The homebrews served at the festival were evaluated by a judging committee, who selected their favorites and crowned the year’s Norwegian champion in corn beer brewing.

The committee consisted of (from left to right in the picture above):

• Per Øyvind Arnesen, chairman of Norbryggs judging committee.- Linda van Loon, Dutch microbiologist at Eik & Tid .- Amund Polden Arnesen , brewer at Eik & Tid, Norway’s first beer sommelier and responsible for training Norwegian beer sommeliers.- Dag Jørgensen, former brewer and owner at Voss Bryggeri.- Sølvi Strifeldt, beer blogger and certified beer judge.- Lars Andreas Tomasgård, traditional brewer and two-time Norwegian champion in corn beer brewing.

3rd place: Thor Humberset

Thor took 3rd place for the beer “Kok”, a “homebrew” (a beer in the style from Hardanger, Voss and Sogn) at 9% fermented with #1 Sigmund. Thor has had several strong placements in previous years as well.

The judges said the following: “A beer with strong caramel aroma, spiced and with some floral notes. The taste has strong sweetness and plenty of caramel flavor, and has a good bitterness. This is a good and balanced beer.”

Thor won a sack of Stjørdalsmalt from Jogeir Svee Halland and a signed copy of the book Norsk Tradisjonsbrygging , which comes out in April.

2nd place: Kjell Arne Bjørdal

Kjell Arne won second place with the beer “Smakløyså”, a traditional corn ale with #41 Skare. Kjell Arne was part of Ørsta Ølbryggarlaug, who became Norwegian champions last year.

The judges said: “A beer with nice herbal character, which is delicate and balanced. It is fresh and easy-drinking with nice grain flavor. This is a very fine and fresh corn ale that represents the type well.”

Kjell Arne won 2 growlers from Brewshop and a sack of malt from Voss Bryggeri.

Norwegian Champion: Jørund Geving

“The Viking” became Norwegian champion for the third time with his Stjørdalsøl fermented with kveik he received from Nils Gjelland at Voss. He is the first to have become Norwegian champion three times.

The judges said: “A beautiful, copper-colored beer, which the judging panel considers to be very true to type. Aroma of strong smoke with bacon and leather, complex grain and caramel with some burnt malt, light sourness and bitterness. The beer is strong and well-balanced, something the judges would like to have more of. This is a very fine Stjørdalsøl that the brewer can be proud of.”

Jørund won a rifle stock from GRS Riflestocks in Hornindal.

Other beers in the final

Other beers the judges found reason to highlight were:

• Einar Michelsens “AlstadBergen”- Ivar Geithungs “Samburdarøl”- Mika Laitinen s sahti

It should also be noted that both Thor Humberset and Kjell Arne Bjørdal each had one more beer in the final.

An overview of the winners all years can be found here .

Judge sheets

The judge sheets with the judges’ notes can be downloaded here. All beers are anonymized using a simple system: the number code on the judge sheets is the program number + 50. The sheets are not sorted, since there are two beers on each sheet.

judgesheet.pdf Download

program Download