1st Quarterly Brew Off

Friday has now past and has closed the chapter of the first company homebrew extravaganza! The party was a huge hit and thanks to the company we also had about 12 pizzas to serve the crowd (which went quick!).

Two days before the brew off I was talking with one of the other brewers about our preparations. I had my keg o' beer. I had my bucket. I even had enough red solo cups to host the largest game of beer pong ever. My brewing buddy asks, "have you tested your draft system?" Test? I've got a CO2 canister that hooks directly to my gas post, and a faucet that hooks directly to my liquid post? What is there to test? Well...

That night I was studying for my PE examination (kinda like the BAR). Behind me the hum of my kegerator called. I can be made pretty paranoid. And since my coworker mentioned my draft system it had been eating away at my confidence. So fine. I put down my materials and got together my parts. Hooked the gas up, no problems. I hooked the faucet up and before I knew it beer was bubbling up through the disconnect. Not out through the faucet, not from underneath, but through the disconnect.

I instantly thought about those crazy cooking shows. Every show there's someone who decides to use a pump. That pump never works. I always find myself pissing off at the television, saying things along the lines of "if you're going to compete on television why the F$%* wouldn't you test your $10 toy pump???" And there I would've been. Helpless at the competition, people gathering around for their first pour, and I would have beer shooting out of a seam I didn't know existed.

Well I fixed it. Turns out you can dismantle those disconnects. After about an inch of teflon tape (a recurring theme in the homebrew world) our leak is fixed. So then I tested my keg. Beer's good. Carbonated. But not hoppy... strange for an IPA... I study my system for a second and realized I tapped the wrong keg. Which brought me to my next revelation: my oak beer doesn't taste like rotten wood anymore!!! Joy!

The rest of the story goes off without a hitch. Friday morning I strapped my keg in for it's first ride to work. The clock hit 11:30 and I was off to get some ice. Fresh ice that is, right off the truck at the local 7-11. I helped the other brewers set up and the competition was underway. Everyone was more then happy to "fairly" sample at least each beer before voting. I proudly say I came in third after a very tight race for first. Of the four brewers the votes were tallied, 13-12-10-4. For a while there was a tie for first. So congrats Paul. I'm coming for you crown, and I won't sleep till I get it!!! Until next time!!! It's on....


If you have an idea how we should improve our competition, lets hear it! Post below!