Curt and Kathy Stock once again won the AHA Club-Only Meadmaker competition. Congratulations Curt and Kathy! - Al From: John C. Tull [ <mailto:jctull@gmail.com> mailto:jctull@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 11:03 AM Subject: Mead COC Results The Washoe Zephyr Zymurgists held the AHA Club-only Competition for meads yesterday. This COC kicks off the 2007 Homebrew Club of the Year Competition. There were 43 entries judged, and some great meads were sent in for the competition from 22 different states. Below are the winners and some notes about the meads from my sampling after the best-of-show round. Best-of-show judges were Dan Bailey (BJCP Certified/2004 Meadlennium Best of Show winner), Tom Baldwin (BJCP National/Frequent mead AHA NHC medal winner), and Jamil Zainasheff (BJCP National/All around great judge and brewer). Everyone who entered can expect to receive judge scores and feedback within the next 10 days. 1st Place - Saint Paul Homebrewers Club - Curt & Kathy Stock - Strawbana Cabana - 25C. This was a sparkling sweet mead made with fresh strawberries and bananas in the secondary of a wildflower honey mead base. Big fresh strawberry character along with fresh, almost toasty, banana, and hints of grassy complexity. The base mead was smooth and clean with good comb character. 2nd Place - Knights of the Brown Bottle - Mike Haws - Orange Sweetie - 26C. This still sweet mead was an orange blossom honey base that had bourbon barrel oak chips in the secondary (not in a barrel, I believe). Vanilla notes from oak were dominant, combined with a refreshingly smooth orange blossom honey flavor (not at all candy-like as can sometimes occur with this variety) with plenty of fresh honey comb flavor and aroma. 3rd Place - Urban Knaves of Grain - Joe Formanek. Joe continues his strong streak in AHA competitions by placing with a Cranberry Mead - 24C. This still sweet mead had plenty of cranberry character, apparently entirely from the honey. The color was a pale pinkish-orange, and enough cranberry flavor made it through the varietal honey to produce an interesting, smooth, and flavorful mead that did not have the harsh acidity often associated with cranberry fruit additions to the secondary. Congratulations to everyone, especially the winners! John Tull WZZ Mead AHA Club-only Competition Organizer