2001 Tri Nations
Brewing
Championship

Introduction

The inaugural Tri Nations Brewing Championships were held in Australia at the Casino Canberra on Saturday 24th November.

What a top event it was. Every aspect was handled with efficiency and class by the Canberra brewers. The venue, the pipe band that announced the commencement of the event and the guest speakers - all hinted that something special was happening. We had enourmous interest from the press, with the Canberra times, radio stations and local TV all scrambling for interviews. I have never seen an event generate so much interest, or show craftbrewing in such a good light.

The judging was formally opened at 3.00 pm by the Canberra MLA Mr Bill Stefaniak after an address from the First Secretary of the New Zealand High Commission, Ms Priscilla Clarke.

The nominated entries were the top 3 brews from each of the respective countries. Australia's entries were the top 3 point scorers at the 2001 Australian Amateur Brewers Championships recently judged in Melbourne. For the first time ever, an international competition has been held between the best beers from 3 countries. This was an unique event.

The beers were judged against the style guidelines of the US based Beer Judge Certification Program as this was the major internationally published set of guidelines. The scores are out of 200 - 4 judges each marked the beer out of 50 points.

A trophy for the champion beer was crafted out of wood (Tasmanian Oak and Redgum), stainless steel and a rubber bung - materials that have been the mainstay of CraftBrewers for centuries.

The entries, with links to the BJCP style guidelines are listed below:

What immediately stands out is that these are all big distinctive beer styles which made the judges' task very interesting.

Results

The winner of the individual section was New Zealand: Russian Imperial Stout - Graeme Mahy. The Tri Nations team competition goes to Australia, with the highest combined score.

The trophy was accepted by the First Secretary of the New Zealand High Commission, Ms Priscilla Clarke on behalf of her fellow countryman.

Described as " Strong dark / burnt character...Intense and complex" and "This is a nicely crafted Ale", Greame's beer kept us all hanging.

Pipped at the post the was the 2001 Australian Championship's winner, a Belgium String Ale brewed by Aussie John Stratzen. John was clearly in the lead till the last beer, Greame's, was judged.

Bronze was taken well deservedly by fellow Aussie Martin O' Connor with his Strong Scotch Ale. Comments by the judges were "Good, chewie...Excellent example."

Out of 200, 5 points only seperated the 1st and 3rd places. With such a high quality of beers it made judging both a difficult and rewarding process. Congratulations to all the brewers on their efforts. To represent your country at the highest level of brewing is a unique and well deserved honour for all brewers.

The full results are:

Receipes

Graeme Mahy has generously shared his winning Imperial Stout recipe.

Anyone who wants to try a 'kick ass' Imperial Stout recipe, here it is. Note the basic recipe which reflects my philosophy on brewing, 'keep it simple'.

For 17 litres finished volume, EBC=??( very dark and who's counting), IBU =78, OG very high (who wants to waste 100ml of wort to check this!), FG 1015

4.2 kg Marris Otter Pale Malt
500gm Roast Barley (1100 EBC)
200gm Crystal (150 EBC)
500gm Flaked Barley ('Healtheries' brand from your local health food shop)

3tsp Chalk (Calcium Carbonate) added to mash (based on Hamilton water which is very soft and doesn't have much of anything in it)

Mashed 1hr at 70c, approx water/grist ratio 2.5:1

To kettle add 300gm Raw sugar.

Boil for 90 mins adding hops to schedule below (note I only use flowers not pellets):

40gm (6.5 AA) NZ Pacific Hallertau for 75min boil
20gm (6.5 AA) NZ Pacific Hallertau for 60min boil
30gm (4.5 AA) NZ Goldings for 60min boil
30gm (4.5 AA) NZ Golding for 30min boil

Fermented with Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast at 24c (approx 4 days ferment time)

After fermentation add to CT and condition for 4 weeks at 0-2c, add finings last few days to clear.

Here's the interesting part: When bottling add 3/4 tsp of white sugar (thats not interesting!) and 2-5ml of Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager Yeast slurry (no questions why I did this because just sounded like something different to do) to the bottle. Of course if you are a bit more organised than me you can add the sugar and yeast to the CT before bottling. It was 4 weeks in the bottle when judged in NZ and 7 weeks in the bottle for Aus - I expected it to take much longer to mellow out a bit.

As you can see it is very basic but worked very well.

Any questions - just ask

Who made this possible

Many thanks must go to all who have worked hard to bring this to fruition and made this a major event. In particular Ant Hayes, Scotty Morgan, Brian Myers, Keith Menefy and Stephen Neilsen who started the initial planning.

On the day Stephen Neilson and the mad bunch of brewers that make up the Canberra Brewers club worked hard to make sure everything was catered for. I have never seen such enthusiasm nor sense of clean 'ol fun that these guys strive for.

Our thanks also goes out to

* Ms Priscilla Clark and Bill Stefineik our welcomed dignitories.

* David Lee - Davis's generouisity and patience in providing a great venue to hold the Championship has set the bar very highly for next year.

* Judges - Richard Pass, Gary Hancock, Wes Smith and David Lamotte for working thru the beers with precision and expertise.

* The Wig and Pen's Head Brewer, Richard. Richard not only shared his hostpitality with us at the end of the comp and let us admire all things stainless and beuatiful in the brewery!

Finally on the whole Craftbrewed beer was one of the biggest winners on the day. To see such enthusiasm by the brewers involved, the enormous potential for this trully International event and the coverage recieved makes brewing beer at home better bit off than it was but a mere few days ago. This is an important thing that we all must strive for.