I want to try to explain just how awesome this event was. I flew quite a ways to get to this, and frankly (even with airmiles) it wasn't cheap (compared to those who came in from Europe though I've got nothing to complain about!). It vastly exceeded my expectations and I had what I thought were unrealistically high expectations to begin with. Aaron was a great roommate, and everyone who I managed to identify as Gotmead members were very nice people.
Up until this event I had tasted maybe 5 or 6 meads that weren't my own, by the end of it I probably had tasted in excess of 100 meads (proudly managing not to get too intoxicated in the process!).
Having the chance to listen to judges evaluate meads( and there was roughly 15 times as many judges as I'd expected), especially while I was a table steward and tasting along, seriously must have increased my ability to discern distinct flavours and aromas in meads ten-fold. Before I had perhaps 0.1% the skill of those fine folks, now I can proudly say I estimate myself closer to 1% of their abilities!
Everyone who did not enter meads this year, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to enter some next year. The judges are very serious about being honest, but are also extremely kind in their responses, when they say their goal is to encourage people and help them improve they MEAN IT! Even seriously flawed meads I saw only constructive criticism being written down.
If you've considered attending to volunteer, consider it even more in the future! It is as amazing an experience as it could possibly be in my opinion.
Everyone who is not a patron of this website, I don't often say this, but if you can afford it you should do it. This website and that competition in my humble opinion represent the future of meadmaking, and it is impossible to overstate how important it is to keep both going into the future.
Special thanks to Vicky (who was wonderful), Oskaar (also great), Wayne (how much of your time it must take to handle those entries boggles my mind), Dani (spelling?), the list goes on and on with names of people who put in so much work running that competition and this website that I cannot commend them enough. For any who are unaware, the Cup and this site are SERIOUS hard work for a lot of these people, and they do it with not nearly enough thanks. I would be a poor meadmaker if not for these folks!
For everyone who did enter, I would encourage you to post the results of your score sheets in your brewlogs so that others may learn from them (with the judges names removed of course for privacy's sake, and I would wait until after the winners are anounced). Now, only do this if you're comfortable though, don't let me pressure you into it if you are not!Regardless of how well you did, it is valuable information for yourself and others, last year I saw far too few people sharing this great information. I will be posting mine, and I can tell you right now it wasn't all slaps on the back and praise that I received!
So anyways, that's pretty long winded of me. Once again, a from the heart thank you to everyone who put such staggering amounts of work into making such a wonderful event, and wonderful website.
Up until this event I had tasted maybe 5 or 6 meads that weren't my own, by the end of it I probably had tasted in excess of 100 meads (proudly managing not to get too intoxicated in the process!).
Having the chance to listen to judges evaluate meads( and there was roughly 15 times as many judges as I'd expected), especially while I was a table steward and tasting along, seriously must have increased my ability to discern distinct flavours and aromas in meads ten-fold. Before I had perhaps 0.1% the skill of those fine folks, now I can proudly say I estimate myself closer to 1% of their abilities!
Everyone who did not enter meads this year, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to enter some next year. The judges are very serious about being honest, but are also extremely kind in their responses, when they say their goal is to encourage people and help them improve they MEAN IT! Even seriously flawed meads I saw only constructive criticism being written down.
If you've considered attending to volunteer, consider it even more in the future! It is as amazing an experience as it could possibly be in my opinion.
Everyone who is not a patron of this website, I don't often say this, but if you can afford it you should do it. This website and that competition in my humble opinion represent the future of meadmaking, and it is impossible to overstate how important it is to keep both going into the future.
Special thanks to Vicky (who was wonderful), Oskaar (also great), Wayne (how much of your time it must take to handle those entries boggles my mind), Dani (spelling?), the list goes on and on with names of people who put in so much work running that competition and this website that I cannot commend them enough. For any who are unaware, the Cup and this site are SERIOUS hard work for a lot of these people, and they do it with not nearly enough thanks. I would be a poor meadmaker if not for these folks!
For everyone who did enter, I would encourage you to post the results of your score sheets in your brewlogs so that others may learn from them (with the judges names removed of course for privacy's sake, and I would wait until after the winners are anounced). Now, only do this if you're comfortable though, don't let me pressure you into it if you are not!Regardless of how well you did, it is valuable information for yourself and others, last year I saw far too few people sharing this great information. I will be posting mine, and I can tell you right now it wasn't all slaps on the back and praise that I received!
So anyways, that's pretty long winded of me. Once again, a from the heart thank you to everyone who put such staggering amounts of work into making such a wonderful event, and wonderful website.