, he is a comic genius.

[Beerlust]

Hairy: A belated congrats on the Judges' praise of your American Amber Ale Hairy! I had no idea you'd done anything like this before.

 

Philbo: I've visited the BrewAdelaide site a while back & I've even met a couple of guys that frequent the forum/club etc. They do seem very serious, & it appeared that almost all of them are All Grain brewers.

I probably just want to dip my foot in the water (so to speak), rather than obligating for swaps etc. just yet. I did follow their case swap thread for a bit last year too. Your info about judging(s) @ the Gawler show is interesting. I'm just at a point where I want more from my brewing. Not sure what yet.

 

MagnaMan: That's a cool link.

 

Thanks Hairy, Philbo, & MagnaMan for your positive responses & info. Much appreciated.

Anthony' date=' since you arrived here one of your missions seems to have been to get everyone to participate in a group brew-off of some description. Why is that? What drives you?[/quote']

Just another one of Lusty's wacko psychotic brain waves. I tell you' date=' he is a comic genius.[/quote']

Answer No.1: What? Divulge this significant inside information that could damage eventual sales prior to the release of my planned autobiography? Not likely. Nice try though KR.

 

Answer No.2: The Warriors - Luther (David Patrick Kelly) says it best

 

Answer No.3: After my release (on appeal) just over 2 years ago from 4 years of incarceration for supposedly (yes supposedly) deliberately setting a kerosene based fire totally destroying a secluded boathouse & reducing the adjoining popular camp site building(s) to rubble & all but incinerating its occupants along with it, I decided to put the tragedy of the deaths of more than a dozen of my closest friends behind me, & thought it was about time I began the search for new friends & a new boathouse getaway location for my "Mr. Brooks" like interests.

 

Answer No.4: I'd hardly call it a "mission". More an "interest" to invite & extend the involvement of members of the Coopers Forum into other areas that are available on a voluntary basis. As a previous reference, I think the Coopers Lager Challenge thread I began & ran garnered quite a lot of interest at the time on numerous levels, even if the end results ended up somewhat fictitious.

 

There's four different answers, so take your pick.

 

Anthony.

 

[Nick]

Lusty, i think threads and posts such as this could be the reason why this forum is dying a slow death. No one wants to log on and read this, and I suspect its the reason why many of the respected and truly knowledgeable members have either gone for good, or are now only infrequent visitors. That is a real shame as they were the real deal when it came to passing on the knowledge they gained from many years of actual hands on experience.

 

To most of us, brewing is a nice little hobby that provides a break from the general goings on of a busy and varied life, and the forum is just a means of chatting with like minded lads and lasses and sharing a few ideas and stories. I would think the aim for most of us is to make a decent drop to drink and share with mates.....nothing more.

 

 

[PhilboBaggins]

On a personal note' date=' I'm sort of at a point where I would like to branch out a little further, & possibly begin having a few of my brews judged & meet with like minded home brewers like myself. I've given quite a number of my brews to a fairly large spectrum of people now, & have received some very overwhelming responses in more than a passing few cases that has me looking for a "next step" of sorts with my brewing.[/quote']

 

See, to me at least, this sounds like you are wanting something more serious than this forum offers, or is about.

 

They do seem very serious

 

I mean no offense by this' date=' but you do too. Dare I say far more serious than most, if not all, on this forum. Which is what I think Nick is getting at.

 

With the depth of research you are doing (especially re hops) and your statements about wanting to take things to the "next level", and meet with like minded people, it sounds like joining a serious brewing club is [i']exactly what you are asking for.[/i]

 

The reason I like the Coopers forum is because it doesn't go into those more serious realms too often, and when it does it usually disintegrates into boob and fart jokes not long after, just like any kind of conversation you might have with me would.

 

Just my 2c mate, and I am not telling you to rack off by any means, but it certainly sounds like you are needing more than this forum can provide at this stage of your hobby.

[Beerlust]

Some folk REALLY do lack a sense of humor.

 

Back to brewing...

 

My freezer is being delivered tomorrow for my Keezer build, & hopefully the DIY fermenter & some other goodies I ordered from Coopers will also arrive tomorrow.

 

Good times ahead.

 

Beer out.

[Canadian Eh!L]

I'd be interested in all thoughts from forum members.

 

Hey Lusty' date='

 

I come from a community where I think I might be the only AG brewer in town[img']unsure[/img]. I too wish to share and get feedback from other brewers. If I lived in your local I'd exchange brews with you. I don't like the term competition, though. I'm not the kind of guy that needs to be the best at anything. I just would like to be good at everything.

 

I'm going to ask this question again... Why are you not getting into AG brewing. This step would satisfy your creative grumblings. You have said before that you lack the space or maybe funds to put together a AG system. From the pictures of you "DACCA" bar post it looks like you have plenty of space on that deck of yours behind the bar and a AG set-up is not that expensive to build in comparison to turning out all those extract brews with the fancy yeast, the hop additions and the spec grain. By my reckoning your extract brews are $40-50 brews where as a similar AG would be a 1/4 of the cost. I think you are kidding yourself if you think your not ready for AG.

[Hairy]

Lusty, I think you have the wrong impression of brew clubs. Although most members are all grainers, all brewers are welcome.

 

I am a member of a smallish club and we have had people turn up with kit and extract and partial mash beers and all are consumed willingly.

 

My club isn't that serious though, it is really a get together to try other's beer and to put shit on each other.

 

I am the secretary of the club; there are no official roles though, I just look the best in a mini skirt

 

There is no requirement to participate in case swaps etc. You get out of the club whatever you would like.

 

If you want to step your brewing up a notch then this is where you should look. I think this is what the guys above were trying to say. Most people on this forum just want to brew nice, drinkable beer. There are a handful of AGers but most are probably like me: stick some grains in the thingy and woo hoo, I have made some wort.

[Beerlust]

Hi Skookum.

If I lived in your local I'd exchange brews with you.

That would be cool. In a way I sort of have. I've brewed your Big Island IPA! I just need to entice you to brew one of mine!

 

I don't like the term competition' date=' though. I'm not the kind of guy that needs to be the best at anything.[/quote']

Fair call. Poor choice of word by me there. Substitute "Competition" with "Meet", & that's probably closer to what I really mean. The word "Competition" generally stirs up a bit more interest though don't you reckon? & that's why I used it.

 

I'm going to ask this question again... Why are you not getting into AG brewing. This step would satisfy your creative grumblings. You have said before that you lack the space or maybe funds to put together a AG system. From the pictures of you "DACCA" bar post it looks like you have plenty of space on that deck of yours behind the bar and a AG set-up is not that expensive to build in comparison to turning out all those extract brews with the fancy yeast' date=' the hop additions and the spec grain. By my reckoning your extract brews are $40-50 brews where as a similar AG would be a 1/4 of the cost. I think you are kidding yourself if you think your not ready for AG.[/quote']

I hear ya Chad, I do. It might surprise you though that I'm actually in a happy place with the options open to me with my current level of brewing. The partial/extract style really suits me right now. I feel I gain the benefits of fresh grain when I want it, & the ease & simplicity of adding extract where I need it to fill in the blanks.

 

Plus reading your post over in Roger's thread about having to offload parts of your excess used grain to your neighbours cracked me up! Your chooks must be the size of buffalo with 5kgs of grain going into them every few weeks!! Hahaha!

If you see a guy with a VERY white mustache & beard looking over your fence-line at your chooks, BEWARE!

 

I can't argue too much with your costings estimations, but would say a good hoppy beer that I like to make might cost me into the low to mid $30 dollar mark. Given that my standard commercial beer of choice costs me on average $45-$50 a carton, & I can make 2½ times that volume with a tonne more flavour for $15-$20 less, It's a WIN-WIN. Not as big a WIN-WIN as All Grain brewing I agree, but a BIG win just the same.

 

Thanks for your thoughts & advice, you know it's appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[Beerlust]

Hi Hairy.

Lusty' date=' I think you have the wrong impression of brew clubs. Although most members are all grainers, all brewers are welcome.[/quote']

I would say I have a preconceived perception of one brew club, but certainly not an overall impression of ALL brew clubs, as I am yet to be part of one. The club Philbo mentions in his post is the same one (I think? ) that I visited their forum, & read through quite a few of their posts over a month or so, & then decided to join up. So I began to go through their online forum joining procedure, when I was confronted with a detailed disclaimer of sorts that I must agree to before being allowed to join. At first I was like, "WTF?". Then I read through the disclaimer & thought this is a bit of an overkill for what is an amateur brewing club website & they are a bit too intense for what I'm looking for. I then backed out of joining.

 

I am a member of a smallish club and we have had people turn up with kit and extract and partial mash beers and all are consumed willingly.

 

My club isn't that serious though' date=' it is really a get together to try other's beer and to put shit on each other.[/quote']

That sounds like just what I'm looking for.

 

I am the secretary of the club; there are no official roles though' date=' I just look the best in a mini skirt [img']innocent[/img]

That statement re-affirms my view that there is obviously an excessive amount of furballs running around in the outer western suburbs of Sydney!

 

...I think this is what the guys above were trying to say. Most people on this forum just want to brew nice' date=' drinkable beer. There are a handful of AGers but most are probably like me: stick some grains in the thingy and woo hoo, I have made some wort.[/quote']

I understand this. That said, I feel (as you say) there are a handful of guys on the forum that are of a similar or more advanced level with their brewing & are interested in some more advanced aspects of brewing that I generally direct my questions to & bounce off.

 

At times my posts may appear quite "long-winded", but I understand that there are new brewers on the forum, & try to write my posts so that even a first time brewer/reader can understand them to some degree &/or at least take some small interest aspect from it without totally confusing them with technical jargon & lingo. There are also threads that I don't even comment in, because I can see that they are flowing along quite nicely without my sometimes outwardly "boofhead" comments being required.

 

Thanks for your thoughts Hairy. Always appreciated.

 

Anthony.

[Hairy]

Maybe you need to move out to the western suburbs of Sydney.

 

No, no. What am I saying? Sorry it just slipped out, please ignore me. I didn't mean it. Adelaide is fantastic, no need to move

 

[Beerlust]

Maybe you need to move out to the western suburbs of Sydney.

 

No' date=' no. What am I saying? Sorry it just slipped out, please ignore me. I didn't mean it. Adelaide is fantastic, no need to move [img']innocent[/img]

Sanity restored.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[Magnaman]

G'Day, It seems that others in the past have found avenues to test their beers? Second Place In Comp...

 

Was the attitude in Home brewing with hops a little more reserved nine years ago?

[Canadian Eh!L]

Hi Skookum.

If I lived in your local I'd exchange brews with you.

That would be cool. In a way I sort of have. I've brewed your Big Island IPA! I just need to entice you to brew one of mine!

I'm keen to brew one of your brews someday' date=' Lusty. I do find it hard to come up with the ingredients you often use in stock. The hops that you seem to like are often not available to me Aussie/Kiwi varieties).[img']innocent[/img]

[Beerlust]

Hi Skookum.

I'm keen to brew one of your brews someday' date=' Lusty. I do find it hard to come up with the ingredients you often use in stock. The hops that you seem to like are often not available to me Aussie/Kiwi varieties).[img']innocent[/img]

Are you able to provide a link to the online store you purchase your brewing ingredients from Chad?

 

That way I'll know what's available to you.

 

P.S. I'm leaning towards advising you to give the Mosaic Amber Ale a go, if those hops are available to you. It turned out really well.

 

I simply demolished the keg of it!

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[Canadian Eh!L]

Hi Skookum.

Are you able to provide a link to the online store you purchase your brewing ingredients from Chad?

 

That way I'll know what's available to you.

 

P.S. I'm leaning towards advising you to give the Mosaic Amber Ale a go' date=' if those hops are available to you. It turned out really well. [img']biggrin[/img]

 

I simply demolished the keg of it!

Hop Dawgs is my online LHBS. The Mosaic AA sounds great. I might says, though that the keg has a lot to do with it. Beer is just better from a keg! It's a matter of fact.

[Beerlust]

I checked out the link you provided Chad, but unfortunately no Mosaic hops available.

 

I did find another supplier there based in Chilliwack, British Columbia that does sell them, & does appear to have an extensive range available through their online store.

 

True North Brew Supply

 

Edit: or this mob over in Ontario that have similar pricing to your Hop Dawgs supplier.

 

Beer Grains Supply Co.

 

Not sure if that is any help at all, but hopefully it is.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.