Earlier this year it was the London and South East Craft Brewing Competition, organised by the London Amateur Brewers. With 250 entrants and over a 1000 beers it was the biggest to date and the standards were exceptional.
Having just completed my provisional BJCP beer judging course I was eligible to judge alongside a qualified judge. The category allocated was Fruit and Sour beers, a particularly challenging flight due to the variety of styles. Oak-aged Cherry Barley Wine, Watermelon IPA and Lemon and Ginger Saison were just a few of the creations on the table, which makes for interesting judging when there's thirteen beers...at 9.30am.
The winning beer in our category was the Cherry Barley Wine, it was sublime, and went on to place 3rd in the overall best of show. And while the judging was great experience, the highlight of the festival for me this year was placing 3rd in the Stout's and Porter's category with my Vanilla Bourbon Porter. To top this off I was ranked 10th overall with my 7 entries. Pretty chuffed, as I'm sure you can tell.