Placer Ultimate Brewing Society Entering Homebrewing Competitions

Brew Your Beer Choose Style Develop Recipe (Most Competition are BJCP, or Brewer Association Sponsored) Some Competitions have “Fun” or “Novelty” Categories (but these generally have guidelines) Brew It!

Find A Competition If this is your first competition, you might want to start with a small one. Better chances of winning! Of course it doesn’t have to be small. Make sure the competition is accepting the style of beer you brewed, and to make sure you can enter (not club members only). Check the dates to make sure you can get your beer there in time.

Register for the Competition Read the rules first. Register (On-line or at the drop-off point) 2 – 3 bottles of each beer style are usually required. Print bottle labels (Competition Specific or BJCP)

Entry Preparation Only use Clean and Unmarked 12oz. Bottles. Corked and Caged Bottles are allowed for certain styles – check first. No markings on cap. (Silver or Gold caps are preferred) Fill bottles properly (~1” from top) Use rubber bands to attach labels - no glue or tape. Some competitions/categories require additional information – read the rules. Entries range from $5 to $10 per style entry.

Deliver Your Entries Take your entry to the designated drop-off location within the specified date range. If shipping, use FedEx or UPS. It is illegal to ship beer via USPS. Select a box large enough to hold bottles and packaging material. Note: custom bottle shipping boxes are available on-line. Wrap bottles in bubble wrap. Line the box as well. Place bottles in a watertight plastic bag(s). Fill the box with packing Styrofoam (aka peanuts). Completely surrounding bottles. Bottles must be held firmly in place so they do not move or shift position. If asked, it’s up to you to provide an explanation of what you are shipping. I’ve heard “Samples for Analysis”, “Judgment” or “Evaluation” has worked. “Yeast samples” is probably over used. Use your judgment for this.

Wait Patiently Check the contest website for results. 2 – 3 weeks after the competition you should receive your written results and all the ribbon/ medals you won (positive thinking here)!!!! Competitions vary when it comes to giving out awards. Some place a beer into a winning category based on it’s score falling into a range, in other words, you can have multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze metals awarded in each category. In other competitions only the three highest scoring beers are awarded ribbons/metals in each category, or grouping of categories. Most competitions have a Best of Show mini-competition that combines all highest scoring beers from each category in order to choose the “Best of Show” beer in the entire completion.

Improve Your Brewing Usually 2 – 3 judge will have evaluated your beer. BJCP judges are trained to give positive feedback with hints on how to improve your beer, but unfortunately not all judges are BJCP trained so all feedback may not be positive. Don’t expect the feedback to provide all the answers to your brewing woes if your scores are lower than expected. Remember, you don’t know the condition under which your beer was handled leading up to the competition. Entering your beer into multiple competitions is the best way to get honest feedback on them. Look for trends in the evaluations and make the appropriate adjustment.

Good Luck and Happy Brewing!