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Georgia Craft Brew Challenge
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| A beautiful day for a beautiful event. |
Jacob Johnston
Editor
Georgians for World Class Beer held
their first Georgia Craft Brew Challenge on November
1, 2003 and I was one of the stewards for the morning
judging session. Working evenings, the earliest I usually
roll out of bed is 10 a.m., which was precisely when
I had to be at Max Lager's, which is an hour drive from
my house. Needless to say, it was an early start for
me.
Despite the sacrificed sleep, it was
worth it.
After helping set up the kegs, fellow
aficionado Ed Hamrick and I were assigned to steward
the English-Style Ale category. I've stewarded once
before and it's always a treat to sit in with the certified
judges and listen to their comments about the beer.
Unfortunately, time was a little short,
as a party had reserved the upstairs of the brewpub
from 2 p.m. until just before the public Craft Brew
Challenge festival began at 8 p.m. Still, the judges
took their jobs seriously and those with large flights
simply took less time for lunch, to ensure each beer
was critiqued fairly.
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| Judges doing their
tasty duty. |
After the group judging was completed, the Best of
Show judges went downstairs with samples to make their
decision, while the rest of us got busy taking everything
apart. Every last keg had to be moved out of the bar
area to make way for the incoming private party. It
was hard work, but the group managed to have the place
cleaned out in practically no time.
Unfortunately, the duty of earning
a paycheck called and I had to leave immediately after
the equipment was moved. With that, I had my second-in-command,
Matt Simpson, take up the journalistic duties for the
festival that night.
I did manage to squeeze in samples
of Copper Creek Co.'s Royal Oats Imperial Stout and
Abbey and Dogwood Brewing Co.'s Excellent Adventure
barleywine. All I need to say about these beers is that
the future of brewing in Georgia excites me.
Matt Simpson
Managing Editor
As the gents from Georgians for World
Class Beer (GWCB) said, “It [was] a competition, a beer
festival, and a smashing Halloween party, all rolled
into one.”
On the day after Halloween, over 40
Georgia craft beers were on tap in the same place at
the same time; that place being Max Lager’s in downtown
Atlanta. The event included the best from Georgia’s
four microbreweries and most of the state's brewpubs.
There were even a few beers brewed especially for this
event – beers that could not be tasted otherwise.
The day started with a juried competition,
critiqued by some of the most educated beer palates
in the state. For several hours, they deliberated and
tasted the finest that Georgia’s professional brewers
have to offer (see the list of winners in this issue).
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| A 'Kingsized' show for a king-sized crowd. |
After a long break, it was time for the fundraiser.
Meant to raise much-needed finances for GWCB, the event
cost $25 at the door. Admission included a show by Kingsized,
dubbed Atlanta’s “Best Loungecore Act,” by Creative
Loafing.
Also included were a program, a souvenir
glass and last, but not least, the beer. Five beer tickets
were included with admission, and each ticket was good
for a 7 oz. serving. Additional beer tickets were available
for $2 each.
Another facet to the event was a silent
auction, which included items like a 750 ml bottle of
Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA, a six-year vertical of
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale and a magnum of Hair of the
Dog’s Doggie Claws barleywine. Among these items were
various gift certificates, glassware and brewing kits.
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| Two lucky silent-auction
winners. |
“We really appreciate all of the breweries and Max
Lager's for their willingness to do this on what was
relatively short notice for this big of an event,” said
Ted Hull, co-founder of GWCB.
“The turnout was very good; we could've
served more folks just based on how much beer we had,
but it would have been more crowded and maybe less fun,”
he added.
Unfortunately, the festivities were
marked by misfortune. According to Hull, several pieces
of brewing and kegging equipment were stolen from the
site later that evening. The missing equipment included:
A Gordon Biersch Golden Export keg
- 5 gallon, with sanke valve, rubber base/handles; labeled.
A Gordon Biersch 5 lb gas cylinder
- also labeled with a nametag.
A Park Tavern Porter keg and hand pump
- 5 gallon sanke, all stainless.
A 5 lb gas cylinder and regulator –
with the word "Hull" on the tag on the side
“It hurts our ability to do something
like this again when someone walks with equipment that
isn't theirs. The brewers trust us to take care of their
stuff, and what we made for our cause from the event
will take a significant dent if this turns out to be
a theft and we have to replace the gear,” Hull said.
“I'm not willing to stick the breweries with the loss,
so it comes out of my pocket to replace it. I'm just
hoping someone decided they wanted to finish those kegs
off with friends and will end up returning them.”
Undeterred by the theft, Hull is still
optimistic and pleased. “I think everyone got the chance
to try something new and different, and that's what
this was all about; getting all these beers together
in one place so that you wouldn't have to travel all
over Atlanta and the state to try them.”
“We'll see about doing this again next
year. It was a lot of work that, once the 6% law changes,
we may let someone else take it on.”
GWCB is an organization dedicated to changing Georgia’s
laws to include gourmet, world-class beer and malt beverages
over 6% alcohol by volume. For more information about
the organization and to find out what you can do, go
to www.worldclassbeer.org.
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