Back to the Urban Knaves of Grain home page.Six times a year, we are allowed to select just one brew to represent our club in an American Homebrewers Association-sponsored competition with a theme, such as stouts, pale ales, wheat beers, or pilsners. Each competition is hosted by a different homebrew club. In 1997, the UKG was the host for the Weiss is Nice club-only competition. The winner's recipe is published in Zymurgy, and the winning club earns points toward the Homebrew Club of the Year Award.
The UKG selects our entry in our own informal mini-competition, with the help of volunteer members, who practice their judging skills while evaluating the entries. Just as in a real competition, they return judging forms full of constructive comments to the entrants.
Whenever possible, our judgings are held at monthly UKG meetings. To enter a beer, just bring one bottle to the meeting. Remove any labels and black out all markings on the cap. You should keep two more bottles in reserve.
If your beer wins the judging, you will be responsible for shipping these two bottles to the club-only competition. You should fill out the standard AHA entry/recipe form and bottle labels. Put the entry form and a $5 check payable to the AHA into an envelope. Rubber-band a label to each bottle, and rubber-band the envelope to one of them. Pack them up securely (individually wrap each bottle with bubble wrap, then put them in a tightly cushioned box), and send them via UPS to the shipping address shown on the AHA club-only competition schedule. Save your shipping receipt; the UKG treasurer will reimburse you for the shipping and the entry fee at the next meeting.
If you have questions about entering a club-only competition, or if you would like to help in our informal judging, please contact Steve McKenna.
This is the schedule of club-only competitions in 2007-2008. All competitions will be based on the 2004 BJCP Style Guidelines. (Judging dates marked as tentative may be adjusted if the competition deadline turns out to be earlier or later than expected.)
| Date | Competition |
|---|---|
|
July 26, 2007 (hosted by the Foam Rangers, Houston, TX; entry deadline: Aug. 10) |
Strong Ale. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Ed Seaman, Old Ale | |
|
Sept. 27, 2007 (hosted Oct. 9 by Cap 'n' Hare Homebrew Club, Dallas, TX; entry deadline: Oct. 1) |
Bock. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Joe Formanek, Doppelbock | |
|
Oct. 25, 2007 (hosted Dec. 8 by Gold Country Brewers Association, Orangevale, CA; entry deadline: Nov. 30) |
Pilsner. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Ed Seaman, Classic American Pilsner | |
|
Jan 31, 2008 (hosted Feb. 16 by Prairie Homebrewing Companions, Fargo, ND; entry deadline: Feb. 9) |
Dark Lagers. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Rob Miller, Dark American Lager | |
|
March 8, 2008 at the Drunk Monk Challenge (hosted Mar. 29 by Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI), Indianapolis, IN; entry deadline: Mar. 21) |
Perfect Porter Challenge. BJCP 2004 styles:
The top-scoring UKG entrant in DMC category 12 will be selected to represent the club. |
| Winner: Ed Seaman, Brown Porter | |
|
April 24, 2008 (hosted May 10 by the UKG! entry deadline: May 3) |
Extract Beers. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Ed Seaman, Belgian Golden Strong Ale | |
|
June 26, 2008 (hosted Aug. 2 by Minnesota Homebrewers Association; entry deadline: July 25) |
Mead. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: Rich Janevicius, Cyser | |
|
Sept. 25, 2008 (hosted Oct. 18 by Clinton River Association of Fermenting Trendsetters (C.R.A.F.T.); entry deadline: Oct. 11) |
Imperial Anything. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: | |
|
Nov. 20,
2008 (tentative) (hosted Nov/Dec by Scioto Olentangy and Darby Zymurgists (SODZ); entry deadline: TBA) |
Celebration of the Hop. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: | |
|
Jan. 29, 2009 (tentative) (hosted Jan/Feb by our neighbors Silverado in St. Charles, IL; entry deadline: TBA) |
Belgian and French Ales. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: | |
|
Feb. 26, 2009 (tentative) (hosted Mar/Apr by Prairie Homebrewing Companions; entry deadline: TBA) |
Beers with OG > 1.080. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: | |
|
April 30, 2009 (tentative) (hosted May by Knights of the Brown Bottle; entry deadline: TBA) |
Extract Beers. BJCP 2004 styles:
Judging will be conducted at the monthly meeting. |
| Winner: |
Past winners representing the UKG:
| Apr 2007 Extract Beers | Ed Seaman, Bavarian Weizen |
| Mar 2007 Scottish Ale | Rodney Kibzey, Scottish Light 60/- |
| Feb 2007 Low Gravity/Session Beers | Andy Stumpf, witbier |
| Nov 2006 Light Hybrid Beers | Ed Seaman, blonde ale |
| Oct 2006 Stout | Calvin Rowland, dry stout |
| Aug 2006 Mead | Joe Formanek, cranberry mead 3rd
place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| May 2006 Extract Beers | Tom Seiler, doppelbock |
| Apr 2006 American Ale | Ron Stazuk, American Pale Ale |
| Feb 2006 Big Beautiful Belgians | Tom Dennis, Belgian Golden Strong Ale |
| Nov 2005 Baltic Porter | Joe Formanek |
| Oct 2005 European Amber Lager | Bea Jones, Oktoberfest |
| Aug 2005 Belgian and French Ales | Ken and Bea Jones, saison
1st place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| May 2005 Extract Beers | Steve Gurski and Aimee Brucks 3rd place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| Apr 2005 In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lambic | Shane Coombs |
| Jan 2005 Irish Red Ale | Rodney Kibzey and Liz Lerch |
| Nov 2004 IPA | Mark Neil |
| Oct 2004 Smoke-Flavored & Wood-Aged Beers | Eric Duske |
| Aug 2004 Wheat Beers | Rodney Kibzey and Liz Lerch |
| Apr 2004 Extract Beers | Tom Dennis |
| Mar 2004 Mead | Rich Janevicius |
| Nov 2003 Barleywine and Imperial Stout | Shane Coombs |
| Oct 2003 Kölsch and Altbier | Dave Andrew |
| Aug 2003 Specialty/Experimental/Historical Beers | Mark Neil 1st place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| Jun 2003 European Pale Lager | Joe Formanek |
| May 2003 English and Scottish Strong Ale | Joe Formanek 2nd place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| Apr 2003 Brown Ale | Tom Tipton |
| Jan 2003 Bitter and English Pale Ale | Joe Formanek |
| Dec 2002 Fruit and Spice Beer | Darrell Proksa |
| Oct 2003 Strong Belgian Ale | Zemo |
| Aug 2002 American Lager | Shane Coombs |
| Apr 2002 India Pale Ale | Jeff Hertz |
| Feb 2002 Porter | Shane Coombs |
| Jan 2002 Scottish Ales | Mark Linton |
| Nov 2001 Mild | Rich Cullotta |
| Sep 2001 California Common | John Kleczewski |
| Jul 2001 Witbier | Ted Grudzinski |
| Apr 2001 Bockanalia | Shane Coombs, doppelbock |
| Feb 2001 Stout | Joe Formanek, foreign extra stout |
| Jan 2001 Dunkel & Schwarzbier | Dave Hahne, Munich dunkel |
| Nov 2000 Historical Beers | Zemo Holat, gruit |
| Oct 2000 Best of Fest | George Dailey, Oktoberfest |
| Jul 2000 Best of Big Brew | Zemo Holat |
| Apr 2000 Weiss Is Nice | Zemo Holat, Bavarian weizen |
| May 2000 Belgian-Style Lambic | Shane Coombs, gueuze |
| Dec 1999 My Barley Doesn't Whine | John Mains, American barleywine |
| Nov 1999 Winter Warmer | Mike Uchima, strong Scotch ale |
| Aug 1999 Porter! | Kevin Spealman, robust porter |
| July 1999 It's a Mead, Mead, Mead World | Zemo Holat, still traditional mead |
| April 1999 Bockanalia | Jay Kash, helles bock.
1st place winner in the national club-only competition! |
| Feb 1999 Why Don't We Do It in the Robe | Joe Formanek, tripel |
| Jan 1999 You're Special to Me | Shane Coombs, espresso imperial stout |
| Nov 1998 If It's Not Scottish | Shane Coombs, strong Scotch ale |
| Sep 1998 Best of Fest | Shane Coombs, Oktoberfest |
| July 1998 Weiss is Nice | Shane Coombs, Berliner weisse |
| Apr 1998 Classic Pilsner | Jay Kash, Bohemian pilsner |
| Feb 1998 Stout Bout | Joe Formanek, imperial stout |
| Jan 1998 Hale to Ale | Mike Uchima, India pale ale |
Questions? Contact Steve McKenna.
Last modified June 30, 2008.