Winners of the B'tsisa Home-Brew Competition

As my readers know, the B'tsisa (Hebrew for "In Fermentation") home-brewing competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Israel.  Each year, dozens of dedicated home-brewers submit their beers to be judged by a panel of the most experienced beer judges in the country.

B'tsisa is organized by the Beer & Beyond beer super-store in Tel Aviv.  Every year there is a different sponsor, and this year it was the Alexander Brewery in Emek Hefer.

Winners were chosen in six different categories, plus the Best in Show.  So without further ado, here is the list of winners, I believe for the first time in English: 

Best in Show

Yonatan Bendett -- Doppelbock

Bavarian Wheat

First:  Tom Arad

Second:  Murat Nepesov

Third:  Aleksey Radionov

English IPA

First:  Jason Barnett 

Second:  Bentzi Alexander, Garry Barak and Ami Prager

Third:  Chen Shlita

Belgian Strong Pale Ale

First:  Constantine Katkov

Second:  Elchanan Hopper Hornman

Third:  Jason Barnett

American Stout

First:  Yonatan Bendett

Second:  Natan Shochat and Yuval Guterman 

Third:  Elchanan Hopper Hornman 

     

Doppelbock
First:  Yonatan Bendett

Second:  Gal Valency

Third:  Roi Fuchs

Smoked Beer

First:  Alex Filimonov

Second: Lior Digabli

Third: Constantine Katkov

Home-brewer Yonatan Bendett, with his
two first-prize and Best in Show awards
at the B'tsisa Home-Brewing Competition.

The big winner this year was undoubtedly Yonatan Bendett, who took the gold for his American Stout and Doppelbock (Double Bock), as well as the Best in Show for the Doppelbock.  Twenty-six year old Yonatan is from Ramat Gan, and I was fortunate enough to catch up with him and taste his winning beers.  (I wish I could have tasted the other winners, but I don't move as fast as I once did!)

The American Stout style is the new kid on the block, making its appearance with the American craft beer revolution.  It is generally more alcoholic, malt roasty and hop bitter than its British and Irish counterparts which have existed for centuries.  

"For this style," explained Yonatan, "the greatest challenge is to get the hop bitterness stronger than the sweet finish."  He added modestly: "I don't think I was successful enough in achieving this."

I understood what Yonatan meant when I drank this beer (together with fellow taster Moshe).  It pours out a very dark brown with a tan head.  Roasted malt is the dominating aroma, and it activates your taste buds.  But then there's a let-down as you try to find the expected chocolate or coffee flavors.  They were just whispers in the bottle we tasted.  The finish, however, was as it should be: very refreshing -- dry and bitter.  Alcohol by volume is 7%. 

We also tasted Yonatan's Doppelbock, the Best in Show.  Since this style of lager beer is German bred and nurtured, Yonatan used German malt, hops and yeast.  (At least the water was Israeli!)  "I was aiming for a strong beer, full-bodied, moderately sweet, and malt-dominant," he said.
         
We have no doubt that he succeeded.  The beer is a hazy, dark amber-to-brown color with a thin head.  Not very carbonated.  You can smell the rich malt and toasty caramel even as the beer splashes in the glass.  The taste is complex, as doppelbocks should be: notes of grapes, prunes, malt, alcohol  and liqueur -- ending with a sweet and lasting aftertaste.  The sweetness is not cloying, but is well balanced by the strength of the other tastes.  Alcohol by volume is a hefty 7.5%.  This is what I call a winter beer -- warms the body and the soul.  

There's no doubt that Yonatan Bendett is a talented brewer.  It's a shame you can only read about his beers and not drink them.  Maybe someday Yonatan will have a chance to brew his prize-winning beers commercially, and Israelis will have a chance to taste them.   
            
Read about previous B'tsisa winners here and here and here.   

Coming soon:  More home-brew champions in the 

premier Isra-Brew competition.