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2023’s The Dude’s Homebrew Competition sets a new record: $7,328 for LLS and cancer research

Posted on by Tim Maxwell

The 9th annual The Dude’s Homebrew Competition on Sun, August 20th, 2023 was all about setting records. The most beers entered into the contest (35), the most money raised at the event ($7,328), and the most fun had by all who attended (subjective, but we think this is accurate). In other words, it was a resounding success!

» View the complete results from this year’s event

Before we announce all of the winners, there are a lot of people that deserve recognition for their amazing contributions to this event, starting with our presenting sponsor, Resurgence Brewing Company. Simply put, we couldn’t hold this event without them, and this is the ninth year that they’ve graciously hosted our event (and our second time at the brewery on Chicago Street). Big thanks go out to Jeff Ware, Conner Bradbury, Brigid Taylor, and the whole Resurgence team for their generosity and kindness. Thank you, Resurgence!

Of course, we also couldn’t hold a homebrewing competition without homebrewers, and this year’s participants once again proved that Buffalo’s homebrewing community is second to none. The variety and quality of the beers served at the event was spectacular. Special shoutouts go out to the Niagara Association of Homebrewers and Sultans of Swig for their support of this event. Thank you, homebrewers!

A special thank you also goes out to our judges panel. These brewers are experts of their trade, and leant their knowledge and palate to tasting and rating a massive number of beers for us. This year’s panel featured Ethan Cox who you know from Community Beer Works, Karl Kolbe of Pressure Drop, and Jesse Kiser and Joe Mikos from Resurgence. Thank you, guys!

More thanks go out to Russ Burton, curator of the Lebowski-themed soundtrack to the event, and MC of festivities. Russ has been helping The Dude Hates Cancer with events since we started up in 2012, and we couldn’t be more grateful for it. Thank you, Russ!

Let’s give a round of applause to our in-kind sponsors, Premier and Premier Gourmet. They provided our printed materials, helped us promote the event, and helped us with day-of-the-event logistics. Thank you, Premier Group! Special thanks also go to Pizza Plant for donating some free beer tickets, which went to two lucky winners in our 50/50 raffle.

Speaking of the 50/50 raffle, let’s put our hands together for David and Tracey Gardon, our 50/50 raffle sales team! Since we met these two many years back at one of the early homebrew competitions, they’ve been offering to help us and we couldn’t be more grateful. Similarly, Meg Maxwell, Ellen Notarius, Eric Sliwinski, and Hunter Lane were essential to the event’s success, whether it be by helping get everything set up, manning our registration table, entering judges’ scores, tabulating fundraising totals, or all of the above. Thank you, David, Tracey, Meg, Slu, Ellen, and Hunter!

Thanks to Andy Morin of Avenir Cine for taking video and photos of the event (in addition to helping to brew two of the beers). If you need video work done in Buffalo, Andy is your guy (his studio space is incredible, I hear)!

Finally, thanks to everyone that attended, donated, and voted in this year’s competition!

The Results

As mentioned, there were 35 entries in this year’s competition — all donated by the brewers — and the quality of the beers was incredible. Some beers stood out, however.

» View the complete results from this year’s event

The competition works like this. Our judges panel made up of expert brewers samples and scores all the beers, then chooses their three favorites for the Judges ‘Best in Show’ picks. Meanwhile, attendees that donate to the cause taste the beers and vote for their top three favorites. In the end, the winner is chosen by adding the average score from our judges’ panel to the vote tallies from attendees. Here’s how it all went:

Judges ‘Best in Show’ Selections:

  1. Fun Times at the Carnival – Saison (#32) (Brewers: Eric Tucker and Todd Kramer)
  2. Morse Code – Hazy IPA (#34) (Brewers: Michael Lane and Chad Chyreck)
  3. El Dorado Common – Cream Ale (#25) (Brewer: Gabe Tanyi)
  4. The Belge Lebrewski – Specialty Belgian IPA (#15) (Brewer: Dan Muffoletto)

Popular Vote Winners:
(3pts per 1st place vote, 2pts per 2nd place vote, 1pt per 3rd place vote)

  1. Hefe Another Bite – German Wheat Beer (#20) (Brewer: Jennifer Hare) – 73pts
  2. Fun Times at the Carnival – Saison (#32) (Brewers: Eric Tucker and Todd Kramer) – 53 pts
  3. “…this isn’t ‘Nam!’ – Fruit and Spice Beer (Brewers: Stumblin’ Falls Homebrew Club) – 48pts

Overall Winners (combined Judges + Pop. Vote):

  1. Hefe Another Bite – German Wheat Beer (#20) (Brewer: Jennifer Hare) – 98pts
  2. Fun Times at the Carnival – Saison (#32) (Brewers: Eric Tucker and Todd Kramer) – 92.5 pts
  3. “…this isn’t ‘Nam!’ – Fruit and Spice Beer (Brewers: Stumblin’ Falls Homebrew Club) – 83pts

Thanks again to everyone that made this possible. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

$7043 for LLS: The 2022 The Dude’s Homebrew Competition is in the Books

Posted on by Tim Maxwell

Note: Due to a clerical error, we had the wrong total raised at the event. We accidentally included 2021 online ticket sales instead of 2022 online ticket sales, so as we were getting everything ready for LLS, we realized the total wasn’t $7,464 (as seen on the check from the event) but $7,043. Lesson: Never try to tally money after drinking lots of homebrew.

“Sometimes there’s an event — and I won’t say a hero, cause what’s a hero? — but sometimes there’s an event — and I’m talking about The Dude’s Homebrew Competition here — sometimes there’s an event that, well, it’s the event for its time and place. It fits right in there. And that’s The Dude’s Homebrew Competition, in Buffalo.” — The Stranger, The Big Lebowski.

The 8th annual The Dude’s Homebrew Competition is in the books, and what a fantastic day we had! Great beer, great company, great setting with great music, and all for a great cause. All told, we raised $7,043 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a new record!

We’ll get to the official results below, but there are many people to thank for this wonderful day, starting with our presenting sponsor, Resurgence Brewing Company. For eight years now, Resurgence has graciously hosted our event, first at their old Niagara Street brewery, then last year at the Chicago Street brewery, and again today at their new Resurgence at the Park in the Parkside Lodge at Delaware Park. Jeff Ware, Conner Bradbury, and the whole Resurgence team couldn’t possibly be more generous and accommodating, and we couldn’t possibly be more grateful. Thank you, Resurgence!

Next, we have the homebrewers who each year donate their time, talents, money, and hard work, all wrapped up into the creative, inspiring, and delicious beers they brew, to our event. Simply put, the event couldn’t go on without homebrewers donating full batches of their amazing creations to the event, and every year they prove that Buffalo’s homebrew scene is second to none. Special shoutouts go out to the Niagara Association of Homebrewers and Sultans of Swig for their support of this event. Thank you, homebrewers!

We also need to thank our judges panel, made up of leaders at the forefront of craft beer in western New York. This year’s panel, which featured Ethan Cox who you know from Community Beer Works, Karl Kolbe of Pressure Drop, and Nick Torgalski and Joe Mikos from Resurgence, was incredible. Being a brewer is often a 60+ hour a week job, so we can’t thank them enough for taking time out of their busy schedules to support and offer encouragement and feedback to their fellow brewers. Thanks, guys!

Of course, every event needs a great soundtrack and sound. And thanks to Russ Burton, we had that and then some. Russ has helped us often throughout the years, and his Lebowski-themed playlist added so much to the day’s enjoyment. Not to mention he’s just an all-around great guy. Thank you, Russ!

We’d be remiss if we didn’t thank our in-kind sponsors, Premier and Premier Gourmet. They provided our printed materials, helped us promote the event, and helped us with day-of-the-event logistics. Thank you, Premier Group!

There were many other individuals that made this event possible, including Meg Maxwell and Hunter Lane, who generously manned our registration table, and David and Tracey Gardon, who every year offer their tremendous raffle ticket salesmanship skills to our 50/50 raffle. Thank you, Meg, Hunter, David, and Tracey!

Finally, thanks to everyone that attended, donated, and voted in this year’s competition! An enormous thank you goes out to the anonymous benefactor how donated $3,400 to this year’s event — thank you so much!

The Results

Our 2022 competition featured 25 beers, and every one of them besides a terrible IPA that I helped make was fantastic! Some beers stood out, however.

The competition works like this. Our judges panel made up of brewers samples and scores all the beers, then chooses their three favorites for the Judges ‘Best in Show’ picks. Meanwhile, attendees that donate to the cause taste the beers and vote for their top three favorites. In the end, the winner is chosen by adding the average score from our judges’ panel to the vote tallies from attendees. Here’s how it all went:

Judges ‘Best in Show’ Selections:

  1. Pancho Billa’s Mafia Munich Helles (Brewer: Mark Zambron)
  2. Wicked Blizzard (Brewer: Mark Zambron)
  3. Not for Hire (Brewers: Stumblin Falls Homebrew Club)

Popular Vote Winners:
(3pts per 1st place vote, 2pts per 2nd place vote, 1pt per 3rd place vote)

  1. Jittery IPA (Brewers: Lori and Brian Meyer) – 57pts
  2. Razzin’ Hell (Brewer: Paul Callahan) – 38pts
  3. Berry Relaxing (Brewers: Jim Krell and Mike Spong) – 32pts

Overall Winners (combined Judges + Pop. Vote):

  1. Jittery IPA (Brewers: Lori and Brian Meyer) – 89pts
  2. Jenny’s DDH Cream Ale (Brewers: Jennifer Hare & Corey Dudish Hare) – 68pts
  3. Razzin’ Hell (Brewer: Paul Callahan) – 67.5pts

View the complete results from this year’s event

Thanks again to everyone that made this possible. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

The 2022 The Dude’s Homebrew Competition is coming up! Here’s what you need to know.

Posted on by Tim Maxwell

The 2022, 8th Annual The Dude’s Homebrew Competition presented by Resurgence Brewing Company is coming up on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at The Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park. Here’s a look at what you need to know about the event:

Tickets for The Dude’s Homebrew Competition

The Dude's Homebrew Competition 2022

Tickets are $30 and are available at the event (with cash or Venmo), or you can save time and pre-purchase your tickets on Eventbrite. All proceeds from the event go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and their mission to find a cure for blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. With your ticket, you get to taste all of the beers in the competition in a complimentary tasting glass you get to keep, and vote for your favorites to help us choose our winner!

Buy Tickets at Eventbrite

Let us know that you’re coming, or invite your friends on our Facebook Event page!

Location Information for The Dude’s Homebrew Competition

This year’s event will be held in a beer garden outside of one of Buffalo’s iconic summer locations, The Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park. Resurgence recently opened an event space in the Parkside Lodge, and when they approached us about hosting our event there we couldn’t pass up the opportunity! We’ll be holding the competition outdoors under a large tent — rain or shine! — overlooking the Delaware Park golf course.

The Parkside Lodge at Delaware Park

84 Parkside Ave, Buffalo, NY 14214 (map)

Parking for the Event

There’s on-street parking available on Parkside Ave., but there’s also a convenient parking lot accessible going southbound on Parkside Avenue, with an entrance on the right just before you hit the Scajaquada Expressway (Rte. 198).

Designated Drivers

Since this is an event where you’ll be tasting beers, we encourage you to bring a designated driver or use a ride service to get to/from the event. Designated drivers are allowed into the event for free (though they won’t receive a tasting glass and may not sample the beers).

Food at the Event

Resurgence will have food available for purchase inside The Parkside Lodge.

How the Competition Works

Homebrewers from across Western New York generously donate batches of their beer to the event and pour samples of their beers for anyone that buys tickets to the event. After tasting the beers, attendees will be able to vote for their favorite beers on their phones. There will also be a panel of distinguished beer judges consisting of brewers at some of Buffalo’s best breweries, who will rate each beer and provide feedback on the beers to the brewers. The winner will be awarded based on a combined score of the popular vote from those attending and the official judges’ scores. The winning brewer gets to brew a batch of their beer at Resurgence Brewing Company!

The Cause

The Dude’s Homebrew Competition raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, an organization leading the fight towards finding cures for blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Research funded by LLS has led to countless life-saving breakthrough treatments for blood cancers, each step moving us closer to cures for these and other cancers. LLS also provides patient outreach, education, and assistance for those afflicted with blood cancers.