Regional Representative Updates – January 2024

January, 2024

Northeast
Max Finnance

Greetings Fellow North East Judges!

It has been a busy fall of judging beers for the Northeast region but the next few months are looking a bit calmer, with only a few competitions currently on the calendar in our region. 

I’d like to start by congratulating Ryan Dacey who recently advanced to Master Judge, Chris Kesler and Rob Friesel who both achieved National right before the last newsletter but were missed in my section, and Tim Powers and Jeff Pinhey who recently added their Cider Judge endorsements.

Assistant Rep. Eric Cousineau and his clubmates at GTA Brews got their ambitious Brew Slam competition (pictured top) running again after a four year hiatus, and a great time was had by all.

Assistant Rep. Jay Hersh traveled up to Canada to join the MontreAlers for their annual M.A.L.T. competition (pictured below), which was also a great weekend despite being short on judges. Jay’s home club, the Green Mountain Mashers (VT), will be celebrating their 35th anniversary in 2024 and is gearing up for a range of activities during the year.

I have crossed paths with many of you over the past few months, judging at the MASH Beer Trials and Southern New England Regional Homebrew Comp (SNERHC), both in CT, and CiderDays in MA, all of which were very well run and a pleasure to judge. CiderDays was a bit smaller than previous years, but it was great to see the amateur competition revitalized after an extended break. Cider makers and cider judges, keep an eye out for this one next year.

In the coming months there are great opportunities to judge at the Ocean State Homebrew Comp (RI), Amber Waves of Grain (NY), and the Canadian Brewing Awards (ON, judges selected by application).

Additionally, consider using this slower season to fire up your brew systems, study for that exam you’ve been procrastinating for your advancement, read a new book about beer, or volunteer to grade a set of exams if you are eligible (the help is always welcome as we are actively working to shorten the exam grading turnaround time).

I hope to see as many of you as possible as I’m making the rounds judging this winter, and please reach out if you have any questions or concerns for the Northeast region, including if you’re struggling to find a seat or site for that exam you’ve been studying for.

 

Cheers!
Max

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Europe, Middle East, Africa
Marek Kaminski

 

Competitions:

• the next competitions that everyone is gearing up for in the UK are the Scottish National followed by the UK National and Lager Than Life (lager only competition now in it’s 5th year). London Amateur Brewers are currently planning the annual LAB Open competition which will be held in May, but no date yet formally agreed. We expect there to be a number of smaller competitions (100-150 entries) run regionally throughout the year,
• the Irish are having their national competition in May,
• the Spanish “Rally ACCE” has started the new season with homebrewers participating in competitions to earn points in the “Homebrew Liga”. Best three get prizes at the end of season,
• Poland’s biggest homebrew competition will be held end of May in Zduńska Wola.

Exams:

• the number of exams is also going strong with tasting exams across the continent and new exams locations in Basel, Bayreuth and Palermo among others,
• written exams are being planned in Barcelona and other cities in the region,
• the tasting course run by London Amateur Brewers members in London has finished and places for the March exam are slowly filling up. A second exam for London is planned on July 15th, and depending on numbers there may even be a third one later in the year,
• Spain has started with the online preparation course with a couple of judges giving lessons to candidates willing to take the BJCP tasting exams in 2024,
• one of the biggest commercial breweries in Spain showed interest in having some of their staff to attend BJCP exams in 2024.

Cheers!
Marek

 

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Mid-Atlantic
Fred Mullner

 

Things were a little slow around the region which isn’t surprising for the end of the year, but we do have a few events to report!

Stoney Creek Homebrewers – Phoenixville, PA
by Tony Sarracino

We’ve done commercial advent cases over the past few years, but for 2023 Stoney Creek Homebrewers stuck to the hobby and did a 12 Beers of Christmas swap (which ended up being a baker’s dozen 13 beers, but who’s counting). We shared feedback with each brewer and everyone enjoyed the swap. We had fun creating labels where some shared recipes and others had a story attached. A unanimous decision coming out of this swap…kegging beers is much easier than bottling beers. But I will speak for everyone when I say this was a ton of fun and will become an annual event. 

Beers pictured L to R: Rauchbier, Winter Warmer, Winter Seasonal, Dark Saison, American Stout, English Bitter, Coffee Porter, Northern English Brown, Saison, Foreign Extra Stout, Belgian Blonde, Imperial Stout, and Smoked Weizenbock

 

ALEiens Homebrew Club – Hulmville, PA
by John Yeomans

The ALEiens Homebrew Club hosted Monk Melee XIII on December 2, 2023, at the Broken Goblet in Bensalem, PA.  Monk Melee is a Belgian-only competition limited to Category 24, 25, and 26 of the BJCP Guidelines.  Approximately 40 entries were judged and Best of Show went to Kris Gould of the ALEiens with a Belgian Single.  

Congratulations to all who participated!  Full results can be found at https://monkmelee.brewingcompetitions.com/

 

PA Farm Show Beer Competition – Harrisburg, PA
by Fred Mullner

The Pennsylvania Farm Show has been an institution in the state since 1916.  Each January, the Farm Show complex in downtownHarrisburg plays host to all the traditional events you’d expect to find at your State Fair – horse shows, cattle shows, bake-offs, and the like.  Beginning in about 2016, the organizers of the Farm Show added a new category—brewing.  The Farm Show Beer Competition is open to professional brewers in Pennsylvania and has been growing steadily ever since its introduction.

On December 9, 24 judges—including six Grand Masters—gathered to judge 255 entries from 46 different breweries from all over the state.  Judging took place in one marathon day consisting of three sessions and concluding with an all-Grand Master panel for the Best of Show.

Winners will be announced at the Farm Show on January 6.  I can’t disclose who won, but I did get to sample the winner, and they totally deserved it. 

 

Ohio 4 O.Z. competition info for BJCP judges in Ohio
by Paul Klammer

First, the date for the competition this year is March 30 at Terrestrial Brewing (not March 28 per my first email to local judges). I am preparing to enable the competition web site and do not foresee any changes other than the addition of a cider category.  You can review the rules for the competition here:  http://4ozcomp.com/index.php?section=entry#

I have propagated yeast from the 2023 BOS winner by Tyler Johnson.  It is a fast fermenting yeast that appears to reach terminal gravity in 10 – 12 days and can produce a saison-like beer with lemony citrus aroma and flavor.  Please contact me to make arrangements to obtain some of this yeast if you are interested. [email protected] I will be happy to bring it to the local beer club meetings held in January.

 

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Asia-Pacific
Mark Hibberd

 

2023 was another big competition and exam year in the Asia-Pacific region with 58 BJCP registered competitions and 10 beer exams. A big thank you to all the organisers of these events, and to the many judges, stewards, and the enthusiastic brewers who enter their beers, often to get feedback on how to tweak their recipes or techniques.

The largest competition in the region is the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships. Congratulations to the champion brewers of the state/territory qualifying championships, which include Craig Dunbar (NSW), Chris Keppie (NT), David Hall (TAS), and Brian Murray (VIC). From the total of over 2200 first-round entries, 385 beers from 210 brewers progressed to the AABC which was judged at the Adelaide casino in mid-October. Congratulations to champion brewer Craig Dunbar. The Champion State trophy was won this year by South Australia.

In common with other BJCP regions outside North America, we’d like to see a continuing increase in the number of National and higher-ranked judges. Having more higher-ranked judges available locally greatly increases the scope for organising tasting and written exams. 

In the more-established North American BJCP regions about 15% of all judges have achieved the ranking of National or higher, whereas in the newer regions (Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Europe – Middle East – Africa) the proportion is about 2%. This is partly due to having more fresh judges in our regions, who don’t yet feel they have the experience or confidence to sit the written exam. But my advice is to go for it – 2024 could be the year you become a National judge! An increased visibility of National judges in clubs and at competitions will also feed a positive feedback loop encouraging more judges to take up the challenge to study for and sit the written exam.

Speaking of Written exams, I’m administering one in Melbourne on February 10th. The other quarterly dates for 2024 are May 4, August 10, and November 4. If you’re interested in doing the written exam on one of these dates, please get in touch ([email protected]) and I can assist in coordinating. Also make sure you put together a study program so that you’re well prepared for the exam.

Also feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, initiatives, or to let me know about events in your area to include in future updates.

Hoppy brewing and judging for 2024!

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Midwest
Sandy Cockerham