Canberra Brewers

Club Competition One Report

By Chris De La Rue, Competition Secretary

The first 2012 club completion was judged on Sunday 18 June 2012, with a fine sunny day and everyone arriving at the venue on-time.  Judging of the 24 entries commenced at 10am sharp and concluded just after 12 noon.

While the number of entries was well down compared to last year, expectations were still high for some quality beers to hit the judges’ palettes.

Two judging flights were setup comprising of:

Flight one: Kurtz at the helm, Dicko and Semaphore, judged 11 beers in the following categories… Low Alcohol (<4%Abv), Porter, India Pale Ale and Brown Ales, and

Flight two: Stagger at the helm, Mozzie and Mashhead, judged 12 beers in the following categories…Pale Ale, Amber & Dark Lager, Bitter Ale and Farmhouse Ale & Wild Beer. (Keenan Fahy  also Apprentice judged on this flight).

As hoped, the quality of the beers was high and by the end of judging four Gold, nine Silver and seven Bronze medals were awarded.

ACT Brewer of the Year 2011

Brewer of the Year is awarded to the brewer who scores the most points at the ACT Amateur Brewing Championship based on their best five beers. These beers must include at least one lager AND one ale, with the other three beers from the same or other categories.

The top five brewers for 2011 (based on the ACTABC 2011 results are):

• Keenan Fahy - 590.5 points (includes three gold, two silver)
• Stuart Whytcross – 583 points (includes two gold, three silver)
• Luke Falconer – 578.5 points (includes one gold, four silver)
• Richard Fitzpatrick – 573 points (includes two gold, two silver, one bronze)
• Patrick Baggoley – 567.5 points (includes five silver)

Congratulations to Keenan Fahy in winning this years ACT Brewer of the Year!

Well done to all on a very close battle, with just 23 points separating first from fifth.

ACT Amateur Brewing Championship - Results

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Wow, how huge was ACTABC 2011! The Canberra Brewers powered through judging 208 beers across 18 Categories and 81 styles…. in one day! 19 judges, eight stewards, and two pourers made probably what has been the biggest judging day in the Canberra Brewers history run so smoothly.

Canberra Brewers put forward their best beers to seek quality feedback, and to try and gain a top three placing in each category to qualify for the Nationals. I hope that all who had a role in the day enjoyed themselves – I was very proud of our club to see old and new members step up to be a part of making the day a great success. Special thanks to the Wig & Pen, and particularly the Wig’s Head Brewer Richard Watkins, for providing an awesome venue and fantastic support for the competition.

Club Competition three — 2011

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Spring has sprung, and there is no better way to start the season than by judging an eclectic collection of last runnings. Dicko’s place was again the venue, where we judged the styles of American Brown, Northern English Brown, Brown & Robust Porter, Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Scottish 80/-, Irish Red, Dunkelweizen, American Barleywine, Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer and Classic Rauchbier.

A big thanks to Dicko for hosting, to the judges for judging: Tom Dixon, Chris Duffy, Darren Cullerne, Paul Haesler, Ben Harmer, Ben Cas and David Gilks; and the stewards for stewarding: Chris De La Rue, Peter Collins and Malcolm Scholes.

Club competition two — 2011

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

With 45 beers, 10 judges, three stewards, one-and-a-half days and a great venue, we judged a fantastic selection of beers for the Canberra Brewers Club Comp 2 on July 2 and 3. Over the course of the weekend, Canberra Brewers finest Scottish and American Ales, Lagers and a couple of RISs were on show.  Club Comp 2 covered: American Pale Ale, American India Pale Ale and Imperial India Pale Ale; Premium American Lager, Munich Helles, Dortmunder Export, German Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsener, Classic American Pilsner; Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest, Munich Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Maibock/Helles Bock, Traditional Bock, Doppelbock; Scottish Light 60/- and Scottish Heavy 70/-; and, last but definitely not least, Russian Imperial Stout.

Competition report

By Mark Bilbrough, Competition Secretary

Hey Brewers, i’m looking forward to the challenging job of running a productive competition program that will help cement Canberra Brewers as the Nations top club for the third year in a row. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to look through the program which was recently published on the forum, and you're getting together your entries for the first competition in late March.

As in previous years, the club competition schedule has covered pretty much all of the BJCP styles for you to present your brews for judging and feedback. As we get to the ACT Comp later in the year, we’ll switch over to the AABC styles to qualify for the Nationals (being held in Adelaide this year).

ACT Amateur Brewing Championships

Brewers, entries have now closed for the 2010 ACT Amateur Brewing Championships.

Beers can be entered as one of 81 styles in 18 categories, and judges will assess each beer on appearance, aroma and taste, providing detailed feedback on each entry. The top three-placed entries for each category qualify for the national championships, where the ACT will aim to defend its title as champion state. Entries close September 12 and beers must be submitted before September 17. Each entry will cost $5 and you will need to submit at least 500mL of beer (two stubbies, or one long neck).

Competition Secretary

By Peter Devries, Competition Secretary

Welcome all to the first Ferm of 2010! The club competition's for 2010 will follow on from last year’s excellent effort coordinated by the outgoing Competition Secretary, Charles Newton. The same beers and style categories will appear this year, with the major difference being that the beers from competition three have been swapped for those in competition one. There were a few reasons to make this switch, but the first one was to get your fresh-is-best summer ales and wheat beers into the first competition of the year.

Not all of our members have the ability to adequately cool their fermenters during warmer weather, and this may have presented an issue for those wishing to brew Lagers and Pilseners. The beers that may need cooler weather can therefore be brewed in the middle of the year, and then entered into competition three in August. We also have the stronger beers — that need some quality time spent in the keg — in competition three. So, think about those strong beers now, and get brewing!