Regional Representative Updates – Sept 2023

September, 2023

Northeast
Max Finnance

Greetings Fellow North East Judges!

It has been a busy summer of judging beers for the Northeast region, and we’re looking forward to an even busier autumn. 

Assistant Rep. Katie Sloan and I both made the trip to San Diego to judge the NHC final round, a great trip which was made even sweeter when she and several fellow members of the New York City Homebrewer’s Guild were on hand to accept the 2023 Gambrinus Club Award. (pictured) Congrats to all members of the NYC Homebrewer’s Guild!

A heartfelt congratulations are also in order for Assistant Rep. Jay Hersh, who advanced to Grandmaster II in July. Jay has been a BJCP member for 36 years, also serves as an Assistant Exam Director, and previously served as an Exam Director. His contributions to the BJCP have been many, and this advancement is well deserved. 

The summer saw several local opportunities for judging, including the first revitalization of the MASH Beer Trials in CT, a well-run competition and always a great sign for our hobby to see new competitions emerging and old ones being resurrected. The fall has many competitions on the calendar, and is probably the busiest season of the year for judging in the Northeast. Of particular note is the Brew Slam competition in Toronto on the weekend of 10/27. Brew Slam is the largest homebrew competition in Canada, and a great excuse to visit Toronto for an exceptionally well-run competition that looks for ways to improve the judge experience year after year. One cool feature of this competition is that they host an annual celebrity guest judge who joins as many judging pairs as possible through a speed dating type format, Annie Johnson will be this year’s guest Judge of Honor. Assistant Rep. Eric Cousineau is one of the organizers of Brew Slam, and he has been working tirelessly to make sure this is the best Brew Slam yet. 

I hope to see as many of you as possible as I’m making the rounds judging this fall, but please reach out if you have any questions or concerns for the Northeast region.

Cheers!

Europe, Middle East, Africa
Marek Kaminski

Competitions:

• The number of BJCP sanctioned competitions in the area continues to grow year-on-year with the entry-size of competitions also increasing.
•  The BJCP sanctioned African Beer Cup was held in April with a number of international judges (africanbeercup.com). It was followed by BeerEx Africa with Sam Calagione, among other speakers.
•  The number of BJCP sanctioned competitions also continues to grow in South Africa, with several competitions this year. Most commercial beer festivals have one, and many homebrew club festivals as well.
• The Great British Beer Festival (GBBF), curated by CAMRA and held annually in London has now run their own competition for the second year running. The next task will be to get more BJCP judges represented there and get them adopt the guidelines.
•  The BJCP sanctioned Intervarsity Brewing Competition will be held in October in South Africa. The idea for the competition is that students brew their own beer for a competition between universities.

Exams:

• The number of exams is also going strong with new exam locations in Slovakia, Finland and Bulgaria among others. We are currently in talks to expand tasting exams to more new locations in the area.
• Apart from numerous beer tasting exams, one of the first cider and mead tasting exams in the area were held in Poland this year. The written proficiency exam, which took place in February in Poland, gathered five candidates. The next written exam is scheduled in Spain in October.
• The June 18th tasting exam in Zaragoza was probably the first one in the area with more than 50% of the participants being women.
• Tasting exams are scheduled for South Africa this year and next year. Based on interest estimations, 1-2 exams per year is the right number for South Africa now.
• In the UK there had been a tail-off of people wanting to study to become a judge, but the recent course run by London Amateur Brewers had 29 sign up for it! As a result there will be at least two more tasting exams in the UK next year.

Other activities:

• SIBA (The Society of Independent Brewers in the UK) has adopted BJCP guidelines for the majority of their commercial competitions.
• Ariel Caballero is speaking with the Beer Sommeliers and Beer Tasters association in Spain on possible collaboration areas including study trips to Galicia and Franconia.
• The Beer Boot Camp was held in August in South Africa with Gordon Strong, among other speakers.

Cheers!
Marek

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Mid-Atlantic
Fred Mullner

There has been a ton of activity over the past few months in the Mid-Atlantic region!  This edition of the newsletter brings us updates from New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania as well as a feature on the James River Homebrew Club of Richmond, Virginia, and their 30^th annual Dominion Cup.

New Jersey

It was just confirmed that the Garden State Homebrewers have secured their fourth consecutive New Jersey Homebrew Club of the Year title with an exclamation point (the standings speak for themselves I suppose).  A portion of that success was bolstered by some amazing individual performances in the recent NJ State Fair, such as Dave Grosch medaling with all FIVE of his allowed entries (and a 2nd BOS), and three additional members securing FOUR medals each. However, by and large almost every member of the club that had any entries in secured some hardware. This repeated success has energized many members to pursue judging.

Maryland

The Midnight Homebrewers’ League in Westminster, Maryland will be conducting the annual Maryland Microbrewery Festival Homebrew Competition on Saturday, September 30, 2023.  The Competition takes place in the morning on the grounds of the Maryland Microbrewery Festival at Union Mills Homestead, in Westminster, Maryland.  This year the Competition will feature all American beer styles.  The winning homebrewer’s recipe will be scaled up and brewed for commercial sales by Brewery Fire in Taneytown, Maryland.

The Competition registration site is open for Entry and Judge/Steward registration:  https://mdmicrobrewfest.brewcompetition.com/   

The Competition is limited to 100 entries, to allow all entries to be judged in one easy morning session, so that everyone can enjoy the festival in the afternoon.  The Midnight Homebrewers’ League provides free breakfast and lunch to all volunteers, and Judges and Stewards receive free admission to the Festival.  Judge solicitation emails have not gone out yet, but will be sent soon.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

ALEiens Homebrew Club will be hosting Monk Melee XIII, a Belgian only Style BJCP sanctioned competition open to everyone.  Brewers can enter into the following 2021 BJCP Categories; 23 – European Sour Ale; 24 – Belgian Ale; 25 – Strong Belgian Ale; 26 – Monastic Ale.

Typically the competition sees between 50 to 100 entries with ~12 BJCP Certified Judges scoring the beers (some of the most decorated in the world!).  Last year in our PRO AM, Jordan Sanches’ Belgian Trappist Single was selected, brewed and served at Broken Goblet Brewing.   The competition always has top prizes like a Spike stainless steel fermenter, Micro Matic Taps, and Blichmann beer guns.

Registration Opens Aug 31, 2023 and closes Nov 19, 2023.  Entries can be dropped off at Neshaminy Creek Brewing, Keystone Homebrew Supply, or the ALEiens Nov 28, 2023 meeting at the Hulmeville Inn.

Judging will be in person and held on Dec 2, 2023 at Broken Goblet Brewing. Whether you have entries or not, swing by around 2 PM on Dec 2 for the final results and taste some beers.  All are welcome! The Official Monk Melee XV registration can be found here.

Aug 15 Release of LIGHTNING LAGER at Iron Hill North Wales

Kyle Maurer of Iron Hill North Wales selected Doug Klumpp’s War of the Worts Best of Show Heaven or Helles as the IRON HILL Pro Am winner.  Kyle and Doug brewed the beer and it is on tap at Iron Hill North Wales as of Aug 15, 2023 labeled Lightning Lager.  Stop by for a pint!

If it is gone before you get some, you can join the ALEiens Homebrew Club at their Sept 26, 2023 OKTOBERFEST meeting @ the Hulmeville Inn where the beer will be poured!

The ALEiens host an Oktoberfest party with authentic German food and beer open to all to attend.

Big Brew Day 2023

The ALEiens participated in Big Brew Day shifting one day to May 7, 2023.  About 15 of the club’s brewers assembled at Iron Hill Newtown to brew.  The club had a stash of hops to select from and Pete Corbett of Iron Hill provided Kveik, Mexican Lager, and Chico yeast.  Brewers could brew any style using the yeast and hops provided.  Not only did Pete pick the winner but Tom Cassidy’s Black IPA was also the unanimous crowd favorite.  Tom’s beer will be brewed and served at IRON HILL Newtown later this year expecting to be tapped early 2024.

For those of you who like mead

Valhalla The Meading of Life Mead competition will be held at Artifice Ales & Mead in Manheim on November 18th this year. 

More Philadelphia!

Assistant Representative Andy Hejl brings us this:

It’s the slow summer season around here.  Not too terribly much to report.  A number of our local PA, NJ, MD judges made the long trek across the country to San Diego for Homebrewcon and judging the final round of NHC.  A number of our classic fall competitions are actively looking for more judges – Motown Mash, Malt Madness (shifted to October), Stoney Creek Homebrewers, and our mead competition Valhalla (with a new organizer and running in November).  Reminder to any judges in the greater Philadelphia area who are interested in taking a written exam to contact Andy Hejl ([email protected]) who is happy to arrange a quarterly written exam site.  Dates for late 2023 and all of 2024 are on the exam calendar.

Virginia

Charlottesville

The 151 Brew Club out of Afton, Virginia, had a great showing at the 30th annual Dominion Cup Competition, held August 12 in Richmond. Several members of the club served as judges and stewards, helping competition organizers assess 475 entries. Club members also submitted beers for the competition, and member Nancy Johnson took home a Gold Medal for her “Boo Woo Blonde” Blonde Ale (18A).

Northern Virginia/DC

The GRiST club of Arlington, VA, is holding their 5th Annual NoVA Classic (2021 BJCP Guidelines) on Saturday, November 4, 2023.

There is also a sub-competition as part of the NoVA Classic (for the John Lyon Award) where only military veterans, dependents, and family members of veterans can submit beers that will be judged against each other based on the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. All money is donated to VFW John Lyon Post 3150 (Arlington, VA).

Competition will be on Saturday, Nov 4, 2023 in northern Virginia around the Chantilly-Manassas-Herndon-Reston area. Beer registration ($12.92 per beer), volunteer to be a Judge or Steward — https://beerawardsplatform.com/nova-classic-2023

30^th Annual Dominion Cup

The James River Homebrewers of Richmond, Virginia, hosted the 30^th Annual Dominion Cup August 8-12, 2023.

116 participating brewers entered 475 beers, ciders and meads. More than 75 volunteers – judges, stewards and administrative – provided services over the six first round judging sessions and the Best of Show.

This year the Dominion Cup used electronic score sheets for the first time. Paper score sheets also were made available. More than 90% of the judges chose to go the electronic route. Most used laptops or tablets; some successfully used their phones. The electronic judging went well, with a few hiccups. For example, refreshing one’s screen in the middle of judging a beer clears what’s been entered causing the judge to start over. Power strips were made available for those judges who needed power. All the venues provided robust Wi-Fi, which certainly helped in collecting the data during and after each round.

The Dominion Cup for Best of Show – Beer was won by Paul Ward, Vic Orlando, Brent Mattingly and Dan Cooper of the Band of Media Brewers (BOMB) from Media PA with their Old Ale (17B) Frankenbrew.

The Best of Show – Mead/Cider was won by Ben Cunningham of the James River Homebrewers with his Stone Fruit Mead (M2D) Peach Mead.

The Plato Award for the most 1st, 2^nd and 3^rd place finishes in the first round was won by Tony Kulas of the Down East Alers (DEA) from Greenville NC.

For a complete list of winners and sponsors, go to
https://dominioncup-jrhb.org  

The following provided venues for the competition:

• Castleburg Brewery
• Tabol Brewing
• The Answer Brewpub
• Ardent Craft Ales Barrel Room
• Richmond Volleyball Club

Medals were custom designed by Carrie it Home RVA
http://www.facebook.com/carrieithomerva  

Ohio

Cincinnati

The Bloatarian Brewing League hosted it’s 35th Annual Beer & Sweat Keg–Only competition on August 19th. 89 kegs were entered and after the judges did their thing – many for the first time judging electronically using the Beer Awards Platform — a Kolsch was proclaimed as BEST OF SHOW, with an American Pale Ale as runner up. Congrats to Keith Kost for his “KostKolsch”, and Metts Potter for his “Adventure Chicken APA”. Winners can be found here: https://beerawardsplatform.com/35th-annual-beer-sweat/results

We also want to send out our congrats to Metts for taking a gold at NHC in June with his “Iceberg” Koslch, and for nearly taking Brewer of the Year at Indy Brewers Cup with 5 medals in July!

Here’s an update from the Cincinnati Malt Infusers. We continue to flourish under the strong leadership of our President Chris Wagner.

This year, the Malt Infusers held another successful All American Homebrew Competition in February in conjunction with the Cincy Beer Fest. The entries in our competition are limited by the number of judges who volunteer. To that end, Nationally Ranked Judges Rick Franckhauser and Will Magnuszewski lead our BJCP class each month to increase our knowledge and judge rank to assist in judging local and regional competitions.

Program Director Matt Barczewski has filled each monthly meeting with a commercial calibration of homebrew and a program covering everything from evaluating beer styles, meads, sampling malt teas, and competing in club only competitions. He continued his 2^nd Fantasy Beer Draft where over a dozen brewers drafted base malt, adjuncts, hops, yeast, process requirements and, this year, a commercial cereal brand (Wheaties, Cheerios, etc.) that had to be used in the beer. Tasting and evaluations are set for the September 2023 meeting.

We are currently working toward our second homebrew competition this year, under the leadership of our Competition Director Joe Kulesa, on Oktobersbest on October 14, 2023. We hope to increase the number of entries to over 200, based upon judges’ availability. Joe’s group also has begun evaluating digital judging software with the goal of increasing depth of the beer evaluation and increasing the efficiency of reporting and scoring.

Our Barrel Project continues with the assistance of MadTree Brewing. This year we put 55 gallons from 11 different brewers of English Barleywine into a local distillery’s bourbon barrel stored at MadTree. We hope to sample and divide the beer in time for the holidays.

Finally, the Malt Infusers have begun to explore projects with other local homebrew clubs. In an attempt to explore cross pollination, we are considering a “Ryder Cup type” competition where members from 2 or more clubs compete in specific categories, then everyone joins for a cookout with families and friends.

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Asia-Pacific
Mark Hibberd

Since my last update in March, we’ve had 7 Australian judges attain National rank. These have already been announced but I’d like to add my congratulations to Andrew Lewis, Anthony Ween, and David Gilks (Canberra Brewers), Alex Taubert and Carl Legros (Central Queensland Craft Brewers), Cam Eldridge (Merri Mashers), and David Tetley (ESB club). This more than doubles the number of National Beer judges in Australia to 12. And the total in the Asia-Pacific Region to about 20.

Some of these have already become active graders, helping to bring down the waiting time for exam results – thank you. If you are a National level judge, you can sign up to become an exam grader by doing the online grader training course http://dev.bjcp.org/faq/become-grader/.

I’d also like to welcome the 100 new judges who have passed their tasting exams during the past year. BJCP activity in the region remains strong with many exams and competitions. I have had the pleasure of being invited to proctor at a number of these. It’s always inspiring to see the enthusiasm and taste the great beers being brewed by those on the journey to becoming BJCP judges or to upgrading their rank.

International mailings of pins have been on hold for some time. As an interim measure, I recently organised a test bulk shipment, which I was able to distribute to judges within Australia and New Zealand. There are still many judges waiting for their pins and plans are in hand to restart international mailings soon. In the meantime, you can still order name badges through the member portal https://www.bjcp.org/member-services/bjcp-name-badges/

There are upcoming Beer Tasting Exams scheduled in Hong Kong and Australia as well as Beer Written Exams in New Zealand and Australia. If you’re interested in sitting the Written exam on one of the quarterly dates but don’t see a local venue, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.

Cheers, Mark

West
Brian Cooper

Midwest
Sandy Cockerham

Competitions and exams have been happening in the Midwest region! Here are just a few things out of what has been going on.  

 

I administered a BJCP beer judging exam on 7/10/23 to 20 examinees in Indianapolis the day after the Indiana Brewers Cup competition.  Thanks to the exam directors for giving me permission to expand seating!  

 

On 7/29/23 I administered an BJCP Mead Judging exam to 10 examinees in Villa Park, IL.  I am not positive, but it may have been the first mead exam in the Chicago area. 

 

Down in Louisville, KY the BJCP judges and brewers of the LAGERS homebrew club just had the Kentucky State Fair Competition last month and have now fired up their brew kettles and are preparing for their Yappy Hour fundraiser.  Here is a bit of what they say about their event that is held at a brewery co-owned by BJCP Assistant Rep, Leah Dienes. 

 

Join us at Apocalypse Brew Works for a unique fundraiser! Saturday September 30th at 2 p.m. 

 

Homebrewers from LAGERS have teamed up with Apocalypse Brew Works and Brewgrass Homebrew Supply to craft 20 exclusive beers for your tasting pleasure. Bring your furry friends for a day of fun, food, and fantastic brews. All proceeds go to the KY Humane Society. Admission is free and Traveling Kitchen will be there for when you get hungry. Let’s raise our glasses (and paws) for a fantastic cause! 

 

Over the years, thanks to the generosity of our patrons, we’ve raised over $34,000 for the KY Humane Society. That’s $34,000 that has gone towards providing shelter, medical care, and love to animals who, in return, grace us with their boundless affection and loyalty.

 

From Amanda Burkemper, BJCP Assistant Rep in Kansas City comes this great news

 

Midwest BJCP Assistant Rep, Jim Vondracek, and I are both involved in a virtual regional written exam study group, hosted by Jeff Muse out of St. Louis. We are hosting exams in at least St. Louis, and I need to get the KC one registered still. 

 

One of the KC clubs, Kansas City Bier Meisters, obviously won Club of the Year at NHC. We have a high concentration of judges in KCBM (three Master+, I think 10-12 Nationals, total of 30% of the club is BJCP), so I think it’s a good story of the BJCP training being critical to the clubs success in competition.