As part of the Scottish National Homebrew Competition Results Week – Scottish Craft Brewers are honoured to host a talk on American IPAs from Mitch Steele. Mitch literally wrote the book on IPAs – and it’s available here!
Since graduating from UC Davis in 1984 with a fermentation science degree, he has brewed at some of the largest and smallest breweries in the world. After starting on a 14 bbl system at the San Andreas Brewing Co., Mitch joined Anheuser-Busch in 1992, managing brewhouse and fermenting operations in three breweries, and managing new beer development as part of the Anheuser-Busch Specialty Brewing group in the mid-1990s. Mitch joined Stone Brewing Co. in 2006 as Brewmaster and now serves as Brewmaster and COO at New Realm Brewing Company in Atlanta.
As part of the 2022 Scottish National Homebrew Competition results week Scottish Craft Brewers are honoured to host a question and answer session with brewing academic Dr Charlie Bamforth, presently senior Quality Adviser with Sierra Nevada Brewing. Professor of over 20 years at UC Davis, California along with a prodigious CV in the UK Brewing industry.
In order to make the event run smoothly we are asking that people submit questions ahead of the event. This will allow us to consolidate the questions and optimise the format of the session. Please submit any questions you have by email to: competition@scottishcraftbrewers.org
Following the success of the inaugural event in 2021, Scottish Craft Brewers are pleased to announce the Scottish National Homebrew Competition will return in January 2022!
This year we are doubling the size of the competition with 200 entries available. Participants will initially be limited to two entries. The first entry will be £10, with subsequent entries £5. General entry registration is now open!
There will be a 7 day presale for paid up members of Scottish Craft Brewers, starting on the 27th of September. You will be contacted by email with details for registration, so please keep an eye on your inbox.
Entries, including the membership pre-sale, will be allocated on a first come, first served basis on receipt of payment via Paypal. If you have not paid, your place in the competition is not guaranteed and your entries may be removed. You can continue to edit your entries after payment until December 31st.
Categories
All BJCP 2015 categories up to 34C will be eligible for entry; beers will be grouped in tables of complementary styles for judging. The groupings will be decided based on entries received. Although you will be able to edit your entries in the lead up to the competition, the sooner the final styles are confirmed, the easier it will be for us to organise.
The winner of each table will go forward to the Best in Show competition.
There will also be awards for the Best Overall Brewer, Best Scottish Style Beer (14A, 14B, 14C, 17C and SpecialtyVarieties) and the Best Scottish Craft Brewers Club Member.
Scores and written feedback will be provided to all entrants after the competition.
Entry requirements
We require four unmarked bottles, minimum of 330ml each, in either brown glass or brown PET with plain caps. The competition website will generate an anonymous label which MUST be printed and fixed to each bottle before sending. The competition organisers may disqualify entries that do not meet these requirements.
Postal entries will be accepted between the 6th and the 15th of January. Entries can also be dropped off in person at the postal location during this time period only.
Judging
Judging will take place in Edinburgh, on the 22nd, 23rd and 29th of January. Best In Show judging, the People’s Choice Competition and the results announcement will be at a public event held at an Edinburgh venue on Sunday 30th
Registration is also open for judging and stewarding. If you are BJCP qualified and interested in judging, but would need to travel from outside the central belt, please get in touch with us to discuss – we may consider remote judging or be able to assist with arranging your visit. Lunch and refreshments will be provided on the judging days.
People’s Choice
The People’s Choice will be a separate free-to-enter competition, judged by attendees at the results event. You do not need to register via the competition site, just bring three unmarked bottles of your beer along to the results day where they will be processed to be judged by other attendees.
As we were unable to hold the People’s Choice in 2021, we will be judging two categories on the day – 20C: Imperial Stout and a second BJCP category that will be chosen by members of the Scottish Craft Brewers Facebook Group and confirmed shortly. The highest scoring in each category will receive a coveted black bottle award.
Covid 19
We are aware of the ongoing Covid 19 situation and potential restrictions that may be in place in early 2022. The 2021 competition was successfully judged remotely however our preference is to return to primarily in person judging for this year’s event. We will endeavour to ensure that any changes to the competition format as a result of these restrictions is communicated to participants at the earliest opportunity.
We had 78 entries from across Scotland and the UK, and the judges were impressed with the standard of beers across the board. Best In Show ultimately went to Tom Furniss for his Old Ale, “Private Old Ale”, brewed in a period farmhouse copper and aged in an oak cask with Brett. Thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to all the winners – full results can be seen here.
Thanks also goes to our judges who adapted superbly to remote judging over Zoom, and to all our sponsors for providing fantastic prizes.
Finally, a special thanks to the SCB committee and especially Competition Secretary James Collin for making it all happen.
– Amended entry requirements for socially distanced competition
Thank you all for the very enthusiastic response to the inaugural Scottish National Homebrew Competition – we sold out in a few hours which was great to see.
When we launched the competition back in the heady days of Summer we were optimistic that we would be able to hold a live judging and results event in early 2021. However as time has gone on it’s become increasingly clear that this optimism was slightly misplaced!
We’re determined that the competition will still go ahead, however to ensure that we do not fall foul of changing restrictions, judging will now be held remotely using Edinburgh based judges, with entries safely distributed to each judge locally from the shipping location.
To account for the reduced number of judges and the additional time required for remote judging, we now expect the judging to take place over a series of weekends (although individual tables will each be judged in a single session). We will no longer have an in person awards event and results will be announced online towards the end of February.
The deadline for editing your entries will be 31st December 2020. If for any reason you are no longer able to enter please get in touch and we will arrange a refund – there are plenty of people who would be keen to take your place!
The two key changes for entry are as follows –
– To enable remote judging to take place we now require four bottles per entry. Two for the initial judging round and two for the best in show if your beer wins its table.
– We will not be running drop off sites in Edinburgh – all entries will need to be posted to the shipping location by midday on the 21st January 2021.
The shipping window will open on the 8th January 2021. For those who haven’t shipped to a competition before Royal Mail / Parcelforce will accept bottles of beer – paying in advance online and dropping off at your local post office is often the cheapest option. Please take note of the packaging instructions on the competition website.
For those from further afield who have volunteered to judge and were planning to travel to Edinburgh, we are very grateful but unfortunately we will not be able to use you this year. Conversely if you would like to judge and are based in or around Edinburgh please get in touch or register via the competition website.
Finally, the People’s Choice mini competition will be postponed until later in 2021 when hopefully we will be able to safely hold meet-ups again. A few more months of aging for your Imperial Stouts can only be a good thing!
If you have questions please contact the organisers via the competition website or competitions@scottishcraftbrewer.org.
Scottish Craft Brewers are pleased to announce the first Scottish National Homebrew Competition to be held in January 2021. Having organised successful BJCP judged club competitions for many years, we are now looking to expand the scope and scale of the competition.
There are 100 entries available, and participants will initially be limited to two entries. The first entry will be £6, with subsequent entries £4. General entry registration will at the end of August, keep an eye on the site and our Facebook group for further details.
There will be a 24 hour presale for paid up members of Scottish Craft Brewers, who will be contacted by email.
Entries, including the membership pre-sale, will be allocated on a first come, first served basis on receipt of payment via Paypal. If you have not paid for your entries, your place in the competition is not reserved.
Categories All BJCP 2015 categories will be eligible for entry; beers will be grouped in tables of complementary styles for judging. The groupings will be decided based on entries received. Although you will be able to edit your entries in the lead up to the competition, the sooner the final styles are confirmed, the easier it will be for us to organise.
The winner of each table will go forward to the Best in Show competition.
Scores and written feedback will be provided to all entrants after the competition.
Entry requirements We require three unmarked bottles, minimum of 330ml each, in either brown glass or brown PET with plain caps. The competition organisers may disqualify entries that do not meet these requirements.
Postal entries will be accepted 1 week before the competition date. There will also be drop off locations within Edinburgh confirmed in due course.
Judging Judging will take place at the end of January 2021 in Edinburgh, provisionally the weekend of 30th / 31st. Judging will take place on the Saturday and there will be a results event open to the public at an Edinburgh venue on the Sunday.
Registration will also be open for judging and stewarding. As we are keen to get BJCP qualified judges in attendance, a contribution towards expenses will be available for those travelling from outside the central belt. Lunch will be provided on the judging day.
People’s Choice 2021 The People’s Choice 2021 will be a separate free-to-enter competition, judged by attendees at the results event. You do not need to register via the competition site, just bring three unmarked bottles of your beer along to the results day where they will be processed to be judged by other attendees.
The category for People’s Choice 2021 is 20C Imperial Stout, as voted for by members of the Scottish Craft Brewers Facebook page. (Imperial Stout is also eligible as a category in the main competition, however this must be registered as an entry via the competition site.)
Covid 19 We are acutely aware of the ongoing Covid 19 situation and potential restrictions that may still be in place in early 2021. We will endeavour to ensure that any changes to the competition format as a result of these restrictions is communicated to participants at the earliest opportunity.
Gordon Nicol’s Wee Heavy took gold in the Scottish category at the 2020 Competition, going on to come second in Best In Show. He’s kindly shared his recipe below.
23L Batch
OG 1.078 FG 1.018 IBU 30 7.91% ABV
Fermentables
85.4% Pale Two Row 3.7% Melanoidin 3.7% Aromatic 3.7% Pale Chocolate 3.7% Dark Crystal 80L
Harry Kirkham’s English IPA took gold in the English category at the 2020 Competition, going on to win Best In Show. He’s kindly shared his recipe below.
19L Batch
OG 1.059 FG 1.015 IBU 60 5.75% ABV
Fermentables
45% Simpsons Golden Promise Finest Pale Ale Malt 44.5% Simpsons Best Pale Ale Malt 3.5% Simpsons Caramalt 3.5% Simpsons Light Crystal Malt 3.5% Simpsons Dextrin Malt
Hops
25g Challenger (8.5% AA) @60min 25g Bramling Cross (6.5% AA) @15 min 25g Challenger (8.5% AA) 30 min Whirlpool@ 75C 50g Bramling Cross (6.5% AA) 30 min Whirlpool@ 75C 30g First Gold (7.5% AA) 30 min Whirlpool@ 75C 35g Challenger (8.5% AA) Dry Hop 5 Days 25g Bramling Cross (6.5% AA) Dry Hop 5 Days 20g First Gold (7.5% AA) Dry Hop 5 Days
We had 35 entries in 6 categories from across Scotland and beyond, and the judges tasted some fantastic beers over the weekend. Thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to all the winners!
Thanks also goes to the Bellfield Brewery Taproom in Abbeyhill for hosting the main judging, the Campervan Brewery Taproom for hosting the People’s Choice and Prizegiving event, and all the judges who helped out over the weekend.
Finally, a special thanks to SCB President James Collin for once again organising a great competition.
