The focus from the beginning was to highlight local home brewers and provide a forum for friendly competition. With over forty entries and a huge turnout for the final day of judging it’s safe to say homebrewing is alive in well in DC.
After much deliberation, the winner of the Samuel Adams Homebrew-B-Que contest has been crowned. Sam Wineka and his Dog’s Day Session Ale came out on top at the conclusion of the final judging Saturday at Old Glory in Georgetown. Sam beat out eight other finalists with this light and sessionable hop forward ale. Big and bold is the current trend among craft brewers and homebrewers alike, so Sam should be applauded for brewing against this trend and making such a fine lower ABV beer that still packs plenty of flavor. “I definitely wasn’t expecting him to say my name. From some of the feedback I was getting during the tasting, I thought I had a shot at placing, but once third and second were announced I figured I missed my shot at a prize. I thought the beer was good, but yes I was surprised to make the finals. Just making the finals felt like a win because the quality of brewers in the club and area keep going up,” said Wineka.
Sam took home the first place prize, an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Denver for the 2011 Great American Beer Festival. GABF is the largest beer event in America and will host over 50,000 visitors this year. Sam will definitely have his hands full attempting to sample the 2,200+ different beers on-hand from over 450 breweries. GABF is a beer geek’s dream come true.
Coming in second place, was one of my favorites from the competition, a Red Ale from Dan Bremer. Dan takes home two tickets to this year’s SAVOR. These tickets sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale, and getting tickets after the initial sale is no easy feat.
Brent Boone’s Blood Orange Ale took third place and was named the overall crowd favorite as voted on by guests who were on-hand at Old Glory. The crowd got an opportunity to try samples from all nine finalists and voted on their favorite at the end. Brent took home two bottles of Sam Adam’s Utopias for winning both third place overall and the crowd favorite award.
This event was a first of its kind for Samuel Adams and went off without a hitch. The focus from the beginning was to highlight local homebrewers and provide a forum for friendly competition. With over 40 entries and a huge turnout for the final day of judging, it’s safe to say homebrewing is alive in well in DC.
Congratulations to all the winners!
