Entering beer contests

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/beer_contests.mp3

Well, I just entered (and didn’t win) my first beer contest. I did have a wonderful experience and got free beer and a tour of a hop farm though.

I also got 3 phone numbers, one from a hop farmer, one from a professional brewer and another from a homebrewer.

Not bad for entering a $5 beer contest and a few hours.

So how do you enter a beer contest?

That is a multi-level answer. It depends on the contest.

Paperwork

With this contest, I obtained a some paperwork from the brew shop. One sheet was asking me basic demo graphic questions, along with information on the beer I made.

The next sheet was rules for entry and such. Read this section carefully and follow the rules.

The next sheet was actually labels. I had to fill out the information on the labels, cut them accordingly and rubber band each one onto each of my beers.

I then had to submit the labeled beers and demographic/beer info sheet, along with my entry fees to the drop off spot, which was the brew shop.

Beer

Making the beer was the easy part. Making the beer according to the rules is where things get a tad bit more complicated.

This specific contest requested only for certain hops and beer styles. I entered a stout with just centennial hop usage. This fit the guidelines.

I know with beer judge certification stuff it’s a similar process, but it’s very important to follow the guideline rules.

By guidelines, I mean follow not only the entry rules and pay the fees, but also try to stay within the style guidelines as per their website.

For example, if I was submitting a stout, I would have to submit to a specific stout category and make sure it fell within the parameters of that subsection.

Is my brew a sweet stout? Irish stout? American stout? Once I know this (based on how the beer was made and ingredients) I will have to stay within the SRM (color scale), abv and IBU parameters in addition to the flavor profiling.

Other stuff

So submitting a beer typically has to be in at least 3-6 12oz bottles. Sometimes they allow 22oz bottles.

Each bottle has to be labeled. Each entry has to pay for the entry fees and each entry should fall within the guidelines of the BJCP guidelines. 

*BJCP – beer judge certification program

After all of this, you will await your results.

Keep in mind, perhaps the most important part of entering a contest is getting your tasting notes.

If you had a good judge, you will receive valuable and detailed feedback on your beer.

The feedback shouldn’t be too basic like “good beer,” or “needs work.”

The notes should be more detailed and helpful such as “slight hint of oxidation, may be corrected by a closed Co2 transfer or counter pressure bottle filling,” or “excellent body and mouthfeel.”

With this feedback, a good judge will guide you to improve. Sometimes they can be very specific, sometimes you have to do more research on what they are talking about.

Summary

I encourage you to enter your homebrew into a contest, especially one according to the BJCP guidelines. You never fucking know. You may have the rare gift of nailing down a perfect brew and win.

On the flip side, you may think you are gifted and get back tremendous feedback on your card.

Either way, if you love to make beer, it is good to submit your product for (hopefully professional) critiquing and one way to do it is enter a contest.

Then again, sometimes you can make beer that people love and doesn’t place. A lot of it’s perception.

Now that I have my first contest entry under my belt,