IPAs, stouts, a weizen, porters, ciders and more were examined by the eyes, noses and – most importantly – palates of six judges. This was the Southcoast Homebrewers Association's first homebrew competition held Wareham's Wines and More in West Wareham.

This diverse group of beers were separated into five categories: malty, hoppy, stout/porter, other and cider.

42 beers were scheduled to compete: five in malty, seven in hoppy, eight in stout/porter, 18 in other and four in cider.

First and second place beers were recognized in each category. A “best in show” award was given to an Imperial IPA. The brewer will receive a private VIP tour of the Samuel Adams brewery for up to six people.

Scores were out of 50: 12 possible points for aroma, three possible points for appearance, 20 possible points for flavor, five possible points for mouthfeel and ten possible points for overall impression.

A successful brew had to meet the American Homebrewers Asssociation’s/Beer Judges Certification Program’s description of its category. For example, an American IPA had to meet a set criteria for an ideal American IPA’s aroma, appearance, flavor and mouthfeel.

Judges would first observe the beers' appearance, gazing into the brew- looking for color and clarity, among other things.

Then, they would put the brew to their nose and sniff or waft it to check for the aroma of different flavors.

Finally, the beer would be sipped, swished in the mouth and swallowed. The pallet would judge flavor, while the throat and parts of the mouth would gauge mouthfeel.

Among the judges were Samuel Adams employee Ryan Kelly. This was his first time judging, but he was unfazed by having to judge so many different brews.

“I think it’s easier to go over broad styles,” Kelly stated. “It would be more difficult to judge a series of similar styles like going from a pale ale to an IPA to an American IPA.”

Another judge was Southcoast Homebrewers Association member Jesse Ellis.

“Judging appeals to my analytical side,” Ellis said. “The better the judge you are, the better the brewer you are.”

While the judging process may seem confusing, the homebrewing culture can be laid back. This is epitomized by the Southcoast Homebrewers Association.

“It’s a very loose group. We don’t have offices, or take any kind of dues or anything,” Wareham resident and Southcoast Homebrewers Association co-founder Scott Schluter explained. “We’ll come up with an idea to do a group brew event, and one person will host it. We’ll get all the ingredients, put it together… bring food and brew and eat. Everyone brings their own beers or commercial beers. We’ll taste them all and just kind of hang out.”

George Dionne, of the Wareham Police Department, entered his homebrews with the intent of improving his brews through professional criticism.

“I entered a black IPA and a cinnamon nut brown ale,” Dionne said. “I just wanted to hear some opinions.”

Schluter helped organize the association’s first homebrew competition at Wines and More in West Wareham. He also entered his own brews into the competition- one of which holds special meaning.

“I do one for the celebration of my brother’s passing just before Christmas, so I do a brew every year at the same time: the day he died. It’s a spruce porter,” Schluter said. “It’s got this Christmas feel to it. The spruce, when it’s boiling, it smells like a Christmas tree.”

“It was my younger brother. It was a car accident. There was black ice that night. He was out in his jeep, and there were a lot of accidents that night,” Schluter said. “He ended up crashing on Red Brook Road, and died instantly.”

Schluter said the incident had a deep impact on the family. The accident happened when his brother, Marc, was 16 years old.

“It was 20 years last year, so a couple years before that we started to say, ‘let’s get past this. Let’s turn it to not be a bad thing anymore,’” Schluer said. “So, I was like, ‘why don’t I do a beer in his honor?’”

The spruce porter takes about four hours to brew, four weeks to ferment and then one to two weeks to carbonate.

Now, Schluter has entered his first competition.

“I normally don’t do competitions. I brew for me,” Schluter explained. “I’ve been a do-it-yourselfer for everything: gardening and it kind of progressed into beer and wine and ciders.”

Schluter’s reasoning for entering his brews was not competitive.

“Being that we were the sponsor club, we wanted to get enough entries in, and hopefully make this successful so we could do it again next year,” Schluter explained.

For his first-ever entries, Schluter entered his apple wine cider and spruce porter.

The apple wine cider took second place in the cider category, while the spruce porter took first place in the specialty category.

Anyone can take up the hobby of homebrewing. The process can be easy or very intricate, depending on the process used.

To get in touch with the Southcoast Homebrewers Association, find their facebook group at: http://facebook.com/groups/southcoastbrew/ or email schbama@gmail.com

The group presently has over 100 members.