so, we went on down to the homebrew competition last saturday, me, hops, rictor/veg and luis. we met the proprietor of cheap and easy brewing co. there, and he took 3 places for 5 entries, not bad, not bad at all. his tripel beat mine, and mine got rather poor reviews, both from the official judges and from the off-duty judges who tasted a bottle at the event.
but, i was pleasantly surprised to find, i really, truly, really honestly was there for accurate "pro" feedback. and that is exactly what i got. my feelings were not hurt, and i wheedled the judges and tasters for more info. the great thing is, all the info i got was applicable, all the feedback pointed to flaws in my process (mainly: impatience) and all the errors can be corrected.
this weekend, of course. i'm making another tripel then, and it will be the greatest, or at least, most entertaining beer i've ever made.
i also think it's quite funny that although my beer was not a big weener, my star trek t-shirt (which was being worn in preparation for tomorrow's photo), the one what says "all i need to know i learned from watching star trek" and has a big picture of the enterprise a, and is two sizes too large; that shirt got two comments pertaining to its greatness.
beer people are nerds, dorks, and geeks. i fit right in. it were great.
If you want to make clones, go into biotech.
If you are looking for validation, ask at the restaurant.
If you want to make great beer, don't listen to the pros. The better the pro, the worse the beer.
heh, validation. finally, i got it.