It is with great anticipation that I look forward to the State Competition to be held here in Townsville at The Brewery. Entries will close on Saturday 31st August 2002 with judging on the two following Saturdays. The efforts of Chief Steward Graham Sanders in holding this competition here should be commended.

Thanks should also go out to The Brewery for their support of our hobby.

I value competition as a great way to get unbiased feedback on my beers. The judging sheets, although they may be a bit hard to take at times, always give some constructive criticism that gives tips on improving. One of the major points I have learned is to make the beer to style guidelines. You may then enter that beer and have it judged to a style. Judges do not just pick out the beer that tastes the nicest to them and then go home. Judges will measure your beer up to their interpretation of what the style should be.

If you want to develop your skills you have to play the game the judges way and make to style guidelines. We should still strive to be creative and the styles we have today are brewers experiments that have become popular enough to warrant inclusion in style

Tips For Better Brewing

1. Avoid using big quantities of sugar/dextrose adjuncts [25% of fermentables Max.]
2. Boil your wort. Be careful not to burn or darken wort.
3. Boil in a fining agent, Irish Moss is one of the best.
4. Use water low in chlorine [use a carbon filter]
5. Treat water with brewing salts as appropriate for the style.
6. When using hops ensure they are fresh and correctly stored in freezer.
7. Check that your hopping will provide bitterness, flavour and aroma to style guidelines.
8. Use liquid yeasts for improved characteristics.
9. If using dry yeasts, rehydrate and use 2 packets.
10. When you do a full boil, cool quickly with an immersion cooler or similar so that yeast may be pitched sooner.
11. Never boil your steeping grains [65-75¼C is good].
12. Fluctuating temperatures of a few degrees during fermentation can cause off flavours.
13. Use a secondary fermenter and correct racking procedure to improve smoothness.
14. Ferment away from bright light and use brown bottles to exclude light from beer.
15. Correctly store ales for 4 weeks and lagers for 8 weeks. Other higher gravity beers will take longer.
16. Generally serve ale at 10-13¼C and lagers at 7-10¼C.

Enjoy your brewing, be happy at whatever your level. Things could be worse, you could be paying for commercial mega-swill.