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When you’re ready to go for the gold (or at least a nice blue ribbon), strategy is paramount. You can find competitions with low entry fees by searching the American Homebrewers Association or BJCP websites. If you’re at a point where you have several homebrews on hand, try submitting them to entry-level competitions to see how they’re rated and what flaws may be present.
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This author has entered many competitions not only to compete, but to get unbiased feedback on recipes. Is that an American wheat beer, a witbier, or a weissbier? When competing, it’s important to be style-specific. Homebrewers get both a number score and a professional critique of their brew’s aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression. Even events that aren’t sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), a non-profit organization that develops definitive guidelines for beer styles and methods for evaluating them, use the standard competition score sheet, or something very similar. Unlike boxcar races or other hobbyist contests, homebrew competitions offer a major benefit for participants who don’t win: standardized feedback from certified judges. Expect at least a two-week fermentation (more on this later), plus time to carbonate the final product by bottle-conditioning or force-carbonating. Getting from recipe, to brew day, to competition-ready beer will take about a month. If you want to enter a competition with an awards ceremony and a chance to meet other competitors, you’ll have to make those elements part of your search. Beers are shipped in, and score sheets and ribbons are shipped out. They typically comprise tables in a quiet room, where volunteers pour beers for judges who write feedback on score sheets. Homebrew competitions are less intimidating than they sound. If you’re in it for the glory, this is where you’ll gain some beer geek street cred. There are also national contests like the Samuel Adams Longshot and the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrew Competition. Competitions held by local breweries and homebrew clubs are smaller, and therefore easier to win. There are multiple homebrew competitions in the U.S.
#WINE HOMEBREW GUIDE HOW TO#
Here’s how to take quality homebrew to award-winning recipes in a few not-so-arduous, not-too-expensive steps. Your friends tell you, “I would pay for this beer.” You believe them, and start to dream of winning your first homebrew competition.
#WINE HOMEBREW GUIDE UPGRADE#
The crucial moment when a hobbyist homebrewer turns into a competitor often looks like this: You’ve been brewing for long enough to upgrade from extract to all-grain.