Competitions/Judging
April Social Meet-Up at Empyrean
Join us for a fun social meet-up at Empyrean Brewing Co. on Wednesday, April 25th from 5:30 to 7:30pm – We’ll be hanging on the middle floor in the Employee Lounge in the Coffee & Spice Bldg.
More details to come soon.
May Club Meeting
We’ll see you at The Happy Raven on Thursday, May 3rd for our monthly club meeting from 6:00 to 9:00pm – the Club Business portion will take place at 7pm.
Five Brewers In Arms teams will be presenting their SMaSH beers, so come prepared to taste and vote on your favorite Single Malt and Single Hop beer, brewed with 2-Row plus a hop and yeast strain of the team’s choosing! Best beer’s team wins a little somethin’ somethin’. Tasting will run 6:30 to 7:30pm, results announced at 8:00pm.
May “Crock-Pot Social” at Zipline
On Sunday, May 20th from 1:00 to 3:30pm, come hang out with us at the Zipline Taproom on Magnum Cir. and bring a snack or dip or something to share!
No need to do anything super-fancy, we’re going for low-key snacks and stuff here: chips and salsa, artichoke dips, cheesy potatoes, cocktail weenies, cookies, you know… – Whatever kinds of hors d’oeuvres you like to munch on in the afternoon or early evening, at a party or watching the game, etc.
We’ll see you at The Happy Raven on Thursday, April 5th any time after 6:00pm – Club Business will be held at 7:00pm – and you can look forward to a great Tech Talk on kegging beer from our resident hardware guru Jason McLaughlin! Homebrew is allowed in the South (big) room only – Please don’t take your homebrew with you through the doorway to the bar/serving area – And please do not bring any commercial beers in respect for our host.
If you have a Scottish Ale to submit for the April Club-Only Competition judging, please register your beer entry and then bring it to the meeting by 7pm. See you then!
P.S. Please continue to register your Shootout Club Round entries and also sign up to help judge/steward. Refer to the previous blog post for information (right below this one).
Entry registration is now open for the 2018 Nebraska Shootout Club Judging Round.
Fill out the online registration form to sign up – You must click through all 8 pages and press Submit. (If you do not receive an email confirmation after you register, then you didn’t fill the form out completely!)
- You must be a paid Lincoln Lagers club member to submit entries the Shootout club round.
- This year’s Shootout styles are Czech Lager, Scottish Ale, American Amber & Brown Ale, Strong Belgian Beer, and SMaSH Beer.
- You can enter one beer per each SUB-category. You can also enter one beer into the Best Damn Beer (BDB) contest.
- We need (1) 12oz bottle for the Club Round judging.
- All entry bottles are due by Friday, April 13th at the latest. Give your entry to Chris E.
- If you advance to the Shootout, you will need to fork over (2) more 12oz bottles.
- The top two entries in each category will represent the Lincoln Lagers in the main competition, held on Sunday, April 22nd.
We need your help judging the club’s Shootout Beers!
Judging will be conducted on the afternoon of Sunday, April 15th.
We will be working at Turbine Flats on the 2nd floor in their new co-working space.
Enter through the door at the corner of 21st & Y St. Go up the stairs, then hang a left.
Judges & stewards, please arrive between 1:15-1:30pm, we will try to start on time right at 1:30pm. If you cannot make it until a later time, please contact Chris, as we may be able to set a category aside for folks who can show up later in the afternoon. Depending how many entries we get, we might have to split it up into two rounds – We’ll know more soon.
We need at least 12 judges and 4 stewards, but many hands make light work – we want everyone we can get!
Fill out the online Judge/Steward sign up form to register. (You should receive an email confirmation after you register. Contact Chris if you don’t receive one.)
The Nebraska Shootout needs judges and stewards, too!
You can sign up to help at the main Nebraska Shootout event by clicking here. Open the drop-down Register menu at the top, and select Judge or Steward to get started. Judging will be held Sunday, April 22nd at Kros Strain Brewing Co. at 8:00am.
The March Social Meet-Up will be held on Monday, March 19th at 5168 Brewing (5730 Hidcote Dr.) and featuring beers on tap brewed by our very own Brian Hoesing. Come join us any time after 5:30 pm, we’ll be there until the cows come home (or rather, until we all wander off).
Please note: Homebrewed or other commercial beer is not allowed at social meet-ups.
The April 2018 Club Only Competition sign-up form is now live – Register your Scottish ales, then bring them to the April Meeting on 4/5/18 at The Happy Raven. You’ll have your beer evaluated by qualified beer judges and you’ll receive written score sheets in return.
Club meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month, at The Happy Raven from 6 to 9 pm. (Club Business will begin around 7pm). Homebrew is welcome at monthly club meetings, however we ask that you do not bring commercial products to bottle-share.
Presenting Brewers In Arms #7: “SMaSH The Competition!!”
It’s time for the next installment in the Brewers In Arms Project, where we group brewers together into teams and assign them a fun task to complete together, requiring them to combine their ideas, ingredients, equipment, and techniques to brew a unique batch of beer and share it with the club! We are looking for 12 to 20 people, who will be split into 4 teams of 3-to-5 people each. Sign up today – Don’t wait around!
This Challenge’s theme is: Brew a beer using only one malt plus only one hop.
We will provide the malt, which you must use. You provide the hops of your choosing + everything else!
Want to participate? Click here for the full challenge rules & important dates – and to sign up!!.
Sign up closes on Sunday, March 4th! Teams will be announced on Monday, March 5th. Sign up extended through Noon on Tuesday, March 6th. Teams will be announced late Tuesday or early Wednesday, with malt pick up available immediately after.
Club-Only Competition:
March’s competition will cover Amber & Brown Ales. More specifically, we are judging the following six styles:
- 13A. Mild Ale
- 13B. British Brown Ale
- 13C. English Porter
- 19A. American Amber Ale
- 19B. California Common
- 19C. American Brown Ale
So if you want to have your beer judged at the next full meeting, you need to get to brewin’ (if you haven’t already). Like any other competition, you’ll need two full bottles for judging. For more information click here!
Monthly Club Meeting:
We’ll be going back to a set schedule again this year to try and wedge in some predictability into our business meetings. Find us on the first Thursday of every month, at The Happy Raven. Meaning March 1st will be the next full-on meeting from 6 to 9 pm. (Club Business will begin around 7pm).
Homebrew is welcome at monthly club meetings, however to we ask that you do not bring commercial products to bottle-share.
2018 Club Dues:
That’s 20 bucks for you veterans and 30 dollars for any first time members (you get a piece of club apparel!). Find Terry at the meeting; give him money.
This year’s Sower’s Cup Homebrew Competition is rapidly approaching! If you have not already signed up, please go register as a steward, judge, or volunteer and help us make our third year of the competition another huge success! This year we’ve raised the entry cap to 500 – and we reached it!! We have a ton of work ahead of us, and we can’t do it without all of you!
Entry Labeling Night – Tuesday, October 4th at 6:00pm
Pre-Judging Session – Check-in Friday, October 14th at 5:30pm
First Judging Session – Check-in Saturday, October 15th at 7:30am
Second Judging Session – Check-in Saturday, October 15th at Noon
Ticketed Beer Pairing Banquet Dinner – Check-in Saturday October 15th at 5:30pm
Awards Ceremony – arrive around 7:00pm / starts at 7:30pm on Saturday October 15th – all Lincoln Lagers are welcome to join us!
Clean-Up Day & Social Meet-Up – Sunday, October 16th from 2:00-4:00pm
Volunteer Sign Up Sheet: http://goo.gl/forms/
Judge/Steward Registration: http://www.lincolnlagers.com/
Want to do both? Complete both forms, please!
More info: www.lincolnlagers.com/sowers-cup/
Saturday, April 2nd
12:00pm – 2:30pm at Ploughshare Brewing Co.
Judges Needed!
We need at least 10 people to evaluate beer, plus 2 or more for mead & cider. Many hands make light work – We’d like more than one pair of judges per style, in case we receive a lot of entries.
Register Here To Judge Beer <- Fill out this form to help judge beer!!
Entering the Nebraska Shootout Club Round:
To enter, you need to submit (1) bottle of your beer to the Club Judging Round, plus you must have at least (2) more bottles of that same beer ready to go for the statewide competition if you are chosen to advance and represent the Lagers at the event!
You can drop off your Club Round homebrew entries at Ploughshare during regular taproom hours on the week of 3/28-4/1. Give them to the bartender and they’ll add it to the Club Round box in the cooler. Make sure you have some form of identification rubber-banded to your entry! We suggest you use the BJCP Bottle ID Form for both the club round and the main event.
(You don’t have to fill out the entire address section, just make sure you’ve got your Name, and all of the Beer Information present!)
Nebraska Shootout Main Event:
The Nebraska Shootout will be held on Sunday, April 10th at Benson Brewery in Omaha.
Judges & Stewards are needed!
To sign up as a Judge or Steward for the Main Judging Round, fill out this form.
Judge Check-In is at 9:45am. Judging begins at 10:00am and we hope to announce results live around 1:00pm, right after all judges are finished and BOS has been conducted. They have arranged for a food truck on site to buy some lunch from while you wait for results.
It’s time again for the annual Members Only Club Picnic and – along with it – the Lady Lagers Mead Contest!
Here’s what you need to know:
Date: September 19th – which is the Huskers’ only Away game in September, vs. Miami, FL.
Time: Food is ready around 5:30pm – You can come as early as 5pm, stay until Tim T. kicks you out (or 10:30-ish).
Place: Tim T’s house – If you don’t know where that is, watch for an email to go out between now and then (or check the Club Forum!).
Dinner details:
The club provides the main course – which is still TBD right now! Check back soon.
Members are invited to bring their favorite appetizer, salad, fruit, side, dessert, or what-have-you. (Hint: If you bring fresh baked bread, we WILL eat it all!)
Bring beer, mead, cider, or wine to share! Especially if it’s homebrewed!
Want to bring a KEG?
There are a few open spots on the garage kegerator – we just ask that you message Tim T. so he knows to expect you and your beer. Please bring a bucket & ice — the garage fridge is broken, but it still POURS beer just fine!
Mead Contest details:
– Limit 1 Mead per Person! Bring one bottle (At least 12 oz.) of your finest, best mead! Any vintage – whether 6 months or 6 years old – is welcome! Clean, fruited, funked, whatever your single best batch of mead is, bring us a bottle of that.
– Limit 12 Entries Total! First come first served, get your mead to the party as soon as you can!
– Limit 12 Judges! Calling all Lady Lagers – this competition is just for the ladies!
We are looking for 12 female Lagers members/wives/moms/sisters, etc. (All of legal drinking age, of course!) to put your taste to the test as you try our mead entries, and you will decide together which ONE mead rules them all!
– The winner gets a Lincoln Lagers’ Trucker Hat and bragging rights for the next 12 months!
Entertainment:
Check back soon… we’re working on it!
Club Merchandise:
If everything goes as planned, we expect to deliver all of the 2015 Lagers Merchandise at the club meeting! If you ordered merch, be sure to find Chris Evans and pick it up!
If you owe us money for any high-dollar or extra items you may have ordered, please bring cash, a check, or message Chris Evans in advance to pay with PayPal.
We’ll see you in September at the Picnic!
Big shout out to the one and only Doug Finke – brewer extraordinaire – for sealing the deal on our Lincoln Lagers Big Brew Challenge contest. He took on 13 other brewers’ creations – all of which were brewed using the Ploughshare Brewing Co. Farm Boy base wort – and his bad-to-the-bone Honey Braggot dominated the competition!
He has since brewed his scale-up batch of Braggot with Matt Stinchfield – and they report that, after adding 36 Lbs. of Hickman, NE honey – it clocks in at a whopping 11.5% ABV.
Look for Doug’s Braggot on tap at Ploughshare Brewing Co. during the Sower’s Cup weekend! Cheers!
- American Homebrewers Association
- Benson Homebrew Club – Benson (Omaha), NE
- Brauer Unterstützungs Verein – Omaha, NE
- Kansas City Biermeisters
- L.A.G.E.R.S. – Louisville, KY
- Local 402 Brewers Union – Omaha, NE
- OmaHops Brewing Club – Omaha NE
- Railroaders Brew Club – Omaha, NE
- South Omaha Brewers – Omaha, NE
- Benson Brewery – Omaha, NE
- Farnam House Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE
- Gottberg Brewery & Pub – Columbus, NE
- Infusion Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE
- Jaipur Brewing Company – Omaha, NE
- Lucky Bucket Brewing – Omaha, NE
- Nebraska Brewing Company – Omaha, NE
- Schilling Bridge Brewery & Winery – Pawnee City, NE
- Scratchtown Brewing – Ord, NE
- Thunderhead Brewing – Kearney, NE
- Upstream Brewing Co. – Omaha, NE