KVHC selects top spring lagers

CHARLESTON, WV — Area home brewers selected the best beers from club member entries last night in their Spring Lager Competition, hosted by the Kanawha Valley Homebrew Club. The three highest scoring entries came from Matt Brummond and Mark Javins, both of Charleston, and Dave Zalewski of Proctorville, OH.

Nine of the area’s best brewers made beers inspired by a Spring Lager recipe originally produced by Country Boy Brewing of Lexington, KY (Keeneland Spring Lager). This spring lager competition was also a testing ground for Avalon Pilsner malt from Riverbend Malt House, Asheville, NC. Riverbend donated the malt for the competition. The event was sponsored by BrilliantStream.com.

While judging the beers, two things stood out. One was that the area has a lot of excellent home brewers. It made selecting the best beers so tough. Second was that Avalon Pilsner Malt is a most excellent malt for brewing pale lager. Wow, the subtle flavors and character this malt provides make it a sure winner in its own right.

The Avalon barley variety was developed by agriculture programs at Virginia Tech and has grown to prominence across the mid-Atlantic region. It’s becoming the grain of choice for use in making brewers malt for pale beer styles. Riverbend Malt House is a leader in Avalon malt production.

Kanawha Valley Homebrew Club has become quite a hotbed for amateur brewers from across the southern West Virginia region. The club hosts several competitions around the year, including the recent Coal Country Brewers Cup for stouts and porters.

KVHC President Chris Butler believes that holding homebrew competitions helps sharpen the edge of local homebrewing quality. That includes exercises in homebrewing a beer that mimics the taste of a popular commercially brewed beer.

“Our club took on the challenge of cloning and it was a great success,” says Butler.  “All the beers were examples of a spring lager but each had small differences that made them unique.”

The top three brewers received club medals and Amazon gift cards as prizes. Additional information on the KVHC can be found at this link.