Nothing in this photo is from this year

I got my 2018 NHC first round results today. I put in 3 beers and 1 mead which hits the 4 entry limit-cap.

My entries were:

Dark Mild Weissbier American IPA Traditional Mead

The mead was not the same mead that won gold in 2014. I used Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast instead of 71B, but other than that it was the same (even made it in late 2011 IIRC).

Results ¶ Here are my 2018 NHC scoresheets with judge’s names/IDs removed. The tl;dr is: 1st Place American IPA – 40 points

1st Place Traditional Mead – 43 points

3rd Place Weissbier – 40 points

Dark Mild – 28 points

Random thoughts and low-grade ranting ¶ I’m happy that I’m moving on with 3 entries. But I do have a good rant built up: my dark mild was judged badly. It’s fine that my mild didn’t win, but the judges describe a mild: “brown sugar/toffee”

“light roast, caramel, nutty”

“toasted malt, low toffee, low herbal hops, low bitterness, light dark fruit esters (raisin), malty” And then they both put it closer to “Not to style” than “Classic example” – what‽ I’m not saying I should win everything. I’m not saying I should have won this category. I don’t even have a problem with a 28. My beer may very well have fallen lifeless on this particular day for these particular judges – all that is totally cool. But I do have a problem when judges describe a mild – verbatim from the guidelines – then tell me it’s not to style </rant> I was thrilled with my other scoresheets, I didn’t expect to do so well. The weissbier was particularly surprising since I’ve struggled so much with that style – I’m sure I’ve brewed at least 3 sulfury examples in the past year!

Recipes ¶ I don’t think I’ve ever posted a weissbier recipe, and I did a few things differently with my IPA, so here goes:

American IPA (2018-02-01) ¶

Stats ¶ OG: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

FG: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

IBU (Tensith): 96.5

Batch Size: 6 Gallons

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Fermentables ¶ Ingredient Amount % When Root Shoot Meridian Pale 15 lbs 85 Mash Briess Carapils 1 lbs 6 Mash Corn Sugar 1 lbs 6 Mash Bards Carastan 0.5 lbs 3 Mash Weyermann - Acidualted Malt 4 oz 1 Mash

Hops ¶ Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form Time Chinook 13.0 % 1.00 oz. 36.3 Loose Pellet FWH Amarillo 9.5 % 1.00 oz. 20.7 Loose Pellet 45 Min Columbus 15.5 % 1.00 oz. 28.3 Loose Pellet 30 Min Mosaic 13.0 % 1.00 oz. 18.5 Loose Pellet 10 Min Citra 15.0 % 1.00 oz 7.0 Loose Pellet Flame Out Columbus 15.5 % 1.00 oz 7.3 Loose Pellet Flame Out Ekuanot 12.5 % 1.00 oz 5.9 Loose Pellet Flame Out Galaxy 15.0 % 1.00 oz 7.0 Loose Pellet Flame Out Mosaic 13.0 % 1.00 oz 6.1 Loose Pellet Flame Out Citra 15.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Dry Hop Columbus 15.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Dry Hop Ekuanot 12.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Dry Hop Galaxy 15.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Dry Hop Mosaic 13.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Dry Hop

Yeast ¶ Strain Amount Starter A07 Imperial 1 New pack thing Nope

Steps ¶ Dough in with 9.7 Gallons of Water at 164°F for a strike temp of 154°F 2 tsp Gypsum to mash for calcium Rest 60 min @ 154°F Sparge 20 min with 170°F water Preboil 9 gallons at 1.040 Boil 90 minutes to reduce to 7 gallons Add recirc arm and chiller at 20 minutes 1 tsp Wyeast Beer Nutrient Blend at 10 minutes 1 whilfloc tab at 2 minutes Hot whirlpool with flameout hops 20 minutes Chill to 62°F using ice water through Hydra Immersion Chiller Transfer to conical and use 90 seconds of oxygen through air stone at 1 LPM Pitch 1 pack A07 dated 2018-01-28 Set space heater for 64°F Add 1oz Columbus, 1oz Mosaic, 1oz Ekuanot T-90 pellets to fermentor on day 3 Jumper to keg with surescreen and 1oz Galaxy T-90, 1oz Citra T-90, 1oz Ekuanot LupuLN2™, 1oz Mosaic LupuLN2™ Move keg to kegerator on day 3 Jumper to clean keg, add gelatian, put under 30 PSI for 2 days Reduce pressure to 12 psi, pour off a few chunky pints, enjoy!

Stats ¶ OG: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

FG: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

IBU (Tensith): 12.3

Batch Size: 6 Gallons

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Fermentables ¶ Ingredient Amount % When Weyermann Pale Wheat 4 lbs 59 Mash Root Shoot Odyssey Pilsner 5 lbs 37 Mash Best Dark Munich 8 oz 4 Mash

Hops ¶ Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form Time Hallertau 4.5 % 1.00 oz. 12.3 Loose Pellet 60 min

Yeast ¶ Strain Amount Starter White Labs WLP300 1 New pack thing Nope