Home-brewers' Conference competition winner gets US trip
Nelson, New Zealand, April 2018 — Nelson home-brewer Colin Smith has won the biggest home-brewing prize ever offered in
New Zealand - the dream prize of a lifetime with a free trip to the biggest home-brewing festival in the world.
An entrant into BrewMania, The New Zealand Home-Brewers' Conference home-brew competition, Colin will be flown off to
Portland, Oregon to attend Homebrew Con in June 2018 thanks to the support of sponsors, Gladfield Malt and The
Grainfather.
Colin says “I still can't quite believe it! I am absolutely stoked. I want to give a massive thankyou to the prize
sponsors Gladfield Malt and The Grainfather. It's quite fitting, as I brew all of my beers on the Grainfather using
Gladfield Malt - so I couldn't have done it without them.”
Brewmania organiser, Mike Stringer said, “This year’s BrewMania competition attracted entrants from all over the
country, all motivated by the chance of winning the prize. This is the third time the BrewMania event has been held and
the quality of the homebrew increases every year.”
Colin’s three beers - a Porter, an IPA, and a Raspberry Wit - were all served at a ticketed, public judging event in
Nelson. Each of these beers survived an elimination judging round, before his three beers went up against one other
brewer in a head to head knock-out selection. Along with eight other survivors of the public judging, Colin’s beers were
then blind-judged by a panel of home-brew experts from the USA.
The judges thought all of Colin’s beers were well brewed, balanced, and were impressed with the range of different
styles he had presented.
Judge Denny Conn from Eugene, Oregon said,”The BrewMania competition format was unlike anything I have seen anywhere
else in the world! It is a great way to turn a beer-judging event into a fun and educational social occasion. I can see
this idea being really popular in the US”
2nd place in the competition was awarded to Grant Smith from Wellington, and third place was picked up by Pete Norris of
Auckland.
The New Zealand Home-brewers' Conference is owned and operated by BrewEvents Ltd, a team of passionate home-brewers
dedicated to promoting quality home-brewing in New Zealand.