First, I need to apologize for the huge delay in getting the results posted.  As many of you know, my house was damaged by the tornado that went through North Minneapolis the Sunday after the Best of Show judging.  A week later, my much loved mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully.  I really appreciated your patience, as well as the good thoughts that many of you offered during this time.

Thanks to all of you for helping and/or entering the MN Craft Beer Week Home Brew Contest. Without your participation there would not have been a contest. I also want to thank Midwest Supplies and Northern Brewer for donating the gift certificates that were awarded for first place in each category.  Thanks also go to the Nomad World Pub and Town Hall Brewery for allowing us to use their great spaces for hosting the judging.

There were 130 entries from 80 different brewers.  There were 12 categories total with an emphasis on American styles of beer.  Each entry was judged by two to four people with various judging skills, but at least one had passed the Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP) exam. There were over 40 volunteers that helped with judging, stewarding, and other administration tasks. We used the BJCP style guidelines as a basis for judging. For more information, check out their website at: www.bjcp.org.

Each of the twelve first place winners were  judged in Best of Show at Town Hall Brewery by Steve Piatz (BJCP rank Grand Master III), Joel Stitzel (BJCP rank National), and Mike Hoops (Master Brewer at Town Hall) on Saturday, May 21st.

The winners:

Lagers (5 entries)

1^st Place – Kyle Sisco (Classic American Pilsner)

2^nd Place – Patrick Sundberg (Classic American Pilsner)

3^rd Place – Wayne Meyer (Light American Lager)

6A – Cream Ale (9 entries)

1^st Place – Patrick Sundberg

2^nd Place – Neil Bromenshenkel

3^rd Place – Adam Benoit & Nick Benoit

6B – Blonde Ale (4 entries)

1^st Place – Brett Glenna

2^nd Place – Bryce Ehrman

6D – American Wheat or Rye (9 entries)

1^st Place – Neil Bromenshenkel

2^nd Place – Mike Lebben

3^rd Place – Sean Kampshoff

7B – California Common (6 entries)

1^st Place – Jim Lindborg

2^nd Place – Shawn Horton & Mike VanDelinder

3^rd Place – Tim Stuemke

10A – American Pale Ale (22 entries)

1^st Place – Jim DeVos

2^nd Place – Adam Benoit & Nick Benoit

3^rd Place – Randy Clay

10B – American Amber Ale (8 entries)

1^st Place – Chuck Gosnell

2^nd Place – Jeff Reiners & Mark Skoglund

3^rd Place – Joel Ellingson

10C – American Brown Ale (15 entries)

1^st Place – Wirthy Brewery: Bell, Engel & Eickhoff

2^nd Place – Mike Gray

3^rd Place – Garrett Cladwell

13E – American Stout (9 entries)

1^st Place – Zac Carpenter, Ben Carpenter & Greg Carpenter

2^nd Place – Mike Gray

3^rd Place - Black Shamrock Stables: Joe Speltz, Mark Erding & Joel Hyatt

14B – American IPA (26 entries)

1^st Place – Jeff Moriarty, Jake Johnson & George Kellerman

2^nd Place – Denny Dayton, Jerry Benesh & Bill Dayton

3^rd Place – Patrick Phenow

14C – Imperial IPA (10 entries)

1^st Place – Mark Glennon

2^nd Place – Matthew Tjosaas, Andrew Kestly, Logan Mitton & Mike Wilken

3^rd Place – Micah Lehner

19C – American Barleywine (7 entries)

1^st Place – Dan Boody

2^nd Place – Eric Wentling

3^rd Place – Greg Seppelt

First Runner up Best of Show - $50 gift certificate to Northern Brewer

Dan Boody (American Barleywine)

Best of Show - $50 gift certificate to Midwest Supplies and a brewing session with Mike Hoops, the Master Brewer of Town Hall Brewery

Kyle Sisco (Classic American Pilsner)

Congratulations to all the winners! Your score sheets (and prizes and medals) will be sent to you this week. Again, I am very sorry about the delay.  Please feel free to email me with any questions and comments. I hope you will consider entering and helping out at other local home brew contests.

Gera Exire LaTour, Contest Organizer

gera_latour@hotmail.com