Homebrew Competition 2018

Briarbanks 3rd Annual Homebrew Competition

You can enter online or pop into the bar for an entry form.

Please read through this FAQ for the information regarding the competition, and feel free to contact us with any questions.

 

Enter online here!

Briarbanks 2018 Homebrew Competition FAQ

We are happy to announce we will be hosting our third annual Homebrew Competition.

Who can enter?

Entries are open to all Homebrewers, whether you brew from extract or all-grain.

What would be required?

We would be looking to receive 3 500ml bottles from each entry. These bottles should be labeled to indicate your entry, and will be re-labeled here and judged blind.

What is the timescale for this event?

Submissions are open now. We would require all submission forms to be entered by the beginning of October, and the beer to be with us ready for judging on the 27th October.

We will hold an awards event the weekend of the judging in which all entrants are welcome, and encouraged to bring a bottle or two of their entries for others to try on the day! This will be from 2pm on Sunday the 28th October.It was a great afternoon last year, so we encourage everyone to attend.

Is there a fee to enter?

There is a £5 entry fee. This can be paid at a later date to the entry submission, and given when beer is delivered. This is per person, not per entry. If you enter the maximum of three categories, it is still just one £5 fee.

What can we brew?

Please see the attached page for the categories which are loosely based on SIBAS beer competition categories. If you are unsure about any of these, just ask as we know beer comes in many forms and is sometimes hard to pin to one category!

How many beers can we enter?

One beer per category, up to a maximum of three categories per entrant.

What is the prize?

The overall winner will again get to brew their recipe at the Briarbank Brewery and have it served through out our venues.

Category winners are invited with a +1 for an afternoon at the brewery on the 10th of November from 2pm. This will include a tour, meal, and of course beer!  

Who will be judging?

We will have a range of judged announced closer to the time. It is a closed judging event. However, we encourage entrants to bring a bottle of their entered beer to the award announcement event for others to try!

Categories

Note – Standard & Strong bitters/Pales have been split into two categories. If like last year we get just the odd entry for a ‘standard’ and lots in the ‘strong’ for either, they will be combined into one.

Lagers are to be entered into specialty, but again if we have enough to create its own to be judged we will do so.

Porters & Stouts

  • Stout styles in this class include: Oyster Stout (with or without oysters), Irish Dry, Milk/Cream (sweet), Oatmeal and English.
  • Porters in this class include both brown and black (robust)
  • Must be within 4.5% – 7% ABV range
  • A beer below 4.5% ABV may be entered in this category if it conforms to the style of a Stout or Porter, with a sufficiently assertive hop-accented palate to be unsuitable for the Standard Mild Ales category
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category

 

Old Ales,  Milds &  Brown Ales

  • Embraces a range of styles of dark beer for the Standard Mild and Brown
  • Must be no stronger than 7% ABV
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category

Standard Bitters

  • Includes bitters that are Upto 4.5% ABV
  • Embraces a range of colours as for Standard Bitters
  • These beers can have medium levels of bitterness and a range of hop characteristics but the overall impression must be that of a balance of flavours without harshness.
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category
  • Also covers black bitters

Standard Pales

  • Includes pale ales that are Upto 4.5% ABV
  • Embraces a range of colours for Pale Ales.
  • These beers can have medium to high levels of bitterness and a range of hop characteristics but the overall impression must be that of a balance of flavours without harshness.
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category

Strong Pale Ales

  • Includes pale ales that are 4.5% – 7% ABV
  • Embraces a range of colours as for Pale Ales.
  • These beers can have medium to high levels of bitterness and a range of hop characteristics but the overall impression must be that of a balance of flavours without harshness.
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category
  • Also covers black bitters

Strong Bitters

  • Includes pale ales that are 4.5% – 7% ABV
  • Embraces a range of colours for Bitters
  • These beers can have medium levels of bitterness and a range of hop characteristics but the overall impression must be that of a balance of flavours without harshness.
  • Must not contain any “speciality” ingredient at a level as defined in the Speciality Beers category
  • Also covers black bitters

 

Speciality Beers

LAGERS are to be entered into this category. If we receive enough these will be judged on their own together.

Embraces all styles of beer that contain a non-core brewing ingredient at a level intended to impart a distinctive and discernible flavour note or character. Ingredients may include: Spice / Herb / Honey / Coffee / Chocolate / Gluten Free* / Fruit / Vegetable / Wood Aged / Smoked (>20%) / Rye (Malted or raw >20%) / Nuts / Wheat (>20% malted or raw & made with wheat beer yeast) and others as per the  imagination of the Brewer.

N.B. ANY ALLERGENS, INCLUDING CEREALS CONTAINING GLUTEN, MUST BE DECLARED AT TIME OF ENTRY

  • Category excludes: American style black ales, multigrain and organic beers which should be entered in the appropriate Bitter & Pale Ale category for ABV content.
  • The use of a non-typical yeast is not warranted as being enough for entry into this category.
  • *Gluten Free beers can be entered in the speciality category if they are produced from gluten free cereals/grains such as sorghum, rice and millet. If an external enzyme (i.e. Brewer’s Clarex) or deglutinated barley is the main malt used then the beer should be entered into the relevant non speciality category; if de-glutinated wheat is the significant malt used, then they may be entered in the speciality category as a wheat beer.
  • Core brewing ingredients include barley malt and malt extract, hops and hop oils, caramel, brewing sugars, brewer’s yeast, water and brewing salts, and fining agents
  • Non-barley-malt grain adjuncts can count as a core ingredient, at the discretion of the brewer, if used at low levels (typically no more than 10% of the grist)
  • A beer containing a non-core ingredient as defined above must be entered in this category and may not be entered in any other category.
  • Entry forms will include space for a note explaining the speciality qualification of the beer, which can then be communicated to the judges.