2026 North GA Homebrew Comp

This year's comp came and went. I was honored enough to judge and be judged. I can always count on Bill M.A.S.H. and the North GA Malt Monkeys to coordinate a smooth event. There's no poo pooing entries after judging and seems to maintain a high standard for the entries. Alas, jewelry eluded Occasionally and HOLD FAST!. 279 entries in 31 categories with some stiff competition. Occasionally garnered a 33 on some decent notes but I need to revamp that recipe from the hop/yeast side. I think the malt bill is solid but needs some definite tweaking to rid it of geraniol aromas. HOLD FAST! only eked out a 30. Good notes on it. Clean ferm was key, great color just wanted more of that NB aroma. May have to entertain the idea of dry-hopping that one?

2026 North GA Homebrew Comp

Had the opportunity to help judge some of this year's entries. I'll have to say Bill Boyer and company run well organized judging sessions. We started early and there were ample numbers of us for the depth of categories. Breakfast and lunch were protein laden and the stewards were great. I helped judge Bocks (4-5 Helles, 2-3 Dopples and an Eis). This was a great round of myself and two other judges with super consensus scores across the board. Second session for me was with four other judges to narrow down 15 in the sour category (several sours, fruiteds, 2 Flanders with some Bretts tossed in). This was a good table to end the day on as far as palate fatigue goes. Got to judge with Phil Farrell , Grand Master VII beer, mead, cider and Head Brewer with Stillfire Brewing. Learned a good bit on that round. Stay tuned as results will be posted 8/29/26 with HOLD FAST! And Occasionally representing steam styles and German pilsners.

2026 DCHB Cherry Blossom Comp

And just one week after a disappointing AL HB Cup, the same 2 beers, Little Sausage and HOLD FAST! represented here out of 286. The Vienna was pounded and included notes of monstrous oxidation (and a 22 overall, 😒). It was judged by pro brewer, Alex Spencer, from DC Brau. The heavy paper he noted was thanks to FedEx shaking it for an extra 2 damn days and making a fresh 3-day ship a 6-day endeavor.  The Anchor "nod" came in at 31 with expected notes of a smidge more hop bitterness needed (next batch will have Perle to bitter then NW for boil and flameout)  but still managed to snag🥉. I can mark DC off the list but really wanted them to have better entries from a shipping standpoint. May re-enter again next year for giggles. 

2026 AL Homebrewer’s Cup

Has come and gone with no jewelry again. Entered Little Sausages and HOLD FAST! with the steam style ultimately doing better. My Vienna gutted a 29 with notes of more complex malt profile and a more drying yeast even though FG was 1.007. Seems pretty dried out to me. HF! toed the line at 34 needing a smidge more NW hop profile. This I figured would be the case but thought those scores would be reversed? Either way both were noted to have clean fermentation profiles so maybe I’ll start bittering HF! with Perle and saving NW for later additions. Alas, my home state is becoming more difficult than all others to medal in. I’ve noticed it’s becoming easier to medal in larger comps with more of the same style than in smaller ones where they may be lumped into general categories ( ie “pale or amber” whatever) where related beers are judged against each other. 

2025 Northern Utah Homebrew Comp

Out of 144 entries and little local club participation on judging, I feel like Dwight did a great job of getting this comp together and completed. When I first brewed Little Sausages in a Can, I knew it was almost perfectly dialed in but I had no idea that in the land of lager quaffers it would receive a 🥈! The little Vienna that could garnished a 37 and marks the Mormon state off the list for me. Decent notes and feedback by at least one National judge. Broken to the Fist however didn't fair as well. 27 on notes of oxidation, they were both bottled at the same time the same way but that's what happens when you ship beer 1000 miles. Oh well, I'll be brewing it again soon anyway. 

2025 Greg Noonan Memorial Homebrew Comp

 

Double 🥉 🥉 in VT, so it's off the list! MCB v1.3 and Phantasm of the Opera showed well out of the 201 entries. MCB v1.3 garnered a 35 overall with notes that I agree on and am surprised it medaled at all. A touch too much roast this batch so use higher mash temps and back off roasted grain a skosh more. The real mind-blower is Phantasm of the Opera at 39! This must've been a stacked category for it to get a bronze. Appearance, aroma and mouthfeel are all 20 pts total in scoring and the aroma is 12 alone. Well, the phantasm powder had pumped aroma scores across the board. One judge had several entries that received a couple gold, bronze and HM with a BOS of 3 and gave it a 40. The other 40 came from the brewmaster at Soulmate Brewing, Hideki Arao. He started The Beer Project in Mexico City and has won 17 medals in the last 12 months, so I've really taken his notes to heart. Thanks for a smooth run and well-communicated comp. 

National Fart Day

 

Look, if you drink beer, you break wind. As someone who enjoys an obscure holiday and has never known of this one, it feels only right to post about a national celebration of expelling hydrogen and methane. Wonderful acts of physics, chemistry and microbiology play a huge part in flatulence creation. Swallowing air, drinking carbonated liquids and gut fermentation are just a few aspects on fart production. How about a flatologist measured fart speed at roughly 10fps or 6.8mph, no wonder you can't outrun the stench! It's breaks out at a sprint. There are 2 known cities called Fart, one in Turkey and the other in the Eastern Russian Federation. Just here to help fill you with good brews and 💨 

2025 Snow Balls 5k

 

For the first time ever (I believe) we at Beat-12 Brewing Co. were able to actually hold Snow Balls here. With roughly 3” of fresh powder and sub-freezing temps to hold it in place we ran 4.1 miles in a slightly brisk 40:48 overall. Southern parts of the state saw over 8" and the panhandle of FL has never seen this much snow. Would've been fun to do once in a lifetime Snowy Beach Balls 5k. This all helps as the Sea Turtle Half Marathon looms closer. Which by the way if you're looking for a good site to track personal mileage as well as shoe wear, I suggest runningahead.com. 

Feast of the Ass Day

 

As someone who brews beer and enjoys all things comical, this is my new favorite "off" holiday. Who wouldn't like a cold pint of porter or Impy stout and a ride on a donkey or at least celebrating donkeys. I personally had no idea that the donkey that carried the virgin Mary into Egypt had it's own holiday, much less the other donkeys mentioned in the Bible. I must say, wait for it....these are some blessed asses?

Clash of the Carboys 2024

 

This one hurt just a as much on the results. 103 entries and not a darn thing. WBI, a 28, with confessingly less than best yeast. Nekkatron, 29, with scores all over the place from judges that seemed to have no experience? One judge noted that it should have more citrus, so I guess he's never had a juicy dank bomb from OH? Best of them all was Little Sausages in a Can at 34. Notes of sulfur and it being a "young" lager. I've got to remember in the smaller comps they lump a bunch of styles together. It looks like hazies and strong ales were together then wheats with Belgians? Not sure where the Vienna landed. 😕

2024 North GA Homebrew Competition

North GA Homebrew Competition was bittersweet this year. I got to judge and earn more points in the Czech Pils category and also enter 3 crowd favorites, that didn't appear to be GA favorites. Overall, consensus scores were 27 for WBI, 28 for Little Sausages in a Can and 31 for 22 a Day. Now granted I was not happy with the WLP300 yeast on WBI and have finally come to terms that it should not be used in hefes, but Little Sausages was a quaffable delight that barely made it to comp. However, in fairness the notes for it were that it was young and needed more lagering, the sulfur pinched through. 22 a Day was a 12.5% behemoth that one judge stated seemed under attenuated? Well, can't win them all and from an entrant and judge aspect, the communication, prizes, awards presentation and especially the sponsors were top notch and well run by Bill Boyer and M.A.S.H. 

2024 Shark Balls 5k

 

Unfortunately, when the beaches you're staying at suffers 3 shark attacks in 90 minutes, the beach is closed. Walton County takes it so seriously you're not allowed in even water up to your pinkie toe without a $500 fine. I was there when they medevacked the first woman out on Hwy 395. This also led to an impromptu 5k (3.3 miles) along Hwy 30-A this morning before it got too hot, but the humidity was still roughly 80%. The path East had few to no other competitors and the hairpin turn was shortly beyond Eastern Lake. But as you can see above, the finish libations were enjoyable but not crushable.

Seventeenth Annual Virginia Beer Blitz (2024)

 

354 entries and two were represented by Beat-12 Brewing Co. No Taters and Wallaby Water (pronounced Wa-duh). A masterful and well-run comp where Bryan Flaherty kept all the entrants up to date and made sure entries arrived alive. Wallaby garnered a 34 and No Taters a 38 and 🥉! These scores are roughly 10 points higher than what they got in AL Brewer's Cup?! Wallaby was said to be a touch iron-like (this is from the Pride of Ringwood hops, I'm sure) and No Taters split a 35 and a 40 between a non-BJCP and certified judge. These entries were literally bottled, boxed and shipped the same day as the AL entries and even sampled 2 weeks later but received higher scores? After asking an old brew buddy his explanation as a former National is that the bigger more established events typically have more experienced judges and the scores seem to be more quantitative across the board. Regardless, the state for Lovers is checked off the list!

2024 AL Brewer's Cup

 

Scott Joines and the Carboy Junkies of Hoover, AL run one smooth well attentive to detail comp. I can see now why there's such a concerted effort for comps of this size and larger to get judges (that's an entry in and of itself). They had 3 tasting sessions over 2 days and results were posted that night. Unfortunately, Wallaby Water (pronounced Wa-duh) and No Taters didn't fair very well. A whopping 28 for both. There were 3 judges on the IRA flight, which was appreciated since there were 12 or so in it.  They wanted it to be sweeter and a little darker. For my 12B, the pear and apple esters were picked up but they wanted more effervescence. It's only the 2^nd year for this comp and it was already up to 200 (from 111 last year), I'll keep trying. 

2023 Mountain/Snow Balls 5K

I usually run at about 285 ft above sea level. Needless to say, I was ill prepared for this kick in the calves! The course in and of itself doesn't look bad in 2 dimensions but the starting elevation and dramatic changes in elevation robbed my lungs of life in the first mile alone. 

It was a balmy 31F at the start and didn't warm appreciably at all. And the real kicker was the hairpin on the left coming back (on the map) is an undeveloped neighborhood and that "road" is really a trail for over a mile. Great snow packed terrain for my Bowl of Brooks Launch 6 running shoes. I put this as my number one "balls" of all time, eclipsing the original hot balls that had fantastic Oktoberfest beers at the end. The altitude and cold never let me loosen up so lactic acid build up was real after this one. 44:04 and the toughest actual 5k I've ever run but would do it again. 

 

Dry January 2024

At Beat-12 Brewing we value all aspects of the brewing process. But we also seek working hard along with playing hard, so in the last year I committed to 20 sit-ups and squats a day. I'm proud to say I managed 7300 of each along with 151 miles ran. Oddly, it's taken a couple of years to achieve this goal as it doesn't take long to fall behind in just one month. I've participated in Dry (or at least damp) January for the last 3 or 4 years and have committed to the same to start 2024. It's a good mental and physical reset that shows upwards of 40% liver fat reduction along with a great time to trim down and donate blood. We'll still be brewing and of course there must be end of fermentation sampling of 2oz or less to make sure there's no off flavors so that the taps are ready to flow with goodness on 2/1 

2023 50 West/Ocelot Homebrew Competiton

Just for SnG, I sent Tang! The Astronaut Drink to this comp to see if maybe the crowd pleasing, neighborhood crushing orange laden Berliner could snag me a little jewelry in VA. Alas, it could not. However, scores were posted early for this 147 entry comp and communication from the organizers was good. When score sheets are scanned in or received via snail mail, I'll post the reasoning behind the 28. 

(My "sensory trained" Cicerone? and provisional BJCP judge said it was one noted, hard to get orange on the nose)

Hot Balls 5K 2023

 

I missed my opportunity at a 114F Heat Index day, but this is the warmest day I thought we'd have left. Celebrated the 3.75 mile journey with Westbrook's Marzebier 2023. A fine nutty libation. Next up Fall Balls?

Alabama Brewer's Cup 2023

In a field of 111, both entries sucked hind teat. Shepherd's IPA 18 and Reinke's Revenge 2022 CoVid Edition Gamma variant 34 (yep, the same one that just got 42 in RI). Notes include oxi on Shepherd's and Reinke's would've been better as a pastry stout and apparently didn't match base beer characteristics? Oh well, I post the good and the bad. Always welcome the input and just glad comps are back open in this state. Plus, this one judged and posted early. 

2nd Annual NEBCo

In a field of 141, Shepherd's IPA and Reinke's Revenge 2022 CoVid Edition Gamma Variant fared no better. 23 & 30 respectively with sheets to be mailed. Yep, not a good weekend to be a Beat-12 beer. I'm scratching my head a little but with Shepherd kicked and Reinke's still on tap and on par, I believe, I don't have any references to compare with judges notes. Not giving up on CT though! This was a well communicated and early posted comp. Couldn't have asked for better coordination as Greg Radawich, the head brewer, worked with me on yet another FedEx debacle.