Background Information
The AHA used to do a club only competition where they would specify the style and when clubs met brewers would bring their beers to be judged. The beer that was the best would then be sent to the AHA and would be judged against other beers from other clubs. The goal of the club only competition was to provide a framework for clubs to educate their members and learn about beer styles. Over time this competition grew to the point where AHA decided that it was no longer feasible to do this. The thought was that with the explosion of competitions throughout the country their work was done they could move onto something else.
Our Club Competition
Our club competition is going to be riff off the AHA club only competition idea.
When/Where?
We will hold club competitions during every meeting which means if you enter a beer then you or someone else will need to bring your beer to the meeting to be judged.
Who Can Enter?
Entry is limited to those members who are in good standing. Will we check your membership card when you bring your beer? Probably not. Even so please respect that this is a benefit you get as a paid member and don’t make us put the smack down on anyone.
Entry Fee?
There is no entry fee because this is limited to paid members. Think of it this way, if you aren’t a paid member there is a one time entry fee that happens once a year.
Number of Entries?
One entry per person.
Competition Size?
The competition will be limited to 16 total entries. This may grow depending on how participation and interest but the goal is to keep it small.
Quantity of Beer?
Please bring 12 oz of beer and make sure your entries are in clean bottles with no labels, defining markings on the bottles or the bottle caps.
Registration
A form will be part of the meeting post that you can fill out if you intend to enter. If the competition is of a thematic nature you will need to describe your beer or let loose your beer on the wild palate seas of the judges. Believe me it’s far better to describe your beer in cases like that.
Judging
Unlike a BJCP competition this is going to be a little bit more informal.
Who Can Judge?
Judging will be done in pairs where less experienced people are paired with more experienced people. Judging is open to everyone not just registered BJCP judges. One of the goals of doing this is to get people more comfortable with judging so that we can build our judging pool which should help with our competitions and make us a stronger club.
Judging Style/Method
It was mentioned that this is not going to be a BJCP competition and some of you may be wondering what that means. There will be no BJCP score sheets, no scoring a beer out of 50 points, none of that. Two people will sit across from each other with two to four beers poured. They will stare into each others eyes, taste both beers and then discuss which beer they like more. That beer will move onto the next round where it will be poured and tasted against another beer, etc, etc. At some point there will be a handful of beers left which will be judged by BJCP judges and the 3 best beers will be picked.
Prizes
Gift Cards/Certificates
The winner of each club competition will receive a $25 gift card from a local homebrew shop/beercentric restaurant.
Trophy
The winner will get to keep our rotating trophy, A Mash Paddle for a month only if they can bring it back to the next meeting. We will take a picture where you can pose with the Mash Paddle that will be posted on our Facebook site. The rotating trophy can’t stay with you permanently.
Brewer of the Year
When you place (1st – 3rd) in the club competition you will be awarded the following points:
- 1st Place – 3 points
- 2nd Place – 2 points
- 3rd Place – 1 point
These points will go towards your yearly total that will determine Brewer of the Year. Don’t know what Brewer of the Year is, go here!
Competition Themes
| Meeting | Theme | Description |
|---|---|---|
| September | All BJCP Categories | BJCP Categories |
| October | Fall Beers | This is a thematic based around fall. What does this mean? Well you could enter a Oktoberfest (3b) a pumpkin beer (21A) a Belgian Fall Saison, a Belgian Pale that evokes feelings of fall. The theme is fall and you can make that work however you want. |
| November | Smoke and Roast | Dark Lagers (Category 4), Porters (Category 12), Stouts (Category 13), Belgian Specialty (16E; Must include roasted malts to be qualified), Smoke Flavored Beers (Category 22A and 22B) |
| December | ‘Tis the Season | Christmas/Winter Speciality (21B), Belgian Specialty (16E), Wood Aged (22C), Speciality (23, convince us it’s Christmas). |
| January | Beermagedon | Beers 8% ABV and bigger. This again is a wide open category where the only criteria is that your beer needs to be 8% ABV or more. |
| February | British Invasion | In preparation for BBF this will be all styles British. This includes English Pale Ale (8), Scottish and Irish Ale (9), English Brown Ale (11), Porter (12), Stout (Everything but American Stout, 13E) and English IPA (14A). |
| March | Sessionable | This is a wide open category where the only criteria is that you make a beer 4% ABV or less. While I realize “sessionable” is technically anything less than 5%, what’s the fun in that? |
| April | Hopapalooza | Any beer over 40 IBUs |
| May | Fizzy Yellow Beers | Light Lagers (1), Pilsners (2) and Light Hybrids (6). |