S.F. Brew vs. brUBC Home Brew Showdown

On October 26th, 2013 there was a friendly competition held between Simon Fraser University’s brewing club S.F. Brew and University of British Columbia’s brUBC.  The competition was held at Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers.  This was the first Annual University Home Brew Awards Party and the winning club won the Hops Connect Cup.  Let me start by saying that both clubs made some amazing beer, with every beer poured at this event actually being an ale (from what I saw).

All beer was judged at a separate location on a different day by outside judges.  I am not sure the details on the judging but I am sure it followed the proper rules of judging for beer.  Below is a list of the beer entered by both brewing clubs.

brUBC Entries
Cranboyant Wheat Ale
Irish Red Ale
Earl Grey Ale
Honey Basil Ale
Salted Caramel Ale
Midnight Pumpkin Ale
Quakers Blood Dark Ale
Dark Wing Dark Ale
Irish Porter
Gentlemen’s Clout IPA
River Run Rye IPA

S.F.Brew Entires
Scared Witless Wheat AleApprentice ESB
Nutty Professor Nut Brown Ale
Corey’s Fist Brown Ale
Twisted Pumpkin Ale
Swamp Thing Pumpkin Ale
Pirate Pete’s Pumpkin Ale
Baristas Respite Dark Ale
A Tun of Whit IPA
Hop-A-Rella IPA
Vikings Beard Brown Ale
Mighty Brazos IPA

Before the winners were announced Daniel Collins the Managing director of Hops Connect talked about how the event came around and talked about the sponsors of the event who will be mentioned shortly.  Kevin Emms the Brewmaster at Deep Cove then talked to the entire crowd about craft beer and home brewing.  The last person to talk before the awards were handed out was Adam Chatburn the President of Camra Vancouver.  He talked on what Camra was about including what they do such as advocating for craft beer or real ale.  He also talked on the benefits of being a member such as discounts at restaurants and liquor stores that specialize in craft beer.  The last thing he talked on was cask ales.  The loosing team of this competition won a small pin cask with the promise that that club would be given a class on how to brew using a cask and how to use them.  The best thing about this event was that we were able to sample all the beer that was judged in this event!  There were so many great beer and I wish that I kept a list of what I was drinking and what I loved.  After everyone had had a good sampling of all the beer in the competition and people had listened to all the speakers it was time for the awards themselves.  Lets build some suspense and post the photos before the results!

Full Sized Photos can be found here.

I would like to now throw a shout out to all the sponsors of the event without them this event never would have happened!  The sponsors were as follows:  Hops Connect, Camra Vancouver, Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies, Bottle Jockey, Blue Smoke BBQ and Deep Cove Brewers & Distillers.  I may not have been involved with event personally but I would like to thank all of the sponsors personally for helping nurture the future craft brewers of BC!  Well its time to get onto the winners of this amazing event.  The team with the most wins overall won the Hops Connect Cup and the best beer of the event won the Best in Show award.

Best Wheat – Cranboyant Wheat (UBC)
Best Ale – Apprentice ESB (SFU)
Best Dark – Shared by: Barista’s Respite (SFU) & Dark Wing Dark Ale (UBC)
Best IPA – Hop-a-Rella IPA (SFU)
Best Open – Pirate Pete’s Pumpkin Ale (SFU)
Best in Show – Hop-a-Rella IPA (SFU)
Hops Connect Cup – SFBrew (SFU)

There were some very deserving honorable mentions as well including:

Best Wheat Category – Scared Witless (SFU)
Best Ale Category – Nutty Professor Nut Brown Ale (SFU) & Earl Grey Ale (UBC)
Best Dark Category – Irish Porter (UBC)
Best IPA Category – River Run IPA (UBC) & A Tun of Wit IPA (SFU)

A big shout out to all the home brewers at this event as they have crafted some great brews.  Keep up the great work and I hope to come to the event again next year and try your beer once again with one more year of polish!  Congratulations to S.F.Brew for winning the fist annual Hops Connect Cup.  Better keep working hard to try and defend your win!  A surprise for the winner of Best In Show was to be able to brew a small batch of their beer with the Brewmaster of Deep Cove Brewing for a commercial release!  I would like to congratulate Natasha(Co Brewed by Jill) of S.F.Brews for winning the Best in Show for the Hop-A-Rella IPA.  I hope to be able to cover the brewing of this batch of beer and its release.  Hint Hint Deep Cove and Natasha!

Click here to read story written by Student Newspaper by UBC