Hi Everyone!

The National Homebrew Competition Tables with BCJP sub-categories will be released by the end of October. The AHA Competition Subcommittee discussed moving some sub-categories around and renaming NHC Tables to better reflect the BJCP Categories. Make sure you familiarize yourselves with what has changed when released!

The Rules & Regulations for the competition will be released in the middle of November, and will be continuously updated with Shipping Information as that comes in. Make sure you read them. Most questions can be answered in the Rules & Regulations before emailing NHC@BrewersAssociation.org or contacting your local first round organizer.

The First Round sites and other important dates have been posted on the competition’s homepage and in the Dates & Deadlines page. Updates will be provided as soon as they’re received. Thank you for your patience!

Cheers,

John Moorhead

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American Homebrewers Association Competition Coordinator John Moorhead is director of the National Homebrew Competition, coordinates the Great American Beer Festival^® Pro-Am Competition and the Capitol Hill Staff Homebrew Competition, and writes for HomebrewersAssociation.org.

 

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It’s time for the third annual Battle of the Bottle Labels! Once again, we’ve teamed up with  GrogTag to find the most creative, homebrew-inspired bottle labels out there.

Submit your custom bottle label design and let the public decide if you are worthy of being the 2017 Battle of the Bottle Labels champion.

The Grand Prize

The grand prize winner will receive the following prize package courtesy of our friends at GrogTag:

• 48 oval or square customizable and reusable bottle labels (with necker)
• 2 customizable keg labels
• 50 customizable bottle caps
• 1 custom metal sign

The runner up will receive 48 oval or square customizable and reusable bottle labels and one set of customizable keg labels.

How to Enter

1. Bottle label submissions will be accepted from October 17 – 27, 2017.
2. The AHA will select nine finalists to advance to the final round, along with the three winners from GrogTag’s bottle label competition.
3. Voting will take place on HomebrewersAssociation.org from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5, 2017.
4. Winners will be selected by popular vote and announced after November 6th.

Enter Your Homebrew Bottle Label

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Test yourself on big, bold barleywine beers in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia.

Before the recent advent of extreme brewing, where brewers push the bounds of what constitutes a “beer” to make concoctions well over 15% ABV, the strongest ales were barleywines. Test yourself on this bold beverage in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia.

After you take the Beer Trivia quiz below, scroll down to “Beer Trivia Answer Explanations” section to learn more about barleywines.

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Beer Trivia Answer Explanations

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The following explanations were taken from “Size Matters: All About Barleywines” written by Gordon Strong in the November/December 2010 issue of Zymurgy.

Question 1: Barleywines originated in England, and as with many things English, the origins are somewhat unclear. It is generally accepted that the first beer to actually be called a barleywine was Bass No. 1 in 1903.

Question 2: False. Paler barleywines are more bitter, are better attenuated, and show more hop character than dark barleywines. Dark versions of the style will have richer malt flavors, often caramel- or molasses-like with a dark or dried fruit character.

Question 3: Old Foghorn is made from first runnings only, is 1.100 in original gravity using pale and crystal malts, and is hopped exclusively with Cascades to 65 IBUs.

Question 4: You’ll want to reduce the original gravity if you don’t want your barleywine to be sweet. Big beers often start big and finish big, making a sweet beer. If you are concerned with fermentability, mash on the low side (perhaps around 148°F or 64°C) and consider adding sugar.

Question 5: True. Long boils tend to give more color to barleywines, so consider this an option in your brewing. Avoid using darker malts at all and use specialty grains carefully. Using too many specialty grains can make the barleywine grainy and bready.

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by Duncan Bryant, AHA Web Editor

In what appears to be the largest crowdfunding* campaign in history, the Brewers Association (the parent organization of the American Homebrewers Association)—a not-for-profit organization that represents America’s small and independent brewers—has announced the craft brewing community’s intent to Take Craft Back from Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI). (*While the cause is real, the dollars are not. No credit cards are being taken, though free swag is on offer to those who pledge their support.)

That’s right! The #TakeCraftBack campaign seeks to crowdfund the $213 billion (billion, with a “b”!) needed to acquire ABI, the international corporation that has been acquiring small breweries across the country. Since 2011, Belgium-based ABI has purchased 10 formerly small and independent American craft breweries.

As homebrewers, we are the most avid beer fans in the world and we deserve to know who makes the beer being sold in stores and bars! For many of us, pledging our beer loyalty to small and independent brewers who pour their lives into every glass of craft-brewed beer is as important as the beer itself. However, as Anheuser-Busch InBev acquires once-independent breweries and markets them in a way that obfuscates ownership, they are furthering the illusion of choice by supplying retailers, beer bars, and venues with an array of brands that appear to be independently brewed but are all under the Big Beer umbrella that is ABI.

Sure, this $213 billion goal is may seem an impossible feat, but at the end of the day, Take Craft Back is about the real reasons beer drinkers should identify and seek out beers from truly small and independent craft brewers—because unlike Big Beer, craft brewers put community over corporation, people and principles ahead of profits, and beer before the bottom line.

So fire up your interwebz and help support the cause! Pledge your support at TakeCraftBack.com—where the fine print notes that they’ll only be in touch if all $213 billion is actually raised. (Yes, when you pledge, you can keep your credit card in your wallet.) Oh, and everyone who pledges can select from free swag items (while supplies last).

In the meantime, learn more about small and independent breweries at TakeCraftBack.com, and follow the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, be sure to keep your eye out for the independent craft brewer seal as a way to identify those truly small and independent craft breweries.

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Join or renew your AHA membership in October 2017 and we’ll mail you a coupon for a free packet of White Labs yeast!

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Boil for 60 minutes.

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By Matt Bolling, AHA Events & Membership Coordinator

Now in its 19th year, the American Homebrewers Association’s (AHA) Learn to Homebrew Day has become a highly anticipated staple of the fall season for thousands of people around the world. On the first Saturday of every November, hundreds of homebrew clubs, shops, craft breweries, beer bars, and individuals get together to teach their yet-to-brew friends the art of making beer at home.

In 2016, the AHA partnered with 300 sites around the world to celebrate Learn to Homebrew Day (LTHD). More than 4,400 people brewed 6,232 gallons (23,591 liters) of beer in 1,150 batches. We were proud to have 46 states and 11 countries teaching new homebrewers the ropes!

The AHA is exited to partner with LTHD site hosts again this year. Past hosts will already be familiar with the provided promotional materials, but here are a few ways that you can take your own LTHD to the next level!

1. Celebrate the whole week

It might be called Learn to Homebrew Day, but that doesn’t mean you should limit the fun to just one day! Sure, the first Saturday of November might be the one day each year completely devoted to teaching the art and science of beer brewing, but we encourage you to expand on LTHD and make it your own!

The spirit of camaraderie can be stretched out into a Learn to Homebrew Week that culminates in a grand event on Saturday, and can involve multiple locations and organizations/businesses. Here is a sample timeline that you can adapt to bring in new (or not-so-new) homebrewers throughout the whole week:

• • Work with your club members of fellow homebrewers to host multiple brew sites at multiple locations throughout the week
  • Host a beer trivia night with this Beer Jeopardy game board provided by the AHA
  • Partner with a local brewery to host a homebrewers night in their taproom
  • Recruit a local speaker to give a presentation, or screen a recorded presentation from the Zymurgy Live or Homebrew Con seminar archives
  • Organize a homebrew competition, and announce the winner at your LTHD event
  • Arrange a homebrew and food pairing dinner
  • You get the point…

2. Give Back

With 4,417 estimated participants in the 2016 Learn to Homebrew Day celebration, we taught a lot of people to brew last year. If every LTHD site registrant were to commit to adding a philanthropic effort to their event, we could help hundreds of communities around the country. Not only will partnering with a non-profit benefit your neighborhood, it will instill excitement and pride among your attendees. Here are some ideas.

• • • Host a canned food, toy, or coat drive. Learn to Homebrew Day is hosted each fall, and Rotary clubs nationwide are looking for ways to engage citizens in their communities. If a coat drive isn’t viable, consider partnering with local food pantries to host a food drive, or host a toy drive of your own to benefit a Toys for Tots chapter in your area.
    • Teach a Veteran to Homebrew Day. Held in honor of all US veterans and victims of war, Veterans Day is always November 11, which is a Saturday in 2017. The American Homebrewers Association encourages you to contact your local Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility to invite your local veterans out to celebrate Veterans Day early on Learn to Homebrew Day.
    • Donate. Philanthropic organizations all over the country depend heavily on donations from their local communities. Instead of requesting cash or check donations at your event, you can work with a similar organization in your area (craft brewery, homebrew store, or craft beer bar) to host a raffle or silent auction to raise money.

3. Partner with Tourism Offices

In 2013, Colorado.com estimated that 43 million people visited its website to find information on the region. The Festivals & Events section alone registered 450,000 visitors throughout the year, with upwards of 10,000 people visiting some of the most popular event posts. It just goes to show that your tourism office is a sure-fire way to attract a new audience to your LTHD event. We don’t recommend inviting thousands of people to your site, but the added exposure is sure to bring in some eager new faces!

At a minimum, you can register your event with local tourism websites. If you want to take it even further, you could request that your local municipality endorse your event in a public space such as a park or public forum.

And don’t forget that homebrew shops and clubs can request a list of local media contacts that you can use to send a press release about your event to.

4. Learn to Homebrew (Every) Day

Yes, we know that it’s called Learn to Homebrew Day, but why should the learning stop at homebrewing? Brewing beer is just the beginning! We all want to stay true to the brew, but let’s not forget that there is much more to quality beer than brewing processes alone. Here are just a few ways that you can teach your audience about beer while also teaching them to brew:

• • • Learn To Pair Beer and Food Day. What goes better with craft beer than food? Well, maybe more craft beer…but food is a pretty close second! Whether it be cheese, chocolate, or Cool Ranch Doritos, you’ll find great materials and pairing suggestions on the CraftBeer.com website.
    • Learn To Blend Day. Some of the best beers in the world aren’t taken directly from fermentation to consumption. Many of them are blended with older or younger versions of themselves—or even with other beer styles—to craft a delicately balanced beverage. One of the best ways to discover an entire new world of beer is to learn how blending can open up new possibilities.
    • Learn About Off-Flavors Day. OK, we fully admit that LAOFD probably has a better chance of becoming a text-messaging abbreviation than an acronym for Learn About Off-Flavors Day. However, learning about off-flavors is an important lesson for any homebrewer or craft beer enthusiast. Just doctor a well-made commercial beer with special off-flavor extracts and learn to detect problems from diacetyl to oxidation. AHA-recommended off-flavor kits can be purchased from our friends at the Beer Judge Certification Program.

5. Sign Up New AHA Members at Your LTHD Event

Be sure to request copies of Zymurgy: An Introduction to Homebrewing to hand out to some of the newbies at your event. This free magazine contains an AHA membership form that explains the benefits of being an AHA member. Or you can introduce  your attendees to Brew Guru, a smartphone app that offers users a 2-week trial AHA membership upon download. Attendees to your event can go home with catered homebrewing content, and a complete guide to setting up their first brew day all on their iPhone or Android device!

To register your own Learn to Homebrew Day event, visit the Learn to Homebrew Day Event Registration page or find a LTHD event in your area. For more tips on how to make your LTHD event successful, check out my article, “5 Tips for Hosting a Big Brew Event,” which offers valuable suggestions you can adapt for Learn to Homebrew Day.

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Matt Bolling is the Events & Membership Coodinator for the American Homebrewers Association.

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Test yourself on making your own sake in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia.

This traditional Japanese drink has made it into the hearts of lovers of Asian cuisine in modern times, but this fermented rice beverage also has a rich history. Learn a thing or two about making sake at home in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia.

After you take the Beer Trivia quiz below, scroll down to “Beer Trivia Answer Explanations” section to learn more about sake.

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Beer Trivia Answer Explanations

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The following explanations were taken from “How to Brew Sake at Home” written by Amahl Turczyn and “History of Sake” featured on Sakeguru.com.

Question 1: Koji, or Aspergillus oryzae, contributes the enzymes necessary to turn starches into sugars. Rice doesn’t have the same naturally occurring amylase found in barley malt. When koji is mixed with water, steamed rice, and yeast, the mold creates sugar from starches in the steamed rice, even as the yeast creates alcohol from sugar.

Question 2: False. Boiling the rice makes the rice too soft. You want to gelatinize the rice starches so that they are accessible by koji amylase, but you have to keep the parallel fermentation in balance. The sugar needs to be converted to starch roughly at the same pace the yeast converts it to alcohol. Thus, kernels of rice need to be cooked over, not in, boiling water. Steaming gelatinizes the rice grains, but keeps them firm and chewy so that they give up their starches slowly.

Question 3: Wet rice cultivation was introduced in Japan in about 300 BCE. Around the same time, sake was created for the first time. While the drink can be traced back to China more than 4,000 years ago, it is in Japan that it gained popularity.

Question 4: Though polishing the rice results in a smoother and cleaner finish, it results in a slightly lowers ABV than if you weren’t to polish it. Polished rice grains usually yield a maximum of 18% ABV. Rice used at large sake breweries is always polished, sometimes down to 50 percent of the original, husked rice kernel.

Question 5: While this is the traditional method of acidification in making sake, it can often result in too much acidity, which will require heavy pasteurization toward the end of the process to limit continued lactic acid production.

The post Tuesday Beer Trivia: Making Sake appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.

Mash at 154° F (68° C) for 50 minutes with 12.5 qt. (11.8 L) of brewing water and mash out at 168° F (76° C). Sparge with 18.3 qt. (17.3 L) brewing water. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the indicated times. Ferment 10 days in primary fermenter at 68° F (20° C). After primary fermentation is complete, rack to secondary and add coconut, cacao nibs, and vanilla bean. Age until desired flavor is reached, typically 6–10 days at 68° F (20° C) degrees.

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Test yourself the evolution of British hops in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia.

Hops bred in the UK environment have characteristic flavors that are different than those of hops grown elsewhere.

After you take the Beer Trivia quiz below, scroll down to “Beer Trivia Answer Explanations” section to learn more about Hops of the United Kingdom.

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Beer Trivia Answer Explanations

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The following explanations were taken from “What’s New with British Hops” by Alison Capper, originally featured in the September/October 2017 issue of Zymurgy.

Question 1: False. While the United Kingdom was the first country in the world to create a scientific hop-breeding program, it started about 30 years before, in 1906, not 1936.

Question 2: British hops are special thanks to the UK’s latitude, climate, soil, irradiation (hours of sunshine), and unique breeding history. All of this gives UK hops lower levels of myrcene than any other growing region in the world. Lower levels of myrcene make for especially delicate and complex aromas.

Question 3: Goldings is referred to in the plural because it is a “family” of similar hop varieties. In 1737, British hop growers recognized the significance of their discovery and went on to create a family of Goldings. Every new “Goldings” hop is named either after its grower, its location, its harvest date, or its brewer.

Question 4: Worcestershire is located in the West Midlands, and Kent is located in the South East. These two area have a unique terroir, great soils, and a mild maritime climate. Prior to the 20^th century, there were more hop farms across the UK, but due to lager being more popular than ales and some changes in taxes in the UK, hop acreage fell dramatically.

Question 5: Until hops were introduced in the 15^th century, beers were brewed without hops. After that, brewers primarily used hops to preserve beer, but by the 17^th century hopped ale had overtaken unhoped beer and cultivation grew rapidly. It was the golden age for hops in Britain, and acreage continued to grow until 1878, when it reached its peak.

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