Cal Poly Cup

Last month I participated in my first BJCP sanctioned homebrew competition - the Cal Poly Cup. This was put on by Cal Poly's homebrew club at a local microbrewery. I submitted my Belgian and Dunkleweizen mostly to get some criticism and hopefully brew better in the future.

My dunkleweizen (category 15b) ended up scoring a 25 (out of 50), which is "good" according to BJCP. The judges commented that they would like to see more yeast character. I used a classic, strong yeast for this beer, fermented on the warm side, and didn't do any type of filtering, so I thought I would be getting more yeast character than necessary. I understand where they're coming from though, since I've had dunkleweizens with a huge banana and clove nose. Perhaps the next time I make one I will bottle sooner to try and capture more yeast in suspension.

My Belgian (category 18b) did better with a 32.5, considered "very good." The judges asked to see more yeast character in this beer as well. Same story as above. I let the beer sit for a full 3 weeks, so perhaps I let too much delicious yeast settle out. They seemed to like the beer overall, and suggested adding complexity while keeping the beer as clean tasting as it does. A friend of mine added some brown sugar to this same recipe, but I could not pick it up in his brew and actually preferred my own. Adding some more steeping grains may bring out more complex flavors.

Overall, an interesting experience. I wish it had been more organized (I had to go pick up my forms after I had waited a couple weeks anxiously watching my mailbox), and would have liked to see full results - I have no idea how I stacked up compared to others, how categories were grouped, etc. I'm sure I will enter more competitions in the near future, but I see this criticism working best for starting with a good beer and continuously improving it. I plan on brewing many different styles before trying to really nail down an award winning recipe. Next in the pipeline will be a lighter summer beer.