Toronto Beer Week 2012 Homebrew contest

[hammy78]

Does anyone know the results yet? I got an email a few weeks back with some of the winners. I'm just curious about getting feedback.

[Tapsucker]

It's been all quiet. Since I wasn't on the short list that was e-mailed, I figure my entries bombed, but I'd love to hear what the more competent amongst us accomplished. Having previously had some beers from other contenders, I definitely feel no shame in losing!

I figure the judges have a lot of drinking to do and need a little time.

[markaberrant]

Wasn't the entry deadline 2 months ago?

[teichertbier]

1st Round Results are up:

http://canadianhomebrewsupplies.wordpre ... /#more-136

[Tapsucker]

I gotta say there are some great brewers on this list. When I look at the categories where I was trounced, I'm proud to lose the quality of contenders. However, I'm really disappointed not to see any women on this list. Rather than be excited to be part of the great art of brewing and this community, I'm starting to feel like I've joined some loser star trek fan club.

To be blunt, I know so many chicks who love good beer. Why are there so few making any? C'mon ladies, I know the pots are heavy, but don't fear the brewstand! I wouldn't even ask you to grow a beard and a pot belly.

[markaberrant]

I'd say 20-30% of the ALES Club in Regina is female. A few brew on their own, some brew with their spouse, some are judges, and some just appreciate beer and support the club.

We haven't gone out of our way to attract women per se, but we have made an effort to make the club open and welcome to anyone. Lots of homebrew clubs have the stigma of a men-only drinking club. We have lots of fun social events, plus we offer lots of education in a respectful relaxed atmosphere.

Seems to work. Our club has swollen to over 70 paid members, when I joined we had maybe 30. We've had underage kids ask to join, and one of our members is 77 and drives 2 hours each way from his farm to our meetings every month (I taught him how to brew all-grain 2 years ago, and now he's making his own).

I did a wine vs beer food pairing event last month, and I would say the majority of those in attendance were female. Suppose you could say women are more attracted to wine, but it was in a brewpub and most of them were there for the beer, and they were extremely vocal about their impressions of each pairing. And beer won by the way, the only courses we lost on were the 2 DIPA pairings, most folks around here still have trouble with agressively bitter/hoppy beers. And speaking of the brewpub, half of their mgmt team (3 of 6) is female and were the cover story in a recent local women's magazine.

[JeffPorter]

Rather than be excited to be part of the great art of brewing and this community, I'm starting to feel like I've joined some loser star trek fan club.

This is why you also need a "lady" hobby. I knit. And Toronto probably has the biggest knitting community in North America. New yarn stores open all the time, and others don't go out of business.

There's pretty much a stitch n bitch going on somewhere in Toronto every night - including Drunken Knitting.

This is what I'm knitting right now...

http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Baby_Surprise_Jacket

So, yeah...knitting...

Mind you, knitters are pretty nerdy, too...but at least they're lady nerds.

[Tapsucker]

My point was that in a quick look at all the beer geeks I know as well as serious beer lovers, who like great beer but don't yack on about it like I do, I'd say at least 50% are women. I also know female professional brewers.

I'd imagine this should mean we would see more women at SOB events and showing up in competitions, but I have not seen that.

[firbyster]

Ummm, there is a woman on that list!

[saints_gambit]

I'd say 20-30% of the ALES Club in Regina is female. A few brew on their own, some brew with their spouse, some are judges, and some just appreciate beer and support the club.

We haven't gone out of our way to attract women per se, but we have made an effort to make the club open and welcome to anyone. Lots of homebrew clubs have the stigma of a men-only drinking club. We have lots of fun social events, plus we offer lots of education in a respectful relaxed atmosphere.

Seems to work. Our club has swollen to over 70 paid members, when I joined we had maybe 30. We've had underage kids ask to join, and one of our members is 77 and drives 2 hours each way from his farm to our meetings every month (I taught him how to brew all-grain 2 years ago, and now he's making his own).

I did a wine vs beer food pairing event last month, and I would say the majority of those in attendance were female. Suppose you could say women are more attracted to wine, but it was in a brewpub and most of them were there for the beer, and they were extremely vocal about their impressions of each pairing. And beer won by the way, the only courses we lost on were the 2 DIPA pairings, most folks around here still have trouble with agressively bitter/hoppy beers. And speaking of the brewpub, half of their mgmt team (3 of 6) is female and were the cover story in a recent local women's magazine.

To be fair, a DIPA, while delicious by itself, can easily overpower a pairing. It doesn't surprise me that you didn't take those courses. It does kind of surprise me you went to that well twice, but you know what you're doing.

[markaberrant]

To be fair, a DIPA, while delicious by itself, can easily overpower a pairing. It doesn't surprise me that you didn't take those courses. It does kind of surprise me you went to that well twice, but you know what you're doing.

We went that way for flavour impact/intensity. With small food portions, and small beer servings, you gotta go big or go home. I selected all of the food first, going for 5 foods that are all rich and intense, because I knew I wanted to use similar beers, especially when going up against wine.

We choose DDC Chaman with Stilton blue cheese. Chaman is quite malty and comes across more like a barleywine. Some people have trouble with agressive blue cheeses, and most people here have never tasted a hoppy barleywine, so we were charting unfamiliar territory. Hoppy barleywine and blue cheese is a "classic" in my mind, it is everything I want in a pairing. But just because me and my beer geek friends like it, doesn't mean that people attending a food pairing event are gonna dig it. The general consensus from the crowd was that the wine covered up the blue cheese... which is exactly why I hate pairing wine with food, but the people get the final say, and I guess they just don't like pungent blue cheese. As Stone likes to say, "You're Not Worthy!"


We used Green Flash West Coast IPA with 70% dark chocolate. I agree this beer is very agressive, but it brought out the sweetness in the chocolate, which tamed the rank pine bitterness, but I guess it was still too much. I didn't expect most people to like this one. Could have played it safe and gone with a Lindemans Framboise (which was another option and played very nicely with the chocolate when we did the pre-tasting), but I wanted to push the edge and expand people's palates.

We did end up using the Framboise with a cherry cheescake for the final pariing. Everyone loved this one, it won the pairing in a landslide.

I had nothing at stake as to whether beer won or not. Whenever I speak about beer in public, I'm doing it purely to provide education and entertainment. I suppose my reputation as some sort of beer expert is on the line, but I have nothing to sell. Whereas the brewpub hosting the event certainly didn't want wine to win on their hometurf. And the wine side had 2 wine reps using their portfolios of wines for the pairings, so they needed to ensure they didn't embarass themselves either.

I just wanted it to be as good of an event as possible. Beer and food pairings are still pretty new for most people here. It got the crowd talking and thinking. Made for a lot of fun debate and a great night. The overall feedback was incredibly positive.

[Tapsucker]

Ummm, there is a woman on that list!

My bad. Listed twice even and I didn't catch it. I take back absolutely everything I have ever said. I am so wrong.

Congrats!