#BestBrewChallenge http://bestbrewchallenge.com The World's Largest Simultaneous Collaborative Brew Tue, 13 Nov 2018 12:42:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9 #BestBrewChallenge 2018: Amber ale, bock beer and Vienna export take the top three places http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/11/13/bestbrewchallenge-2018-amber-ale-bock-beer-and-vienna-export-take-the-top-three-places/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/11/13/bestbrewchallenge-2018-amber-ale-bock-beer-and-vienna-export-take-the-top-three-places/#respond Tue, 13 Nov 2018 12:38:08 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2447

International brewing contest provides scope for creativity and professional feedback

Amateur brewers often have to pursue their hobby under difficult conditions – they end up brewing their beer in the kitchen, the basement or the bathroom, and usually in their leisure time. But that doesn’t mean they are not successful, as the #BestBrewChallenge repeatedly shows: more often than not, home brewers walk away with the top prizes. Which is what has happened again this year: The first prize went to “Vic Secret Single Hop Amber Ale” by Brauwerkstatt Eichendorff from Mannheim. The creation by Dr. Benedikt Weigand and Nicolas Loevenich was rated the best of the 75 submitted beers with 49.7 out of 50 possible points. “Himbock” by Jörn Buchbinder (Hobbybrauerei Buchbier) from Magdeburg came second and “Wiener Export” by Günther Hilger from the Seven Mountains Brewery in Königswinter took third place.

Scope for creativity

This year’s BestBrewChallenge attracted 168 participants from North and Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe, who brewed their beers simultaneously on 17 May 2018. As well as hobby brewers, they included microbreweries, large breweries and brewpubs. Every year, the organizer Palatia Malz GmbH, a malting group that sells malt and grain products under the BESTMALZ® brand, puts the focus on a different type of malt. This time round, participants had to use at least 18% BEST Vienna and ensure an original gravity of between 11 and 16° P. Other than that, they could do what they liked and were not required to comply with the German Purity Law. “Our goal is to give brewers as much creative scope as possible. Every year, we are astonished at the variety of tastes that participants from all over the world manage to entice out of one and the same malt,” says Dr. Axel Goehler, managing director of the malting group from Heidelberg and a member of the third generation of the family-owned business.

Invaluable feedback and a surprise

Above all the professional feedback given to the participants encourages hobby brewers to submit their innovative beers. In a blind tasting session, the jury assesses the quality of the beer based on various parameters, such as color, aroma, taste and foam quality. The top prize took Dr. Benedikt Weigand and Niklas Loevenich from Brauwerkstatt Eichendorff in Mannheim by surprise: “We are delighted to have won. We really didn’t expect it, especially considering the strong competition from renowned breweries. Although we were confident that we could brew a good beer, our main motivation for taking part was really the chance to get a professional opinion. But of course, it is great that the countless experiments and the hours we put into research and preparation have paid off.”

Brewing at home

Loevenich, a law student, and Weigand, a doctor, are neighbors and friends who got into brewing by chance. They produce between 20 and 25 liters per batch and concocted the winning beer after a long night shift. Runner-up Jörg Buchbinder from Magdeburg occasionally takes over the whole kitchen, or at least the kitchen table, with his home brewing kit, which makes 20 liters of beer. “Himbock is a wheat bock with a low sugar content. For my BBC brew, I experimented with raspberries (German: Himbeeren) for the first time, adding them to the beer after the main fermentation,” he says, explaining his brewing method. “The idea of getting people from around the world to start brewing simultaneously for the BestBrewChallenge is really cool.” Günther Hilger, who came third, brews on a larger scale: Seven Mountains Brewery near Bonn is run by four friends who regularly brew more than a hundred hectoliters. Seven Mountains Brewery has once again won a prize at this year’s BBC for the umpteenth time. “I’m delighted about our third place. We brewed 150 liters of our Wiener Export – that is the maximum our brewing plant can manage. It will be available to buy locally in the near future,” says Günther Hilger.

Rising to the challenge

The award ceremony was held at the BrauBevialetrade exhibition in Nurembergon 13 November 2018. Visitors to Palatia Malz’s booth were able to sample the winning beer. According to CEO Dr. Axel Goehler, “The idea of collaborative brewing is as old as craft beer itself. Brewers today like to share their experience and are open to new ideas. Our international dealers, who sell BESTMALZ all over the world, persuaded so many of their customers to participate in the BBC this year that they broke the attendance record. As a long-established family-owned business, we held the competition for the fourth time, bringing together brewers of craft beer from all over the world.”

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Award Ceremony at the BrauBeviale fair in Nuremberg on 13 November 2018 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/11/07/award-ceremony-at-the-braubeviale-fair-in-nuremberg-on-13-november-2018/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/11/07/award-ceremony-at-the-braubeviale-fair-in-nuremberg-on-13-november-2018/#respond Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:41:59 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2444 Brewers and breweries small and large from around the world were invited to participate in the fourth brewing competition BestBrewChallenge (BBC) hosted by the Heidelberg Bestmalz malt producer Palatia Malz GmbH. This year’s champion lives a stone’s throw from the organizer, and the top three winners are, once again, all hobby brewers!

The award ceremony will take place on 13.11.2018 at 10:15 am at the BrauBeviale fair in Nuremberg, Germany (Hall 1, Stand 512). On this special occasion we will be serving the winner’s beer, brewed especially for the fair.

We invite you to come and join us!

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Sommeliers face traditional and wild beer creations during the 2018 BEST Brew Challenge tasting http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/08/22/sommeliers-face-traditional-and-wild-beer-creations-during-the-2018-best-brew-challenge-tasting/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/08/22/sommeliers-face-traditional-and-wild-beer-creations-during-the-2018-best-brew-challenge-tasting/#respond Wed, 22 Aug 2018 11:07:24 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2265

75 beers from all over the world divided into 13 beer styles, which were evaluated in nine tasting sessions by ten sommeliers from across Germany – these are the impressive statistics of BESTMALZ’s 2018 Best Brew Challenge (BBC) beer tasting.

“The scope of beers ranged from very classic styles to modern, downright wild creations. For example, one porter was brewed with moss,“ said sommelier Marlene Speck, who is a brewing master herself and works at the Doemens Genussakademiein Munich. “All in all, the beer quality was very solid, we were able to work in a concentrated fashion and I believe the BBC offers beer enthusiasts a wonderful platform to showcase their craft.” In a similar assessment, novice sommelier Michael Bock underscores one of the Challenge’s goals: “All of the brewers receive independent feedback from professionals to help them improve their recipes.”

In the fourth year of this BESTMALZ event, the jury once again consisted of highly qualified, internationally proven testers. They surveyed the submitted beers regarding taste, color and other criteria.

The beer tasting was organized by BESTMALZ Marketing assistant and beer sommelier Annika Klee, who is responsible for coordinating the Best Brew Challenge. Together with highly motivated members of the Heidelberger brewery’s service personnel, who provided access to their historical kilning room for this event, Annika Klee ensured that the tasters were served a total of 13 beer styles in nine “flights”, including IPAs, Porter, Marzen, Lager, Alt and Sauerbier.

The professional jury’s detailed feedback regarding each beer will be sent to the participants shortly. The best brewing team will win a trip to Heidelberg and will be welcomed in the BESTMALZ headquarters. In acknowledgement of this year’s BBC champion, 15 hectoliters of the winning beer will be brewed by an established German craft beer brewery. As in former years, the winners will be announced at the “BRAU Beviale” fair in Nuremberg and will be able to delight in their beer together with hundreds of visitors at the BESTMALZ stand.

So save the date now and meet us “BRAU Beviale” fair in Nuremberg at the BESTMALZ stand in Hall 1, Booth 1-512! The winning beer from this year’s BBC will be available from 13 to 15 November 2018 along with other top beers made from specialty malt from our Heidelberg-based family business, which, incidentally, will be will be celebrating its 120th birthday in 2019.

Photos & videos from this year’s beer tasting can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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Pack your submissions carefully and don’t forget your documentation! http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/07/20/pack-your-submissions-carefully-and-dont-forget-your-documentation/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/07/20/pack-your-submissions-carefully-and-dont-forget-your-documentation/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2018 17:14:49 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2240 So far we have received about 20 entries for the BestBrewChallenge 2018! Unfortunately we discovered one broken bottle in a package this morning… Even though in this case it was DHL’s fault, please keep in mind to pack your beer carefully.

One more note: some entries reached us without a documentation sheet. In order to participate in the 2018 challenge it is absolutely necessary that you submit this infomation along with your beer.

Remember the deadline is 31 July 2018!

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DioPorter http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/28/dioporter/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/28/dioporter/#respond Mon, 28 May 2018 00:54:36 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2214 This is a own beer for a challenge!

Your name is a DioPorter

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Brewing greetings http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/26/brewing-greetings/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/26/brewing-greetings/#respond Sat, 26 May 2018 02:04:09 +0000 https://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2188

Gr

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A Successful Brew Day http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/18/a-successful-brew-day/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/18/a-successful-brew-day/#respond Fri, 18 May 2018 11:49:21 +0000 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2168 Had a lot of fun brewing yesterday and absolutely hit my numbers for my Vienna IPA. Glad to see so many others had a great day brewing as well. Cheers!

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Finished http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/18/finished/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/18/finished/#respond Fri, 18 May 2018 05:10:40 +0000 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2146 Job is done, wort is pitched and everything is now clean…
It was a great experience brewing and knowing you’re not alone!!
It just made me feel part of something unique.
Cheers to everybody!IMG-1548

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Finish :-) http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/17/finish/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/17/finish/#respond Thu, 17 May 2018 21:41:29 +0000 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2139 Wort collection … check.

 

Trub cone … check.

 

Gravity … check.

 

 

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FEIERABEND http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/17/feierabend/ http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/17/feierabend/#respond Thu, 17 May 2018 20:35:51 +0000 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/?p=2137 http://bestbrewchallenge.com/2018/05/17/feierabend/feed/ 0