Mihail Ferko from Slovakia won the first prize of the Fourth International Competition for Home-brewed Beer. He impressed the jury and the tasters with his dark and highly alcoholic Ice Bock beer. That alcoholic beverage has a rich malt taste, sweetness, a slightly bitter aftertaste and indulging fruity flavor. His other TBD (to be discovered) beer was only a vote away from the victory-most tasters attending the event described that beer as a beverage with a very high potential for development.

The producers of homemade beer competed in the following categories: Belgian Wheat Beer (Wit), strong lager beer (bock), smoked beer (Rauch), American-type beer (IPA, Indian Pale Ale) and experimental beers.

While tasters were trying to reach an agreement which of all ninety types of beer was the Grand Champion, the visitors had a far-more relaxing afternoon. Nearly 400 liters of home-brewed and craft beer welcomed the visitors in Sofia's Terminal 1club and people drank as much as they wanted. 

The Chairman of the Bulgarian Homebrewers Association Temelko Pampov told Radio Bulgaria details about the beer competition and how beer is brewed in home conditions.

“All types of beer presented at the competition were of exceptionally high quality. The finalists were evaluated by a competent jury including Ludmil Fotev, Svilen Kirilovski, Yordan Chenkov, Peter Bognar and others. The Grand Champion was selected very difficult. All five beers that reached the final had the potential and the quality to become winners. It is very difficult to find strong beers on the local market. The amateur brewers make everything alone, including the brewing equipment. When home-brewed beer is ready for consumption and shared among friends, it is always a topic of discussions and quite often attracts new fans.”

I was slowly sipping on my fourth pint of beer, a glass of English Ale, and spotted the most cheerful group of people - the Society of Collectors of Beer Artlicles in Bulgaria.

Their coordinator Ognyan Asparuhov shared his opinion about the event with Radio Bulgaria and told us about his own beer collection:

“The good news is that each year the number of the participants at the beer competition is on the rise. Therefore, the number of beers participating at the contest has increased as well. It enriches the beer culture of the Bulgarians. I liked the stout the most. I collect beer pads and have over 12,000 pads from different countries. My colleagues collect beer caps, labels, cans, glasses, openers, etc. Beer is what unites us. Good beer goes well with a nice company. I hope that soon I will be able to buy some of the beers I tasted today in the local shops. Some of the winners in previous beer competitions already opened small brewing factories and make their fans happy. One such beer is the Seagull beer made in Bulgaria's coastal city Varna, or the Blek Pine beer made in Gorna Banya.”

The long queues in front of the beer stands were really long and often mixed with each other. However, there were no grumpy people. The power of beer is obvious - it creates comfort and positive emotions. Vasko who is an amateur brewer has more:

“I arrived at the competition led by amateur and professional incentives. I want to acquire basic skills here and later use them in my undertaking. Everything was a hobby in the beginning. Initially, I did not receive the support of my parents, because I used the house pots. My first attempts were not that successful, but later I started to brew in a professional manner and constructed my own brewing facilities, in order to produce a better-quality product. It feels great when you share beer with friends and receive their recognition.”

Homebrewing has been attracting more fans recently and the participants at the beer competition said that the thrill and the emotion from every home-brewed beer are unique. The stereotype that beer was a man's drink fell into pieces, because there was a strong female presence both in the jury and amidst the amateur brewers. However, the winners in all categories were men only. Ivan Vukov won the Belgian Vit competition. Mihail Ferho's beer placed first at the beer bock contest, Hristo Tsochev's beer won the competition in the category of American IPA beers. Kiril Zmirchiyk's beer was the best smoked beer (stout).

The Fourth International Competition for Home-brewed Beer ended with the award ceremony, many smiles and wishes of good health and of course. Cheers!

English version: Kostadin Atanasov