UPDATE: Winners listed below!
Our 4th annual Sam Adams / DC Homebrewers homebrew contest is almost upon us! In previous years, the winners have gone to GABF, Oktoberfest, and the Sam Adams brewery in Boston. This year, the winner will be going to the Yakima Valley in Washington for the hop harvest. It must smell amazing.
We had the preliminary judging Tuesday night, and there are 15 winners moving forward to the final round, which is THIS SATURDAY (April 26th), starting at noon at City Tap House near Chinatown (http://www.citytaphousedc.com/). There will be a celebrity panel of judges picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. There will also be a “crowd favorite” prize picked by the attendees, so come taste some wonderful beers and pick your favorite. Winners and awards will be presented at 4:00.
Here are the brewers who made it into the finals:
Farmhouse Ales
Farmhouse Ales – by Sean Gugger
There is no style I enjoy drinking and brewing more than Saison. There’s something about the complex flavors of pepper, spice, citrus, fruit, hay, and even some barnyard in a well-crafted saison that make it a unique sensory experience. From the brewing perspective, Saison is truly a blank canvas. A broad style that allows the brewer wide creativity and the ability to push his or her brewing limits. However, before I dive into brewing Saison, let’s backtrack and go over a brief history of these Belgian Farmhouse Ales.
I have to begin by giving credit to the book Farmhouse Ales (Brewers Publications, 2004) by Phil Markowski, the head brewer of Southampton Publick House and one of the pioneers of modern interpretations of the style, as I learned from it a majority of the information I am about to provide. It’s highly recommended for any beer fan that has even the slightest interest in traditional Belgian ales.
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