Results were just posted for the GAzHBC and I scored a 22.5. Not really sure if that was good or bad but it got me a bronze in my first ever compitition.

woo hoo! That's awesome man. Congratulations.

That's great. I have a few questions. I'm a wine guy, not a beer person. Only made my first beer last month. How do you eliminate the fermented yeast from the sides of the bottle? Do they mark you off for that? My beer tasted good but you could see it was amateur beer.

BIG congrats John! That's so completely awesome! What beer did you enter?

Cheers,
Dave

wyo wino wrote:That's great. I have a few questions. I'm a wine guy, not a beer person. Only made my first beer last month. How do you eliminate the fermented yeast from the sides of the bottle? Do they mark you off for that? My beer tasted good but you could see it was amateur beer.

To be honest I have no clue how they score and what the mark off for, this was my first ever competition. As for getting a good clear beer I just try to be very careful after it is done fermenting. When I move the carboy, transfer to bottling bucket, everything. As far as I know you will always have some sediment in the bottles. But like I said, when I am real careful, it's not too bad.

GuitarLord5000 wrote:BIG congrats John! That's so completely awesome! What beer did you enter?

This was the second batch of my NL Octoberfest. I am really liking this recipe. I think it will be a standard standby in my fridge.

wyo wino wrote:How do you eliminate the fermented yeast from the sides of the bottle?

First off, cold crash your beer before bottling to get your beer as clear as possible. You can also add finings at this time, if you think you'll need them. I've used gelatin, and along with cold crashing, it made my beer very clear. Second, when you rack your beer into your bottling bucket, don't take ANY of the sediment along for the ride. Thirdly, I'm guessing that as a wine guy, you store your bottles on their side, which is why you get yeast on the sides of the bottle. Store your beer upright. The yeast will compact on the bottom of the bottle, and if you are very careful when your pour your beer, the sediment will remain in the bottle.
As for judging, I can't imagine a judge taking points off in a homebrew competition for having yeast sediment in the bottle. However, if the yeast is on the side of the bottle, and ends up being poured into the glass with the rest of the beer, the judge MAY take points off for bad clarity. I say MAY, because I can't be sure, as I've never entered a competition before, but it makes sense, as there is a category for clarity in the BJCP score sheet:
http://www.bjcp.org/docs/Beer_checklist.pdf

Cheers,
Dave

Thanks, You are exactly right. I did store the bottles on their sides. The beer was quite clear but the yeast compacted on the sides. Next time I will store them upright. I used 750 ml champagne for some of the beer and they especially looked bad. The small bottle were upright in the fridge.