Brewing students won medals in local competition

Students from Cincinnati State’s Brewing Science program won three medals in the “Bloat Open” homebrew competition hosted in May 2025 by the Bloatarian Brewing League, a homebrewing club based in Erlanger, Kentucky, and Esoteric Brewing Company.

CState Brewing students entered four beers in the event that drew about 50 entries from a variety of homebrewers.

• Martin Suetholz crafted a hazy IPA named “Hazer-Beam,” and won second place in the IPA and Bitter Beer category. The beer utilized El Dorado and Motueka hops (a New Zealand hop variety) to create a bouquet of sweet pineapple, cantaloupe, and tropical fruit flavor. 
• Drew Phipps created a beer called “Disgruntled Goblin” and won third place in the Fruited and Specialty Beer category. Disgruntled Goblin is a Belgian Dubbel fermented with semi-sweet cherry puree and packaged using nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide (CO2) to give it a creamy, smooth mouthfeel one might find in a Guinness pour. The beer was based on Troegs Brewery’s “Mad Elf” beer with minor changes and the unique innovation of nitrogenation.
• Students in the Spring 2025 “Brewing Technology and Calculations” class (BREW 120), led by Stephen Collins, Paul D’Agostino, Katya Strong, and Martin Suetholz, submitted two beers for the competition. Their German Pilsner, “Paul’s Preference,” won second place in the Lager Beer Category. One of the judges noted the beer “smells like Germany” and called it “an excellent example of the style.” 
• The class also submitted their Munich Helles, “Beer For/By Committee,” which was rated “Very Good” by the judges but came just shy of earning a medal.

Caleb Ochs-Naderer, Brewing Science Program Chair, said, “I’m really proud of how well our students did in this competition. It’s always great to win some medals, but it’s especially helpful to get unbiased feedback for the beers we’re making from professional beer judges.” 

Ochs-Naderer added, “Martin and Drew both took time out of their busy school schedules to create their own recipes, brew with me during non-class times, and even came in several weeks later to bottle their beers with me. Overall, it was a great learning experience, and that’s what matters.”

According to Ochs-Naderer, the Brewing students are looking forward to another competition in early August, and are keeping busy this summer “writing recipes and planning their next award-winning beers.”

(Reporting & photo provided by Caleb Ochs-Naderer)