2016 was a great year for the Yeastside Brewers. Six of our members spent months preparing for the BJCP exam, and in 2017 I expect that we will have six new judges.
We also had an amazing showing at all of the competitions funneling into the Brewer of the Year competition. At the last competition of the year, the Southern California Regional Homebrew Competition, we captured a Best of Show in mead and 14 additional medals. Here is a rundown of our winnings:
SoCal Regional Home-brew Competition
There were 314 entries judged and 139 registered participants, judges, and stewards.
Winning Yeastside Entries
Best Of Show (Mead)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1st |
Jeff Koehler | Cherry Chocolate Mead | Fruit and Spice Mead | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 8: Dark European Lager (3 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Bonofilio Ruiz | La Negra Aleman | Schwarzbier | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 9: Strong European Beer (1 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 2nd |
Mario Artiga | Hit It From The Bock | Doppelbock | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 12: Pale Commonwealth Beer (1 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Jeff Koehler | British Golden Ale | English Golden Ale | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 16: Dark British Beer (15 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd |
Ward Walkup IV | Export Stout | Tropical Stout | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 21B: Specialty IPA (9 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd |
Fabio Benelli | Double Appeal To Heaven | Specialty IPA | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 25: Strong Belgian Ale (10 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 3rd |
Vorachai Chullanan | “Lychee” Saison | Saison | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 29: Fruit Beer (13 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Ward Walkup IV | Passion Fruit Berliner | Fruit Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 32: Smoked Beer (1 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd |
Kim Turner | Zacharia’s Smoking Robust Porter | Classic Style Smoked Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 33: Wood Beer (11 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Jeff Koehler | Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Ale | Specialty Wood-Aged Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
| 2nd |
Jeremy Stacy & Cori Stacy | Chocolata | Specialty Wood-Aged Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
Category 34: Specialty Beer (12 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Ward Walkup IV | Large Dark Rooster | Clone Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
| 2nd |
Vorachai Chullanan | Spicy “Tom Kha” Thai-American Wheat Ale | Experimental Beer | Yeastside Brewers |
Category M2: Fruit Mead (1 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Jeff Koehler | Zinfandel Pyment | Pyment | Yeastside Brewers |
Category M3: Spiced Mead (1 entries)
| PLACE | BREWER(S) | ENTRY NAME | STYLE | CLUB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |
Jeff Koehler | Cherry Chocolate Mead | Fruit and Spice Mead | Yeastside Brewers |
It was a very tough battle for Brewer of the Year, but we have a new champion. After winning the honor the first two years, Ward Walkup IV ceded the battle to Jeff Koehler. However, that was 2016 and we need to look forward to 2017 where everything starts over – anyone can win! The first competition of 2017 is the Maltose Falcons’ Doug King Memorial Competition. This encompasses lagers, session beers, imperial beers and weird beers. Beers are due January 13. The competition is January 21 at MacLeods Ale Brewing in Van Nuys and everyone should consider helping to judge!
We will be doing a style tasting of Winter Warmers at our December meeting. For those of you that agreed to have that style ready, try and have them at the meeting early as we try to do this portion about 30 minutes after the start of the meeting. January will showcase any lager since, hopefully, these are what are being entered in the Doug King Competition! Remember, this portion of the meeting is for learning both on the tasting side as well as on the brewing side so it is a good excuse to stretch your brewing wings!
A new opportunity for spreading your brewing wings in 2017 has been offered from our friends at Eagle Rock Brewery. We have acquired 44 pounds of Jarrylo pellet hops from ERB at $10 per pound. We will have a Yeastside-only competition where Jarrylo is the main component in the finished beer. The winning beer will be brewed by ERB in the new year. More details are forthcoming!
Thank you for all of the hard work this year and let’s do it again in 2017!