First State Brewers Blog

Forwarded to us via Jerry Carney…. Dust off a couple of those special bottles you’ve been saving (or counter-pressure fill some from that keg you’ve got stashed away) and submit them for judging! Your beer could be the next big hit at the Manayunk Brew pub! Best beers will be brewed there and served to their customers!

Competition entry fees will be paid for by the club if you bring your brew to the meeting and everyone agrees to submit it! Take note of the applicable categories below.

Best the Brewers
Thursday March 23, 2006
Manayunk Restaurant and Brewery

The 2nd annual Best the Brewer amateur/professional homebrew competition is looking for entrants. It is a BJCP sanctioned competition. This year submit beers brewed after November 2005 in the general categories: Pale ale; IPA; Brown Ale; Porter; Stout; Wheat; and spiced/vegetal specialty. Professional brewers that have agreed to homebrew as of 1/1/2006 come from Yards, Manayunk Brewery, Flying Fish, and Iron Hill. Prizes will be awarded for the winner of each of the 7 categories. Best of Show Beers (up to 3) that are from homebrewers, not professionals, will be brewed with the homebrewer at Manayunk Brewery and served at the restaurant.

Two 12 ounce bottles should be submitted by Saturday March 16th using the appropriate AHA submission form (http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/scp/pdf/entry_recipe_form.pdf ) accompanied by a $5 entry fee payable to Tim Ackerson. Drop-off points for the competition are Home Sweet Homebrew, Keystone Homebrew and the Manayunk Restaurant and Brewery. Entrants can also be sent to Tim Ackerson, 101 W. Nippon St., Philadelphia, PA 19119.

There will also be a beer dinner along with the awards at the Manayunk Restaurant and Brewery on Thursday March 23rd. Full details about the dinner will be posted on http://www.manayunkbrewery.com/ .

For questions e-mail Tim Ackerson at theimann@verizon.net or Chris Firey at chris@manayunkbrewery.com . Hope to see everyone at the competition and dinner.

And now a short message from our friends over in Jersey at Heavyweight…

Happy New Year-

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrate. We think back on 2005 and appreciate the things that made it meaningful to be in the beer biz. Everybody has a silly Top list, so here’s a few of ours:

> Fav beer: Saison Dupont
> Fav brewery: Ommegang (It just keeps getting better)
Philly’s Yards is a close second -
(They make us proud and their beers are great).
> Fav brewpub: Brewer’s Art (Great folks down in B’more)
Burlington Hearth in VT is another close second -
(Passionate people with great vision).
> Fav brewer: New England brewing legend, Todd Mott
> Fav character: Tom Peters (Monk’s Cafe) -
(Tom always makes us feel happy to be in the biz).
> Fav bar/pub: Nancy’s in Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland -
(Cop-out, but there’s too many wonderful pubs in our area to single out one).
> Fav place to share a beer: Heavyweight’s Open House

Speaking of that last one, we are hosting another infamous open house gathering on Sat., January 21th from 1-4 pm. We have our newest seasonal to share with you - Cinderbock Lager. We’ll also have a few things in 750ml bottles for you to take away - Black Ocean Schwarz and perhaps some big bottle offerings of the Hammer and Lunacy. Sorry if this email reaches you in Salamanca or San Leandro, but do appreciate you being on our mailing list.

We will be out on the road and in New Haven at the Bru Room for the Conn. Real Ale Fest on Jan. 29th. February 9th is the second annual Heavyweight Ice Night at Barcade in Brooklyn. Paul and crew will be pouring 5 rare, ice-bocked beers including Cinderberg, Biere d’Ice, and other chilly offerings. If you haven’t been to Barcade before, here’s your excuse.

Thanks for making 2005 a great year for Heavyweight and for supporting
small breweries.

Cheers,
Tom and Peggy