The 8th annual Siciliano's Homebrew Party was held at Townsend Park on Saturday, May 14th. The weather was a little on the chilly side with a bit of rain here and there. It made no difference though, most people brought their own shelters or were able to set up on the porch of the picnic shelter. The park was packed with homebrewers from all over Michigan, each with plenty of their own brew to share with others. Members from Primetime Brewers and BOTL were there with their keg systems. Food provided by Siciliano's Market and entertainment from local blues legend Jimmie Stagger made the day extra special.
The MOB was able to set up on the porch next to the people from BOTL. We had a banner made and this was the first time that we were able to display it. We received a lot of positive feedback from people at the party, seems that a few people heard the shout out that we received on The Brewing Network.
The MOB had three members in attendance that entered beer in the contest. Tim Borreson entered a Dunkelweizen, Ross Zigenthaler entered an Extra Special/Strong Bitter and Russ Smith entered an American Stout.
The awards were given out after dinner and The MOB had a pretty good showing. Tim Borreson's Dunkelweizen, a very good beer in our opinion, did not medal but the feedback on the score sheet is invaluable. The American Stout submitted by Russ Smith scored a 42 out of 50 and won a gold medal. The Extra Special/Strong Bitter from Ross Zigenthaler scored a 46 out of 50 and also won a gold medal.
Once all of the medals were passed out, the winners of the gold medals were invited back up to the stage for the announcement of the winner of The Best Of Show award. The winner of this award not only gets bragging rights forever but they get their name engraved on the coveted Siciliano's Cup and they get to brew their beer at The Hop Cat in downtown Grand Rapids.
The announcer said that because there were so many excellent beers they had to limit the contenders for the Best Of Show to those with scores of 46 and higher. Since I had a score of 42, I was not going to win but Ross was still in the running. After a brief pause to build the excitement, they announced that the winner of the Siciliano's Market 2011 homebrew competition Best Of Show was Ross Zigenthaler. Ziggy "The Hauler" hauled one in for The MOB! Way to go Ross!
The MOB has put the homebrewers in this area on the map! Once Ross' beer is finished at The Hop Cat there will be a release party that The MOB will have to attend. We'll have more information on that later.
Thanks to Siciliano's Market and Jimmie Stagger for a truly memorable day, you guys really know how to throw a party! The MOB is proud to be a part of this event and we are looking forward to next years' homebrew contest. Congratulations Ross!
