Today I went out to Antioch to bottle beer for the state fair craft beer competition. Last year we took home 3 medals, two golds and a bronze, and we won “Brewery of the Year”. Not bad! Honestly, we are very proud of how we stacked up against some of the best breweries in the state (and the country for that matter). Last year there were 139 breweries and over 550 beers entered in the competition. I am really looking forward to seeing how we do in this year’s competition.
We will be entering our beer as Morgan Territory for the first time! It is a good opportunity to get the new brand out there and get some exposure. Even though we are entering as a new brewery name, I feel like we have a title to defend.
The scoring system in the competition works as follows. A gold gives you three points. A silver medal gives you two points and a bronze gets you one point. You are eligible to score points on your first six entries. A brewery can enter as many beers as they wish, but only the first six count to your point total. You can still win a medal for your extra submittals, but you do not score on them. Interestingly enough there was another brewery last year that would have won Brewery of the Year if you counted out all the points for their medals, but they entered more than six beers and medaled on some of their extras. So there is some strategy involved if you are going to enter more than six beers. You want to make your six beers that can score you points your best beer.
Honestly, I’m not sure how we’ll do this year. It’s not that I don’t care, its just that there is so much else going on with moving the brewery and building out a new facility. But we do have a title to defend and brand to represent. Time to start winning Morgan Territory some accolades and step out from the shadow of Schooner’s (even though we are still the same.