Tuesday night, Binny’s in Willowbrook held a homebrew competition.  The number of entries greatly exceeded our expectations, as we had over 80 people enter beers into the competition.  The quality of the beers us judges tasted also was well above what any of us anticipated. We would like to congratulate the winners and honorable mentions, as well as thank each and every person that entered a beer into our competition.

First Place

Tom Kelleher’s saison was true to the style, and perfectly carbonated.  It had pleasant fruity esters, and was highly drinkable.  It was the only saison entered into the competition, and the all around favorite of the judges.  Tom’s grand prize includes a 3 day and 2 night all expense paid trip for two people to Denver next year for the Great American Beer Festival, valued at $1800 dollars.  Tom is pictured on the left of the photo below.

Second Place

Tim Moreau was the runner up with his Imperial Maple Brown Ale.  We thoroughly enjoyed the maple character in Tim’s beer, but also appreciated the fact that the maple characteristic wasn’t overpowering.  This 7.5% ABV beer was a well balanced, uniquely styled brew.  Tim took home a $100 gift card as his prize.

Third Place

Bob Fernandez’s Lord River Swill Stout was the favorite stout for us judges, which says a lot because more stouts and porters were entered into our contest than any other style.  Bob’s stout was a modern one with its sweet flavor and rich, creamy body.  Bob took home a $100 gift card as his prize.

Best Label

Jason Warrington took home a $100 dollar gift card for the most creative label of the competition.  This label was for his beer Hopthemonkey.

Honorable Mentions

Jason Warrington – HoptheMonkey Double IPA

Oscar Bretana – Porter

Greg Van Dahm – Pale Ale

Bryan Ballard – Red Rye

Quinn Adamowski – Sleep When Your Dead Coffee Nut Brown

Ryan Scott – Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Rodney Kibzey – Smoked American Brown Ale

Ken Todd – IPA

Tony Lombardo – Russian Imperial Stout

We would also like to thank Sam Adams for making the Utopias toast possible, as well as providing delicious food prepared with their beers as ingredients.  We hope everyone had a wonderful time, and look forward to doing this again in the future.