Capers, Man! Maximum Planck Maximum Oak Planck Jet Black New Year Belgian Chocolate Black Hole Sun Baltic Maura Wee Bevvy Cheritra Governator Iron Curtain Ironwood Curtain Omnipresent Authority Figure Omnipresent Wooden Figure Fearsome Wolf Stout Cabin Fever Obscurity Simian Claws Ma Wee Russian Doll Darker's Quad Eternal Hoptimist Chauncey's Triple IPA Cacao The Great St Arnold's Blessed Kettle Wheaty Goodness Moch Choca Lata Yaya Beast From the Yeast Collusion Upside By the Fire 11th Heaven Leshy Thick As Shit Gabcik's Strong Rebuke Goodnight Scottie Lockdown Support Bubble It's The Yeast. The Malt Matters The Least
2nd place was a very close call, both beers met the guidelines superbly well with aroma and flavour, to be honest it came down to mouthfeel where I felt 1st place nailed it and 2nd place needed a little more body. Place First NameLast NameCo Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1Richard Caller Manchester Homebrew Obscurity English Barleywine 2Ian Cosier London Amateur Brewers Cabin Fever American Barleywine 3Barry Walsh The Hyperbolic Boys Beer Boars Cut Some Capers, Man! English Barleywine
(Phill Turner) 1st, 36, Wee Heavy. A beer full of flavour, malty and layers of complexity that lasted for some time. although the alcohol was hot on this beer the body was there and I kept coming back for more, surprisingly drinkable’ 2nd, 35, Baltic Porter. Rich, malty with restrained grain as one would expect for an 11.7% beer this was very drinkable with complex malts and a liquorice finish first and second were head to head to the finishing post, but lost out by a gnats whisker. 3rd, 68, Doppelbock. An intense malty beer with alcohol from the 13.6% alcohol. Hot and malty but its nose was off-putting, not inviting. On flavour it was luscious and warming and complex that seemed to go on for ages, but maybe the alcohol was just a little too much, sometimes less is more. 4th, 55, Doppelbock. A very clean and malty beer, not hot, pleasant and very drinkable but lacked some of the complexity of the other beers. Being 11% and not being hot that's some achievement. Overall, all 5 beers were of high quality as one would expect from a Mini Bos. it was very difficult to rank them and the only things separating them were balance and drinkability, which is difficult in such high gravity beers. curtain styles lend themself to high gravity brewing. the top 3 beers were so close to all being winner with the other two not far behind Place First Name Last Name Co Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1 Craig Tarft London Amateur Brewers Wee Bevvy Wee Heavy 2 Marcus Alexander Hertford Brew Club Baltic Maura Baltic Porter 3 Lee Immins Pete Talbot Paul Harper London Amateur Brewers Simian Claws Doppelbock
beer was outstanding. A showcase of very well balanced complex flavours ranging from quite aggressive toasty malt to rum soaked raisins, figs black pepper and just the right amount of bitterness. Rounded off by a spicy finish with a lingering caramel malty farewell. Absolutely delicious and dangerously drinkable - would give Straffe Hendricks Quad a run for its money. Would love to get the recipe for this. Place First Name Last Name Co Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1 Jacques Marais London Amateur Brewers Darker's Quad Belgian Dark Strong Ale 2 Serge Savin London Amateur Brewers Leshy Belgian Dark Strong Ale 3 Ian Scott Ben Jones WE Homebrew Goodnight Scottie Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Name Last Name Co Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1 Fraser Withers Charlie Cat London Amateur Brewers Too Strong For Kong Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout 2 Lucas Stolarczyk London Amateur Brewers Maximum Oak Planck Baltic porter with sea salt, aged on oak 3 Innes Crawford Aberdeen Homebrew Club By the Fire Wee heavy aged in rum and oak All 3 beers which placed were very good beers and after I judged them I more than happily drunk all 3. The quality of the Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial shone through in judging. It had amazing oak & vanilla flavours from the barrel and was very well balanced with the strong stout. It encouraged repeated and ever more frequent sips which is impressive (and dangerous) in such a high ABV beer.
– Although the beer lacked any conditioning it was a very balanced beer given the strength of the beer, the Cacao and Vanilla certainly were noticeable in a very good Sweet Stout which improved the experience. I would like the recipe. Second place: 0086 – Very very complex beer with the hints of Oak, vanilla and coffee, very boozy which shouldn’t be a surprise given the strength, but a slight harsh aftertaste just knocked this beer back. Third place: 0013 – This beer improved as it warmed up, with the Sea Salt evident, again the strength of the beer making it feel quite boozy. The sea salt gave the beer a slight sharpness. Place First Name Last Name Co Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1 Brian Tomlinson Midlands Craft Brewers Cacao The Great Cacao and vanilla sweet stout 2 Innes Crawford Aberdeen Homebrew Club Moch Choca Lata Yaya Imperial stout aged on oak, vanilla and coffee beans 3 Lucas Stolarczyk London Amateur Brewers Maximum Planck Baltic porter with added sea salt
excellent balance of all the flavours you expect in an imperial stout. Winning beer really hit the nail on the head as whilst it was high abv the depth of flavour negated any excessive alcohol dominating. All good beers, one had a lovely touch of coconut - but this wasn’t on ingredients. Would be interested to know if they used Sabro. Place First Name Last Name Co Brewer Club Entry Name Style Name 1 Serge Savin London Amateur Brewers Omnipresent Authority Figure Imperial Stout 2 Stephan Martin Collusion Imperial Stout 3 Barry Walsh The Hyperbolic Boys Beer Boars The Disappearing Man Imperial Stout
Barley and Wheat Wines Richard Caller Obscurity English Barleywine Baltic Porters, Doppelbocks, IPAs and Wee Heavies Craig Tarft Wee Bevvy Wee Heavy Belgian Strong Ales Jacques Marais Darker's Quad Belgian Dark Strong Ale Wood Aged Beers Fraser Withers Too Strong For Kong Speciality Wood Aged Beer Speciality Beers Brian Tomlinson Cacao The Great Spiced, Herb or Vegetable Beer Imperial Stouts Serge Savin Omnipresent Authority Figure Imperial Stout
works quite well, in fact you can judge at your own pace and in peace. Zoom judging maintains a level of checking – correct bottles and forms etc Less time pressure Was easy to double check scores via e mail Cost of providing judges food balanced cost of shipping – finances worked out OK. Not-so-good things Judges have different bottles You have to store everything You have to ship everything Judges don’t follow e mail instructions very well – a start off Zoom would’ve been useful Entrants had to provide more bottles Only good for stable beers? The biggest fear, especially for BoS
Obscurity / English Barleywine 13.85% Rich Caller Leshy / Belgian Dark Strong Ale 12.88% Serge Savin The End (and hopefully the BoS placers will tell us about their beers)