World Cup of Beer and other notes

As I mentioned in the last post, I entered my 1st home brew competition. It is one of the largest competitions on the west coast and the club I am part of, Bay Area Mashers, is the primary organizer.
I was on staff and helped with logistics. Over 2 Saturdays a group of around 70 judges narrowed the field down to 3 winners in each of the 27 categories and 1 best of show. Not surprisingly I won absolutely nothing. Since it was my 1st competition and I only entered 2 beers I didn't have high expectations. However, the competition was a huge success. By all accounts it was the biggest and best the competition has ever been. The finals were a ton of fun with good food, good music, and lots of great beer. I had fun, learned a lot and I look forward to next year. Over the past few weeks I also managed to sample a few new beers including some special brews at Moylan's in Novato. They have several beers on tap but here are my favorites.

Moylan's IPA-Triple 9.2 Hopsickle Normally this beer is overbearing even for me. The hops are so strong that they burn the taste out of your mouth. But at the brewery on cask I had the barrel aged version and it was fantastic. The hops are still very present but the aroma is more sweet, hop flavor is more balanced in the middle with a nice hop bitter finish.

Moylan's Imperial Stout Russian Imperial Stout Served on cask. Everything you expect in an Imperial stout. Smooth, sweet, and chocolaty. the barrel aging mixes it all into an excellent blend.

And of course I managed to stop in to Beer Revolution and try some of the latest beers on tap there. And again there are many more but just a few of my favorites. These are both limited release beers and available in bottles. Get them while you can.
Flying Dog IPA-Belgian 8.3 Raging Bitch An American IPA brewed with Belgian yeast. Wonderful Amarillo hop aroma w/ sweet malty backbone and spicy hop flavor. Crisp dry finish. Excellent beer. 20th Anniversary brew
Dogfish Head IPA 7 Aprihop Very interesting beer. It is a fruit beer for hop heads. Dry hopped with one of my favorites-Amarillo.The Apricot is subtle and the hops are forward. Surprisingly balanced beer. Seasonal release.

With summer fast approaching I will be ramping up the brewing schedule soon. I have lots of parties to supply beer to. Look for pictures of the upgraded system soon. But 1st I make a return trip to LA this week. I hope to have some additions to make.