On a regular basis, RHBC members are encouraged to brew beverages to compete against their fellow members.
To compete, members should provide at least 36 ounces of each of their creations for evaluation.
That amounts to 3 12-ounce bottles’ worth (or equivalent).
Winning brews are chosen by popular vote. Winning brewers receive some nifty prizes!
Brewers should strive to brew their beverages according to the 2021 BJCP Style Guideline or BA Style Guideline provided below.
So, what are you going to brew, share, and enjoy in the coming months?
2022-2023 Season
May June 2022 – Epic Space Debris Clone
For those who took advantage of the Space Debris clone ingredients distribution in late April 2022, here’s the rundown of the intra-club competition and associated dates:
- April and early May – brew your clone and/or your variant.
- May 14-21 – bring at least 4 bottles to the Epic Brewing taproom in RiNo and leave with a beertender. Bottle labels will be emailed to participants the week of May 8.
- May 22-27 – Epic brewing and packaging staff will choose the best clone and best variant entries.
- June 9 – Monthly Meeting. Bring at least 3 bottles of your clone and/or variants to share with Epic staff, local brewing representatives, and fellow club members at our June meeting. People’s choice clone and variant will be awarded!
Winners
Staff Pick – Clone:
- 1st – Matt Lawlor
- 2nd – Jim Morgheim
Staff Pick – Variant:
- 1st – Geoff Humphrey
- 2nd – Andy Hill
People’s Choice – Clone:
- Matt Lawlor
People’s Choice – Variant:
- Geoff Humphrey
July 2022 – Summer Sippers
July’s intra-club faceoff revolves around fermented beverages to sip on while having your your toes in the water and ass in the sand. Refreshing, crisp; summertime in a bottle. We’ll hold this competition at our annual Summer Picnic on July 16!
Winner
Matt Lawlor with his Hefeweizen
October 2022 – Bade Buddy Brew
Our annual Buddy Brew competition is continuing in 2022 for its 10th consecutive year.
Each year, we pair up a veteran member with a more fresh face to the club for a collaboration. Buddy Brew teams activate their collective brewing powers to craft a tasty elixir and compete against other teams head-to-head.
This year, in honor Michael Bade, former Hopper member that passed away in August 2021, Buddy Brew teams will be brewing up one of Michael’s award-winning homebrews from recipes he generously shared throughout his tenure with the club.
Winning Team
Chris Egolf and Eric Tuin with their Schwarzbier
Runners Up
1st – Jim Allen, Kristian Hahn, and Sean Toole with their Vienna Lager
2nd – Matt Lawlor and Tom Lopez with their Czech Pale Lager
November 2022 – Fantasy Brewing Draft Beers
Those participating in the RHBC Fantasy Brewing Draft compete with their Fantasy “team” creations. The winner, judged by a panel of experienced and BJCP judges, will receive 70% of the Fantasy Brewing buy-in kitty, the runner up will receive 30%. The popular vote winner at the meeting will receive a special prize.
Participants must brew a beer with only the seven ingredients they drafted:
- 1 malt variety
- 1 hop variety
- 1 yeast variety
- 1 adjunct/spice/sugar/fruit
- 3 “flex” ingredients of any category (malt, hop, yeast, adjunct/spice/sugar/fruit)
January 2023 – Big Beers and Belgian-Style Ales
In preparation for Biere de Rock and the Big Beers homebrew competition.
All entries should be true to the declared style. Fruit/spice/veg/wood variants acceptable.
- Category 4C – Helles Bock
- Category 6C – Dunkles Bock
- Categories 9A-C – Doppelbock, Eisbock, Baltic Porter
- Category 10C – Weizenbock
- Categories 17A-D – British Strong Ale, Old Ale, Wee Heavy, English Barleywine
- Category 20C – Imperial Stout
- Categories 22A-D – Double IPA, American Strong Ale, American Barleywine, Wheatwine
- Categories 23B-F – Flanders Red Ale, Oud Bruin, Lambic, Gueuze, Fruit Lambic
- Category 24A-C – Witbier, Belgian Pale Ale, Biere de Garde
- Categories 25A-C – Belgian Blond Ale, Saison, Belgian Golden Strong Ale
- Categories 26A-D – Trappist Single, Belgian Dubbel, Belgian Tripel, Belgian Dark Strong Ale
- Category 27 – Sahti or other Historical Beer with 1.070 min OG
- Categories 28A-C – Brett Beer, Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer, Wild Specialty Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 29A-C – Fruit Beer, Fruit and Spice Beer, Specialty Fruit Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 30A-C – Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, Autumn Seasonal Beer, Winter Seasonal Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 31A-B – Alternative Grain Beer, Alternative Sugar Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 32A-B – Classic Style Smoked Beer, Specialty Smoked Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 33A-B – Wood-Aged Beer, Specialty Wood-Aged Beer (1.070 min OG)
- Categories 34A-C – Clone Beer, Mixed-Style Beer, Experimental Beer (1.070 min OG)
July 2023 – Buddy Brew: The Wheels of Destiny
One of the most requested activities from the 2022-2023 member survey were more “brew with me” type of events. And, one of our most popular and time-tested annual events is Buddy Brew, where we pair up veteran club members with newer ones to brew a beer together. So, we thought we’d make Buddy Brew a bit more interesting and completely randomize the team pairing and style of beer to brew.
At our meeting in March, we put Buddy Brew teams together by spinning the Team Selection Wheel. After that, we select a summer-like beer style for each team to brew by spinning the Styles Spinner Wheel.
Each team then brews their assigned style in the next few months to compete in an intra-club competition for bragging rights and prizes at our annual Summer Picnic in July.
Winning Team
Chris Egolf and Geoff Humphrey with their American Pale Ale.
