More than 2,700 homebrewers attended last week’s 36th Annual National Homebrewers Conference, held by the American Homebrewers Association in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The conference included seminars covering topics from new hop varieties to funky and sour meads to yeast wrangling; sessions with homebrew stars such as Ron Pattinson and Stan Hieronymus; and the popular Club Night, highlighting homebrew clubs and their beers from across the country.
BJCP Style Guidelines Updated
Gordon Strong, president of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), presented the updated BJCP beer style guidelines at this year’s conference. Last updated in 2008, the guidelines have been revised only five times, in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, and 2008.
Much has happened in the brewing world in the past six years, and the new version of the BJCP style guidelines reflect that. There is now an American Wild Ale category, for example, that includes Brett Beer, Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer, and Soured Fruit Beer. The Specialty IPA category includes a rainbow of IPAs: Black, Brown, Red, White, Belgian, and Rye, and by strength: session, standard, and double. Several styles were renamed (Imperial IPA is now Double IPA; Strong Scotch Ale is Scottish Wee Heavy), while others were deleted (so long, Belgian Specialty Ale, which is now grouped into Specialty Beer).
See the slideshow for the full rundown of the changes, and for more background, read an interview with Strong on the revision process and reasoning.
The guidelines will be released for public comment for one to two months, will be reviewed and updated, and are expected to be phased in by the end of the year.
Largest Homebrew Competition Ever
This year’s National Homebrew Competition had the largest group of entrants ever, with 8,172 homebrews judged in 2014 and a 45 percent increase in the number of competitors, according to a press release by the AHA. At the final competition held at the NHC, 212 beer judges evaluated 1,020 entries.
The Homebrewer of the Year Award went to Robert Hilferding of Zephyrhills, Florida, with his best-in-show entry in the Scottish and Irish ale category. Jeremy Voeltz of Lakeside, Arizona, was recognized as the winningest homebrewer in the final round and earned the Ninkasi Award.
The Meadmaker of the Year award went to Matthew Weide of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for his melomel (a mead that contains fruit), and Edward Walkowski from N. Abington Township, Pennsylvania, won the Cidermaker of the Year award.
The Brewing Network won their fourth Homebrew Club of the Year Award, and The Gambrinus Club award, given to the club with the most Final Round points per the number of entries from the club in competition, went to the Minnesota Home Brewers Association.
See the full list of the awards at the National Homebrew Competition.
Pliny Wins Again
Zymurgy magazine released its annual poll of the Best Commercial Beer in America, as voted by members of the American Homebrewers Association. For the sixth year in a row, the award went to Santa Rosa, California-based Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, followed by Kalamazoo Michigan-based Bell's Brewery's Two Hearted Ale, and San Diego, California-based Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA.
Russian River was also named this year’s Top-Ranked Brewery with five beers in the top fifty, followed by Bell’s Brewery and Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, California) in second and third, respectively.
The Best Portfolio of Beers was awarded to Fort Collins, Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing, which had sixty beers receive votes in the poll.
Photos © Brewers Association