Home Brew Competitors Bring the Heat

(LITITZ, Pa-LititzDailyNews.com) – Tony Morrell modestly hawked his home-brewed Mango Habanero Sour beer Sunday afternoon to attendees at the 7th Annual Lititz Craft Beer Fest, pouring out a steady stream of the spicy Steeler’s-gold-colored concoction to those who lined up at his table during the Home Brew competition.

“I actually brought two versions of the beer,” Morrell said, “I have the regular version,” which contains three habaneros and the “hot, hot version” containing four.

But Morrell wasn’t the only one bringing the heat to this year’s home brew competition: Matthew Campbell, the reigning champion of the public vote returned with Chocopotle, an imperial oatmeal stout brewed with chocolate and chipotle peppers. Campbell bested the competition in 2019 with a sour beer, and the event was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020.

Those who ventured to Morrell’s table, topped only with a basket of his home-grown habaneros and a couple of silver cans of his brew, received not only a pour in their collectible Lititz event glass, they got the beer’s backstory as well.

“We brew it all in Pequea, in my backyard. All of the habaneros are grown right beside where I brew it,” Morrell told two patrons who had just sampled his sour creation.

“This is amazing,” said Austin Lowrey as friend Veronica Wampler concurred. Morrell then offered them both a taste of his even hotter four-habanero beer.

“That’s a 10 out of 10,” Lowrey said, before moving on to try another home brew in the May’s Service Center Home Brew Tent.

Ten finalists were selected from all of the home brew entries by judges from Lancaster Homebrew, Big Dog Craft Brewing, Pour Man’s Brewing, St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company, Twisted Bine Beer Co., Cartel Brewing and Blending, Mudseld Meadery, ARTifice Ales and Mead, Levante Brewing, and Bulls Head Public House.

The event temporarily relocated to the TAIT parking lot this year from its former Main Street venue. The location change allowed the event to add a Sunday session in addition to the two Saturday options, and shifted the Home Brew pour to Sunday.

Two more men approached Morrell’s table, had their glasses filled, tasted, then were tempted by the brewer.

“You can have the hotter version of that, right here,” Morrell said, pointing to the can he held. Eager to try it, one guy poured his glass out on the spot.

When asked, Morell was happy to elaborate on his recipe: “I cut the stem off, I quarter the pepper, and then I blend it with the mango as a puree. You have a mango puree, then you have a mango habanero puree, then the beer gets racked on top of that.”

“I need a taco,” Ryan Carr said after tasting Morrell’s spicy brew. He also opted to try the four-pepper beer, then offered an effervescent review.

“So it starts off a little sweet, but then as it settles in it just has a little heat that makes you want more,” Carr said after tasting. The other ones that I’ve tried have been a little sweeter, a little milder, but this one steps it up to the next notch, takes it up to the next level. It’s really good.”

“The reaction has been awesome,” said Morrell, a first-time entrant in the Lititz home-brew contest. “I’ve heard people say that they’ve never had a sour beer that they liked, and they like this one.”

So many people liked Morrell’s Mango Habanero Sour that he was voted the winner of the 7th Lititz Craft Beer Festival Home Brew Competition.

It’s not the first victory for the passionate home brewer. He previously won the Brew-chanan Fest in Lancaster with a Blackberry Passion Fruit Sour.

“So I’m a big sour brewer,” he said, “and I like hot peppers in beers. I’m pretty happy that people like it, it’s interesting. I didn’t think the reaction would be this good.”

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When asked what a win in the public vote contest at the Lititz fest would mean to him, Morrell quickly replied, “It would be amazing. I would take the money and immediately use it for more equipment. And more mango.”

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Morrell received a $500 pre-paid VISA gift card for his winning entry. Mad Chef Craft Brewing selected Morrell’s entry as their Brewer’s Choice, so they will brew and serve the beer at their East Petersburg location.

Second- and third-place finishers in the public vote received a $250 and $100 gift card to Lancaster Homebrew, respectively. Ed Herbert’s Vacay Bay Bay, an apricot amble ale, placed second, and Matthew Campbell’s Chocopotle, an imperial oatmeal stout with chocolate and chipotle peppers placed third. In 2019, Campbell’s sour beer bested the home brew competitors at the Lititz fest.

Three brews will be reproduced in commercial breweries as Brewer’s Choice: Pour Man’s Brewing will feature Eric Fletcher’s Munich Dunkel, Big Dog Craft Brewing will brew Kyle Criste’s Tripel Crown, a Belgian Tripel, and Cox Brewing Company will produce Alter the Sound, a New England IPA crafted by Josh Shock and Dave Hume.

Since its inception in 2014, the Lititz Craft Beer Fest has raised and donated more than $431,000 to charitable organizations.

The winners and finalists of the 2021 Lititz Craft Beer Fest Home Brew contest are:

1st Place Public Vote, Mad Chef Craft Brewing Brewer’s Choice
Tony Morrell
Mango Habanero Sour
2nd Place Public Vote
Ed Herbert
Vacay Bay Bay
Apricot Amber Ale
3rd Place Public Vote
Matthew Campbell
Chocopotle
Imperial Oatmeal Stout with chocolate and chipotle peppers
Pour Man’s Craft Brewing Brewer’s Choice
Eric Fletcher
Munich Dunkel

Big Dog Craft Brewing Brewer’s Choice
Kyle Criste
Tripel Crown
Belgian Tripel

Cox Brewing Company Brewer’s Choice
Josh Shock & Dave Hume
Alter the Sound
New England IPA

Finalists:
Josh Ford
Jules & Vincent
Imperial Stout with coffee

Josh Turner
Route 10 IPA
American IPA

Josh Shock & Dave Hume
She Said, Somewhere Different
Sour Blonde with Blackberry

John Shirk, Jerry Zimmerman, and Howard Fryberger
Every Damn Time!
Blood Orange Hefeweizen

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Lynn Rebuck is the editor and publisher of award-winning LititzDailyNews.com, the only independent digital news source in Lititz.

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