Submitted by The Honorable Lord Madoc Arundel, Region 2 Representative of the Æthelmearc Brewers Guild:
The Brewers Guild of Æthelmearc held their annual competition at Bacon and Brewing Bash III on October 22 in the Shire of Hunter’s Home. This is the third iteration of this competition and the second time it has been used to choose a regional champion. Judging was done face-to-face with each contestant, and involved two judges using the current A&S rubric for brewing and vintning (posted on the Guild website). This year, entries were limited to beer/ale, mead, wine, and hard cider. A total of five brewers entered nine beverages for consideration, although only seven of the beverages were eligible for the championship as the other two were submitted by a competitor from outside Region 2.
The overall winner of the competition was Lady Rhiannon filia Catell of the Barony of the Cleftlands with a score of 104/120 for a cinnamon melomel that one judge was heard to proclaim “tasted like Christmas.” The winner of the Region 2 Championship was Baron Rauthbjorn Lothbroke with a score of 96/120 for an aged pyment that had an extraordinarily rich flavor.
The other entries included:
- Lord Rodrick Longshanks with a hard cider and a strawberry-jalapeno mead
- Lady Rhiannon filia Catell with a pear-vanilla mead
- Lady Caoilfionn of the Woods with two different hard ciders
- Baron Rauthbjorn Lothbroke with a kvass (Russian bread-beer)
- Lord Hrungnir of Riversedge with a raspberry melomel
Congratulations to the winners, and vivant to all the entrants. Remember – it’s not too late to start brewing for next year.