Inside Look at a Beer Competition

by Jim Vondracek on 03/24/13

22nd Annual Charlie Orr Memorial Chicago Cup

Yesterday, I judged at a beer competition sponsored by a club Nancy and I belong to:  the Brewers of South Suburbia (www.bossbeer.org).

First, there is a ton of administrative work that goes into a competition.  This is Jim Todd toiling over a computer at the competition.  Nine hundred bottles had been made 'anonymous' for judging the last Saturday (an all-day process involving many people) but must then be 'reconnected' to the brewer afterwards when score sheets and judges comments are sent to them:  a good database is critical. 

This is a group of stewards (Mike Bardusk, Matt North, Terry Frey and Roger Masson) puzzling at the organizers' tables.  Stewards bring out the flights of beers to the judges and organize the score sheets afterwards: a critical job.  Matt served as chief steward for the competition.

I judged in two categories.  In the morning, I judged Amber Hybrids, which include German Alt beers and California Common beers, sometimes called steam beers. I judged BOSS member Steve Kamp's Evil Horse Steam (of course I didn't know it was his beer at the time) which went on to win the first place ribbon in the category.

For each beer presented, there are at least two judges who evaluate the beer and each fill out a judging sheet, with both numeric scores and comments on aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression. Below is BOSS member Bill Goetz and other judges, with Roger Masson stewarding.

In the afternoon, I judged the Spice, Herb and Vegetable beer category: two BOSS members took first and second place in that category.  I judged Jim Todd's jalapeno blonde ale which won the second place ribbon; Brandon Branbury's pumpkin, squash and spice beer was judged by another pair of judges in the category and won the first place ribbon.

Below is another table of judges doing the mini-best-of-show for their category; when there are multiple pairs of judges for a category, the best beers from each pair at sent to the mini-bos for final evaluation and placement into first, second and third.  At this table is Ian Wilson (in the baseball cap), the head brewmaster at Rock Bottom in Orland Park. 

In addition to judging, I served on the organizing committee for the competition and coordinated the prizes and sponsorships.  The Chicago Cup is distinguished by the number of prizes we award to the winning brewers;  below are photos of the tables with some of the prizes.

Our most valuable prize this year was a $250 gift certificate to a homebrew supply store (Kennywood Brewing in Crown Point) and we had a handful of other gift certificates and prizes in the $100 range.  Also, logo baseball caps, t-shirts and pints glasses are very popular among homebrew stores and suppliers, apparently!  To see the 36 sponsors of the competition and links to their sites, go to www.bossbeer.org/competition. 

The competition's director was Steve Sikorski, in the middle in the photo below.

Afterwards, the club president and the director of judging at the competition, Mark Westmeyer, was relieved that another successful competition was done.  He might have been a bit giddy; he was wearing the right shirts for the day.