Amateur Beer Brewers Take Top Awards at Annual Competition
Local amateur home beer brewer received top honors at the annual US Open Homebrew Competition. The competition lasted over nine hours as nationally certified judges reviewed 435 entries from across the region. The competition was held at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte on Saturday, July 20th.
Amateur brewers must carefully calculate the ratio of various malts, hops and yeast along with precision timing for boiling, cooling, fermenting, and storage. Slight variation and any one of the many ingredients and steps in the brewing process can seriously alter the beer’s flavor and affect the style in which the beer may be categorized as (ale, stout, porter, etc.). Judges in the US Open have undergone rigorous Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) enabling them to successfully identify by scent, sight, and palate the various ingredients that make up a top-quality, hand crafted brew.
Patrick Scherer of Charlotte and his Hazy IPA was declared winner of the 2019 Gambrinus Cup. As winner of the Gambrinus Cup, Patrick has received the opportunity to have his recipe brewed on a commercial scale by Foothills Brewing Company of Winston-Salem and offered to the public as a premium beer at the 2019 Carolina Renaissance Festival, operating Saturdays and Sundays, October 5th – November 24th. The cup itself is a Renaissance Festival artisan crafted trophy.
Charlotte, NC resident Jamey Barlow also won honors as his Brett Beer topped all of the other entries in the competition by winning 1st Place Best of Show. The US Open competition is organized by the non-profit club Carolina Brewmasters and consists of six separate homebrew competitions across the Carolinas. Brewers can compete for top honors in three categories: Carolina Brewer of the Year, Carolina Master Brewer of the Year and Carolina Meadmaker of the year.
More information about home brewing and the Carolina Brewmasters can be found online at www.carolinabrewmasters.com
More information about the Carolina Renaissance Festival can be found online at www.royalfaires.com/carolina