Calling all homebrew clubs. Gather round and take a knee. We’ve got a quick reminder: This is the last week to submit to one of the best homebrew competitions in the country — aimed specifically at homebrew clubs. Melvin Brewing Co.‘s The Boil Rumble is open to the first 200 homebrew clubs to enter (check it out right here). Melvin & Morebeer! judges will pick just six submissions, one of which will have the chance to brew their winning batch at Melvin Brewing (in Alpine, Wyo.) and have it released in draft and cans in their home market in 2019. That’s pretty rad, but it will not be easy. Pros will be evaluating.
“Brewing is by far the most engaging profession and hobby that I’ve found,” said Elijah Pasciak, Melvin Brewing brewer. “Brewing science and engineering is constantly evolving and allowing us to better understand our handling of raw materials, behavior of organisms and processes which provides me a never-ending state of humbling curiosity. There are a plethora of different beer styles, organisms and ingredients for brewers to explore in different combinations. Add to that the seemingly infinite amount of variables to express throughout the brewing and cellaring processes, and you’ve got quite an enticing playground to explore as a craft brewer. Where to start the fun though?!”
Start by checking out the rules and submission process right over here. Melvin Brewing will notify the clubs if their entry form has been accepted. Entrants will be given instructions on how and where to submit the beer to Melvin Brewing for judging. Beers will be judged by Melvin Brewing staff, Mrebeer! staff and/or other judges selected at Melvin Brewing’s sole discretion. Beers will be judged according to BJCP guidelines. All six finalist clubs will then go head-to-head at Homebrew Con in June 2019, with the overall winner being announced at the Brewing Network party Saturday night.
Need some advice on the recipe writing process?
“My initial advice to home brewers is to educate yourself as much as possible on the basics of brewing, fermentation and cellaring,” suggested Pasciak. “You should strive to understand the importance of key factors like sanitation, ph, cell counts and temperature control before you start writing recipes and experimenting. I strongly value having the ability to meter and control both ph and temperature during the mash, knock-out and fermentation. Yeasts’ viability and cell counts are equally as important seeing as they are the ones turning our sweet wort into beer for us! Ensure that you are pitching enough cells which are well within their expiration date if you’re unable to create a starter for yourself. Being accurate and consistent in these areas will allow you to better understand the outcomes of your experiments when you decide to do so and help prevent you from dumping any batches of beer.”
“After mastering the basics I’d recommend establishing elements of control throughout your intended experiments and to progress through them at a rate which allows you to thoroughly understand each experiment’s contribution to the best of your ability. I would compile a list of interests including strains of yeast/bacteria, malt varieties, adjuncts, hops, etc and start hacking away at them by doing things like splitting your batches of wort into multiple fermenters and then pitch different organisms, ferment them at different temperatures, dry-hop them differently, etc to have a more consistent base of comparison between one another. SMASH [single malt and single hop] beers are also a great way to better understand different ingredients’ contributions and the effects of different variables throughout the brewing and cellaring processes with little distraction in the composition. These beers can also be split into multiple fermentors like mentioned above. Begin adding more ingredients one at a time after finding a SMASH recipe that you enjoy. This will help to better understand the flavors, appearance, and mouthfeel added from the use of the many varieties of different oats, wheat, rye, rice, and specialty malts available to us today.
That’s solid advice from a winner. If you can show and achieve such mastery, the winning club will receive a MoreBeer! Brewsculpture, get their beer released in cans nationally and be part of a Brewing Network podcast highlighting their winning beer. Ten club members will also get free entry to the Great American Beer Festival and pour at the Melvin booth. Visit the website to enter now.
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