Branching Out

The subtitle of this blog is "a subsistence brewer contemplates the larger world."  That's a bit of an inside joke. A couple of years ago I read a toast to the subsistence brewer and identified with every line of it, especially this line: "to everyone who would rather have those three unmarked bottles than a chance at a medal."  I still strongly identify with this, and treat homebrewing as a pleasurable household chore akin to putting up jam when fruit is cheap or making bread or freezing a big batch of spaghetti sauce.

But there are benefits to competitions that appeal, like the opportunity to get feedback to become a better brewer.  I like my beer, my wife likes my beer, and my friends like my beer.  This is good, but we all suffer from the bias of knowing the brewer to be a great guy...no, really...and I'd be shocked if any of my beers could win a competition.  I am the hardest critic of my beer, and I'd appreciate occasional, unbiased feedback from knowledgeable brewers.  You can get this from a homebrew club, but even then there can be a bias...who wants to tell a guy you've just met that his beer tastes like turpentine (maybe I just need to make it to more meetings)?  I've avoided competitions in the past because they tend to be so focused on style guidelines, and I still look to that aspect with a gimlet eye.  I'm not so concerned with finding out that my beers aren't to style.  But to hear about any identifiable flaws the judges can spot that I can trouble shoot would be worth the price to play.  

So, that's one reason why I've just entered three beers into the Dominion Cup. This will be my first competition after 12 years of brewing.  I'm still a subsistence brewer—I'll be submitting what I've got on hand, rather than brewing beers specifically for the competition: a Black IPA, a Berliner Weisse, and a Barleywine.  Also proof that I'm still a subsistence brewer?  I'm not quite willing to part with the last few bottles' worth of my ordinary bitter...also not sure how to get it into bottles from the keg!  

Mostly, though, I'm looking forward to the social aspect of the competition.  Homebrewers tend to be a fun lot to hang out with.  If I can have fun on a Saturday in August, and get some pointers on my brew, this should be a worthy endeavor.