As I hope you are well aware, the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge is officially underway and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the recipes I am going to brew. I have entered each of the three categories (Malty, Balanced, and Hoppy) in an effort to win the coveted BrewUnited Homebrew Hero award, which goes to the brewer(s) with the highest sum of entry scores. Word is that the Homebrew Hero will receive a cape as a reward, so the stakes are high! I thought this might also be a good time to discuss the different elements of the competition and examine how I go about building and brewing a recipe for a maybe continuing series I am calling “Brewcrafting.”
I know, I know, I can already hear you asking, “if you give away all your secrets will you not lose your advantage for the competition!?” Now, in both my personal an professional life I am of two core beliefs:
- Good ideas should be shared–a rising tide lifts all boats and all that.
- Good ideas are a dime a dozen–it is the execution of the idea that is important.
After all, if we remember Brulosopher’s Brewer’s Thumbprint xBmt we learned “that even when using the exact same ingredients, mash temp, and fermentation schedules, every brewer is going to produce a unique beer.” So really, if you glean enough from this to beat me in the competition you were probably going to beat me anyway. 🙂
Read on and let’s take a look!
