Pilot Project Brewery Scale Up - Dark Ales

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JamesFaircloth
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Pilot Project Brewery Scale Up - Dark Ales

 

Pilot Project Brewery Scale-Up Competition.

Hi Everyone, 

 

I wanted to get this up onto the website to give everyone some notice and to start planning for a CHAOS CLUB dark ale competition  that will have 1stround judging during Stout & Chili night.  We plan to have a few nights of style sampling at the club before we move onto brewing for the comp.

Here’s what we have so far and we’re continuing to work to fine tune the small details.

The competition will be for dark ales. CHAOS members will be able to choose from the following Beer Judge Certification Program beer categories:

 

-13A Dark Mild/13B British Brown Ale/13C English Porter

-16A Sweet Stout/16B Oatmeal Stout/16C Tropical Stout/16D Foreign Extra Stout

-20A American Porter/20B American Stout

 

As of right now beers will be between 5%-7% abv.  

Brewers can also include to fruit, spiced, or smoked versions of the above categories. 

 

The competition will be held in two rounds. The first round will take place at Stiout & Chili Night on January 25th. Six winning beers will be chosen through popular vote of party attendees. The top beers will then be judged a week or two later by certified beer judges, with Pilot Project Head Brewer & Owners in attendance. The Judging panel and Pilor Project will choose the best beer out of the final six.

 

Our club grain sponsor Muntons has offered to donate the base malt for the beer that's brewed at Pilot Project.

More details to follow!

-james

Brandon Kessler
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Oh hellzzz yea! Tropical

Oh hellzzz yea! Tropical Stout, here I come!!  smiley

Alex Dropkin
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But you didn't even win the

But you didn't even win the tropical stout competition :/

Matt O
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What does the winner get?

What does the winner get? Brewed at Pilot or bragging rights?

 

Jeff W
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Similar to prior comps, the

Similar to prior comps, the winner will brew their beer with Pilot Project's head brewer on their 10 bbl system and there will be a Pilot Project/CHAOS collab tap. We're still working out the details, but Pilot Project has offered to donate part of the profits from this beer to the club, which is where the Muntons donation comes in. The less it costs to brew the beer, the larger the donation.

StevenLane
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I assume the competition

I assume the competition beers will be separated from the regular SCN beers. Given we've seen a lot of participation with these pro/am competitions, the Stout Night menu might have 20+ beers to vote on – too much for most people to process.

For the Lagunitas shoot-out we did many years ago, it was obvious brewers with the most friends and family in attendance got the most votes.

We might want to not put the brewers name on the menu like we usually do.

My impression was Pilot wants to get off the style chart specialty beers. Are we really sticking to BJCP categories?

Brandon Kessler
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I agree with Steven that

I agree with Steven that names should be omitted (although it's just as easy to tell your friends, "HEY, vote for this beer here.")

My only concern is we'll have too many beers, epecially if we can submit 2 entries per person.

StevenLane
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So, we never really collab in

So, we never really collab in advance to create a well rounded menu for parties, but it's amazing how we tend to naturally clump up into groups: a few mexican chocolate stouts, straight up classics, fruit additions, etc.. It would be a lot easier to process a few choices in a category.

I always wait till everything is submitted, and I try to break the menu up into the niches so people aren't dismayed by a phone book listing where everything looks the same.

It would be fun if we made our friends guess which beer is yours. The more game like the better, people will really dig this, it will change the whole dynamic of the party. After nine years we need to zig where people are expecting us to zag :)

Jeff W
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They actually didn't ask for

They actually didn't ask for off the wall beers. We discussed the BJCP categories with the owner, as they fit into what he was looking for. I am currently confirming with him whether we can include mperial stouts and spice/fruit/veggie/smoke versions of the categories listed above.

The plan is to have the beers eligible for the comp to be designated so on the menu. I do like the idea of the popular vote also being a blind competition. I feel like that would be more fun than people just having their friends vote for their beers. 

There are concerns that we may not have enough participation in the comp, which is why James added the option of two beers.

StevenLane
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Having not been part of the

Having not been part of the discussion with them, it does seem a little odd to go straight style given how they presented themselves. Having spice/fruit/veggie/smoke versions of the categories would be awesome.

People love us for unique one of a kind brews, kinda weird to let the BJCP grid kill our cool.

Alex Dropkin
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NO ONE is killing my cool

NO ONE is killing my cool

JonP
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If people try to get more

If people try to get more friends to the party to "pad" their numbers that's only more revenue for the club. That may account for one or two, but not all 6.

Rich
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I agree it needs some thought

I agree it needs some thought. I wouldn't expect most people to try 20+ beers. Probably makes more sense to have the judges winnow it down to 6 first, then have those voted on by the crowd. Completely blind, just numbers, no description. Brewing these strict to style would be really boring IMO.

And why two entries?  

Bill George
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Is it acceptable to make a

Is it acceptable to make a beer from extract and just keep the flame high to char it dark? Asking for a friend...

JamesFaircloth
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Hi all,

I just wanted to give everyone an update of the final details of the Pilot Project Scale-Up.

1st round judging will be held January 17th,  via BJCP Judges.  Location TBD. You will need to deliver 2 bottles of beer to be judged.  You may enter up to two different beers from the style list below.

13A Dark Mild

13B British Brown Ale

13C English Porter

16A Sweet Stout

16B Oatmeal Stout

16C Tropical Stout

16D Foreign Extra Stout

20A American Porter

20B American Stout

20C Imperial Stout

Beers will range 5%-12% abv.  

Brewers can also include fruit, spice, or smoked versions of the above categories. 

The brewer will brew 5 gallons of beer per entry that will be served at Stout & Chili Night.

The 1st stage of judging will narrow the field down to 6 finalists.  These beers will be served on the CHAOS Keezer .  The final round of judging will be by popular vote of attendees at Stout & Chilli Night.  1 vote ticket per attendee.

The winning beer from the popular vote will be brewed at Pilot Project.  There will also be a release party at Pilot Project for CHAOS Members and their friends and family.

 

Thanks everyone and good luck!

 

--james

Brandon Kessler
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Thanks again for putting this

Thanks again for putting this together, James!! Sounds like an awesome challenge, and perfect for all CHAOS brewers! 

Kyle N
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I think this format should

I think this format should work really well, James. Thanks for all the work! 

Steve3730
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sounds good. for the 6

sounds good. for the 6 finalist should we do blind small pour flights? make sure everyone tries all 6 before voting .

JonP
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They'll be the 6 beers on the

They'll be the 6 beers on the keezer.

Jeff W
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Registration is open! I

Registration is open! I posted all of the details on the event I just created, so take a look at that for more info.

Alex Dropkin
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would we be able to submit

would we be able to submit two different spiced/fruit/etc as long as they are different base styles?

JamesFaircloth
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No, you can't double up in

No, you can't double up in the same BJCP catagory.   

This actually happened to me in a comp last year and both of my Cider's would have medaled.  Different yeast but both the same BJCP style.  They disqualified one in the end or at mini boss. 

Learn from my mystake.

--james

Alex Dropkin
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so SHV is a category and

nvm just looked at the registration page...all good!

JamesFaircloth
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There are base styles.

There are base styles.

Then overlay styles:

Base + Herb/Spice/Veg.  

Base + Fruit.

Base + Smoked.

 

 

 

--james

Alex Dropkin
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Yeah I didn't realize the

Yeah I didn't realize the subcategories for 29 and 30 would be available, instead of just "smoked/fruited/spiced base style" as an option

Jeff W
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Hi all, just a reminder that

Hi all, just a reminder that the base grain used for the comp should be either Muntons MO or Planet, as that's what they will donate for the scaled up brew at Pilot Project.

Alex Dropkin
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Does Munton's not make a 2

Does Munton's not make a 2-row alternative? 

Brandon Kessler
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Yep, it's called Planet. And

Yep, it's called Planet. And we have a tun of it. Enjoy.

Jeff W
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Right, what Brandon said.

Right, what Brandon said. They do not have a US two row option, just the Maris Otter and Planet.

Jeff W
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Reminder: The registration

Reminder: The registration deadline is January 3rd, 2020!

Rich
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Crap, these are due on the

Crap, these are due on the 17th, right? I don't know why I was thinking the 25th. I probably can't have a winner brewed and done by then, so it just got easier for everyone.

Jeff W
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Please go to the event to
Jeff W
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Since there are a number of

Since there are a number of members who missed the registration date, I'v Reed extended it through 9:00 am on January 6th.

Alex Dropkin
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if one of these late entries

if one of these late entries wins there will need to be an asterisk ;) 

JamesFaircloth
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BJCP bottle label for entries on the Pilot Project S&C night comp.  If you have problems downloading I can email it to you direct or setup a link on DropBox. Also posted to Slack #competitions.

--james

Brandon Kessler
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Here's a link to the above

Here's a link to the above form Faircloth posted, and you can type in it too!

https://www.bjcp.org/docs/BJCP_BottleID.pdf

Jeff W
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Just a reminder to drop off

Just a reminder to drop off your Pilot Project entries by tomorrow night. I'll be organizing the flights on Wednesday. James posted the bottle labels above. Please leave your entries in the upstairs fridge.

Jeff W
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Congrats to last night's

Congrats to last night's winners of the BJCP round:
1st- Jason Gozy Hickory Smoked Porter
2nd- James Faircloth Coconut, Cinnamon, and Vanilla RIS
3rd- Jon Phillips Coconut and Cinnamon RIS
4th- Alex Dropkin Mango and Chocolate Tropical Stout
5th- Jon Phillips Neapolitan RIS
6th- Steven Lane Chilis and Cinnamon Foreign Extra Stout

Eight of the 15 beers made it to best of show. Overall, the judges were super impressed by the quality of our beers. Well done everyone!

Jeff W
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For those of you who weren't

For those of you who weren't at Saturday's party, James Faircloth's coconut, cinnamon, and vanilla Imperial stout took first place in the popular vote. Great job, James!

He will be brewing this beer with Pilot project over the next month or so. We'll set up a big event for the tapping at Pilot Project. 

JamesFaircloth
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Thanks Jeff & all who were

Thanks Jeff & all who were apart of this competition.  I'm looking forward to meeting with these guys and getting this brew rolling.

 

--james