Club Keg Competition

Beer Comp Styles

NCHF 2025- “Vikings”

Note: The NCHF Beer Comp is not a BJCP sanctioned competition; it is more a “popular vote” event. The brewer has more latitude with style. Beers should be recognized in the style they are entered, possess the “hallmarks” of the style, and achieve appropriate balance as to malts, hops, alcohol, etc.

Sahti

Overall Impression

A sweet,
heavy, strong traditional Finnish beer with a rye, juniper, and juniper
berry flavor and a strong banana-clove yeast character.

Appearance

Pale yellow to dark
brown color; most are medium to dark amber. Generally quite cloudy
(unfiltered). Little head, due to low carbonation.

Aroma

High banana esters with
moderate to moderately-high clove-like phenolics. Not sour. May have a
low to moderate juniper character. Grainy malt, caramel, and rye in
background. Light alcohol aroma. Sweet malt impression.

Flavor

Strong banana and moderate
to moderately-high clove yeast character. Moderate grainy rye flavor.
Low bitterness. Fairly sweet finish. Juniper can add a pine-like flavor;
juniper berries can add a gin-like flavor; both should be
complementary, not dominant. No noticeable hop flavor. Moderate caramel
flavor but no roast. Multi-layered and complex, with kind of a wortiness
that is unusual in other beer styles. Not sour.

Mouthfeel

Thick, viscous, and
heavy with protein (no boil means no hot break). Nearly still to
medium-low carbonation. Strongly warming from the alcohol level and
young age, but often masked by sweetness.

Comments

The use of rye doesn’t mean
that it should taste like caraway (a dominant flavor in rye bread). The
use of juniper berries will give a flavor like gin (similarly flavored
with juniper berries). The juniper acts a bit like hops in the balance
and flavor, providing some counterpoint to the sweet malt.

Kveik Fermented

Instead of an actual style, this year we are having you brew your favorite beer with Kveik yeast

Kveik yeast quickly gained popularity in the brewing world due to it’s amazing ester aromas and quick fermentation time. Although it can be fermented in typical to high end ale temps (66F-72F), it really throws amazing tropical fruit notes in the high mid to high 80’s and even low 90F range. Typically an Ale yeast fermented up in that range would produce high levels of fusel alcohol. That’s what’s amazing about Kveik yeast, it can be fermented at high temps i.e. faster and produces a unique and very tasty beer.

On his blog Larsblog, farmhouse-beer historian Lars Garshol has discussed some of the most astonishing characteristics he’s encountered from kveik, which among these are its high heat tolerance. Kveik strains can produce beer with clean, farmhouse-qualities whether fermented at 68 degrees fahrenheit or 100 degrees fahrenheit, and usually finish after a day or two when fermented that hot. In addition, kveik is notorious for taking off quickly, and once done fermenting, will fall out of suspension and flocculate more than most common strains. These distinctive traits have encouraged brewers to begin working with kveik to produce commercial beers that blend Norwegian farmhouse profiles with familiar beer styles, like the West Coast IPA.

Preparing your beer for the Club Keg Competition

All beers are poured anonymously on our jockey boxes in the center tent (with the checkered roof, hard to miss!), with everyone in attendance voting for the winning beers in each style. The winning brewers and clubs get their names added to a trophy, on display for all to see each year at the beer competition tent. And of course, bragging rights!

A club can enter 1 beer in each category. So a maximum of 2 beers per club total, if entering both categories.

Clubs need to deliver their beers to the Competition Tent Saturday morning between 10-11 AM for check-in. If you have your keg in a fermentation-sized bucket on ice, that’s great. If not, we will put all the kegs in a cold box until hook up, then in bins with ice. We can accept 2.5gal – 5gal corny kegs–either ball lock or pin lock–no Sanke kegs!

The Club Comp has grown to be one of the most popular events at NCHF and this has necessitated a little more structure than what we have had in the past. Please note the following:

The comp will be limited to 24 beers total between the two styles (this represents our jockeybox capacity)
Competition slots will be allotted on a first-come, first served basis
Competition registration will only be through registered Club Reps
The Comp opens when the store opens.
Clubs need to deliver their beers to the Competition Tent Saturday morning between 10-11 AM for check-in.
Entrants are responsible for retrieving their kegs; this may done after conclusion of the final awards and raffle ceremony
NCHO will provide CO2

Entrant must specify:

Club name
Style: #1 or #2
Ball or Pin Keg (This is really important and speeds set up of the comp). No Sanke kegs!

Please go here and search for “keg”. Reserve this free product to register for the Keg Competition (One entry per club).