Judging again

I rise at 6:30 AM. Shower and shave, then go downstairs for breakfast.

You can probably guess what I have. Scrambled egg and cheese, followed by fruit. With mango juice and coffee. Lots of coffee.

The bus is supposed to be taking us to the judging location at 8 AM. It leaves at 8:05 AM, which is a bit of a surprise. Just as well I was finished breakfast on time. I didn’t expect the van to leave before 8:30 AM. At the earliest

I'm judging with Herlinda Heras and Joe Vogelbacher. Both Americans. Though it’s a while before we get started. Which is often the case at these events.

We're the last table to get beers. And we get one twice. And three beers are missing. Not the greatest of starts. It's Munich Helles, incidentally. There's so much messing around it's time for lunch when we're done. And we still haven't judged the three missing beers.

Lunch is a buffet, obviously. It's OK. The salads are really good. The meat is rather dry. Which isn’t uncommon in these buffets.

A breakfast of scrambled egg, cheese, mango juice and coffee.

Outside in the garden they're selling cachaca, posh coffee and chocolate. A couple of samples of cachaca liven me up a treat. Then I can't resist picking up three bottles of the stuff. Two for home, one for the hotel. And a bar of chocolate for Dolores and the kids. That only seems fair.

Cachaca!

After lunch, it's American IPA. The first one I try is pretty good. Then there are a couple of real stinkers. Literally. One smells like TCP. Lovely.

Judges judging.

English Pale Ale. One really good one. Some of the others are a bit weird. Foreign brewers often have strange ideas about how English styles should taste. Possibly, because they’re going solely from the style guidelines rather than personal experience of English-brewed beers.

I'm exhausted by the time we're done at almost 6 PM. Which isn’t unusual. Judging is very tiring. And not because of the alcohol. I defy anyone to become intoxicated during the judging process. Unless they’re a total lightweight. Or only judge flights of Imperial Stout and Barley Wine.

Samples of beer for judging.

It’s hard to explain what judging is like to someone who has never done any. Having to concentrate on every sip and analyse what you’re tasting is miles away from recreational drinking. And mentally extremely tiring.

The food is at 7:30 PM leaving me with some hanging around outside. Where I sample more cachaca. And some of the nice coffee. I then use my plastic coffee cup to drink some of the unaged cachaca I bought at lunch time.  It’s full of alcoholey goodness. And not beer.

Tea is another buffet. What a surprise. I have some salad, a little rice and a sort of beef stew. Which is quite nice. The best meat dish I’ve had so far in the buffets here. The first one that hasn’t been as dry as fuck. I guess that would be pretty difficult with a stew. I’m sure they tried their best, though.

Buffet stew.

After eating, I get an Uber back to the hotel. Even though it’s only 8 PM. I haven't the energy for any more socialising. And, after a day’s judging, I don’t feel like I’ll ever want to drink a beer again.

When I get back to the hotel, Walter and his wife are waiting to take my Uber back in the opposite direction.

I drink some hotel cachaca and watch YouTube. I turn in at about 11 PM. I’ll need to be up again by 7 AM. And to be nice and fresh for a hard day’s judging. And giving a talk. Then there’s the bottle share. It’s going to be a busy day.

The cheap cachaca is my sleepy time chum. 

Disclaimer: my flights, hotels and most meals were paid for by the Brazilian International Beer Awards.