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From Virtual to Reality


It was a good day for a homebrew - especially when the homebrews have travelled far and wide to meet at the beer and pizza mecca of Charlotte know as "The Mellow Mushroom." And why would there be such a gathering? To meet the faces behind the icons of our Brewboard, of course! To shake hands, share stories, judge homebrews, and lift a few pints together.

This homebrew competition is unique in it's conception. It wasn't dreamt up by a local homebrew club. It wasn't organized by a brewery. It was created by the members of the HBA Brewboard. The members decided that this would be a great way to meet and share with their fellow members. And it wasn't created by HBA.

And share they did. The weekend began with a pre-event party at Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Charlotte, where many pints of Head brewer Dave Gonzalez's beers were consumed, and consumed, and consumed...

Luckily the beer judges were in (relatively) good shape the next day to start the 10AM judging processes.

The processes included style tastings across 11 categories. Strict AHA judging guidelines were followed, along with all the necessary paperwork. Gary Cathey of the Carolina BrewMasters organized the logistics of the event which included receiving the entries, sorting them out, siging up judges and stewards, and tallying up the final scores.

"Yeah but this one goes to Eleven..."

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. In fact 5 of us did the judging for the Best Of Show.



And who were these priviledged 5 you may ask? Were they diplomats? Executives? Celebrities? Were they beer gods of some sort? No, just 5 guys that like beer and run a homebrew shop... Our very own HBA gang had the distinct honor of judging the 11 top entries. Unfortunately, the youngest member of HBA, Denny Deaton, could not participate that day (oh well, more beer for the rest of us!).

The task? To narrow these incredible 11 beers to three. Not an easy assignment. There was much debate, much disagreement, much drinking... but finally we chose the three:

Best Of Show:
1st - Cjinj - IPA
2nd - ahunt - Robust Porter
3rd - David Chase - Belgian Specialty


"It's just like being there..."

Take a look at a few images of the event:



The rundown:

Flight 1 - Category 3:
1st - Palmetto Pub, American Wheat
2nd - Cjinj, Blonde Ale
3rd - Jimvy, Cream Ale

Flight 2 - Category 4
1st - Higgs, English Pale
2nd - Howie, Ordinary Bitter
3rd - BigcMac - English Pale

Flight 3 - Category 6A
1st - Cjinj - APA
2nd - Brewcnc - APA
3rd - Huleoo - APA

Flight 4 - Category 6B & 6C
1st - Thomas - American Amber
2nd - ahunt - American Amber
3rd - Cjinj - California Common

Flight 5 - Category 7
1st - Cjinj - IPA
2nd - Thomas - IPA
3rd - Rex Polarhunt - IPA

Flight 6 - Category 10
1st - Jimvy, American Brown
2nd, Kkeys - American Brown
3rd - Howie - Southern English Brown

Flight 7 - Porters
1st - ahunt, Robust Porter
2nd - Dr Dale, Robust Porter
3rd - Brewbuddy23, Brown Porter

Flight 8 - Dry & Sweet Stouts
1st - Dr Dale, Sweet Stout
2nd - Hd4mark, Dry Stout
3rd - Billhev & Beermedic, Dry Stout

Flight 9 - Oatmeal & Foreign Extra Stout
1st - Jimvy, Oatmeal Stout
2nd - Hardcore Legend, Foreign Extra Stout
3rd - Palmetto Pub - Foreign Extra Stout

Flight 10 - Wheat Beers
1st - Aeneas - Weizenbock
2nd - Thomas - Bavarian Weizen
3rd - Mishko, Weizenbock

Flight 11 - Belgian & French Ales
1st - Davis Chase, Belgian Specialty
2nd - bolle -Belgian Wit
3rd - DuncanDad, Belgian Specialty

Best Of Show:
1st - Cjinj - IPA
2nd - ahunt - Robust Porter
3rd - David Chase - Belgian Specialty

And a very special thanks to Gary Cathey for organizing the logistics of the even in Charlotte - Thanks Gary!!


And a very special thanks to Gary Cathey (aka Casey) for organizing the logistics of the event in Charlotte - Thanks Gary!!


The HBA Gang would like to thank all of our Brewboard members for participating. It never would have happened if it were not for you!




HBA Recommendations:


C.J.’s House of the Rising Sun JPA:

C.J., HBA’s correspondent from Japan, has formulated this wonderfully complex and hoppy brew in the spirit of the traditional India Pale Ale. A strong beer with a lot of hop character. C.J.’s hopping schedule spreads this hoppiness throughout the sensory experience with several flavor and aroma additions.
WARNING – This brew is for hop heads only!!! CJ recommends using the Wyeast for this one. It is the #1026 British Cask Ale Yeast.
(Starting Gravity: 1.059-1.065) (Finishing Gravity: 1.013-1.019) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 5.7-6.3%) (62 IBU)
Monkey on the Mainline Porter:

Employs use of honey and molasses to give a potent alcohol content for its style (SG 1.070) Both provide a different twist to an old style.
Ram's Head Weizenbock:

As its style name implies, German wheat with bock strength. Quite a combo!! Deep amber color, medium to full bodied with banana and clove character apparent (except in dry yeast version).
River Tyne Brown Ale:

Medium to dark brown member of English Mild family. Characterized by light hop bitterness and aroma with malty sweetness, has bit more body than most milds. English Brown Ales frequently feature diacetyl (butterscotch) flavor notes.
Abbey Normal Belgian Ale:

Abbey Style Ales cover a lot of ground in terms of strength, color, and flavor. They can vary from 6 to 11% alcohol. They can be pale to dark brown. Hops rarely play a dominant role so the flavors generally range from sweet to spicy to earthy. The use of pure Belgian Candi Sugar aids in giving this beer its authentic Belgian character. Medium amber in color, medium to full bodied with a malty/spicy aroma. Liquid yeast is strongly recommended with this recipe. (Starting Gravity: 1.075-1.080) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.020) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 7.8-8.3% by volume) (24 IBU)