Hi guys,
I'm putting some feelers out there to see who might be interested in collaborating on co-brews through the end of the year. There are 17 affiliated competitions in the Midwest Homebrewers Circuit throughout the year. Including: Drunk Monk, Charlie Orr and Spooky Brew.
Check out http://midwesthomebrewer.com/
I'm thinking we'd brew 2x a month and work through the BJCP styleguide, brewing textbook recipes and trying to knock off styles as we go. All co-brewers would be listed as entrants for these submissions. We can box up and send off whatever styles we have ready as comps come up and the beer starts to peak.
This is open to beginning - seasoned brewers. Whether you're looking for your 1st taste of competition, judging, recipe refinement, process refinement or just brewing new styles, this could be for you.
We could try to brew 10gal batches and split that into a corny for the brewers/brewhouse and 1 corny to bottle for competition. Lots of suburban clubs are heavily represented at these comps and it would be great to see CHAOS up there too.
Looking for 2-3 others to partner up for the remainder of the year. We'll have an open signup per beer with new participants rotating in.
A byproduct of these brewing sessions might be to have CHAOS BJCP Judges and Judges in training pre-judge and score these submissions before they go off to competition.
I've been involved in competitive brewing for 3 years and it's really improved the quality of my beers through trouble shooting and technique refinement.
Please reply here and feel free to offer any program enhancments.
Let's get brewing!
James, I love this idea! I think this is a great way for any brewer looking to perfect their craft and get valuable insight from a very experienced brewer & proven competition winner! Thank you.
For those of you that don't know James, he's kind of a big deal on the competitive brewing circuit. Don't let this opportunity pass you by!
I love this idea! Not only is a great way for new brewers to learn stuff, but also for brewers at any level to network and/or share brewing tips with other club members. When signing up for these brews, I encourage everyone to go outside their comfort level and try to brew with club members you haven't met or brewed with in the past, as well as brew beers you may not like or have not brewed in the past.
James, this sounds like fun. Depending on the turnout, I would sign up for a couple specific beers, or are you just going to do it based on what's seasonally appropriate?
I'd love the opportunity to brew with you James! (Faircloth) Sign me up.
Well, I'm thinking random beer styles picked out of a hat? Let's get out of the comfort zone. We can pull and compare some winning recipes for refrence. Then we can build ours in BeerSmith.
In the beginning I think we want to have a wide portfolio of beers going out to comps so we don't compete against ourselves. Competitions typically merge judging catagories a few days before competition day so let's try to stay away from getting caught in that net. We want maximum exposure. I'd like to hit all the major styles 1st before going after quirky sub styles. We'll be brewing Lagers and Ales. Some consideration can be put into a partygyle batch if the original beer has high 1st runnings. I usually don't sparge, so maybe there will be enough sugars left for a 2nd beer. Extra bonus points for maximizing beer ingredients
Some styles are harder to brew than others and have less entrants. We should spend some time scouting upcoming competitions and see what catagories have been heavy in the past years. We can go at those popular catagories head on or we can shoot for a catagory that's not as crowded but still high profile.
We can put a seasonal spin on these and pick from beers that will be coming into season 1-2 months after brew date. Some beers are popular year-round.
I'd like to plan our 1st brew date week of April 2nd?
All members are welcome! Let me get a head count and I can start planning things out on my end. Thanks!
--james
Damn that is a great idea James! Wish I didn't have to travel so much for work or I would be all over it.
Definitely interested in joining the team! Looking forward to making our way through BJCB styles.
Ken,
We could still deal you in. We could brew one night when you're in town and the teamates can then babysit the fermentation and packaging. Then come back to taste the finished beer before it goes out the door to comps.
Just need 1-2 weeks lead time to coordinate. We can collaborate online for the rest.
--james
Pete, nice to meet you and welcome to CHAOS! We'll get you in on one of the 1st two brew crews.
--james
I'd be down to do this
Thanks Steve, I'll put you on the rotation.
--james
Hey James, if you draw any Belgian or smaller British styles, put my name in the hat.
Oh, and on the off chance that you decide to make a lambic I'd be down.
I'm working on a Belgian Quad for a barrel... I'll be looking for partners. I have another barrel project to knock out 1st (Wee Heavy).
Let me see what gets picked out of the hat next. Eventually we'll get to British mild. I think Scottish /-60 right now might be grouped with that category on a judging table.
--james
James, thanks for organizing this!!
Count me in.
Here's a Random BJCP Style Picker
http://betatestbrewing.com/pages/random.html
-Reed
Sounds good Jon, I'll get you into the rotation.
--james
Hi All....
Based on Yeast I have on hand. I would like to offer up:
MaiBock / Helles Bock as an immediate possible co-brew. I also have a Saison I'd like to partner on.
Looking for 2 other members to tag-in. I'll move these individual brews to a seperate forum moving forward.
Maibock / Helles Bock History http://allaboutbeer.com/article/maibock-and-helles-bock/
Saison History http://allaboutbeer.com/article/belgian-farmhouse-ale-saison/
Thanks!
--james
I'll jump in on the Saison.
I don't know about competitions, but there are a few philisophically different saisons brewed both domestically and abroad so I'd like to explore some of those given the chance.
I'm in for for a Maibock/Helles bock.