WBC English Special Bitter (ESB)

[Mike Neilson]

Again thank you to all the participants for this round of the WBC US Brown Ale, 15 entrants this round so $150 was won buy the ever gracious David Wood and Just behind him was Simon Kelly and Chris Reid.

 

This round therre were a really broad range of beers and diffrent intpretations of the style from uber hoppy to roasty too balanced, which was good to see and taste. 

 

Thank you to the Judges Steph Coutts (who actually organised the judges while organising a couple hundered volunteers for beervana and ran a kick arse beer, food evening which I missed damn it) Neil McIinnes and his revolutionary 3 style of pour judging technique and the brewer of Upper Hutts Finest drop Chris Mills of Kereru Brewing Company (http://kererubrewing.co.nz)

 

The judges had to put up with my lack handling of the beers (stewarding) and I promise the next round that the beers that get judged first will be presented the same as the beers judged last,

 

The next WBC will be held on (Penciled) Saturday the 22 of October @ 3pm day before the RWC final (as there are alot more entries to judge) and will hopefully be at a new venue and hopefully a big dangally Carrot for the winning beer.

 

WBC Style Guidelines for the next round

 

Extra special bitter possesses medium to strong hop qualities in aroma, flavor, and bitterness. English hop varieties or others that approximate their resulting character are used in this subcategory. The residual malt and defining sweetness of this richly flavored, full-bodied bitter is more pronounced than in other bitters. It is light amber to copper colored with medium to medium-high bitterness. Mild carbonation traditionally characterizes draft-cask versions, but in bottled versions, a slight increase in carbon dioxide content is acceptable. Fruity-ester character is acceptable in aroma and flavor. Diacetyl (butterscotch character) is acceptable and characteristic when at very low levels; the absence of diacetyl is also acceptable. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures.

Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.046-1.060 (11.5-15 ºPlato)

Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.010-1.016 (2.5-4 ºPlato)

Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 3.8-4.6% (4.8-5.8%)

Bitterness (IBU): 30-45

Color SRM (EBC): 8-14 (16-28 EBC)

 

 

 

 

[JoKing]

Good to see some WBC guidelines getting used... If it's good enough for the World Beer Cup - it's gotta be good for us!

 

I gotta put my thanks out there to the judges - Steph, Chris and Neil... it's a thankless task on the day - so thanks for putting the effort in. A shame I couldn't hang around and chat to you guys afterwards, but the my wife called she was feeling crook - so I had to catch the train and look after the kids (with Mike of course!).

 

I got my arse handed to me for good reason, and it was good to see a deserving winner on the day.

 

Thanks again - it was great to meet a lot of the Welling HB contingent.

[Paul Harrison]

Congrats on the win Mr Wood for the American Brown Ale. Wish I could have been round to try it and all the others and not have you hand me a cider. Thanks to the organisers and judges. I'll have to well and truely up my game for this next challenge

[David Wood]

It was a good cider though :-p

[Paul Wicksteed - another1]

Well done David, might have to get a beer into the next round sounds like fun

[Paul Wicksteed - another1]

Got my recipe sorted, time now to refine it with some trial batches

[Steve Baker]

October 22nd would clash with the weekend of the Pacific Beer Expo, which a good proportion of us will be drinking and/or volunteering at.

 

How about 15 October?

[Mike Neilson]

Yip agreed will probably be the weekend before the 15th 

[Simon David kelly]

So Mike, does that mean it'll be on the 9th??

[Mike Neilson]

Nope its on the 15th of October and Hopefully at the Fork and Brewer, Have to ask Colin, im going to judge, as I have no brewery to brew mine on damn it!! 

[Kieran Haslett-Moore]

I would be keen to judge this one.

[Mike Neilson]

Yeah for sure, I had actually thought about asking you anyway, so that sorts that out.

[Sam]

Hi Mike, if you want to do a brew you can do it with my kettle and mash tun if you want ( interested in seeing how its meant to be done)