[Steve L]

I have a question for those who are familiar with the competition routine. When you send in a brew for judging, is it typically chilled upon arrival at the shipping location or is it chilled just prior to judging? I've unfortunately never been to a comp in person so I really don't know.

I ask this cause I am sending in a brew that, when all is said and done, will have 3 weeks in the fermenter and 2 weeks to carb before I need to ship it out. Hopefully it would get a week or so of cold conditioning at the comp site.

Thanks for any advice.

Steve

[morticaixavier]

depends on the competition. the one that my club organizes the beers are all kept in a walk in cooler until the comp. when I dropped my entries off they walked me in and I set them down in the nice cool walk in.

Now, the first round NHC site had a little room with air conditioning and some folding tables. Ooh was I ever nervous leaving my babies there. but I did. they, I'm sure, were fine.

you might be able to contact the comp organizer and ask.

[Stevie]

That's going to depend on the comp.  some will store cold and some won't. I would never assume it's being stored cold.

[a10t2]

I'm sure you could just call and ask. Most places, this time of year, even a club member's basement would be appropriate cellar temperature. Another clue would be if they have a sponsor advertised who would have a large cooler. Brewery, distributor, large package store, etc.

[tomsawyer]

I wouldn't enter a beer that had only two weeks to bottle condition.

[dkfick]

I wouldn't enter a beer that had only two weeks to bottle condition.

Yes.. Just like not being able to assume that it will be cold stored... You don't want to assume it won't be and that your beer will be able to bottle condition between drop off and judging.

[AmandaK]

I wouldn't enter a beer that had only two weeks to bottle condition.

Same. Not much point in rushing a beer to get feedback on a beer not in its prime.

[smkranz]

The shipping/drop-off period for our competition is a week long.  We have 6 drop-off points (homebrew shops and a private residence).   The entries are collected at the end of the week.  We log them in during the following week, then tote them (in coolers) to our local micro for storage in his walk-in, where they stay for about a week prior to judging.

[Steve L]

I wouldn't enter a beer that had only two weeks to bottle condition.

Same. Not much point in rushing a beer to get feedback on a beer not in its prime.

I did contact the organizer and they said it would be refrigerated the week leading up to judging so for me this means this brew would have 4 weeks in the bottle before judging. I'd be shipping after 2 weeks of carbing and it would be at the shipping location unrefrigerated for an additional week before being picked up to go to refrigeration. I think everyone is right, it may very well be a bit green at that point (an American amber). I normally go 2 weeks in the fermenter but I'm doing 3 weeks this time in the hopes that it would clean up a bit more. I may very well end up going with a different choice. I brewed this one for this comp but missed my planned brew time due to work.

[a10t2]

So it'll be 7 weeks from brew day before judging? For what I'm assuming is a relatively hoppy beer, that's about the oldest I'd want it to be. A little younger would be better, IME.

[Steve L]

So it'll be 7 weeks from brew day before judging? For what I'm assuming is a relatively hoppy beer, that's about the oldest I'd want it to be. A little younger would be better, IME.

Yes. Brewday was 3/38. competition day is 5/17 so 7weeks and a day. I am counting on a fair amount of hop aroma having done a hop stand for the first time. That was one of my concerns... the 'shelf life' of that hop aroma.

[Al]

3 of us out of my local HB club entered this year. My buddy who has an account with FedEx was 10 min late getting our beers to the shipping center. I volunteered to go to Austin on my own and hand deliver them to Austin Homebrew.

When I go there and brought in 1 box with 3 guys entries, I asked if it would be possible for one guy to leave his out warm because his bottle filler fudged up and he just sent bottle conditioned beers. They had already been in the bottle 10 days so I figured it would be alright if they would oblige.

The guy pointed to the corner of the showroom and said "sure, no problem. They'll sit there till somebody comes with a truck and loads them all at once to take to the final judging site (at least a week away)". I was disappointed because I sent an IPA that I thought would be refrigerated as soon as I dropped them off.

At least my buddy will have benefited having them warm till judging.

[Jimmy K]

The guy pointed to the corner of the showroom and said "sure, no problem. They'll sit there till somebody comes with a truck and loads them all at once to take to the final judging site (at least a week away)". I was disappointed because I sent an IPA that I thought would be refrigerated as soon as I dropped them off.

At least my buddy will have benefited having them warm till judging.

That's too bad, but most drop off sites aren't going to have refrigeration for that many entries. 750 entries fills about 65 cases. Your best bet if you want refrigeration is to use a drop-off site that's a brewery. They might keep beers in the cold room.