(PRESS RELEASE) Drum roll please! Judging was completed last weekend, with a smooth 4 rounds of judging Friday & Saturday + Best of Show on Saturday afternoon. Some of you may have been able to attend the awards ceremony – or watched online on Facebook Live!
Best of Show
Fritz Schanz for “Stearman’s Weizenbock”
Category 10C, Weizenbock
Denton County Homebrewers Guild, Denton, Texas
First Runner Up
Rob Hardisty and Mike Boesen, “Mid-Day Storm”
Category 26D, Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Liquid Poets, Fort Collins, Colorado
Second Runner Up
Michael Rensing, “#meanbrews Thanks Matt”
Category 22B, American Strong Ale
Cider, Homebrew and Mead Production Specialists (CHAMPS), Katy, Texas
Heavy Medal Winners
First Place
Mark Pennick, 15 points, 7 medals (3 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze)
Second Place
Fritz Schanz, 12 points, 5 medals (BOS 1st, 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
Third Place
Michael Rensing, 9 points, 5 medals (BOS 3rd, 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze)
We simply cannot thank our hosts enough at Burns Family Artisan Ales, including our own Beth Walter, for their gracious hospitality. The “smooth” part of the operation was in equal part due to our Registrar, Nelson Crowle, and his organization. Plus, none of this would actually happen if it weren’t for all of our judges and stewards. Thank you so much for your time, talent, palate, and enthusiasm! It was wonderful to reconnect with so many of our Big Beers family, and I’m glad we’re holding space this way.
Once again we give thanks to Dry Dock Brewing for everything they did to assist with the coordination, receiving, sorting, and storing of the entries – plus donating some fantastic cellared prizes! The team at North Dock, in particular, has been doing all of this with us for many years, and we will miss them next year. Thank you for being so amazing!
Onsite for judging, we enjoyed a delicious lunch courtesy of Thistle and Mint and Five Star Chemical Company. Thank you for treating us!
In addition to our classic medals, winners of the 2024 Big Beers, Belgians & Strong Ales Homebrew Competition are walking with an assortment of prizes from our sponsors. (some walked, some are being mailed :)) This includes goodies from Murphy & Rude Malting Company, White Labs, The American Homebrewers Association, Root Shoot Malting, Quirky Homebrew, The Brew Hut, and Dry Dock Brewing Co. The Best of Show brewer and Heavy Medal winners were awarded a One Year Industry All Access Subscription to Craft Beer & Brewing, and the Best of Show winner will also be featured and celebrated by the team at All About Beer. Keep an eye out!
You can find the complete list of award winners here on our Homebrew Competition website page.
If you have any questions about the competition, judging, or anything else, feel free to send me (Laura) an email. We wish you a wonderful year ahead, and once again
Thank you for all of your support!