By Aine C.
So way back when I had less of an idea what I was doing as a writer for DC Geeks. I wrote a little bit about what it was like being a new SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) member. I talked about all the Arts & Sciences, and the classes I took at one of the regularly run University of Atlantia events. Yes, knowledge is delicious, but were I to be wholly truthful, I can pinpoint my eagerness to join the SCA down to two very precise moments:
1. BALLISTAE
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| This isn't the ballista I fell in love with, but it's close. (Another glorious photo by Craig Hatfield) |
The second I saw bright yellow ballista missiles soaring through the air as the siege engineers practiced before the fight. The first large event I attended was Highland River Melees - thus named because in theory one shows up to watch a significant number of fully armored men and women wailing on one another in heavy combat with, again, ballistae and archers shooting reasonably soft projectiles into the fray. And it's held in the Barony of Highland River Foorde. Truth in advertising... mostly.
Ok, let me pause here. For those of you playing the home game, here's a rather vague map of Atlantia: http://atlantia.sca.org/map.
2.The Brewing Smackdown.
The second moment was when I heard about the brewing competition. This particular smackdown has some multi-year history about how there are at least three local barons and baronesses who are all expert brewers and each year they try to one-up another to claim the next 364 days of bragging rights. However, there are three important words that make this different from any other competition within the SCA that I'm aware of:
No. Documentation. Required.
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| I'd have an angelic chorus autoplay, but what is this MySpace? (photo by Nicolas Raymond) |
See, normally Arts & Sciences competitions (which covers brewing) require some amount of proof that the creator researched methods and/or materials that were available or provably used in the area and time period in which the A&S competitor claims they were. I know that sounds like homework, but judges can't be expected to know every last fact from 500-1600 (ish) down to woad dying techniques and the plant's availability in Burgos in the 10th century. Unfortunately, there's a reason we don't brew like Carolingian abbots. Germanic tribes weren't big on tool sanitation, so I can't always bank on "because my drink is tasty and potable?" to get me by.
But yes, Beer Smackdown. None of the documentation points are counted. This is just about straight up quality of product and whether what you said you made matches what the judges are actually drinking (not 100% based on BJCP, but close). You get beer vs. mead. vs. melomels vs. braggots vs. wines and far more exotic drinks in a free-for-all. The smackdown leftovers become the evening's open bar. Since I mention them frequently: braggots are kind of a mead/beer hybrid. I love them even if it takes me a whole night to drink one due to the extraordinarily high ABV, but good luck finding them in stores. So I garbed up and headed out to see how mine could fare.
So I'm a brewer. And so is fellow DCG writer and podcast host, Brannen. I make the beer, he makes the mead. When we went to this same event as our first ever event in about 2010, Bran's mead swept the competition with a perfect score. To brag, I came back in and did the exact same thing (I'll keep the bragging to a minimum because I'm a great loser but a bit of a sore winner: case-in-point, I'm no longer allowed to play Chrononauts). The only other perfect score this year went to the baron running the event, whose products were all in a separate competition all together - luckily for me.
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| As a generous gift, Brannen and I now have matching flight holders! Actually, you get a whole basket of goodies, but my cell pic isn't up to snuff. (photo of one very similar by Connie Ma) |
I've brewed somewhere in the vicinity of 70 gallons of beer and cider since January. I had a few leftovers. Ok, I had seven cases of leftovers. So before heading up, I labeled each bottle correctly as "Another Fine Product of Ponte Alto." I didn't contribute to the bar so much as I made the open bar so large that by the time I had to leave, it didn't seem possible that it all could be drunk in one day. RIP reusable bottles. I hope you found good homes. Other brewers can commiserate.
Although I brought about six cases filled with 18 varieties of beer, cider, braggots, and mead, Baron Drogo kept me from overwhelming the competition (or the judges' livers) by recommending that I choose five. Solid advice, because I still wound up with about fifteen pages of notes by the time open bar came around. I had brought three types specifically for Baroness Sorcha of Stierbach, who has a reputation for making the best braggots around, and I wanted her advice on mine. I doubt I've ever been prouder to give away a full six-pack.
Of course, I want to brag about the perfect score on my breakfast stout, but there were subtler and higher honors such as my beers being frequently run up to the "high table" for the visiting King and Queen of Atlantia. And, yes, I did write this article mostly to brag, but I also want to give you all a taste of how great it can feel to participate in an SCA event that has nothing to do with combat. I feel like A&S doesn't get enough love. Go try an event, especially if you're a brewer in the D/M/V region (n.b. check that it isn't a dry site first) or the awe-inspiring calligraphy, or any other of the dozens of crafts.
Or hell, do it because Pennsic is coming up and you want to make friends before begging for tent space away from the swamp.
This article is CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 by DC Geeks, and another fine product of Ponte Alto.
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