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Posted on Fri, May 21, 2010 : 3:45 p.m.

Homebrew neophyte wins Grizzly Peak competition

By David Bardallis

bardallisloomis.jpg

Colin Loomis won his first-ever competition with 3Cs IPA, brewed with friend Chris and father Carl.

Photo courtesy of Colin Loomis

The 4th Annual Grizzly Peak Mug Club Brew-Off homebrew competition is in the books, and the winner, announced Tuesday, is… 3 Cs IPA, brewed by Colin Loomis, a 24-year-old relative newcomer to homebrewing.

“This was my first competition and I had very low expectations,” said Loomis, who first brewed in 2006 but didn’t really get back into it until last fall. “Our table was shocked when they announced my name.”

Loomis, along with his co-brewing friend, Chris, and father, Carl, chose to brew an IPA (short for India Pale Ale) because the bitter, hoppy style is his favorite.

“I was looking for something with a good floral aroma and a smooth taste, the latter of which can be hard to find in an IPA,” he said. “This was our 10th batch of beer, so it was a bit of a ‘eureka!’ moment when we had our first taste.”

The beer derived its name not only from the brewers but also from the ingredients: Cascade, Columbus, and Centennial hops.

Loomis, a lifelong Ann Arborbite and recent Eastern Michigan University grad in international business, is looking forward to his prize: the opportunity to collaborate with head brewer Duncan Williams to re-create 3Cs IPA on Grizzly Peak’s seven-barrel system to serve on one of the pub’s rotating taps.

“I’m very excited to scale the beer up and brew with Duncan,” he said. “It will be an experience that I won't soon forget.”

Second place went to Ann Arbor Brewers Guild veterans Jeff and Susan Rankert for their Baltic Porter, a higher-alcohol style of dark beer brewed primarily in countries like Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Poland. According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, which publishes style guidelines, Baltic porter is “derived from English porters but influenced by Russian imperial stouts [and is] very complex, with multi-layered flavors.”

“We had never done a Baltic porter,” said Jeff, a retired mechanical engineer from Milford who has been homebrewing for 18 years and, for the past six, co-brewing with wife Susan, a retired teacher. “It turned out pretty good; it’s a big mess of a black beer now. Next time we might need to go a little bigger!”

Third-place winner was Portage native and current Ann Arbor resident Paul Josuns, who is also relatively new to brewing, for his Port Au Prince Porter, brewed primarily from malt extract, with a touch of molasses.

“I've never brewed an all-grain recipe; I just don't have the time or space to do it,” said Josuns. “I eventually plan to, but for now I've discovered a few tricks to make extract brews taste better.” Josuns, a 2006 University of Michigan grad who is moving to Chicago in the fall for law school, first got into homebrewing with the encouragement of his father, who bought him his first equipment kit for Christmas two years ago.

“My life’s goal is to open my own brewery, but as my mom put it, I need to get my law degree ‘as something to fall back on,’” said Josuns. “That makes sense... I suppose.”

The Brew-Off was the second competition for Josuns, but his first at Grizzly Peak.

Congratulations to all the winners!

David Bardallis is a freelance writer and editor, blogger, bon vivant, and man about town. Visit his Web site, DavidBardallis.com, to engage his services or read his latest. Email your beer-related thoughts to annarborbeer@gmail.com, follow @dbardallis on Twitter, or join the "All the Brews Fit to Pint" Facebook page.