AIBA 2008

The Brewer

David Hollyoak, Redoak Boutique Beer Café
Brewer Grand Champion Beer AIBA 2006

Excitement and anticipation are brewing for the upcoming 2008 AIBA awards and hopefully some good beers are too.

International breweries have been successful over the years, but with more and more small breweries opening each month, an increasing variety of styles and improving quality across all of the states, Australia is rising to the challenge. More recently Australian breweries have fought back winning several champions trophies and the Grand Champion Trophy in 2006.

As most small breweries know, the local beer market is very competitive and beer drinkers are becoming more and more discerning as their beer palates develop. So, now more than ever, brewers and drinkers alike anticipate the results of the beer awards.

There has been - and will continue to be - much discussion about this year's changes to the awards. The first being that the ‘Grand Champion Beer' awarded to the highest scoring beer of the competition is no more. It is being replaced by ‘Grand Champion Brewery'. Competition organiser Kerry James says the beer champion was removed to place more emphasis on the category. Some brewers will undoubtedly be upset, but the Grand Champion Brewery Trophy will be a fine replacement.

The second major change has been the classification of small and large brewery. The classification has changed from a brew length of less than 30 hectolitres (hl) to an annual production less than 5,000hl for a small brewery and greater than 5,000hl for a large brewery.

This change was made as some of the small brewers had small brew lengths but large capacities and hence were classified as a large brewery under the previous definition. This change is also more in line with the World Beer Cup, but at 17,600 hectolitres they have a much larger cut-off point. Australian micro-breweries dream of the day that we will nudge these figures!

The entries have been submitted, we have parted with our hard earned cash in entry fees, brewers will send their beers to Melbourne and Ballarat in February and March to be judged. Then the wait begins for the brewing industry's Oscars on 27th March. Every Australian brewer, large or small, plays a pivotal role in the quest to brew the world's best beers. Keep up the hard work! I wish all of the small and micro brewers the best of luck in this year's competition.

The Judge

Brennan Fielding,
Head Brewer, Burleigh Brewing Company

The first time I was asked to judge at a beer competition, I felt a sense of accomplishment...kind of. I had recently experienced a highlight in my brewing career - winning two gold medals at the 2002 World Beer Cup.

I guess at that stage, someone thought I knew my stuff sufficiently to begin passing judgment on other beers.

But at the same time I realised that a whole new world of beer education awaited me. Sitting down as a member of a panel

of judges, whose combined judging experience spanned something like 100 years, I was under no illusions. Despite my own years of hard work, study and training as a brewer - among this crowd I was a complete novice!

I also felt a great sense of responsibility. As a young brewer I looked forward to (and still do) receiving critical comment from qualified judges on my beers. Reading judging notes can be extremely enlightening - a few brief words scrawled across the bottom of the judging sheet can lead to a ‘light bulb' moment. "Oh, isn't THAT meant to be detectable in this beer?"

At the same time, it can be mildly awkward. The cringe factor is pretty high when you read a comment that identifies a flaw you feared might be in your beer - in fact you pretty much knew it - but hoped no-one would notice. At least now you can ask someone how to fix it.

It's probably fair to say that no two brewing competitions are ever exactly the same. However I'll have a go at painting a picture of a ‘typical' day in the life of a beer judge at an international brewing competition. And I know you'll probably scoff, but believe me, beer judging is hard work!

Having to get through upwards of 70 beer samples in one day means that judging starts early. Dare I say it - before I even feel like a beer! A ‘typical' judging panel might consist of five or six judges, though some panels are larger. A head judge, generally the most senior judge, is appointed to mediate and manage. The judges are seated at judging tables, some distance from each other, throughout a room. Sometimes we even get to wear white coats.

The day starts with a ‘control beer'. Each judge receives a sample of the control beer. Judges' comments and scores are discussed to ensure judges are approaching the task in a similar manner and scoring consistently. Before the genuine judging gets underway, judging five rounds of control beers is not uncommon - more if the Head Judge requires it.

The panel members are advised of the style or styles of beer they'll be judging during the course of the day. Entries are brought out by judging stewards, one after the other, in style groups. The samples are presented in about 70ml servings in unlabelled glasses and are identified only by a unique, assigned number.

If things are going smoothly, each beer gets about five or six minutes of a judge's time. In five minutes, the judge must assess the beer's appearance, aroma, flavour and body, consistency with style guidelines and technical quality. When there are something like 800 detectable compounds in beer, and the judge has to identify those that should and shouldn't be there - whether they be banana, nutmeg, clove, burned rubber etc - it's a lot for the brain to process in five minutes. Sometimes, the presence of a compound on its own could be a flaw - but in the right balance with other compounds or characteristics, it can push that beer right up there among the champions.

Throughout this process, judges are busy writing on their score sheets, adding and deducting points for attributes and faults. The beer that a brewer poured so much passion and hard work into is now being unemotionally ripped apart - broken down to its bare compounds and components to see how it stacks up against all the other specimens that are to follow.

And then those valued conclusions are drawn and summarised by the judge as a comment - for the brewer to improve on next time.

It's a fact of course, that judging beer is a subjective process. While the judging procedures are not always the same, most competitions have systems in place to ensure the integrity and independence of the judging process. Sometimes beers are sent out twice, under different numbers, to keep us on our toes. Sometimes the highest and lowest scores for each entry are discarded. Regardless of the actual method adopted, the systems are designed to minimise the subjectivity and ensure a ‘fair trial' for your beer.

The process of analysing and breaking down a beer for the purposes of ‘judging' its merit is in many respects an entirely different skill set from that of brewing. We judge beer against very specific and detailed style criteria which set a benchmark - or the mark of perfection - for a beer style. Unfortunately it doesn't mean we can always reach those benchmarks ourselves!

To be invited to participate in a panel of people who are charged with assessing beers that brewers have painstakingly crafted is an absolute professional, and personal, privilege. I also value the camaraderie of participating in a beer judging panel. Competitions bring together people from all corners of the industry. I enjoy the opportunity to hear about what's happening out there beyond my own brewing world. And I truly value the opportunity to sit in a room for several days, judging beers alongside leaders in the industry, watching them in action and endeavouring to absorb what I can of their knowledge.

I think as a brewer and beer judge it's important to be able to retain that pure love of beer. I'm pleased to say that so far I haven't had a problem with that. And while it's sometimes hard to remove my judging hat, in the end when I'm sitting back with a beer, it still comes down to either, "That's a damn fine beer", or "Nope, that one doesn't do it for me".

The Steward

Allison Macdonald
Chief Steward, Sydney Royal Beer Show

I had to be where the action was for the inaugural Sydney Royal Beer Show and since I knew it wouldn't be in the coveted role of judge I was only too happy to be Chief Steward.

With my best mate KC as Assistant Chief Steward, I figured it would be like running a bar for a couple of days and a laugh at that - but there was much more to consider then just pouring beers.

The day prior to judging, entries that had yet to arrive needed to be tracked down putting fear into breweries whose deliveries either had been lost, realised they'd run out of stock or were unaware they had even entered due to staff changes.

Finding an appropriate area to use as a bar to store and pour the beers proved problematic with our first two options being dismissed due to lack of space and distance from the judging area, but luckily the perfect area became available. Finally there was the job of finding clean glasses. No mean feat when hot water and hand drying are involved - no detergent allowed!

Judging days ran smoothly,

a simple case of getting a feel for the rate at which the judges are tasting and then ensuring the beers are being poured quickly enough and are going out at a consistent temperature.

The variety of beers sparked great discussion amongst the stewards (away from the judges of course) as to which beers would get the top scores of the day. One day I would love to see a Stewards Award to rival the Archibald's Packing Room Prize...

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)