Deep into the Judging

The Iron Brewer was judged Thursday night! This year we had exactly 20 entries, which is a record I think. All 20 beers were presented blind and judged to style in a ‘Best of Show’ type round. If you’ve never seen a beer comp judged I can tell you that it’s a lot of deep thinking, drinking, and politicing. Everyone works their way throught the HUGE flight of beers (you try and taste 20 beers and make notes in a timely fashion) and then we slowly narrowed the field to 3 winners. There were tons of very well made beers in many different style categories on the table. Picking winners was extremely difficult. It took us almost 3 hours to come to a consensus. Thanks to Chris Claire who did all of the leg work on the competition and to the B.U.Z.Z. crew for making some really outstanding beer. Special thanks to the special guest  judges: Mrs. Larry (aka Whitney Thompson from Victory Brewing Company), Gerard Olson from McKenzie’s Brew House, and Paul McGinnis. Keep in mind, the original wort was for a Belgian Tripel.

Drum roll Please…..and the winners are:

3rd Place  Brian Parker – Hopped Belgian Tripel

2nd Place  Mike Hamara – Imperial Java Milk Stout

 and the winner who will get to brew their beer here at Iron Hill…

Dave Houseman – Groundhog Baltic Porter

Congratulations to Brian, Mike and Dave.  Prizes, trophies and glory will come at a later date.  Also, the official tapping of Dave’s winning Baltic Porter will occur during a special event at Philly Beer Week. Friday June 11th 2010 we will have a ceremonial tapping and release party. We will also be awarding the IRON BREWER trophy on the day as well. Watch for more details.