February 4th, 2014 at Half Pints Brewery at 7:30PM we will be skyping with Bradley Smith of Beersmith. He will be giving us some helpful tips on how to use the Beersmith software.
Looking forward to this meeting.
Congratulations to all the winners of the HP Brew Challenge. It was a very challenging competition with some excellent brewers, both amateur and professional, vying for medals and the top spot of being Best Of Show. Here are the Results:
1. Light Lagers: Sponsored by R.J. Spagnols
Gold: Wolfgang Hoess of Big Surf Beer Company with Laid Back Lager / Professional Brewer
Silver: David Rudge with Chris Young and Jeremy Wells of Half Pints with Queer Beer / Professional Brewer
Bronze: Jared Carlberg with Holzwickeder Lagerbier / River City Brewers
2. Pilsner: Sponsored by Grape and Grain
Gold: Jean Gadoua of Farnham Ale & Lager with 27 Pilsener / Professional Brewer
Silver: Jared Carlberg with G-Pils / River City Brewers
Bronze: Scott Tackaberry with Myk Gyver’s Pilsener / Winnipeg Brew Bombers
3. European Amber Lager: Sponsored by Farmery
Gold: Jared Carlberg with O-Fest / River City Brewers
Silver: Greg Zeniuk with Dr. Oktavious / EHG
Bronze: Geordan Sanders with Spring Break / KABOB
4. Dark Lager: Sponsored by Gilbertson and Page
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Club Brew Schwarz / River City Brewers
Silver: Doug Ellertson with Ole Dunkel / Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild
Bronze: Greg Zeniuk with Arnold Schwartzenlager / EHG
5. Bock: Sponsored by Beer Grains
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Goat of Mendes / River City Brewers
Silver: Jared Carlberg with Otto II / River City Brewers
Bronze: Jared Carlberg with New Year’s Bock / River City Brewers
6. Light Hybrid Beer: Sponsored by Grape and Grain
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Cream in my Jeans / River City Brewers
Silver: Doug Ellertson with Wheatzer / Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild
Bronze:Tyrone Keep with Kolsch / Saskatoon Headhunters
7. Amber Hybrid Beer: Sponsored by Big Surf Beer
Gold: Jonas Hurtig with Cali Steamer / Cowtown Yeast Wranglers
Silver: Rob Doerksen with Pier 179 / Cowtown Yeast Wrangers
Bronze: Lee Hillman with Over Done Alt / NA
8. English Pale Ale: Sponsored by Prairie Gem Hops
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Woody Lake Special Bitter / River City Brewers
Silver: David Rudge and Chris Young, Jeremy Wells of Half Pints with Bulldog Amber Ale / Professional Brewer
Bronze: Matthew Atkins with Herc’s Extra Strong Bitter / Edmonton Homebrewer’s Guild
9. Scottish and Irish Ale: Sponsored by Five Star
Gold: Mark Borowski with Willy B Red / Winnipeg Brew Bombers
Silver: Jared Carlberg with Brewpub Red / River City Brewers
Bronze Wolfgang Hoess of Prohibition Brewing Company with Prohibition Smuggler Scotch Ale / Professional Brewer
10. American Ale: Sponsored by Grape and Grain
Gold: Matt Wolff of Fort Garry Brewing with Fort Garry Dark / Professional Brewer
Silver: Darrin Sayers
Bronze: Jared Carlberg
11. English Brown Ale: Sponsored by Northern Brewer
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Mild / River City Brewers
Silver: Greg Zeniuk with SOB Brown/ EHG
Bronze: Alvaro Reyes / Mild 2.0 / Vanbrewers
12: Porter: Sponsored by Grape and Grain
Gold: David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells from Half Pints with Pothole Porter / Professional Brewer
Silver: Cedric Dauchot with PowTown / NA
Bronze: Markus Ebner with Xebby’s Brown Porter / Cowtown Yeast Wranglers
13: Stout: Sponsored by Great Plains Publications
Gold: Geordan Saunders with Ursa Minor / KABOB
Silver: Alvaro Reyes with Milk Run Stout / Vanbrewers
Bronze: Mark Atkinson with Doctor’s Orders / BrewVIC
14 & 29: India Pale Ale/Cascadian Dark Ale: Sponsored by Barley Brothers
Gold: Jared Carlberg with River City CDA / River City Brewers
Silver: Jared Carlberg with River City IPA / River City Brewers
Bronze: Greg Zeniuk with Overdrive IPA / EHG
15. German Wheat and Rye Beer: Sponsored by Eastern Shores Brewing
Gold: Ivan Kozoletov with Haroldweizen / NA
Silver: Adam Olson with Not so Wise Weissen / RCMB
Bronze: Greg Zeniuk with Ice Dam Dunkle / EHG
16: Belgian and French Ale: Sponsored by Farnham Ale and Lager
Gold: Dave Janssen with Doehnel Malt Saison / BrewVIC
Silver David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells from Half Pints with Saison De La Ceinture Flechee / Professional Brewer
Bronze: Doug Ellertson with Blass Ale / Edmonton Homwebrewer’s Guild
17: Sour Ale: Sponsored by Five Star Chemicals
Gold: David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells with Old Red Barn / Professional Brewer
Silver: Sean Richens with Lambic 2010 / Winnipeg Brew Bombers
Bronze: Ken Yost with Row on Row / River City of Manitoba Brewers
18: Belgian Strong Ale: Sponsored by Everwood Ave Brew Shop
Gold: Markus Ebner / Xebby’s Belgian Mistress / Cowtown Yeast Wrangers
Silver: Ivan Kozoletov / Belgian Dubbel / NA
Bronze: Greg Zeniuk with St. Greggorius / EHG
19: Strong Ale: Sponsored by Farmery
Gold: Jared Carlberg with Disasterwine / River City Brewers
Silver: David Rudge & Chris Young from Half Pints with Burlywine(2008) / Professional Brewer
Bronze: David Freeman with Old Ale #1 / ALES
20: Fruit Beer: Sponsored by James Taylor
Gold: Greg Zeniuk with Rasp – N- Tart / EHG
Silver: Casey Murray & Leanne Kadyschuk with Flatland Reserve / Headhunters
Bronze: Walter Martin & Al Ilisley with Cherry Porter / Ales Club
21: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer: Sponsored by Prairie Gem Hops
Gold: Dean Kelly with Simcoe Spruce / Saskatoon Headhunters
Silver: David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells from Half Pints with Stir Stick Stout / Professional Brewer
Bronze: Justin Shead & Scott Higgins & Ken Sandilands & Alex Wall & Colin Charles with Ginger Puncher / E.L.Alers
22: Smoke-Flavored and Wood-Aged Beer: Sponsored by Fort Garry
Gold: Ken Yost with Valley of Death / River City Of Manitoba Brewers
Silver: David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells from Half Pints with $ellout $tout / Professional Brewer
Bronze: David Rudge & Chris Young & Jeremy Wells from Half Pints with Smoktoberfest / Professional Brewer
23: Specialty Beer: Sponsored by Beer Grains
Gold: Justin MacNeil with Capital Rye-Ot / Member of Barleyment
Silver: Mark Borowski with Ruby Gloom / Winnipeg Brew Bombers
Bronze: Duncan Rodger & Karver Whitmell with Pict Yer Poison / NA
24 – 26: Meads: Sponsored by Grape and Grain
Gold: Tynne Petrowski with Festive Cranberry / Winnipeg
Silver: Darrin Sayers with Orion’s Tears / Calgary
Bronze: Jason Newton with Strange Brew / Vanbrewers
27: Standard Cider and Perry: Sponsored by Big Surf Beer
Gold: Chad McCarthy with Simple Cider / VanBrewers
Silver: Cedric Gillott with Rescue Me / Headhunters
Bronze: Jason Newton with Celebration Cider / VanBrewers
BEST IN SHOW:
1. Dean Kelly with Simcoe Spruce / Saskatoon Headhunters: (This beer will be made with Dean at Half Pints and brought to market)
2. Jared Carlberg with River City CDA / River City Brewers
3. Justin MacNeil with Capital Rye-Ot / Member of Barleyment
4. Sean Richens with Lambic 2010 / Winnipeg Brew Bombers
I recently wrote an article on the saison, the WBB club brew for this year: http://www.spectatortribune.com/article/tis-the-saison/
There’s some tips and other ingredient ideas you could add to your saison to make it truly yours. I am looking forward to trying the different variations in April.
My challenge still stands that if any WBB gets a higher score than me during the Spring homebrew competitions for their saison, they will get their entry fee refunded for the French and Belgian style.
Mark
Homebrewers: You can register for the Half Pint’s Pro Am at registration.winnipegbrewbombers.ca.
Please scroll down to the “Enter your brews” section and click the link.
Entry deadline is November 22, 2013
The Winnipeg Brew Bombers and Half Pints Brewing Company are pleased to present Manitoba’s first, BJCP/AHA sanctioned, Annual Pro/Am beer competition. This event is a friendly competition between professional and amateur brewers in the name of craft beer.
Amateur and Professional Brewers are invited to send their finest crafted beer to the competition to be judged by professional, certified BJCP judges.
Along with first, second and third professional winners, and gold, silver and bronze amateur winners, a Professional or Amateur will be named winner for each category. At the end of the competition, Best of Show winners will be announced and an overall winner will be named.
Will the Professional brewers triumph over the Amateurs? Can the home brewers pull off an upset?
The Best of Show Winner gets to brew 1,000 litres of the winning batch at the Half Pints Brewery. This special release will be available at the brewery and on tap at select pubs in Winnipeg. (Travel costs are not included.)
Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to stay up to date on further developments.
Judges’ Pub Night – Thursday, November 28 – Yellow Dog Tavern
Brewer’s Beer Dinner – Friday, November 29 – Mise Restaurant
Awards Ceremony – Saturday, November 30 – Location to be announced
November 28 – 30, 2013 (this is a closed, private event)
Online registration will be available at the end of September. Check back here for the entry registration link.
All 23 BJCP categories will be accepted. Mead and Cider/Perry categories 24-28 will be accepted and will be judged by professional wine & mead judges. Complete competition details will be posted shortly but entries will be due November 22nd, 2013 and we will be requesting two 355ml to 500ml bottles for each entry. Fees will be $8 for each entry for amateur brewers and $15 for professional brewers.
Made possible by generous support of our title sponsor, Half Pints Brewing Company 
And with the help of great business like:
hpbrewchallenge (at) winnipegbrewbombers.ca
We need volunteers for many different jobs:
Find out more about the Winnipeg Brew Bombers home brewing club
Nathan Koop.
Congrats Nathan on winning Winnipeg Brew Bomber Brewer of the year and thanks for all the hard work you put into making our club’s year awesome. Nathan put in a lot of effort designing and purchasing WBB bottle openers, he organized a judging trip to ALES comp in Regina to represent the Brew Bombers, he helped make Swim Manitoba’s craft beer night a success, he is studying to become a BJCP judge, he donated countless beers to our raffles and for the club to try, and he is presently a integral member of the committee to make our first ever Pro-AM brew challenge a reality. This is what Nathan said about the night he won:
“Last brewclub meeting of the year last night.
1) I got some beers from a club member
2) I won the raffle
3) I won the competition (and Jeremy Koop too)
4) I won the BrewBomber of the Year
Pretty good night.”
Thanks again, Nathan and I can’t wait to see who steps up next year to win the coveted prize of WBB Brewer of the Year.
In honour of Oktoberfest, we have decided to run a mini German beer competition for our October meeting. The styles accepted will be: Oktoberfest Lager, German Wheat Beer or Altbier.
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles
If you plan on making an Oktoberfest Lager, you would need to get started on it in the next week or two because that beer needs to lager for some time (usually, the breweries brew that lager in March so it can be ready in October but I think it still can be good if you start on it shortly).
So, dust off your lederhosen and get ready to brew a German beer. Nathan Koop has agreed to pull out his accordian and play some polka music. 😉 (Steve G, keep your thoughts to yourself)
Mark
In the coming days, we will be launching a competition website announcing our first ever Pro-Am Brew Competition to be held November 28-30th, 2013
