LIKE A PROUD FATHER

So today I attended my brew club meeting and brought my newest blueberry honey wheat beer there for sampling. Now the club I joined is “The Strand Brewers Club” SBC for short, they are the local club in the area, and a bunch of great guys and girls who are as passionate about brewing as I am. Also they have a number of members who are BJCP certified and in fact a man by the name of Jim W. who is rated as one of the top 40 judges in the U.S. So my blueberry honey wheat beer is fairly green, ass it was brewed a month ago and has only been aging for about a week. But I bottled one and brought it to the meeting to see if anything was wrong with it such as off flavors or recipe formulation or anything that might be wrong with it. These guys are incredible they were basically able to read my recipe back to me while only tasting the beer. “Oh so you use some crystal malt eh?” holy crap! I only used .5 lb whish is hardly any for a 5 gallon batch. Anyways so their tasting notes were great constructive criticism, but the main thing was the beer was good! They actually liked it, and thought it was a good beer Jim was the only one who tasted that I used blueberry flavoring not actual blueberry as he said he could taste the chemical-ness of the extract flavoring and while it wasn’t bad he just said he could tell I used flavoring as opposed to the real fruit. He was the only one who detected that all the others liked it and thought it was a good brew, one guy actually said I should add more flavoring; which I think I will do to get more blueberry across. So what does all this mean? Well it means a lot to me, after I poured the first sample I was nervous as the first day of school, this was it, time to see if I actually know what I am doing and my brewing process is sound enough to produce good quality beer. After the first sip I cringed a little waiting for the critique, and with a nod the first words were “this is good” and a wave of relief swept over me. Then I started pouring for everyone who wanted a sample trying to hit the BJCP certified members for more feedback. After the first 22 ouncer emptied it was unanimous, it’s a good brew! Like a proud father I stood there with such a sense of accomplishment and pride in my work it overwhelmed me. Now I didn’t cry but inside I wept a little J what a feeling to know that all this money, time, effort, and money I put into this hobby is actually worth it and my process is sound and appeals to beer aficionados is amazing. It makes me want to brew more and brew crazier. The hardest part is having sound practices and sound processes to make good beer, it takes attention to details cleanliness, and sanitation. So now having this information and knowing I’m doing the right thing and my stuff is legit I am enthused, I am excited, and I am invigorated into making more, better, and tastier brews! May ALL of you one day enjoy a BK brew!