2nd Annual Slow Food Tufts Brew-Off!

Yes, spring is in the air. The piles of gritty snow are finally almost gone, brave tulip and crocus shoots are poking up, and yes, the smell of freshly-brewed, and quietly fermenting beer is in the air. Or at least it is in my closet, where I have my freshly minted batch of homebrew fermenting away, just in time for this year's second annual SLOW FOOD TUFTS STUDENT HOMEBREW COMPETITION!

Calling all brewers and brewer-curious folks in the Tufts graduate student community! Get your worts started now, as submissions to enter the brew-off are due April 1st! More details on how to enter are below (and in case you missed the fun of last year's competition, I've included a brief write up and photos of the event).

Slow Food Tufts Brew-off and Beer Luck!

Thursday, April 28

5:30 to 7:30 pm

Jaharis Cafe - Boston Campus

What is a brew-off?

A brew-off is a fancy name for a student home-brew competition- ALL Tufts graduate students, including Slow Food Tufts members, are eligible to enter. Don't have your own equipment? Collaborate and enter with a friend! Beer will be judged by a panel of expert brewers and beer aficionados. Prizes go to judges' and student favorites. Brewers must submit at least 1- 6 pack or 3- 22oz bottles of their home-brew, but are encouraged to bring more to share!

What is a beer-luck?

SFT's twist on the traditional potluck - instead of a dish to pass, bring your favorite beer to share with others!

How to enter the competition...

In order to officially enter the brew-off, email your name, school/program and type of beer you'll be brewing to rachael.kirk@tufts.edu by APRIL 1st! Any entries received after this date cannot be guaranteed entry into the competition.

Sarah Kasten, Rachael Kirk, Bridget McElroy, Juli Obudzinski

Brew-off committee

Highlights from Slow Food Tufts 2010 Brew-Off...

Over 100 graduate students from the Frieman, Dental, Medical, Fletcher and UEP Schools crammed crammed into the Jaharis Cafe on the Boston campus on April 29, 2010, for our first ever graduate student homebrew competition! Even former Dean Irwin Rosenberg showed up to partake in all the beer tasting festivities!

The brew-off started with a general tasting, where students, accustomed to the nature of Slow Food events, filled up their own tasting mugs/thermoses/mason jars/dixie cups with 2oz samples of beers that were entered into the Brew off. Students also brought various and sundry beers to contribute to the Beer-Luck, so rest assured, there was plenty to imbibe in.

18 homebrewers entered a total of 16 beers in the competition, which were judged in 3 separate categories.

Group 1: Ales, Pilsners, Blondes (India Pale Ale, Honey Blonde, Classic American Pilsner, California Common, Pale Ale and an India Red Ale)

Group 2: Belgian/Wheat (Belgian, Ginger Wheat, Belgian Triple, Weizenbock, and Heffeweizen)

Group 3: Darks (German Alt, Porter, Altbier, and Gingered Pale Ale)

Our esteemed panel of judges included Randy Baril, owner of the Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge; Joe Connolly, beer buyer at Gordon's Liquor in Watertown; David Lytton, certified beer judge and tour guide at Harpoon Brewery; and Bert Boyce, beerologist at Samuel Adam's Brewery in Jamaica Plains.

Beers were judged on aroma, flavor, appearance, mouthfeel and overall impression. The winning brews included the Pale Ale, submitted by Friedman students Vladamir Kustanovich and Jesse Roberts, the Belgian Triple, submitted by Dental School student Scott Recksiedler, and the Gingered Dark Ale submitted by UEP student Alex Reisman.

Prizes included Samuel Adam's merchandise, a selection of collectors edition craft brews, gift certificates to the Cambridge Brewing Company, Lord Hobo, and the Modern Homebrew Emorium.

Last year's brew off was an absolute blast, and proved to be THE perfect way to wind down an otherwise chaotic spring semester. So mark your calendars for this year's competition - THURSDAY APRIL 28TH, and if you're thinking about brewing, submissions are due the week after spring break on FRIDAY APRIL 1ST.

Let the brewing begin!