Winners Announced in Alaskan Brewing Homebrew Competition

From Alaskan Brewing:

Juneau, Alaska (October 16, 2017) – The Alaskan Homebrew Competition was held this Saturday, as judges sampled 130 different beers that came from across the state of Alaska, and from 20 states. There were beers, ciders and meads judged in 14 categories, and special recognition was given to the best beer made with a challenge ingredient, Sitka spruce tips.

Judging was conducted under Beer Judging Certification Program rules, with a majority of the judges recognized as beer judges by the BJCP. Judging is done in a “blind” manner so that the origins and brewers of each beer are unknown to the judges.

Best in Show was awarded to a Märzen from Anchorage called “Life on Märzen” that was created by Michael Cragen. Winner of the Challenge Ingredient category was a spruce tip beer from Dillingham, Alaska made by Glenn Martin. For his Best in Show win, Cragen will receive $500 in cash, a trophy, and a trip to Juneau to come and brew with Alaskan Brewing Co. brewers. Challenge Ingredient winner Martin will also receive a trophy and a trip to Juneau to brew at Alaskan Brewing Co.

Rounding out the Best in Show winners in second place was a Sour Beer from Chandler, Arizona called “Douze Hommes Sour” made by Christian Chandler, and in third place was an American Pale Ale called “Cold One for the Boyz,” made by Arvid Koval and EJ Peters from Anchorage.

“We were especially excited by the number of terrific entries from across Alaska and across America,” said Alaskan Brewing spokesman Andy Kline. “Adding the Challenge Ingredient portion of the competition which focused on Sitka spruce tips, also increased interest, and we were happy to see nearly 60 entries that qualified for that portion of the competition.”

Alaskan Brewing provided bags of Sitka spruce tips to hundreds of homebrewers across the country in order to challenge them to creatively use the versatile ingredient.

Full results of the competition are below. For more information and updates, check out Alaskan Brewing Co. online at www.alaskanbeer.com.

2017 Alaskan Homebrew Competition
Place	Flight	Name	Name of Beer	Beer Style	City	State
1	Wheat and Blonde Ales	Jerry Nankervis	Sun Kissed Wheat	American Wheat Beer	Juneau	AK
2	David Howard	WFT Blonde	Blonde Ale	Juneau	AK
3	Alec Venechuk	I Actually Prefer Brunettes	Blonde Ale	Juneau	AK
BOS #1	German	Michael Cragen	Life on Marzen	Marzen	Anchorage	AK
2	Alec Venechuk	Narrow Escape	Munich Dunkel	Juneau	AK
1	English	Jeff Michalski	The Graduate	English IPA	St. Louise	MO
2	Daniel Gialanella	Resting Bitter Face	Strong Bitter	Boonton	NJ
1	Brown Ales	Alec Venechuk	Muskeg	American Brown Ale	Juneau	AK
2	Jerry Nankervis	AG Brown Ale	British Brown Ale	Juneau	AK
3	Anthony Strupulis	Sacrificial Brown	American Brown Ale	Anchorage	AK
1	Lager	Tristan McCoy & Kyle Jung	Opa Atem	Kolsch	Tacoma	WA
2	Michael Cragen	Czech Yer Self	Czech Premium Pale Lager	Anchorage	AK
3	Michael Cragen	Helles Other Beers	Munich Helles	Anchorage	AK
BOS #3	Pale Ales	Arvid Koval & EJ Peters	A Cold One for the Boyz	American Pale Ale	Anchorage	AK
2	Mitch Knottingham	Bunsen	American Pale Ale	Juneau	AK
3	Elisha Logan	Mercy Pale	American Pale Ale	Eagle River	AK
1	Fruit, Veg. Beers	Eric Minor	Backyard Berries	Fruit Beer	Anchorage	AK
2	David Howard	Kurt Almost Died Watermelon Wheat	Fruit Beer	Juneau	AK
3	Addison Lippert	Bullfrog’s Mustache	Spice, Herb, or Veg	Federal Way	WA
1	Stouts	Mitch Knottingham	St. Oke’s Day Stout	Irish Stout	Juneau	AK
2	Anthony Strupulis	Russian Imperial Stout	Imperial Stout	Anchorage	AK
3	Michael Cragen	The Antagonist	Imperial Stout	Anchorage	AK
1	IPA	Casey McGinley	AK IPA	American IPA	Juneau	AK
2	Colt & Jenny Thiel	Bateleur	Specialty IPA: Session	Bailey	CO
3	Nick Carson	Sitka Spruce Black IPA	Specialty IPA: Black IPA	Belgrade	MT
1	DIPA	Alec Venechuk	Double IPA	Double IPA	Juneau	AK
2	Eric Schiff	Summer, Don’t Go	Double IPA	Fairbanks	AK
3	Michael Cragen	Double Vision	Double IPA	Anchorage	AK
1	Belgian	Mike Rozema	Plum Smugglers	Belgian Dark Strong Ale	Sparks	NV
2	Will & Manuela Robinson	Trippel Nippel	Belgian Tripel	Juneau	AK
3	Evan Brill	FLP	Saison	Louisville	KY
BOS #2	Sour	Christian Chandler	Douze Hommes Sour	Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer	Chandler	AZ
1	Aged, Smoked	Grant Ficek	Gin-Soaked Tart	Specialty Wood-Aged Beer	Juneau	AK
2	Kent Ficek	Feral Nessie	Classic Style Smoked Beer	Juneau	AK
1	Mead, Ciders	Will & Manuela Robinson	Mosiac Cider	New World Cider	Juneau	AK
2	Lou Logan	Oaked Sweet Mead	Sweet Mead	Juneau	AK
3	Shannon Martin	Shannon’s Dry Cider	English Cider	Soldotna	AK
2017 Special Ingredient Challenge – Spruce Tips
	Name	Name of Beer	Beer Style	City	State
Challenge Winner	Glenn Martin	NO NAME	Spice, Herb, or Veg Beer	Dillingham	AK

Winners Announced in Alaskan Brewing Homebrew Competition

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