Normally, hopeful homebrewers would gather at Bohemian Brewery with a beer in hand to hear the results. This time, entrants into the 6th Annual Lagerpalooza lager-only homebrew competition sat glued to a Facebook Live on May 12 as organizers revealed the winners.

Welcome to Beer Festivals in the Age of Coronavirus.

Even though organizers canceled the accompanying festival, the homebrew competition carried on. Numbers were down a bit — 80 entries this year compared to nearly 200 in 2019 — but interest remained high. The awards ceremony live stream had been viewed more than 400 times as of Wednesday morning.

“A lot of people from out of state didn’t send their beers, which we understand,” says Ross Metzger, co-owner of Salt City Brew Supply, which organized the competition. “We ended up with a fair amount of beer, but not anywhere near what we’ve had the last couple years, which makes total sense.”

Chaz Smith, a well-known local homebrewer, earned the Best of Show title with his Honey Lager, a beer brewed with spelt.

“Right off the bat, every one of us that were judging had one stand out to us, both in its quality and how unique it was,” says Cody McKendrick, co-owner of Salt City Brew Supply. “Right of the bat we all picked No. 1, and that was Chaz’s Honey Lager.”

Brent Cryder and co-brewer Seth Boris nabbed second in Best of Show with a Doppelbock. And Brian McKray earned bronze with his Killa Dilla Kölsch.

Winning Ways

Each beer that wins Gold in a sub-category is eligible to vie for Best of Show honors. Smith’s Honey Lager beat out eight other beers to earn first place in the “Lagers of Randomness” category, which included a variety of styles.

Smith, a member of Lauter Day Brewers, also won Gold for a Schwarzbier he brewed.

Each first-place category winner received a gift card to Salt City Brew Supply.

Steve Morgan, a member of the Central Oregon Homebrewing Organization, picked up three Golds, two Silvers, and a Bronze. He swept the “Light German Clearinghouse” category.

Rob Rutledge, a member of ZZHOPS, earned four medals overall.

Generally, attendees at the Lagerpalooza festival are able to sample the previous year’s Best in Show winner. The winning brewer is entitled to brew the beer with Bohemian brewers on the Midvale brewery’s system.

Metzger says the Bohemian is about to can last year’s Best of Show winner, a Doppelbock brewed by Christopher Robinson, and it should be available soon.

Listen to Cody McKendrick and Ross Metzger, Lagerpalooza competition organizers, discuss the event, their homebrew shop, and more on this 2019 episode of the Utah Beer News Podcast.

 Lagerpalooza Best of Show

 Winning Entries

Table 1: T1: 1a, 1b Light US Lager (6 entries)

Table 2: T2:1c, 5b Light Hybrids (7 entries)

Table 3: T3: 2a International Pale Lager (6 entries)

Table 4: T4: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5c, 7c Light German Clearinghouse (8 entries)

Table 5: T5: 5d German Pilsner (6 entries)

Table 6: T6: 3a, 3b Czech Pale Lager (6 entries)

Table 7: T7: 2b, 3c, 6a Euro Amber Lager Clearinghouse (5 entries)

Table 8: T8: 7a Vienna Lager (7 entries)

Table 9: T9: 7b, 9c, 19b Dark/Amber Hybrids (6 entries)

Table 10: T10: 9a, 9b Doppelbock/Eisbock (8 entries)

Table 11: T11: 6c, 8a, 8b (6 entries)

Table 12: T12: 21b, 27a, 27a7, 29c, 31a, 34b, 34c Lagers of Randomness (9 entries)

Results tables from the 6th Annual Lagerpalooza courtesy of Salt City Brew Supply.
Chaz Smith photo from 2019 competition courtesy of Mike Millen.