2012 Arizona Mead Cup

Oh yes! Competition season is starting and it's time to get in gear. This year I am sending a couple of entries to the 2012 Arizona Mead Cup sponsored by the Brewmeisters Anonymous homebrew club in Phoenix Arizona and is taking place 31 March & 1 April. This contest is part of the Great Arizona Homebrew Competition.

I love homebrew contests although I did not do so well last year (only one ribbon). Still, my goal is to win at least one ribbon in some cider category this year and I will hopefully snag a couple for mead as well. Of course, each contest seems to privilege different kinds of entries and I am trying to adapt my strategy accordingly. For instance, sweeter meads did well at the Cactus Challenge last year while dry meads scored higher at the Bluebonnet.

In any event, it is always fun to see what others think about your homebrew. What are you sending this year? What competitions are you going to enter?

-Safari Bob

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UPDATE: 8 April 2012

Kokopelli, a hard cider with habanero, won silver in the 28D: Special Cider & Perry - Other category with a score of 40!

2011 Cactus Challenge

Oh yes! It is time for the 2011 Cactus Challenge where legends are made and dreams are crushed. Hopefully, my dream of a ribbon will not be crushed this year but I have had terrible results overall this competition season. Only the Little Joe's received anything (an Honorable Mention). I really have to step up my game.

This year I am entering 5 meads:

• Black Stone: Dry Mead (24A)


• Autumn Harvest: Cyser (25A)


• Mango Chili: Other Fruit Melomel (25C)


• Yuletide: Metheglin (26A)


• Little Joe's Cream Mead: Open Category Mead (26C)

I'm dipping into the cellar on a couple of these. The Yuletide is the second batch I ever made while the Autumn Harvest is the fourth. Hopefully the aging will help with complexity and bring home some bling!

-Safari Bob

Honorable Mention: Little Joe's Cream Mead

So today I hear that my Little Joe's Cream Mead received "Honorable Mention" at the 2011 Alamo City Cerveza Fest! Woo hoo! The Little Joe's Cream Mead is batch 6-002 and a favorite of Nancy's. Little Joe is Nancy's Chihuahua who thinks that he weighs somewhere north of 200 lbs and is the terror of the neighborhood squirrels. God help any fauna that dares to invade his domain (ie the back yard)!

Honorable Mention
Robert Schafer
Little Joe's Cream Mead
Ale-ian Society

http://bexarbrewers.org/winners.shtml

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

2011 Bluebonnet Brew-off

Friday, I boxed up my precious brews to send to Fort Worth Texas for competition in the 2011 Bluebonnet Brew-off. The Bluebonnet Brew-off is one of the largest single site homebrew competitions in the United States and it is the first leg of the Lone Star Circuit of homebrew competitions in which the Ale-ian Society participates. I hope I get some points for the home team!

I am sending three brews:

• Sunday Picnic: 38c Melomel Other; strawberry melomel


• Kokopelli: 41d Specialty Cider & Perry; hard cider with habanero


• Little Joe's Cream Mead: 39c Open Category of Mead; cream soda mead

We will see how they do in such a large competition. I am certainly looking forward to read the tasting notes for suggestions toward future tweaking of the recipes.

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

And now for something cool that has no relation to mead:



and..

Cactus Challenge 2010 Results

Tonight the award winners from the 2010 Cactus Challenge were announced during the award ceremony. Earlier in the day I went to help judge a couple of beer styles and met in person a few of the people from Ale-ian Society (the host of the Cactus Challenge) that I only know from the forum. It is sad, really, as I do live in the same town as these folks. I helped judge the Brown Ales and Fruit Beers entries.

Although I had to leave the judging around 1pm, Nancy and I did make it back for the dinner and awards ceremony and we had a great time. The folks at theAle-ian Society are all good people. We sat with a couple from Plainview, TX and laughed so hard we were crying. They shared with us a wonderful, tasty Jalapeno Ale that they entered (it won 2nd in the Spice/Herb & Vegetable Beers category). Also, we bought 6 raffle tickets for $5 and Nancy won a t-shirt and a $10 gift certificate to a brew shop. Good times.

You may recall that I entered meads into three categories: cyser, traditional, and other. Unfortunately, they did not have enough mead entries to judge in separate categories so they combined all the mead entries into one category. Here are the results:

• First Place: Safari Bob, Mockingbird Alley aka Prickly Pecker (Southwestern Cyser--prickly pear)


• Second Place: Safari Bob, Golden Delicious (Cyser)


• Third Place: Safari Bob, Desert Goat (Traditional)

I was shocked! Of course I thought that maybe I was the only one to enter meads but there were three others submitted (LOL!). So out of 6, I had the best three. Not exactly a big deal but I'll take it!

I was told that the prickly pear made it to the last 7 (of 35) in the Best of Show, however. I suppose they could be pulling my leg; those guys are ornery and the kegs were getting low!

View Cactus Challenge 2010 results here.

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

Cactus Challenge 2010

I have been remiss in not promoting the upcoming Cactus Challenge 2010 that is a homebrew competition conducted by the local brew club Ale-ian Society. This competition is focused on beer but they do have several categories of mead that are judged each year. The best of show wins a belt buckle (YEE-haw! Welcome to Texas!) but I don't think a mead has ever won. In any event, I entered three meads to be judged. This is only the second competition I have entered but I am hoping for at least one ribbon.

First, I entered the southwestern cyser (batch 5-001; OG: 1.170; FG: 1.012; ABV: 21.1%) under the name "Mockingbird Alley" although I have since changed the name. I just recently bottled it so I am curious as to how it will do in that it is still young. Still, it is one of the more unique meads I have made.

I also entered one of my favorite cysers, "Golden Delicious" (batch 3-004; OG: 1.138; FG: 1.014; ABV: 17.1%), that was bottled in October 2007. Frankly, I love this mead and I was loath to part with 36 oz. regardless of any chance to win.

Finally, I entered a dry, spicy hydromel named "Desert Goat" (batch 3-005; OG: 1.060; FG: .992; ABV: 9.2%) that was bottled in September 2007. I enjoy the crisp mouth of this mead and I hope that it may appeal to the beer-quaffers judging pallet!

I would also like to thank Sograte BBQ and Brew, the local homebrew supply store, for lending me the beer top crimper so I could enter. Because of rules for homebrew beer entries, I had to put a gold crimp top which is common for beer but rare for mead (most mazers use a cork). In fact, this is why I have not entered this competition in past years.

Wassail!

-Safari Bob