Snow Goose Break Up Home Brew Competition announcement
by Ira Edwards

Well, in case you have not seen a newsletter recently, the next Homebrew Competition for the Great Norther Brewers Club is the annual Snow Goose Break-Up competition.  This competition came about because the Snow Goose many years ago wanted to get some new ideas for great brews to serve on their deck in the summer.  If you have not been to the Goose deck on a warm sunny day, it is a thing not to miss.  Even with the crappy summer we had last year, the staff told me that they did just as much business as usual.  I guess Alaskans are tough...

Since this is a competition to find that special summer beer, the categories this year have again been selected to provide something that will sell well on the deck.  The categories open for the 2009 Snow Goose Break Up Home Brew Competition have been broken into 3 general categories that the brewery is interested in producing.

• Light Ales- lagers (BJCP categories 01, 02, 03, 06, 07)
• Wheat Ales (15, 16A)
• Belgian Pale Ale (16b, 18-a, 16-c, 16d)

When no substyle for the category is indicated, we intend for the entire category to be admissible. 

This Comp is scheduled for Saturday April 18 at the Snow Goose, and is a great way to relieve some Tax-Day Stress.  I will take entries in the Snow Goose Brewery (Sleeping Lady Brewing Company) on Friday April 17 from Noon to 6pm.  Judging will start at 10 am on Saturday and judges and stewards are needed.  For those of you who have just completed the BJCP course, this is a great opportunity to judge in a low key comp with experienced judges and gain a little experience.  Water and snacks will be provided as well.  We will need three 10-16oz (500ml is OK) bottles and a standard AHA recipie sheet/entry form.  You can find these forms at http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/pdf/entry_recipe.pdf  Keep your eyes tuned to the GNBC newsletter and the website for more details as they become available.

For those of you gunning for the Brewer of the year status this year, the open BJCP categories that you can score BOTY points in are 01, 03, 06, and 16.  Take care and we'll see you there!