Congrats to both Ralph and bagman, well done

Here's the Milking The Cow Runner Up recipe. I haven't had time to reformat it into another friendlier layout, sorry.

Just as a general observation, the methods I've used (Maxi-BIAB in general and colander- filtration of kettle- chilled wort) have been subject to some criticism and derision in the months gone by, however I think another competition placing, in particular considering the likely field of competitors, should put to rest just about all of those concerns. I feel most of the so- called problems (eg. particulates into the boil, sparging, negative flavour compounds from kettle trub etc.) may have been overstated, but what this also does is reinforce my belief that these very simple processes using every- day components do indeed produce top shelf beer without the need for any complicated and expensive equipment, meaning that fantastic beer is within the reach of more and more brewers.

Additional notes regarding the recipe:
The mash was quite long as I actually went out shopping with Spousie (mandatory for this recipe?!), a long 3 hours in fact and it finished at 65.5C, the 80% attenuation reflects this, even though Wyeast suggest 74- 77% for this yeast.
NZ Willamette flowers may be hard to source right now, however pellets would be OK as a sub, but if using the colander- filtering method, note that some whole hops (either leaf or plug) must be used for adequate filtration and minimum PITA.
The mid- boil addition of Aurora and Bobek wasn't designed to be that particular mix, I just didn't have quite enough Northdown. Care should be used with high %AA hops of course, easy to overdo the bittering- check the weight carefully.

Einstein apparently instantly grasped in all its complexity the Special Theory of Relativity (as opposed to the General Theory of Relativity) as he sat up and got out of bed one morning. I had a similar revelation the other day and realised that if I had my time over again, I would probably go Maxi Biab. However I won't because I have two urns that I paid big money for, etc. As a further flash of insight I realised that what I was feeling re the Maxi Biab was equivalent to a 3V brewer who has outlaid for HLT, mash tun.. and definitely the HERMS with his five thousand dollar PID ( do they cost that much? )

Similar sort of experience here BB, it was a bit of an epiphany when I realised that this Maxi-BIAB thing was rather good, no really good for me, and that I may as well flog the stainless firkins that I was going to 3V with. If they weren't getting to be family heirlooms I would have done that as soon as the penny dropped.

Your attention please- there's a stray light under a bushel that has been found, it was left behind at the Royal Perth Show. Would the owner please step up to collect it at reception.

LOL Ralph!

My schwarz scored a silver and the cream ale a bronze which was pretty surprising as I rushed these beers and when I bottled them from the keg, the schwarz tasted too roasty and the cream too hoppy. Both were also hazy as I didn't use kettle finings and only chilled them for a day

I had a taste of them at the show yesterday (after tasting about a billion other beers) and the roastiness and hoppiness weren't as apparent so maybe these settled down? I'll have to have another taste from the keg and see if this is correct but not today

As usual, the exhibitors' tasting was heaps of fun

Hey, well done there PP! And chalk up another gong to BIAB!

I'm far from being any expert, but it is hard to not be overly critical of our own beers. In some cases it seems judges aren't quite as picky and don't always refer to the style guidelines point by point, particularly for Best of Show- type comps as was the case with my placing last weekend. IIRC you were quite concerned about your entries PP, but it just goes to show that even if you've got a very ordinary beer then there's a chance of jagging some points, also getting reliable feedback and improving your own skills. Having said that, there's no sense in trying to make mediocre beer, far better to try and win, also it helps to get a few more opinions- a lot of the time we can fret over nothing.

Congrats guys!Well done.No wonder the forum has been a little quiet.

The Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers annual competition was held in July and last night was the Awards Night, and BIAB is storming ahead. Ralph picked up a swag of medals which I'll let him post about over the weekend as I don't want to steal his considerable thunder.

I entered 4 beers (A German Pils, Pale Continental Lager, Dry Stout and UK Best Bitter) and all picked up bronzes and silvers, but the "lager" push for BIAB seems to be paying off as my German Pils won the Class and I also was awarded the 2011 Club Trophy for Lager/Pilsner of 2011 - that's the big shiny knobbly thingo

Most gratifying was our Brewmaster who was announcing the results, and said "and who says you can't make a good lager using BIAB "
Next round is the State Comp then the Nationals in November, so I'm keeping my bags primed and ready.

Well done Beachbum

Great work Beachbum, you deserve all the accolades you get.

Sweet

Well done!

Every beer a winner BeachBum . That's a mighty fine swag. Nice one mate - you did it again

Nice one BeachBum. Well done!

Top stuff beachbum and Ralph. Go biab!

Well done Beachbum...Nice haul of accolades you've collected there...

Beachbum is being a tad modest, that Pilsner/ Lager trophy is an enormous landmark for both himself and for BIABers everywhere, not to mention the great big swag of medals!

A maximum of six beers are permitted in the BABB Annual Competition, I was quite pleased with the six I entered, every one of them landed a medal.
Pale and Bitter Ale: English IPA 1st silver, ESB bronze
Pilsner/ Lager: Schwartzbier 3rd silver and Munich Helles bronze
Stout and Porter: Foreign Extra Stout 3rd silver
Amber and Dark: Southern English Brown bronze

The EIPA is the one here on BIABrewer, once I find it I guess it could be moved to Recipes. FYI the Champion Brewer prize is a trip to the USA, registration at Sierra Nevada Beer Camp plus $500 spending money. Winning a category is a $50 voucher from CraftBrewer, not sure about what comes with the trophy Beachbum won. Regardless, the prizes are rather significant for an amateur competition. The winner thoroughly deserved it, I'll wait until results are published before naming.

Well done Ralph.

All I can say is that you are an inspiration to us all.



Yeasty

Thanks Yeasty, I have to say I'm amazed at what happened this year, considering I've never won a single medal before (came to within 0.25 of a point though!) it was quite a surprise for each beer to land one!

Top stuff Ralph, if I'm ever up that way I'll drop in for a medal winning brew

More gongs than an old Vangelis movie sound track

If Ralph's third prize entries had scored firsts then it would have been himself on the way to the Sierra Nevada Beer camp - oh so close.

Roll on next year

LOL BeachBum!

Ralph wrote:A maximum of six beers are permitted in the BABB Annual Competition, I was quite pleased with the six I entered, every one of them landed a medal.

That's excellent Ralph! Top job mate - you must be very happy with that .

You guys have done us proud . Hope you also had a top time at the awards .


PP

Hi all,
Just got the judging results for my first beer comp the SABSOSA here in south australia.
I only entered one australian pale ale but managed to get 39 and 4th place. I am pretty happy with myself too.
Will give more details once I get my score sheet.
HC