The NBA’s summer BBQ (or as Matt P. would prefer we accurately call it, a “grill out”) was a great success. Attendance was a nice mix of new and gently-used members. It was a perfect hot summer afternoon for tasting session beers. Much better than the 90+ degree and super humid day we had for this gathering last summer.
Pulling off the event in style was definitely a group effort. Matt did a great job coordinating supplies right down to the classy mini tasting glasses. Nate so graciously hosted and cooked for us at his place in Northeast, going above and beyond by simmering our juicy brats in beer for FIVE hours prior to the event and giving away his secret sauce recipe for his burgers. In case you missed it, it’s ranch dressing. A-mazing. On top of all that, we had 10 people submit entries for the low-gravity homebrew competition, the focal point of the event. Here were the entries we tasted in order (entry #2 is missing because Kevin didn’t get his act together, nor his beer over to Nate’s!):
| ENTRY | Name: | Name of brew: | OG: | FG: | ABV% | Style |
| 1 | Aaron D | Mild’n’Malty | 1.04 | 1.011 | 3.8% | 11A. Mild |
| 3 | Adam S | Czech Pilsner | 1.047 | 1.012 | 4.6% | 2B. Bo Pils |
| 4 | David T | Kölsch-A-Kola | 1.051 | 1.01 | 5.4% | 6C. Kolsch |
| 5 | Grant W | Golden Gate Retriever | 1.045 | 1.009 | 4.7% | 7B. Cal Common |
| 6 | Davis K | American Cascade | 1.051 | 1.011 | 5.3% | 10A. Am Pale Ale |
| 7 | Matt P | Amber Night, Columbus Delight | 1.045 | 1.011 | 4.5% | 10B. Am Amber |
| 8 | Justin G | Sorachi Prime | 1.052 | 1.013 | 5.1% | 10B. Am Amber |
| 9 | Tyler B | Wise Ol’ Bear | 1.042 | 1.006 | 4.7% | 17A. Berliner Weisse |
| 10 | Nathan G | BDA | 1.052 | 1.011 | 5.4% | 16E. Belgian Specialty |
| 11 | Tim S | Coffee beer | 1.054 | 1.013 | 5.4% | 23 (specialty). Coffee beer |
We had roughly 20 people participating in tasting and voting. These judges were asked to assign 1st, 2nd and 3rd places to their top three picks. 3 points were awarded to each judge’s first place, 2 points to 2nd place and 1 point to 3rd place. The winner were as follows:
- Grant W – 26 points for his Golden Gate Retriever California Common
Recipe found here - Dave T. – 21 points for his Kölsch -a-Kola Kölsch
- Justin G. – 18 points for his Sorachi Prime American Amber Ale
The winners received their pick of prizes provided by Nate and Tim (thanks guys!) that included a custom commemorative mug of the event, a Stella Artois director’s chair and an Alaskan Beer t-shirt.
In addition to the competition beers, we also had a keg of our President’s Belgian summer beer on tap as well as some other commercial beers people brought for kicks. No one claimed to be thirsty, guaranteed.
Now we look ahead to our next event, the Single Hop Experiment (SHE) tasting on Thursday July 19th! Keep checking the blog for updates or if you’re a member of the club, watch for details coming to you via email through our Google Group.
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