Last week, I was selected to participate in the Iron Brewer competition that is organized by Peter Kennedy of Simply Beer. This competition has been going on for a while now, with the first round of the first batch taking place in May, 2010 (Erik Lars Myers of Mystery Brewing, in Hillsborough, NC, competed in batch #1, round 5). We are now in the 3rd batch of competition, and I will be competing in round #3.
Each “batch” of competition consists of 6 different “rounds.” In each round, 7 brewers compete to create the tastiest beer using 3 unique ingredients for that round. After 6 rounds, the winners face off to see who will be the champion of the batch.
In this particular round, the three ingredients that we must feature in the beer are ginger root (dried or fresh), agave syrup/nectar, and biscuit malt. I am going to write a post about each of these three ingredients in the coming weeks as I research them, but obviously they are all very unique, so the challenge is to create a recipe that is not only delicious, but that can successfully combine three very different and very distinct ingredients.
I have already begun researching my recipe, and I will post it once it has been submitted to the competition, but needless to say, it has already proven to be quite a challenge.
To keep up with the progress of the Iron Brewer competition, visit their website. And be sure to check back after mid-July, once the recipes and brewer bios are posted. Then swing back in September to see who brewed the winning beer for this round. There will also be a live podcast with all of the participants (I will add this to our event calendar).
And if you think that you’re up for this kind of challenge, then you can sign up on their website to be notified when the next round is being organized, and maybe you will be the next “Iron Brewer!”
