Hash Bash #3 Recap

The Hash Bash by House Of Hash / Brigid Farms is an annual event that puts the top hash producers in Maine against each other in a few categories; highest THC, most unique, highest terpenes and the most voted. Voting is double blind and works by having three types of judges. Each of the 40 competitors are a judge, there are also 40 judge kits available to the public available at the House Of Hash in Portland, Maine. Each kit contains a .3 of all 40 unlabeled samples, a judge lanyard & badge as well as a Hash Bash 3 T-shirt, Moodmat, tons of supplies by Randy's to clean up your banger keeping it fresh. As well a free gram of Brigid melts and 25% off coupon at the House Of Hash good for the day of the event. The packaging was extremely sleek and professional and was provided by Custom 420 based out of Biddeford Maine.

Then there were also 10 selected industry panel members who have been selected by Brigid Farms for their passion, impact and commitment to the community. The 10 this year were The Curator Co, The Artful Dabber, Moon Jelly Melts, Danny Camp Glass, Dungeons Vault, KGB Glass, Mega Raw Melts, Rip Tide, Beach Health Center and Crystal Rose Seed Co. An incredibly solid line up of judges!

The judges picked their 1st 2nd and 3rd favorite. 1st is given 5 points 2nd place is given 3 points and 3rd place is given 1 point. Those with the most points win. Then the judges fill out a rubric of ten categories for each sample. The categories are Color, Consistency, Cure, Duration, Effect, Melt, Presentation, Smell, Smoothness and Taste. Those scores do not have an effect on the competition but are used as a grading tool and to determine a winner in case of a tie breaker.

This was the third year of the event and it took place over the course of Friday and Saturday. Friday was the pre bash opening ceremony located at the Pamolab facility in Scarborough, Maine. The Pre Bash was a farmers market like event where you could meet some of the competitors and sample some of their products, talk to them about their growing practices, see if they offer direct to patient and just talk hash! Once the munchies kicked in from all the killer hash there were food trucks along with a live DJ set to keep the vibe going all day.

My favorite part of the pre bash was the live glass blowing contest sponsored by the local glass shop Rip Tide located in Belfast, Maine. Rip Tide is a major supporter of the glass community and the community in general and this contest was no different. The competitors had a limited time to each create a pendant and the winner would be chosen by those attending the Hash Bash the following day. The Winner would receive a trophy and a $1000 during the award ceremony.

Watching glass be made in front of you is an amazing thing to see, and seeing each artist have their unique style is very interesting. For instance Mrs. Claws Maine made her signature lobster claw but added another small micro claw attached inside of an opal. It was an incredibly small detail you would miss if you weren't really paying attention.

There were plenty of booths to check out from a lot of great companies who competed including Five Points Farm, Cure Cannabis Co, Stoney Grove, Casco Botanical, Cold Room Drip, Secret Stash Maine (formerly Shannon's) along with High Striker Farms. There was seriously a loooot of killer hash rosin here along with amazing flower, edibles, any kind of concentrate you could think of.

A couple booths that stood out were the High Striker Farms booth which featured a claw machine filled with nugs and pre rolls as well as a mini High Striker which was really cool to see people having fun! There definitely needs to be more of that to make these events fun and lively and not stale like a tech convention. Art and Craft Canna also had set up something you don't see everyday a hashish hookah with a quasar head or something similar. This is the absolute premier way to smoke hashish even according to hash legend Frenchy Cannoli, so those who haven't tried it before were in for a seriously tasty hash treat.

Another great thing about the pre bash was the plentiful amount of space set up to accommodate everyone and all of the dab rigs and glass pieces. If you forgot your rig there were vendors who had sanitary complimentary rigs to try out product or smoke something you just bought. There were also plenty of places to sit once that edible you forgot about kicked in.

There was a lot of hash rosin being smoked at this event, way more than your average event and this led to the whole facility being pretty heavily clam baked at a few points, with a very intense unique smell of hash. If you want to meet members of the community, get the freshest products direct from vendors or just smoke the best hash possible then this event is for you.

You also have the opportunity to talk and shop glass directly from the artists! Smoke shops are often vending these style events as well. These pieces were from Exhale smoke shop located in Saco, ME.

The following day was the official Hash Bash at the House Of Hash located in Portland, Maine. There were 100 goodie bags given to the first 50 patients at 10am and a second wave at the start of the event at 5pm. They were also having deals during the event such as $99 ounces, buy 2 get 1 and 15% off storewide.

The inside of the event was packed full with a lot of the competitors and local hash heads. There were appetizers and drinks being served to keep the dry mouth away and the munchies at bay until the awards started at 7:10. As I mentioned previously there was a glass contest sponsored by Rip Tide and all the finished glass pendants were on display for everyone to vote. They all came out amazing and it was incredibly difficult to vote for just one.

They had a ton of awesome glass from a wide range of local glass blowers. My mind was blown away when I stumbled upon an Animal Chin piece made by Tammy Baller. It was truly incredible and I can now say I found Animal Chin. (skaters will understand).

All of the glass pendants made the previous day were also on display for all to see and cast their votes for their favorite. It wasn't an easy pick as they all were very nice and had a unique style.

As mentioned previously the Hash Bash has a few categories such as most unique, highest THC, most terpenes, staff choice since no one on staff is allowed to vote in other categories, and then 1st through 5th with 1st winning the grand prize of $10,000 dollars and bragging rights until next year. Everyone who placed received a trophy but something that I was extremely happy about was that the top 3 were also given ten medals to give to their crew. As anyone in the industry knows it's a team effort between growers, trimmers, bud tenders, breeders it's a team effort. So extremely big ups to the event organizers for doing that!

Now on to the Awards!

The winner of the glass pendant contest was Mohawk Glass.

The Most Unique went to a collaboration between Secret Stash Flower x Pamolab it was a fresh press Strawberry Lemonade 90u / 120u.

Most Terpenes went to The Paper Mill Cannabis Co. with Papaya testing in at a staggering 9.59% terpenes with testing provided by Nova Analytic Labs based out of Portland, Maine.

Highest THC went to Paul's Boutique with Black Garlic testing in at a heavy hitting 76.6% THC with testing once again provided by Nova Analytic Labs.

The Brigid Staff choice went to Jar Cannabis Company Rainbow Cherry.

5th Place was Radiation Exposure by Weaving Genetics Cold Cure 45u-159u.

4th Place was OGKB by High Road 2.1 Cold Cure Live Rosin 90u-149u.

3rd Place was Papaya by The Paper Mill Cannabis Co

2nd place a mix of strains and "techniques" such as adding thca formed from rosin, and adding terpenes from various strains by Jar Cannabis co called Rainbow Cherry.

1st place went to Hazy Hill farm and was a mix of strains as well called U.F.Co

As you can see from the photos everyone was incredibly moved by placing. There is so much work and dedication behind each team. You can truly tell people put their heart and souls into the plant and it clearly shows. Congratulations to everyone who placed! Also everyone who did their absolute best and put their all into it, there is always next year!

One thing I wanted to mention is I wonder if in the future there will be limits on the amount of strains you can mix, and the techniques you can apply. If not then seemingly everyone will have to start applying them and mixing strains in order to compete with those who are.

The event didn't stop there! There was an After Bash Celebration held at Definitive Brewing in Portland, Maine featuring two Grateful Dead Cover bands Maine Dead Project and Band Beyond Description. It was a great way to spend the night relaxing and smoking some more great hash listening to some great jams.

I would like to sincerely congratulate all the winners and all of their team behind the scenes making all the hash possible. Along with a big thank you to the crew at Brigid Farms for putting this all together and hosting a great event for the community. You guys really did a great job, and should be proud of yourselves. If you didn't make it this year you won't want to miss next years so go check out their website at HashBash.Me and follow Brigid Farms / House Of Hash for future updates! Also keep an eye peeled to our calendar page as it will be posted there as well.

Thank you all for reading and be sure to subscribe to our page and sign up to the community section to find out about a ton more local events like this, connect with the local community, find highly credited companies, directly communicate with companies, while also keeping up with our helpful articles, plus local cannabis news!

* Hash Portrait Photo Credits

Belong To Brigid Farm