[DrJohn]

We’ve discussed this at more than one AGM. Could we just invite votes for a ‘Brewery of the Year’? We could invite votes from members for this.

[TheBeerNut]

Yeah, OK. How do you want to run it? Same positional voting system as Beer of the Year, or just name one? And how may awards are we giving out?

[DrJohn]

Preferably PR, but just thought it might simplify things selecting a brewery by vote rather than a beer (which proves difficult). We awarded a ‘Brewery of the year’ based on the ‘beer of the year’ vote before.

[TheBeerNut]

For sure it’s easier by brewery rather than by beer, though less sustainable: most people’s favourite brewery this year was also their favourite last year and will be next year.

Do we give out one award, winner and runner-up, or gold/silver/bronze?

[DrJohn]

I haven’t thought this through! First thought – winner only. Who would be pleased with a ‘second best’ award?

[DrJohn]

Also, does it matter if people’s favourite brewery is on repeat? Is that not democracy? 😊

[TheBeerNut]

Fair point re second best.
Democracy has its place, but it can get very boring when combined with leisure pursuits like drinking beer.

[Lugh Longhand]

The problem with the beer of the year awards was the countrywide distribution
Dublin gets almost all the beers brewed in the year
In the sticks we are at the mercy of less tap space and managers who don’t have an interest in craft but are led by their supplier
Could we set up a suitable judging panel something like the strange brews crew?
Breweries would submit a beer for an award to be distributed to the judging panel,.who would keep independent notes
The panel could meet at the end of the year to compare notes/scores and award beer of the year based on that
This could be a meeting open to all members to ensure transparency and a good day out

[TheBeerNut]

Sounds good, but how do we do it in practice? What is the Strange Brews crew?

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by TheBeerNut.

[Lugh Longhand]

Sorry for the late reply John
What I mean by strange brews crew is the judging panel for the strange brews festival
I am thinking of a distributed system where a panel of judges is set up to taste beers
2 or 3 people per style who taste the beer and make notes the notes can then be collated and scored
Best in each category or possibly beers that achieve more than a certain score go through to a final live judging

[TheBeerNut]

Gotcha. Getting people into a room judging beer is, I think, less of an issue. It’s getting the beers to them, and the timing.

So say we set a date for the judging. Are we asking breweries to send beer for that specific event, or are we collecting them for the whole year beforehand? Either you have beer sitting around getting old, or you’re only judging the beer available at one moment in time. Which is less worse?

[irish_goat]

I like the idea of doing some sort of award, but I don’t think we can call it ‘Beer of the Year’ if the beers are all judged on the same day.

What about creating a Hagstravaganza award?

[TheBeerNut]

With all due respect to the fine brewers of our proud nation, I’m least inclined to drink Irish at that event.

[irish_goat]

Fair point. Could pick a more Irish centric festival, if one is being planned.

[TheBeerNut]

This is how we started: it was all done at the Franciscan Well Easter Fest in the early years. There weren’t many Beoir members in attendance last year, though. I guess Bruce’s September festival would be the more obvious choice.

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