Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 007 October 2011 | Page 17

Award Wining
Ale In A Setting
Fit For a King
L

ocal amateur home beer
brewer received top honors
at the 21 st annual US Open
Homebrew Competition. The
competition lasted over nine
hours as nationally certified
judges reviewed over 400 entries
from across the United States,
including entries from as far
away as California, Minnesota,
and Utah. The competition
was held at Olde Mecklenburg
Brewer y in Charlotte on
Saturday, May 14th.
Amateur brewers must
carefully calculate the ratio of
various malts, hops and yeast
along with precision timing for
boiling, cooling, fermenting,
and storage. Slight variation
an d any on e of t h e m any
ingredients and steps in the
brewing process can seriously
alter the beer’s flavor and affect
the style in which the beer may
be categorized as (ale, stout,
porter, etc.). Judges in the US
Open have undergone rigorous
B e e r Ju d g e C e r t i f i c a t i o n
Program (BJCP) enabling them
to successfully identify by scent,
sight, and palate the various
ingredients that make up a topquality, hand crafted brew.
Todd Fisher of Greensboro
and his entry in the Dry &
Sweet Stout category earned
a blue ribbon and was also
declared winner of the 2011
Gambrinus Cup. As winner

of the Gambrinus Cup, Todd
will receive the opportunity
to have his recipe brewed on a
commercial scale by Foothills
Brewing Company of WinstonS a l e m an d of fe re d t o t h e
public as a premium beer at
the 2011 Carolina Renaissance
Festival, operating October 8th
– November 20th. The cup itself
is a Renaissance Festival artisan
crafted trophy.
Louisville, NC resident Tom
Nolan also won honors as Best
of Show as his Wood Aged
Beer topped all of the other
entries in the competition by
winning 1st Place Best of Show.
The US Open competition is
organized by the non-profit
club Carolina Brewmasters
and consists of six separate
homebrew competitions across
the Carolinas. Brewers can
compete for top honors in three
categories: Carolina Brewer
of the Year, Carolina Master
Brewer of the Year and Carolina
Meadmaker of the year.

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