"Steve Jackson" > wrote:
> "Scott T. Jensen" > wrote:
> > See even you state that you're only sending your best to
> > the contest.
>
> Why is that surprising?

It isn't surprising. That's the whole point of this thread. I know it is
going on with the GABF.

> No brewery is going to go "What are we going to do with
> that one infected batch we had? I know! Let's enter it in a
> contest." Of course they're going to grab their freshest stuff.

From the special, it is clear that some brewmasters go beyond just sending
their freshest.

> It's sort of like how if you're going out on a date with that
> woman you've been chasing for months, you don't just
> grab your workout shorts and the t-shirt you wear when
> working on the car. You're going to dress your best.

And that's fine. What isn't fine is if you then lie to your date that you
always dress this way whatever you do. That's what I'm talking about.

> Neither move is surprising in the least.

Correct. However, it doesn't mean either is the "true" beer or person that
you'll normally be able to buy or meet.

> > Now don't get me wrong. I don't think you've done
> > anything evil or misleading. What you and the others
> > did was allowed by the GABF. It's their contest and
> > how they run it is up to them. I'm just seeking one
> > that's more likely to represent what us average
> > consumers will be drinking.
>
> That wouldn't be very fair to the breweries, IMO.

It would be more fair to the consumers though.

> Your criteria - buy the beer at a store - is unfair to the
> brewers and invites a whole new range of complications.
> Which stores do you buy the beer from? What if one
> store keeps their craft beers well, but another doesn't?
> Then the breweries represented at the latter store are
> put at an automatic disadvantage through no fault of their
> own.

See my 10/12/2003 reply to "Kevin" in this thread for how I'd have the
contest deal with this.

> And, as I mentioned earlier, what are you going to do
> about draught-only beer? Many craft breweries sell
> their beer only this way. Brewpubs, certainly. You
> going to send out armies of people with growlers, who
> then have to haul the beer to the testing site overnight
> since draught beer sitting in a growler goes south pretty
> quickly?

No, I'm not interested in a contest that takes into consider draught-only or
home-brewed beers. Just those that the average consumers can purchase
without having to be within driving distance of the brewer.

> > First, should there be a category then for homebrewers?
> > Then again, are homebrewers even allowed into the
> > contest?
>
> No, they're not, and no they shouldn't. The GABF is a
> brewery competition. There are loads of homebrew
> competitions, including the national one put on by the
> AHA (which shares the same parent as the GABF) to
> cover the homebrewers.

And I'm merely seeking and advocating one that is just done on store-bought
beers. All store-bought beers. Not just the microbreweries.

> > Second, this would be a step in the "right" direction
> > (as far as I'm concerned). I would just hope that the
> > beers selected for the shipping brewery categories
> > were store bought.
>
> See the problems outlined above. How is this better?

See my explanation above and elsewhere in this thread.

> Doubtless, some breweries are brewing special things
> just for the competition.

And that's the problem I have with such contests. That there are these
contests is fine with me. I wish them the best of luck. I'm just seeking a
contest that would be closer to judging what us average consumers can
purchase.

> Breweries do this sort of thing a lot - brewing special beers
> for festivals, contests, etc. But, usually, it's a special style or
> variety they don't often do. For breweries that have a regular,
> staple beer that they're entering, it's too much time and
> expense to suddenly brew a special batch of it.

As the special clearly showed, enough do this to, in my opinion, call into
question if who wins the GABF is regularly producing the beer us average
consumers actually purchase.

> Someone like Sierra Nevada need the pale ale to be consistent,
> and they're not going to suddenly put an inconsistent batch out
> on the market just because they want a "speical" batch for a
> contest. Doubtless some do that. But I'd say it's in a vast minority.

A "vast minority"? Anyway...

That some do calls into question the contest itself for what I seek. That's
all I'm saying.

> And, by the way, don't believe everything you see on TV. A
> good rule of thumb that most people learned years ago, but
> very applicable to beer. Most TV stories and newspaper
> articles get basic details very, very wrong (such as the NY
> Times talking about fermenting hops a few months ago).

I'm a marketing consultant by trade so I'm well aware of this. However, to
discount everything you see on TV is just as foolish. The special didn't
just have a commentator talking all the time. It had a lot of the
brewmasters speaking for themselves and showing them do their stuff. It
came across as a nicely done show that was relatively fair and balanced.
They didn't seem to have an agenda. They seems well informed.

Scott Jensen
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