[enso]

Man.  What a Birthday.   

Family agreed to let me go the awards for a homebrew comp. last Saturday over in Burlington.  Two hour drive, four hours round trip.  Get there.  Wait around for about an hour as they are giving out door prizes to judges and then get set-up for BOS judging.  Get in line to get my score sheets.  Finally get up there.  'We don't have any record of entries from you.'

What?!

"Where did you enter your beers?" 

Well, I dropped them off at one of the approved businesses; a brew pub, the day before the deadline.  Even emailed the contact person to make sure it was okay as it was so close to the deadline.  Got a reply that he would not even be picking them up until the middle of the following week.  I spoke with this same guy at the competition.  He claims to have stopped in at the pub I dropped them off at twice after the deadline only to be told there were no entries.  Grrr.  I call the pub.  I ask for the manager, she has no knowledge of anything to do with the competition but is kind enough to look into things for me.  We identify who the bartender was when I dropped it off.  She calls him at home and calls me back.  Sure enough, my beers are still there!

Did I mention it was an hour drive (2 round trip) to get to this pub to drop my beers off in the first place?!  Gonna have a friend of mine pick up the beer and rip up the entry check so i don't have to drive all the way down again.  Good deal for him, a case of some damn fine beer...  If I do say so myself.  And I am the only one who can at this point.   

Man was that a pisser and a half.  Consolation was I was going to stop in Montpelier on the way back and enjoy some special cask beers at the Three Penny Tap rooms 1st anniversary party.  Live music, cask ales outside in the sunshine...  Was supposed to go from 3 pm to 10 pm.  Got there at 6:15 pm.  Beer is gone!  Casks are empty!!! 

 

Still had some tasty beers in the bar itself but... Damn.   


I have tried to put it behind me.  Today I started to get paranoid that my beer never made it to nationals either, cause I still haven't gotten any scoresheets.  I know it probably takes a while but after last weekend I am a bit suspicious of everything.

I even emailed the contact guy again that very night about what I found out, and what I thought about it all.  I replied to his reply that had informed me it was still fine to drop off when I was going to.  Only because he claimed to not recall getting my original email.  No reply.  Yes, I believe I was very polite and respectful in my email.  I even pointed out I was aware that the folks running it were doing so voluntarily and showed my appreciation for that fact.

You think some sort of reply would be not asking too much right?

Kind of put off by competitions at the moment.

[bluesman]

That is a big letdown for sure. Definitely isn't very inspiring by any means.

I'm sure this is more the exception than the rule. Don't let it stop you from future comps.

My bet is that you'll be recieving your NHC scoresheets any day now.

[makemehoppy]

The good news is you ended up in Burlington Vt, one of my favorite places to walk around and have great beers

[enso]

Actually no, I ended up in Montpelier.   

And I was not actually in Burlington proper.  Out by the airport by Williston.  Which is better really, cause I did pick up some treats at Beverage Warehouse, and of course some homebrew stuff.

[bosoxbrent]

Bummer....Three Penny Taproom is a great joint with some amazing beers though.  I'm sure it's no consolation as compared to having a great beer entered into a competition, but at least it is something to help take your mind off that for a bit....even if the casks had run dry by the time you arrived.

I sure wish that when I was going to Lyndon State the Three Penny Taproom was around.  The only highlight of driving to Burlington through Montpelier back in the 90's was being able to stop at the Taco Bell for some gassy fast food.

Better luck next time and don't let this one experience ruin competitions for you.  There are a lot out there that are very professional and well run. 

-Brent

[bfogt]

I had a problem with dropping off at a brewpub an hour from here.  When I got there, with my toddler in tow, I had to wait for a bartender to call the management because she didn't believe that they were taking entries for any contest.  Even the manager she called didn't know anything about it.  They let me leave my bottles anyway.  I notified the competition folks to make sure they got it straightened out.  Turned out that the manager who agreed to take entries, maybe the owner, didn't let ANY managers or staff know that they were doing it.  It's not likely the competition's fault.  They aren't going to search the premises for entries unless you tell them that you dropped bottles there and they track that sort of thing.

Hopefully you can at least turn that into a trade. 

[enso]

Well, my friend is picking the beers up tonight.  Hopefully...     if he can find the right person...   

Damn, it makes drinking this tripel a bit bitter.  THIS is an amazing beer if I do say so myself.  Huge fluffy bright white head, crystal clear golden with a suggestion of a blush.  Ample carbonation streaming up.  Lovely lacing.  Candi sugar sweet aromas and rose petals.  Crisp and dry with a touch of sweetness in the middle.  Spritzy carbonation.  Dangerously easy drinking...

It coulda been a contender! 

 

[marty]

Thats a good comp. for example - They've always gotten the judging sheets out quickly, I usually end up with their judging sheets before the NHC first round sheets, despite the Vermont comp happening a couple weeks later.

Problem seems to be with the owner of the bar not informing his staff what to do with the entries. The bartender probably put it aside, worked all night and forgot about it until he was asked about it later. If the owner told the staff 'if these get dropped off leave them in the office' then it wouldn't have happened.

Don't let it discourage you, but next year I'd skip that dropoff location

[enso]

Thats a good comp. for example - They've always gotten the judging sheets out quickly, I usually end up with their judging sheets before the NHC first round sheets, despite the Vermont comp happening a couple weeks later.

Problem seems to be with the owner of the bar not informing his staff what to do with the entries. The bartender probably put it aside, worked all night and forgot about it until he was asked about it later. If the owner told the staff 'if these get dropped off leave them in the office' then it wouldn't have happened.

Don't let it discourage you, but next year I'd skip that dropoff location

This was my second year entering this comp., or attempting to enter.   

I dropped off last year at the same place.  Same bartender too.  He knew what was up.  No problem last year and yes, I got my scoresheets in a timely manner.

I am not posting blame on anybody.  It was a screw up in communication.  Apparently they had a crew up with another of there drop-offs as well, only the beer did get picked up in the end from that one.

The thing that puts me off mostly now is that I got no response to my email post event from the competition sponsors.  The folks at the drop-off pub were at least helpful in figuring things out and apologetic for the mix-up.  The manager I spoke to even offered to bring the beer to her home which was a bit closer to where I live so I could pick it up there.

I got no reply from the contact guy for the competition though for my email.  At least an acknowledgment of the screw up and taking my advisement to either work on their drop-off arrangements next year or skip it would be nice.

Right now it just kind of feels like they are thinking, "well tough s*** for you buddy, not our problem."

Though I have no idea because I got zero acknowledgment.