I like stuff like this, but it's too local for me.[:(]

Best of luck, Stout! And let us know how your beers fared, OK? I personally have yet to enter a home-brew in a contest. However, I think it's great that you have made a recipe that you feel is worthy. There is a group of home-brewers nearby who has an annual party and friendly competition. I might start with something like that. For the truly bold, we have in our area--coming soon--a test brew kitchen. Have you heard of these? It's like a contract brewery, only with a fairly small brew house (10 bbl). The concept is to scale up successful home-brew recipes and then serve them on tap for local beer lovers. People buy and rate the beer, and the home-brewer gets feedback before deciding to go to one of the bigger contract brewers for a production run. Pretty cool idea. So if your home-brew is a hit, you could test it out in a Test Brew Kitchen before investing the $$$ for a 30 bbl run. Good luck! BeerPal launches Brewers!

quote: Originally posted by FoamDome Best of luck, Stout! And let us know how your beers fared, OK? I personally have yet to enter a home-brew in a contest. However, I think it's great that you have made a recipe that you feel is worthy. There is a group of home-brewers nearby who has an annual party and friendly competition. I might start with something like that. For the truly bold, we have in our area--coming soon--a test brew kitchen. Have you heard of these? It's like a contract brewery, only with a fairly small brew house (10 bbl). The concept is to scale up successful home-brew recipes and then serve them on tap for local beer lovers. People buy and rate the beer, and the home-brewer gets feedback before deciding to go to one of the bigger contract brewers for a production run. Pretty cool idea. So if your home-brew is a hit, you could test it out in a Test Brew Kitchen before investing the $$$ for a 30 bbl run. Good luck! BeerPal launches Brewers!

Thanks FD! I've never had the nerve to enter a beer into competition, but I've had my beer critiqued by professional brewers and from BJCP judges who attended our tastings. They were (thankfully) brutally honest which helped me improve a few things that needed improvement. Plus, the pro guys were more than happy to lend me equipment and material. So I think I've got something that will not embarrass me in front of the judges. I'll throw my hat in the ring for the State Fair homebrew comp, and 4-5 local county fair comps. The test brew kitchen is a brilliant idea, and I hope it's successful wherever it launches.

quote: Originally posted by Stoutlover72 quote: quote: Originally posted by FoamDome For the truly bold, we have in our area--coming soon--a test brew kitchen. Have you heard of these? It's like a contract brewery, only with a fairly small brew house (10 bbl). The concept is to scale up successful home-brew recipes and then serve them on tap for local beer lovers. People buy and rate the beer, and the home-brewer gets feedback before deciding to go to one of the bigger contract brewers for a production run. Pretty cool idea. So if your home-brew is a hit, you could test it out in a Test Brew Kitchen before investing the $$$ for a 30 bbl run. The test brew kitchen is a brilliant idea, and I hope it's successful wherever it launches.

I would totally support a local joint doing this if the beers were prescreened and assured SOME level of quality. Sounds like a great business idea. And, it sure beats chasing down tons of beers commercially to rate. Would much rather help an amateur along in their path to brewing better or high quality beer.

After a 4 yea hiatus I'm entering a french farmhouse in the Bluebonnet. Before then, I entered the Foam Cup with a few beers. Lots of good comments. Got a medal with my oud bruin. How have the competitions been going?