Titletown Open XIII

I swear I'm getting stupider in my dotage. I didn't realize until this morning that I didn't eat last night, consuming my nutrition in liquid form instead. The thing that triggered this memory was the enormous pounding in my head that woke me up before sunrise already. I grabbed a couple of bagels in the hotel lobby, drank 94 gallons of water, and stopped by Walgreen's to stock up on aspirin on my way to Titletown Brewing and the Titletown Open Homebrew Competition XIII.

If you've never participated in a beer competition before, these pictures should give you an idea of what goes on; they're a lot of fun. I've participated in this one every year since 1999, and I can't wait for next year!

The judges at work

Mike Conard, Competition Organizer

Near table: Judges Dave Taylor and Trevor LaRene. Far table: Judges David Oldenburg and David Siegel

Near table: Judges Jason Johnson and Richard Stueven. Far table: Judges Jeff Bushner and David Malcolm. Background: Stewards Ryan Loock and Bob Ferguson

Entries awaiting their turn

David Siegel sleeps off the first round

The Best of Show Round

The winners list should be posted at rackers.org any minute now. Thanks to Official Competition Photographer Dan Rogers for taking the pictures!

We all hung around at Titletown to enjoy some of David Oldenburg's fine beers. David was a local homebrewer who started working at Titletown a couple of years ago as an assistant brewer, and he got the head brewing job last July. I didn't try all of the beers, but he was pouring a Mild, a Scottish Ale, and an IPA that were all very clean and tasty. David, his wife Lauren, and I went out for the traditional post-competition sushi at Little Tokyo, just around the corner from the brewery. After a terrific meal and a bottle of Tiger beer, we dropped by Hinterland Brewing, conveniently located right across the street from Titletown. Brewer Joe Karls was offering a couple of really nice oak-aged beers, one of which was flavored with coffee.

And on that pleasant note, we all headed home.

Tomorrow: Back to Columbus, which isn't worth writing about.