Mash Out results and photos

Results, recipes and photos from the Upper Mississippi Mash Out are posted at www.mnbrewers.com/mashout/ <http://www.mnbrewers.com/mashout/> Photos can be found at the bottom of the recipes, and more will be going up today. This year, more than 120 volunteers from eight states and Canada answered the call to help run what has become the third largest beer competition in the country. Not bad for a six-year-old contest. To all those volunteers, a huge THANK YOU! It was a great collaboration between the St. Paul Homebrewers and the Minnesota Home Brewers Association. Held last Friday and Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mash Out experienced a 68 percent increase in entries over 2006. The 266 brewers who entered the contest submitted 918 entries. They represented 66 homebrew clubs and came from 33 states. Clearly, the rest of the nation has discovered the Mash Out - 525 entries were from outside Minnesota. There were gold medal winners from both coasts, and Bob Boufford has the distinction of traveling the farthest: 1,303 miles from Edmonton, Alberta. We also had the honor of having Gordon Strong, Grandmaster III judge and BJCP director, contribute to Best of Show judging as well being head judge of numerous flights. The Mash Out awarded 105 medals, including Best of Show carved wooden chalices for beer, mead and cider. Every winner received a prize. Score sheets were in the mail within three days. A special acknowledgement to organizer Al Boyce. Numerous people stopped by the office to say it was the smoothest, best-run contest they had ever attended. A lot of dedicated volunteers were behind that, but it started with Al. Be sure to be part of it next January! Paul Dienhart Mash Out Publicity Chair