It’s a task many of us would long for: drinking beers from around the world all day long.  But for the 50 judges at the Beer World Cup, it’s a daunting task to taste, analyze, and rank thousands of beers.  If you don’t know the basics of this competition, here’s the quick rundown.  Beers are judged by a set list of criteria created by the Brewer’s Association.  The beers are judged in 2 rounds: the 1st to see if there’s anything inherently wrong with the beer and/or if it’s good enough to keep thinking about, the 2nd to decide which brews deserve a medal.  So who knows what they thought when our oddball little beers came across the table to them?

Well, actually, we do.  We participated in the BWC in April 2010, sending the 8 beers that we made at that time in for judging, and we’re thinking that it might be interesting for you to know what they made of us.  If you’ve ever been to one of our tastings or talked with us at a beer festival, you know that we’re fully aware of our quirkiness.  We understand that you might not love all of our beers, but we do believe that we have at least one brew that’ll make you smile and want more.

The Good News

Four of our beers made it through to the medal round, but we unfortunately came home empty-handed.

While others may disagree, the judges commented on the subtlety of the peat smoke in Three Feet Deep, calling it very drinkable.  If it’s been a while since you’ve had it, maybe it’s time to try it again and see for yourself. 

My favorite description was in regards to the aroma of Oscura: “cigar box.”  Not entirely sure about that, but we agree with their assessment that Oscura has strong coffee notes and is well-balanced.  One of the three judges actually wanted more coffee, but we’re thinking it’s darn refreshing as is.

Because Thermo Refur seems to taste different from sip to sip, it should be no surprise that on that day black pepper was the dominant flavor.  They loved the color and the frothy head.  They loved the spiciness of the pepper.  According to one of the judges, it was immensely drinkable and a pleasure to drink the beer.  Don’t be afraid of the beets and the pepper and the funky yeast; we promise, it all makes sense in the glass.

Like a lot of us, they also really enjoyed Fatty Boomabalatty but weren’t really able to say why.  It received high marks in the Belgo-American category but was too big and dumb to ace the test.

  

The Other News

While our four other beers didn’t fare quite as well with the judges, there’s something worth noting about them regardless.

The Fruit Beer category must have some stiff competition because the Fallen Apple comments are pretty complimentary.  The appley, earthy aroma was appealing as was the tart, tangy flavor.  One judge referred to the nice balance and mix of textures, which made me immediately think about the tingly yet creamy mouthfeel of this beer.  September is too far away!

Did you know that Makeweight smells like pears, apples, esters, and (a personal favorite) freshly baked bread?  Who doesn’t want to drink that?  They hit on the sweet banana and caramelly malt, but they didn’t seem to get the hops as much as we would have liked.

For fans of Knot Stock, it’s almost funny to read the feedback because they seem surprised that you can taste the pepper.  One judge did mention how well it would pair with food, and we couldn’t agree more.  Who’s ready for a burger?

Disappointingly, the judges drinking Proper seem to have gotten a bad bottle of beer and weren’t able to appreciate our smooth, malty friend.  Oh well.  You know how good it tastes.