I didn’t prepare for this competition like usually but I had one witbier with hibiscus and plan to brew another standard witbier. Also, I had one Saison which after two months become to be more interesting than at the beginning. I sent the second witbier which was still young and I had a hope that it will improve with time waiting for judging and Saison.
Unfortunately, witbier didn’t change too much but Saison get the 3rd prize.
Each beer gets a review from two BJCP judges. I’ll not quote all comments, part is hard to read but try to choose more important and score.
Huge thanks to Wee County Brewers for organising!
Scoring guide:
| Outstanding | 45-50 | World-class example of style. |
| Excellent | 38-44 | Exemplifies style well, requires minor fine-tuning. |
| Very Good | 30-37 | Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws. |
| Good | 21-29 | Misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws. |
| Fair | 14-20 | Off flavors/aromas or major style deficiencies. Unpleasant. |
| Problematic | 00-13 | Major off flavors and aromas dominate. Hard to drink. |
Full score sheet – https://www.bjcp.org/docs/SCP_BeerScoreSheet.pdf
Saison (3rd prize)
First Judge (Total 45/50)
Aroma (10/12)
Grainy, bready malt backbone, low floral hops, lemony esters + low peppery notes
Apperance (3/3)
Light golden colour, excellent clarity, thick head, great retention
Flavor (18/20)
Bready malt, low floral/spicy hop flavour. Good balance of malt sweetness + hop bitterness. Finishes bone dry. Coriander in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel (5/5)
Medium-low body, perfectly high carbonation, enjoyable heat, no astringency, prickly on palate from carbonation.
Overal Impression (9/10)
Great example of the style. Excellent balance of flavours spice levels are intriguing. Lemony esters counter the spicy notes really well. Would be interesting to see a version with more lemony esters.
Second Judge (Total 43/50)
Aroma (11/12)
Pleasent, peppery, lime peel, coriander, spice
Appearance (3/3)
Clean, great head retention
Flavor (17/20)
Dry, wheat, nice bitterness, great balance
Mouthfeel (4/5)
Dry, thirst quenching
Overall Impression (8/10)
Great example, well presented, packaged really well.
Witbier
Witbier is not worth to brew again in this form. First thing to change is yeast. I’ve made two beers with this yeast and both was not to style. I had much better result with White Labs wlp400 or even with dry yeast Brewferm Blanche Wheat Yeast.
The score for this beer was:
First Judge (Total 28/50)
Aroma (9/12)
Apperance (2/3)
Flavor (10/20)
Mouthfeel (2/5)
Overall Impression (5/10)
Second Judge (21/50)
Aroma (1/12)
Apperance (2/3)
Flavor (11/20)
Mouthfeel (2/5)
Overall Impression (5/10)