The results from the 2nd annual New England Regional Homebrewers Competition, which took place on November 3rd, 2007 at Milly’s Tavern in Manchester, NH are in. The competition was hosted by New Hampshire homebrew club Brew Free or Die & the Maine homebrew club Southern Maine Homebrewers and the competition was sponsored by Portland’s own Gritty McDuff’s.

The most exciting part about the results from the competition is that, if you look closely at the Fruit Beer category, you’ll notice that I (along with my dad, who is my assistant brewer) won an honorable mention award for my Pemaquid Porter (a raspberry-flavored porter named for my favorite place in Maine) recipe. The recipe is the first I came up with on my own, and the competition was the first I ever entered. A brewer from Harpoon Brewery in Boston who judged my entry said the beer’s aroma was that of,

A gorgeous raspberry chocolate truffle.

And that the beer itself was,

A very nice, creative beer.

The recipe is a 5 gallon extract (with specialty grains) brew, which even a novice homebrewer can try their hand at. It calls for both real, frozen raspberries (added to the wort) and raspberry extract (added just prior to bottling/kegging). If you’re interested in trying it for yourself, view the recipe here.