Best in Show, Simply Beer’s Sorachi Patersbier
Now I get to toot my own horn! I found out tonight that my Sorachi Patersbier just won “Best in Show” at this years NJ State Fair Homebrewing Competition. I’m really excited about this. I’ve been brewing beer since my wife bought me my first kit 12 or 13 years ago, but I’ve entered less than a dozen competitions and this is my first win!
Lately I’ve only been entering competitions where the winner has the opportunity to brew their beer at commercial brew house. I’ve received 3 second places finishes over the last year, but was never able to pull down a win, until this weekend. The NJ State fair homebrew Competition is now in its 14th year, run by the homebrewing club Scuba (Sussex County United Brewers and Alchemists) and Sponsored by Krogh’s Brewpub in Sparta NJ. This year there were 161 homebrews enter this BJCP and AHA sanctioned event. I’m sure the smaller numbers, compared to NHC, probably helped my chances of winning, but as any High School coach would say, “A win is a Win” and I’m proud of my beer as I tweeted about on sat.
Although, this beer did have a scare in store for me, I opened my Kegorator one night to find this foul smelling growth around the stem on the out line of the keg. Lucky for me, It was just my stupidity when I attached the line to the ball lock connector. I didn’t tighten it enough and a little leak formed and wild yeast in the air started to ferment on the out side of the keg.
The other funny thing is I sent this beer in sight unseen. It had only been in the bottle for 4 or 5 days before I mailed it in, totally uncarbonated. Of course I had tasted it it throughout the brewing process and thought it was pretty good and would hopefully not be embarrassing. But when I tasted it for the first time on Saturday, I was really happy with it. Great color, Lots of carbonation, giant head and great flavor; everything I had been shooting for in this beer. I think the Sorachi Hops really added a nice lemony summer time flavor to the beer, which is probably what put it over the top.
Towards the end of the year, Krogh’s Brew pub will be brewing this beer for a springtime release. I really hope I get to be part of the process, not just having my recipe recreated. Bu either way I’m glad these judges appreciated this lesser know style and enjoyed my Homebrew!
Peter, that is VERY cool! Its nice to get some recognition, and also be able to brew it on a large enough scale to share with the masses! Maybe it will make regular rotation! Anyway, I’ll definitely go and check it out when its available! Again, congrats on the win!
I should probably use more exclamation points!
Thanks! Scott! Exclamation! points! are! always! appreciated!!!!
Congrats, that is wonderful news.
Wow! That’s awesome 🙂 Congratulations. It’s so nice to get positive feedback on the homebrews isn’t it?!
Good job. It’s really nice to hear that you won.
@Thomas, thanks! after 3 second place finishes in a row, it is nice to finally break through. But what is great about the 2nd place finishes, it has really driven me to refine my recipes, learn more about the ingredients I’m using and how they work together, and be more diligent with my process.
@Vanessa, thanks i think i may have even screamed like a school girl when the organizer told me :-), it was an out of the blue call at 9:30 at night and totally caught me off guard. I’m excited to see what my scores were for the beer and the official comments on the BJCP score cards along with the judges BJCP ranks.
@michael, thanks! Now that I’m over that hump of winning something, it is refueling that urge to continue on the journey of future brewpub.
Congrats again Peter! That is incredibly awesome.
Congrats! I look forward to trying this.
Thanks Lee and John. I hope you guys get to try it soon. I’m bringing a bunch on my San Francisco trip, but I’ll drop some off for next Friday’s #brewyork at the designated location 🙂
Congrats Peter! This sounds like awesome brew.
YEAH!!! CONGRATS
Thanks Mike and Don! Appreciate it. can’t wait to brew it up at Krogh’s Brew Pub and share it with everyone!
Sorachi Patersbier – Sounds awesome. I always do my patersbier with Lublin, and everyone loves that. Hope you dont mind if I borrow your idea? Does the citrus come through strong? I did a few IPA’s with sorachi at 60 and 5 and didnt like it too much!
Cheers
@lucas, Please use it, that is why I post these recipes. I used a 1/2oz close to the end out so that the light pilsner grain didn’t get over shadowed. It is a strong hop, I use it with much restraint.