Scott Jardine's dream of one day seeing one of his beers for sale will soon become a reality after he took out The Coastal Brewing Company/FnT Brew and BBQ Supplies 2020 Home Brew Competition.
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The Hallidays Point home brewer will step into Coastal Brewing Co's Forster brewery next week to produce a commercial quantity of his German-style Maerzen, which was deemed the top drop from the 18 beers that were entered into this year's competition.
His second time entering the annual event, Scott said he was fairly confident he'd brewed a decent beer but was still blown away when he saw the result on Facebook.
"I had to look back at it three or four times," he said.
"I was kind of shocked."
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Scott developed the beer over 18 months, brewing five or six versions before he entered it in the competition.
A malty lager that is typically clean and dry with a touch of sweetness, Scott says it can be hard to get the balance of flavours right with a Maerzen.
"But it feels like I got the balance right with that one," he said.
I think my best beers are the German lagers.
- Scott Jardine
With Scott's mother living between Australia and Germany, the 29-year-old has spent time in Deutschland over the years and says he enjoys drinking German-style beers, which reflects in his home brewing.
"I think my best beers are the German lagers," he said.
Scott has been honing his home brewing skills for the past six years, making a variety of beers in his garage with a 'fairly simple' setup, and has also turned his hand to making his own bread.
"I just like making my own stuff," he said.
"There's a lot of trial and error involved."
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Since news broke of his win, Scott says a number of friends have been on to him to try the Maerzen, but unfortunately he's got none left.
But he can't wait to get into Coastal Brewing Co's brewery to replicate it at a commercial level.
"I'm so excited about doing that," he said.
One thousand litres of Scott's beer will be produced and it's expected to be available in a variety of bottle shops and pubs around NSW from November.
Last year's inaugural Coastal Brewing Company Home Brew Competition winner, Phil Woods, saw his lamington-flavoured dessert stout - named the 'Smiths Stout' - not only sold commercially, but go on to win the best dark beer at the 2019 Australian Heritage Hotel Beer Festival.
Mr Woods then served as a judge of this year's home brew competition alongside Coastal Brewing Company owner and brewer, David Black.
Mr Black said Scott's beer was a reasonably clear winner.
"It had the right balance of being malty and sweet," he said.
"It ticked all the boxes for what a Maerzen should be."
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