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The Mazer "Pun" Cup goes to...

wildaho said:
You flip my top Pete! You've got this pun thing screwed down. I might wax and wayne but you are always on top!
Click to expand...

..Leave it to Oskaar to siphon off all the good puns before the rest of us can rack our brains. It's true that many prolific writers were fueled by Alcohol, but Oskaar is the only one I know who has an Alcohol by Volume tattoo.

..There's only one person whose base is sufficient to make even Oskaar shit brix, and here I am. Puns are my game, and I've never been known to bochet. Now that I've got a captive audience... or fortified by the sounds of it, lets get one thing crystal clear... how have you all bentonite? Good. Well, let me bring you a moment of clarity, casein point; Oskaar prefers brix but if your meads don't finish with balling you're doing it wrong.

..So grab the jugs and check out the legs. I know that some of you might take offense at this braggots brilliant humor, but when you've got a sweet honey liquor, and your wood barrels been prepped... it's very hard to resist filling the bunghole.

You'll find lots of brewers share the same sediment... at the bottom of a bottle, it's traditional.

..Bear with me a sec and I'll introduce you to some dry humor.

..Sur lie that's secondary to the primary question before us... what is the perfect blow-off for this pun filled thread? to which I must answer "Get me a carboy I'm outta here."

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
 
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Then I am OK.

I have these 10 year old meads I want to get some feedback on.;D

The one has thrown a lot of sediment over the years (I think its the better of the 2) . It needs to rest upright for a while before decanting. Will that be a problem?
 
Sorry I haven't been around much lately guys, I've been off scrambling to keep afloat, my web business tanked with the economy and I'm working on a couple private projects to try to bring in some cash....if you know someone who needs a website, I have really reasonable pricing and payment plans, LOL....;D

Now, the competition. I'm working on the website, and will try to have it completely updated in the next couple days (Pete call me, need to touch base on a couple points). It will have all the rules, etc. at that point. Entries will open up at the end of February for commercial entries and in March for home entries. If you are submitting home entries and are international, contact us so we can help you make sure your entries make it in time (we can't speak for customs of course, but we can offer advice).

As the others have said, all home entries must be in plain bottles, with unmarked corks or caps, and no identifying characteristics. Be sure to include copies of your entry paperwork (the entry process will be electronic thanks to Glenn) with *all* shipped entries, so we can id your brew!!

If you have worked competitions before, as either a judge or a support person (steward, pourer, etc.), we are always looking for experienced folks to volunteer to help out. PM me or Pete if you're interested. This is a volunteer gig, there isn't any pay besides getting to drink lots of great mead (and some beers, since lots of folks bring other stuff to share), hobnob with some of the biggest names in meadmaking like Ken Schramm, and party after the competitions.

That being said, this is *only* a competition, not a tasting session or party for any who happen to be in the hotel at the time. So if you are just coming out to drink, you'll be disappointed. The awards parties are limited in size, and the folks who will be invited will be judges, staff, and invited guests. The hotel has room size limits on our awards rooms, so we have to observe that. If you want to come to Boulder, please realize that 90% of the folks there will be working most of the time, so you'll need to provide your own entertainment. In future years, I hope to see this thing expand to a trade show/festival/competition, but we're not there yet!

Vicky - who is in 'ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! :eek:' mode trying to get this thing ready....LOL
 
CarriageWorks said:
Then I am OK.

I have these 10 year old meads I want to get some feedback on.;D

The one has thrown a lot of sediment over the years (I think its the better of the 2) . It needs to rest upright for a while before decanting. Will that be a problem?
Click to expand...

Nope, it won't.

Yummy, 10-year old meads!!

Vicky - back to working on the Mazer Cup website....
 
PBakulic said:
The bottles should be standard 12 oz beer bottles that are free of labels, or raised/embossed/etched decoration or writing. They should be capped with plain bottlecaps that have no insignia, or blacked out with a black permanent marker.
Click to expand...

..Will 22 oz plain beer bottles be accepted? Unfortunately this is what all my Competition mead is bottled in, as I recall the earlier IMA Mead competitions asked for (2) 22 oz beer bottles, so everything I have been bottling for our mead competition since has been in 22 oz plain beer bottles. I'd hate to miss this because you guys changed the accepted bottle size, especially since I already have a number of batches bottled and set aside for our competition.

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
 
Well, while we are lobbying for change, I think that entries with wine bottles and corks ought to be accepted. Certainly in wine competitions that include mead it is done. Also, given that bottling with cork for longer aging may be preferred by many, it might expand the number of entries that have longer aging. I think a plain bottle can maintain anonymity.

The judges will just need to learn to use a corkscrew instead of their teeth. ;D
 
Here's the rub folks.

There is a reason for each rule. For example, having bottles larger than 14 ounces (and of differing design) can and does cause problems with handling and storage. This is especially true when trying to stack entries in case boxes. Most competitions require more than one bottle because an extra bottle will be needed for those entries moving on to the best of show round. We get over two hundred entries each year so that means we have to stack and store those bottles carefully and transport them to the competition site with a minimal of jostling and possible breakage. This takes time and people who are willing to lug the mead around. Trust me when I say, one odd sized bottle in a case just adds to the possibility of breakage during transport.

Distinctive and easily identifiable shaped bottles, colored bottles (other than brown), raised lettering etc all make the bottles easy to identify. We take very clear steps to ensure that no judges or stewards come in contact with mead that they have entered during the competition. However, this does not preclude a judge from recognizing a bottle (like a blue corked bottle, or any other distinctive bottle) of a friend who has entered. If a judge is familiar with the bottles used by a friend it introduces bias and an unfair advantage if the judge is predisposed to favor his friend's mead.

This forces us into a very awkward position when we receive bottles that aren't bottled to the standard. We have to disqualify the entry. We can't return the mead because we can't afford the shipping and don't have the materials to do so. In some cases if someone is kind enough to donate empty 12 ounce beer bottles we can re-bottle and crown cap some of the non-compliant entries. Again, this takes time, material and people resource (finding a local with a crown capper, bottles, sanitizer, siphons, etc.) we really don't have. We can also pour the mead into glasses somewhere out of the judges sight (additional glasses, stewards, handlers and possible breakage of the glasses as they're transported to the judging table) and bring it to the judging table already poured. Once again, time, resource and people that we don't have.

Most competitions can and do use two bottles per entry. The first bottle is used for the first round; the second bottle for the Best Of Show (BOS) round if the beer wins its category. Three bottles does mean that judges don’t have to save 1⁄2 bottles for Best Of Style (Mini-BOS), or second rounds. It also provides for an extra bottle in case of breakage. Three bottles also means that your mead doesn't have to sit opened and exposed to air through the lunch break and beyond if your mead was judged in the first morning rounds, and is moving on to the BoS or Mini BoS round.

Bottom line is we're doing this on a very limited budget, with limited personnel, time, and space. We need to make this as simple to manage and store as is possible with the resources we have at hand. Many of us are flying halfway across the country to be there and judge, steward, manage and oversee the event. We're also incurring the expense of doing so individually. I personally do not enter my meads in this event because I feel it is unseemly to do so, and I would rather avoid any hint of impropriety than to compromise the integrity of the event.

Even with the care we take, if I were to win a medal at this event many people would feel there was favoritism shown. We (and most other competitions) get complaints from people that their mead did not get fair consideration and that the judging was biased in favor of "friends" of the judges and competition organizers. This is one area where we are different than other "club" hosted competitions, that is, we are not a homebrew club hosting a competition in a local or geographic area, we are a geographically diverse group and the competition is club independent, so no "good old boys" network is running the show.

My advice to all who want to use their own special bottles is that most national, BJCP sanctioned competitions you're going to enter use this standard, and it's a proven and successful model. Is it perfect? Nope, but it's what we're working with at present, and that doesn't mean we won't change it down the road, but for now this represents the simplest, safest and most economical process for this competition.

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation. I'll discuss additional possibilities with our Judge Director, Glenn Exline and follow-up here on Got Mead? with our decision.
 
..Damn, so 12 oz capped it is for all future IMA/Mazer Cup competitions. Now that we've settled that... Don't go changing or I'll have to brew up a special batch of Judges Whoop-Ass Mead. What's that food that was in the news a few months ago, the one that fools your taste buds into thinking sour, acidic or bitter foods are sweet and its effects lasts a couple of hours? Ah yes, google search does it, Miracle Berry, anyway that will be the base... Bwahaha.

The "Miracle Fruit" plant, or in scientific terms: Synsepalum Dulcificum, is one of nature's "magical" products. Upon consuming Magic Berries, eating sour foods (like citrus fruits, and wine!) will magically taste sweet instead. - turning lemons into candies and wine into soda. You take a berry and leave it in your mouth for about a minute, and within the next hour, anything sour you eat will literally taste like magic (so that's how magic tastes like?).

The science behind this is that these magic fruits contain a protein called "Miraculin" that stays in your taste buds which has a (nice) chemical reaction when it comes in contact with acidic elements. Now I'm imagining a lot of parties having these magic berries around.

According to Wiki, one drawback is that the Miracle Berries can't be cooked, because miraculin is a protein and proteins lose their potency when heated. Still nice to have in those cocktails I suppose.

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
 
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Hey folks,

We're working on "Bottle-Gate" at present so we'll have an answer today or tonight. I'm updating the website and the complete rules and regs will be posted there in the next two days.

For those of you rebottling, here's what I recommend.

  • Sanitize everything really well
  • Keep both the "from and to" bottles as cold as you can
  • Use oxygen adsorbing caps
  • Flood your receiving bottles with CO2
  • Sanitize your receiving bottles and lay sanitized caps on top once flooded with CO2
  • Transfer as quickly as you can and have a second body doing the capping so you're not distracted
  • Pouring is the least desirable, funnel is more desirable, siphon is better
  • Angle the bottles to minimize splashing, foaming and general aeration during transfer when pouring or using a funnel
  • Wine shops carry funnels that are stainless steel and have angle cut tubing to minimize aeration during pouring, this would be a good investment
  • Check your seals once they're capped and again before you ship
  • If entering a still mead be ABSOLUTELY sure it is degassed when you bottle, Boulder, CO is up there and mead degases more readily at altitude
  • If you are re-bottling, re-bottle your mead and ship your mead as close to the due date as you feel is safe to ensure arrival within the cutoff date
  • If you have an Enolmatic or another bottling device that works on evacuation of the target bottle, this is a perfect application for it.
Cheers, Oskaar
 
THIS JUST IN!

We discussed the "Bottle-Gate" issue, and here's the way we feel is going to work best.

You may enter 12 oz, brown or green crown capped beer bottles. No designs, no logos, raised lettering, etc. on the caps or bottles, or your entry will be disqualified. The caps must be plain colored or blacked out with permanent marker. You may enter just two bottles if you want, however, you do so knowing full well that if your mead progresses past the first medal round there may not be enough mead to take you to BoS. You also know that if one of the two bottles is broken during shipping or transferring you're basically screwed if you have an outstanding mead that could progress to the medal and BoS round. Three bottles will CYA and get you to the medal and BoS round if your mead is judged to be that darned good.

You may also enter 375 ml, clear or green corked wine-style bottles. No designs, no logos, raised lettering, etc on the corks or bottles, or your entry will be disqualified. You may enter just two bottles if you want, however, you do so knowing full well that if your mead progresses past the first medal round there may not be enough mead to take you to BoS. You also know that if one of the two bottles is broken during shipping or transferring you're basically screwed if you have an outstanding mead that could progress to the medal and BoS round. Three bottles will CYA and get you to the medal and BoS round if your mead is judged to be that darned good.

Best of Luck, Pete Bakulic, your friendly neighborhood competition dude
 
Hi, all. I'm fairly new to mead making, but I'm interested in flying out to Boulder for the competition. I'm anxious to learn as much as I can and this seems like it would be a great opportunity to meet some masters of the craft. I haven't previously participated in or attended such a competition and would like to know if there will be be things going on for non-competitors to do (i.e. mead tastings or mead making workshops).

If this has been covered elsewhere, I apologize. I've combed through the Mazer Cup site and searched the Got Mead forum, but haven't been able to find conclusive evidence of the existence of such activities. :)
 
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Hi, fa-1397! This year since the competition is essentially being re-formed, there are no planned formal adjunct activities. However, if you are willing to work, we'll take you up on the offer and I can assure you that you'll get to meet all the mead luminaries who show up for the event. Face time with folks like Ken Schramm will be very limited (he's in demand in so many ways that we can't guarantee everyone who wants to talk with him gets that chance), but I will guarantee you that Pete, Leonora, myself, etc., will be "in your face" for most of the event! ;D

So, if you are interested in attending and helping out with tasks such as stewarding, logistics & staging, etc., please send me a PM with your name, address, email and phone number. Also let us know when you plan on arriving at the Outlook hotel in Boulder on that weekend. If you're interested in learning more about mead while being immersed in the activities of the competition we'll show you a good time!
 
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;D You beat me to it, Wayne. fa-1397, what he said. We hope to add such activities in future years, but we're in rebuild mode right now and don't have the personnel or cash to provide extra activities. However, this is usually a who's-who of the world's meadmakers, so if you don't mind working, you'll get your chance to go to the parties and meet the Folks.......
 
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