The call went out to F.O.A.M. members to help with judging The Great Frederick Fair homebrew competition, even if not a certified beer judge. (There are rules about how many beers a judge can sample in each “sitting”—which is not a bad idea—and they wanted to avoid having multiple sittings.)
Well, heck. I like beer. I have opinions. Granted, except for my opinions expressed here and my annual get-together with Ron, Max, and Don, I’ve never done anything like this. Sign me up!
I was assigned to the Strong Ale “class” and paired with Les W., a fellow F.O.A.M. member and a certified beer judge. Beers were divided into classes rather than individual styles, and we weren’t told what each was. For this competition, the Strong Ale class could contain styles such as English Barleywine, Strong Scotch Ale, American Barleywine, Russian Imperial Stout, Imperial IPA. Les was amazing at being able to identify each style, though.
After having a sandwich (don’t want to judge beer on an empty stomach) we got to it. To help cleanse our palates, water and unsalted crackers were provided.
Boy, was it hard! I think I was a little handicapped by the fact that strong ales are not generally my favorite styles. They’re certainly not something I would choose on a 95°F September day. But, even so, it was difficult to compare each beer to what the style is supposed to be like, rather than purely whether I like it or not. Not only that, but I’m just a big softy. I don’t like to say anything bad about anybody. Judge scores are supposed to be within six or seven points of each other, so I adjusted a couple down after looking at Les’s scores.
The atmosphere was pretty low-key, and while everybody took their role seriously, no one forgot what it was that we were judging and had a good time. Les was very patient with my newbie questions and I only caught him rolling his eyes a couple of times. (Just kidding, Les!)
It was fun. I don’t know if I want to go for full-blown certification, but I’d be more than happy to do it again. Not to mention we were given vouchers for a free pint at Brewer’s Alley for a free pint in appreciation. (I also heard that Brewer’s Alley will also be brewing up the winning recipe to serve in the brewpub.)
