GABF Winners: Rants n Raves

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by BBThunderbolt, Oct 13, 2012.

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  1. Danielbt

    Danielbt Initiate (0) May 4, 2012 Texas

    I will; it won a gold medal.

    Stop crying.
     
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  2. Horbar

    Horbar Maven (1,397) Feb 24, 2012 Rhode Island

    The thread is called Rant and Rave.

    Stop being a douche!
     
    BillyCannon likes this.
  3. kzoobrew

    kzoobrew Initiate (0) May 8, 2006 Michigan

    So we can only rant and rave about the GABF and not others opinions? I would think they would all be fair game.
     
  4. mintjellie

    mintjellie Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2005 Canada (ON)

    Is that the GABF's style guideline? I'm looking at BJCP guidelines that say something fairly different. A german pils can actually be less hoppy than a bohemian pils and still fit the style guidelines.

    http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style02.php

    Seriously, look at the IBU ranges (which I do realize aren't any sort of law that brewers have to follow, lol).
     
  5. MaltMilkshake

    MaltMilkshake Initiate (0) Feb 9, 2011 California

    And what style do you feel they hold their weight in?
     
  6. mintjellie

    mintjellie Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2005 Canada (ON)

    Of course, with a lower final gravity the perceived bitterness could be higher since the beer is drier and with less of a malt profile to balance the hops. I think. Any homebrewers want to chime in?
     
  7. MaltMilkshake

    MaltMilkshake Initiate (0) Feb 9, 2011 California

    Zombie Dust with a bronze and Hoppy Birthday no medal in the American Pale category? I love Zombie Dust but seriously??
     
  8. MaltMilkshake

    MaltMilkshake Initiate (0) Feb 9, 2011 California

    Funny thing is I think the GABF blind judging is great at calling out bullshit on some of the so called subtlties. I'm willing to bet that 99% of you couldn't pick out your predetermined favorite from a sampling of 80 IPAs. Just saying.
     
  9. Kadonny

    Kadonny Pooh-Bah (2,582) Sep 5, 2007 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'm not sure what you are getting at, but the BJCP guidelines say pretty much the same as I said. Some BJCP descriptions:

    "Crisp and bitter, with a dry to medium-dry finish" and "Crisp, clean, refreshing beer that prominently features noble German hop bitterness" and finally "Drier and crisper than a Bohemian Pilsener with a bitterness that tends to linger more".

    Bitter and dry usually mean hoppier with pils'. I guess I have to go read the GABF style guideline, but I can't imagine it's that much different. As I said earlier, Prima to me falls into this category.
     
  10. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    If you look at the GABF guidelines they are different from the BJCP. Max IBU for this style is BJCP=45, GABF=40.,

    One thing to ponder is that the Bohemian Pils usually has less attenuation, so it will have a higher FG. Water also plays a part, as the Bohemian Pils has very low sulfates, and has a smooth rounded bitterness that fades quickly. A German Pils can have higher sulfates, which leads to a sharper dry bitterness that lingers.

    The stuff posted by Kadonny makes me scratch my head a little. Noble hops are Saaz, Tettnanger, Spalt and Hallertau Mittlefrueh. The others are not.
     
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  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    According to the BJCP style guidelines German Pilsners can be very hoppy with a top range of 45 IBUs.

    Also from the BJCP style guidelines:

    “Commercial Examples: Victory Prima Pils, Bitburger, Warsteiner, Trumer Pils, Old Dominion Tupper’s Hop Pocket Pils, König Pilsener, Jever Pils, Left Hand Polestar Pilsner, Holsten Pils, Spaten Pils, Brooklyn Pilsner”

    Victory Prima Pils and Jever Pils are two hoppy German Pilsners.

    Cheers!
     
  12. DougOLis

    DougOLis Initiate (0) Aug 15, 2008 California

    Apparently the brewer at Thai Me Up came from Pizza Port so I guess I'm not too surprised they're starting to clean up the IPA awards.

    Stone's "Enjoy By IPA" got 2nd and Alpine's "Bad Boy" got 3rd at the Alpha King Challenge btw
     
  13. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    BJCP guidelines are not used at GABF, BA (Brewers Association as opposed to Ba Beer advocate) guidelines are used. BJCP is for homebrewing only.
     
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  14. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I had pointed that out several pages back, but you can't expect everyone to read the tread.

    There is another set of guidelines for the WBC, published by the BA.
     
  15. Longstaff

    Longstaff Initiate (0) May 23, 2002 Massachusetts

    I only take stock in those breweries that medal in the same category year after year - shows consistency of quality and that its the real deal and not just a judging anomoly - or a beer that just hits its peak at the time of judging.

    I would love to see some kind of beer awards that reflect what the consumer actually experiences - like taking random bottles off random store shelves to judge. Probably be a lot of gold medals not given out in certain categories like pale ale, lagers, ipa's. lol.
     
  16. cbeer88

    cbeer88 Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2007 Massachusetts

    Fair point on repeat medals.

    I actually think that is a fantastic idea for somebody to startup. The "realistic awards". All judging is done based on random purchases over a 3 month window with the same beer tried at multiple stores on multiple occasions.

    When you really think about it, it is kind of fascinating that brewers work to deliver super fresh beer for judging, but are perfectly content to call a 3 month old IPA on the shelves as fresh in front of consumers.
     
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  17. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    Once a beer is with the distributors, it's out of the breweries hands. Most also can't afford a recall and reimburse the distributor for the product. The judging is entirely unrealistic. What we have is imperfect but given the logistics etc...it's the best there is.
     
  18. cbeer88

    cbeer88 Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2007 Massachusetts

    So it's ok for consumers to pay for out-of-date product at full price? In no other industry is that acceptable behavior. Out of date food gets thrown away, out of date clothing gets recalled, out of date electronics get discounted, etc, etc.

    I get that it's a highly imperfect system, I'd just like to see brewers not stick their heads in the sand about it. There are a few that make an effort, but far too many that either don't care or don't do anything about it.
     
  19. GeddyLeeRocks

    GeddyLeeRocks Initiate (0) Oct 14, 2012 Pennsylvania

    Same here! I think I sold 1 case at standard price, the rest went out at cost just to get rid of them. Still, Troegs is one of the best brewerys around!
     
  20. nanobrew

    nanobrew Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2008 California

    that would be a fun competition/study, though probably impractical.

    I think it would be great that the beer would be influenced by the distributor. It would put more pressure on them to deliver a fresh product. You could then look at results based on the distributor. Though, it would be hard to judge based on various location distributors (ex: Stone based on an east coast distributor vs their own local distribution)

    You make a good point on how is it really fair to the customer if breweries are winning awards based on fresher product (in which the customer may not get due to the distributor chosen by the brewery), beer brewed with a more keen eye, beer brewed specifically by the brew master, and even beer brewed with different (improved) ingredients.
     
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