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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:13 pm
by Buccaneer
I really liked the spice. I only used a tiny, tiny bit, though. It comes through very subtley.

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:31 am
by mdentremont
So do we have to include the record/rationale when submitting? It's not in any of the forms.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:51 am
by PMackie
Doesn’t look like it, I am dropping off now and all you do is sign the sheet, give your beer name and drop off the beer.


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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:23 pm
by GCR
PMackie wrote:Doesn’t look like it, I am dropping off now and all you do is sign the sheet, give your beer name and drop off the beer.


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I think you are supposed to give the album name and rationale when you drop it off... we did anyway. I thought it said in the form that it would be part of the preliminary judging...

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:30 pm
by PMackie
The Sheet asked for beer name, not album name. The Guys in hopyard didn't seem to know so if I get disqualified it is what it is.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:42 pm
by mdentremont
From what we could infer, the beers will be judged based on BJCP before the final 6, and then the record choice and presentation are part of the gala.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:12 pm
by PMackie
mdentremont wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:42 pm
From what we could infer, the beers will be judged based on BJCP before the final 6, and then the record choice and presentation are part of the gala.
This is what I understood as well.

How did everyone's beers turn out anyway. I did an English Porter which turned out really well. The Togarashi in it is really throwing me off though. I put a table spoon and a half in the boil at 5 minutes, didn't feel there was enough flavor. So I did secondary for a week with another table spoon as dry hop. It really took the flavour on this time, I am just hoping not too much. Has some heat which is nice in a porter.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:21 pm
by mdentremont
I also did an English Porter, shied away from the spice though. I'm really happy with the results, hopefully it isn't too boring compared to all the cool beers others have likely concocted

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:55 pm
by Celiacbrew
Nothing boring about a porter! Just try to find a brown porter at the liquor store.

I went historical and made burton ale. I’m happy enough with it but it varies from bottle to bottle depending on how deep into the keg the pour was. The beer I’m driving at the moment is delicious. First few pints off the keg had some metallic/astringent aromas that have gone away.

I think I will rebrew with a different yeast...maybe Voss kveik or wlp006. S04 is one of my go to yeasts but Ive been tasting the so4 twang too much in my malty beers lately.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 11:02 pm
by amartin
I’ve never tried one of those burton beers, I guess because you don’t see them at the store and I forgot about them until now. I’ve never been too big on high FG beers, but that one sounds kind of interesting, and I’m a sucker for historical beers. How did it turn out?

I don’t worry about a beer being boring by any means, so long as it’s good. I don’t think mine was particularly adventurous. I did have to enter it as experimental though, because I couldn’t find a category for it. There’s always a place for porter. I keep four taps on the go, and there’s almost always a porter on one. If a hug was a beer, it would be a porter.


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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:49 am
by Celiacbrew
Im also a sucker for historical beer. It is bitter and tastes like brown which for me is about perfect.

Shut up about Barclay Perkins has had a few on their let’s brew Wednesday series which is what got me interested in the style.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:31 am
by Buccaneer
Ha, I also did a porter, but it's halfway between English and American. I used the togarashi in a dry hop fashion.

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:33 am
by GCR
We did a dopplebock and a barleywine - didnt use the spice in either. Ended up choosing the barleywine to submit.

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:31 pm
by GCR
Good luck to all the finalists! We didnt make the cut. Some great beer names there... and clearly at least a few were brave enough to use the spice!

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:33 pm
by D.Pepper
Made the finals with Crazy Game of Porter- that was definitely a bet on the spice!

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:38 pm
by Naboo
My beer didn't make it through to the last 6. I'm not surprised to be honest. I added the spice to a Brown Ale that had a lovely roasty flavour from the Carafa 3 as a dry hop for the last few days. The end result was the spice destroyed the roast character without adding anything much to the flavour. I entered it anyway to see what the score would be but I'm not happy with it myself.

Best of luck to those who made the finals!

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:42 pm
by ackes
Good luck to everyone who made finals. I ended up making an Old Ale (no spice), that I was pretty happy with - alas, no luck this year.
Hopefully will be able to go to finals to see what everyone came up with !


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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:08 pm
by mdentremont
No luck here either. By any chance, does anyone know if BJCP forms are made available to those who do not place?

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:20 pm
by PMackie
I made the finals with Togarashi Heat Porter. As Mr. Pepper said, it was a gamble with the spice. I almost didn't enter because the first few days on keg the spice was little overwhelming but it mellowed a bit and my two friends convinced me to put it in anyway. Now I I have to get out of my comfort zone and do a presentation.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:00 pm
by LiverDance
mdentremont wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:08 pm
No luck here either. By any chance, does anyone know if BJCP forms are made available to those who do not place?
Yes, I believe they will be.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:49 pm
by velvetelvis
Excited for this! We made it through as Japanese Breakfast.

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:39 pm
by Buccaneer
I'm through with Ulla.

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Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:15 pm
by mumblecrunch
Congrats to all who are through to the finals!

My California Common bottled with Togarashi called "I Want You Umami" didn't make it. I built the beer to coincide with an album (Cheap Trick at Budokan)and I probably hit it a little hard with the spice to get the sesame to come through and justify the name.

I'm very curious what albums people were pairing with their beers!

Also, did anyone else use either the Columbus hops or the Sorachi Ace and wonder whether they might have been mislabeled? I am almost positive my labels were backwards (although I was using equal amounts of each at the same times so it didn't matter to my recipe).

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:44 am
by Naboo
mumblecrunch wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:15 pm

Also, did anyone else use either the Columbus hops or the Sorachi Ace and wonder whether they might have been mislabeled? I am almost positive my labels were backwards (although I was using equal amounts of each at the same times so it didn't matter to my recipe).
I used the Sorachi Ace but its the first time I've used that hop so I wouldn't know whether it was right or not. I will have to open both bags and have a sniff to see if I can identify which is which

Re: Black Box Challenge

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:06 pm
by D.Pepper
I found when I stuffed my nose in the Sorachi Ace bag, I could smell dill and lemongrass.

I thought that might make an interesting lager with the single hop- I think Sapporo uses it in their beer. I added a little dry hop for character as well. The lager I made tastes and smells straight up like the hop did. If you're looking for something a little off the beaten path, would recommend.