//update
The main question of the judging was what defined a beer to be a pumpkin beer? When is a beer pumpkin enough, and how much points do we deduct in case of insufficient pumpkin-ness?
We had four entrants for the competition. Tom and Chris’ Pumpkin Saison resulted in rave reviews because it was an excellent saison, but was it really pumpkin? Jorge and Rodrigo’s entry, simply called Pumpkin Ale, was filled to the brim with spices this was perfectly seasonal. It got high ratings from those that loved their strongly spiced beers. Paul’s Pumpkin Spice Latte beer. And even though he described it as his ‘clown beer’ and it was a bit young – it was a great creative beer. Erik brought a beer that can only be described as Imperial Pumpkin Ale! An amber winter warmer clocking in well over 10 percent ABV.
After all the scores were added we came to the conclusion that Erik’s beer was the well deserved winner of the evening. It really struck a good balance plus it oozed pumpkin-feeling. He mentioned the brewing day involved a hand blender set loose on the malts (good luck replicating this beer :))
Cheers Erik – you will have eternal fame as the winner of the November homebrew competition – or at least until the next competition. And thank you all for competing.
//end of update
For our November homebrew competition we will brew a pumpkin beer! You are now free from the shackles of BJCP descriptions and can really let your creativity run wild. We have decided that beers do not need to include pumpkin just as long as they have some connection to pumpkin.
The competition will take place during our November 13 meeting at Foeders. Like always the FOEBAR competition rules apply and can be found here.
Here are some sources with tips and tricks to help you brew a great pumpkin beer:
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