Stone's 2011 Homebrew Competition Part 2

This competition was set up a bit differently than others. Rather than being judged by BJCP certified judges and entered by category, the beers were judged by attendees of the rally, with the top 5 vote getters moving on to be tasted by a panel of Stone judges that included Head Brewer Mitch Steele and Owner Greg Koch. Making the top five among 40 beers being judged by over 350 of our peers, is really what makes this victory stand out for us, and lets us know we are doing something right. Thanks again to the crew for your support!

Stone's 2011 Homebrew Competition

On Saturday, March 12th the crew went to Stone Brewing Company in Escondido, CA to support IMBC. We entered Stone's 3rd homebrew competition. The winner of the competition would have their recipe brewed and distributed by Stone. THIS IS HUGE. So we entered what we felt would win the whole thing. Which was Blackout a dark strong ale with vanilla bean.

After sampling other homebrews we felt confident we could win this thing. Even though there were some bad brews, some really strong brews stood out. Citra Smash and Hop-Fu were other crowd favorites.

We came away with a 3rd place finish. Out of 40 beers this is a huge win for us. We were a little heartbroken for not winning it all, but a 3rd place finish at a competition of this level is nothing to be sad about. At the end of the day we were all smiles, couldn't be more proud of our Brew Master, Scott, and finished off the night with some Blackout floats and Bacon Explosion burgers.

#winning

See more photos on my Flickr.