This year’s Hot ‘N Humid homebrew competition was filled with challenges. From losing our home brewery to nearly record heat during judging, and overlapping judging sessions with the National Homebrew Competition, completing this year’s competition seemed overwhelmingly daunting.
But with the dedication of our club members, a lot of help from our Florida homebrew club friends, and the generosity of Home State Brewing Company to host our judging weekends and event, we managed to pull it off!
Once the smoke cleared and the air cooled down, we judged 284 beers, awarded 111 medals, saw an unexpected shift in the circuit leaderboard, and made history…again.
Congratulations to our club winners:
Chris Hallowway- Gold – Weissbier & Gold – Saison
Clint Shannon – Silver – Munich Helles
David Moss – Gold – Schwarzbier & Gold – Irish Red
Eric Gomez- Silver – Specialty Wood-Aged Beer
Eric Rodriguez – Gold – Catharina Sour
Gracianry Miranda and Co-brew Austin Harris- Silver – Commercial Specialty Beer
Ian O’Keefe – Gold – Imperial Sout
JJ Ocampo – Gold – Semi-Sweet Mead & Bronze – Cyser
John Sather Silver Fruit and Spice Mead
Justin Hefferan and Co-Brewers Stephanie Sagal – Gold – American Light Lager & Gold – German Pils
Ken McChord Bronze – American IPA & Gold – Historical Beer
Kevin Mernan Silver – American Barleywine & Gold – Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Khrysti Hunsworth Silver – American Lager & Bronze – Irish Stout
Luiz Quiroz – Gold – Wee Heavy
Matt Hunsworth – Silver – Specialty IPA
Max Furth – Gold – Specialty Wood-Aged Beer
Mike Thompson – Silver – Tropical Stout
Nathan Kraemer – Bronze – Kolsch
Trevor Gold – Silver – Dark Mild
William Carley – Gold – Experimental Mead
And huge congratulations to our Best of Show Winners in Beer AND Mead/Cider:
Max Furth – Gold Best of Show Beer – Specialty Wood-Aged Beer
Ian O’Keefe – Silver Best of Show Beer – Imperial Stout
Ken McChord – Bronze Best of Show Beer – Historical Beer
Eric Rodriguez – Honorable Mention Best of Show Beer – Catharina Sour
William Carley – Gold Best of Show Mead/Cider – Experimental Mead
JJ Ocampo – Silver Best of Show Mead/Cider – Semi-Sweet Mead
This marks only the second time in reported history that a club in the Florida Homebrew Competition Circuit has swept the Best of Show Beer awards. The first time was also by Brewers Anonymous at the 2023 Best Florida Beer Competition.
With the success of our brewers, Brewers Anonymous took 1st Place Heavy Medal Club and regained the circuit lead for the first time since the 2024 Coconut Cup this past March!
Thank you to everyone who came out and helped with this year’s event!
We hope to see more member engagement next year as we work to improve our judging sessions, awards ceremony, and online presentation for next year.
Special thanks to the Brew Club of Seminole County and Central Florida Home Brewers members for lending a hand. And extra special thanks to the Cowford Ale Sharing Club (CASK) for all their help getting a massive start to our judging!
Cheer!
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