MASH Competition Guide
Submitting your homebrew into competition can be a fun way to get valuable feedback on your beer. For first time entrants, the process can seem daunting. The goal of this guide is to demystify the competition process and hopefully answer your questions.
One MASH’s goals as a homebrew club is beer education. Competitions are an invaluable resource to help brewers become better brewers.
The Basics of a Competition
Before we cover the logistics of entering a beer competition, it helps to understand what a beer competition actually is.
A competition can be hosted by just about anybody but is usually done by a homebrew club like MASH. Most competitions are registered with the Beer Judge Certification Program (“BJCP”) which sets forth the requirements to become a judge and provides the style guidelines under which the beers will be judged.
Each competition has a number of administrators which could include the Competition Organizer, Judge Coordinator, Head Steward, Cellar Master and Office Organizer. These are all volunteer positions.
Most competitions accept entries into all BJCP categories for beer, cider and mead but there are some competitions that limit the styles. An example is Monk Melee hosted by the ALEiens homebrew club in Pennsylvania. Monk Melee is limited to Belgian beers only.
Months of planning go into any given homebrew competition. Organizers must register their competition with the BJCP, solicit enough volunteer judges and stewards and set up and maintain a competition website well in advance. Closer to the competition date organizers gather the labeled bottles, mark them as registered and paid and then organize them according to style category. We cover the actual competition day in further detail below.
Why Enter?
Entering homebrew competitions has benefits far beyond just trying to win a ribbon. Your beer will be evaluated by two judges who will spend anywhere from 10-15 minutes writing down a lot of information about what they are perceiving and tasting. A score is assigned to each of the major characteristics of the beer on a 50 point scale. That feedback can be used to help to fix any issues, address off flavors and dial in your recipe and brewing process. Although “brewing to style” isn’t for everybody, it helps to set an expectation for someone tasting the beer.
The Nitty Gritty
Once you decide to enter a competition, you need enough time to brew, bottle, register, label and drop or mail your entries to a designated location. These are the important dates that you need to be aware of for all competitions.
Competition Website:
Take some time to familiarize yourself with the competition website. This is where you will find information, rules and where you register yourself and your beers. Most homebrew clubs will advertise their competition websites. You can always visit the Competition Calendar on the BJCP website.
The first step is to create your profile by adding your name and contact information. This creates a password protected user login that is unique to each brewer. You can usually “register” yourself as a user for the competition a few months in advance.
The Entries:
Most competitions require entrants to submit two 12-ounce bottles. Standard brown long neck bottles are always preferred and sometimes required. Shorter brown bottles (like Sierra Nevada) are usually acceptable but be sure to read the rules! Some competitions will allow 22 ounce bottles but you would still need to submit two – why give away more beer than you need?
Thicker format bottles that can handle higher pressure is also usually allowed as are cork and caged bottles. Grolsch-style bottles are rarely allowed. Another problem area can be raised etching like Sam Adams bottles. The goal is to take away any potentially identifiable markers to ensure that the judging is anonymous. Sorting bottles is also much easier when they are the same size.
All bottles must be completely free of commercial bottle labels and residue. Bottle caps also must be free of any identifiable marks. Stick with gold or silver caps if you can. If there is any writing on the cap, use a Sharpie to color the entire cap black.
Importantly, the beers have to be properly labeled! The competition software will generate a beer label that will include the brewer’s name, the entry number, and the style category of the beer. Print your labels, cut along the square border and use a rubber band (DO NOT GLUE!) to affix the label to the bottle.
Registration Period:
This is the period of time that you can register your beers into the competition website. Registration will typically open at least six weeks before the actual competition date. This time period also usually begins before the dates that you can actually submit your beer. The registration period will typically end on the same deadline as the dropoff deadline, about two weeks before competition date.
When you register a beer you pick the BJCP substyle. This will place your beer into a flight to be judged with similarly categorized beers. For example, American IPAs will be judged with other American IPAs. Picking the correct category is essential. For example, if your IPA is also brewed with grapefruit and it has a pronounced grapefruit flavor, you would want to enter that into the fruit beer category. The same goes for your watermelon wheat – enter that into the fruit beer category instead of the wheat beer categoiry. There are also separate subcategories for beers like wood-aged beers versus specialty wood-aged beers (wood plus fruit or spices). This is where it is good to have familiarity with the Guidelines.
Finally, the registration period is also when you pay for your entries. Most competitions accept electronic forms of payment like PayPal.
Dropoff Period:
The dropoff period is when you can physically deliver your beers or mail them to a designated dropoff location. Dropoff locations could include a homebrew shop, a brewery, someone’s house, etc. They are always listed on the Competition Information page of the Competition Website. If you’re mailing, check with your preferred carrier to find out their policy on shipping alcohol. The AHA recommends not sending via USPS. It can vary, but the dropoff period usually opens four weeks before the competition date for a period of two weeks. Therefore, your beers need to be packed, paid, properly labeled and dropped off no later than two weeks before the competition.
What Now?
After your entries are dropped off, competition organizers pick them up to bring them to the bottle sort. Since each entry requires two bottles, a 500 entry competition will have 1,000 bottles! Once all of the bottles are in the same place, organizers and volunteers spend much of an entire day (“sort day”) confirming that all entries that were registered on the website are accounted and paid for. Entries are then taken together and placed on a table with beers in the same category. One bottle is then designated for use during the judging and the second bottle is grouped in case the beer places first and advances to the best of show round. A judging number is then affixed to the labeled bottle and the label that you put there is removed.
The Competition/Judging:
A completely separate guide (or encyclopedia) could be dedicated to beer judging, but here it is in a nutshell. Your entry will be judged with other beers in the same or similar subcategories by BJCP judges. Each beer is judged, one at a time, by filling out a scoresheet. Two judges will separately judge the same beer at the same time. Judges will note the various characteristics of the beer, any off flavors and how the beer measures up to the style it was submitted under. Judges will also give feedback on why the beer scored the way it scored and offer suggestions to address any stylistic issues or off flavors. When the two judges are finished, they will discuss the beer and come to a consensus score. Twelve minutes is a typical amount of time dedicated to judging each beer.
The number of judging pairs assigned to a table will depend on the number of entries in that category. A typical flight for a single session can range from as low as 6 to 10 or even higher. If there is more than one judging pair, the table will hold a “mini best of show” round where each judging pair selects two or three of the best beers from their flight and they are all judged together at the same time by at least one judge from each judging pair- three mini best of show judges is standard. The winners are chosen from that group. Each table awards a first, second and third place. If the fourth place beer was a close call, it can be awarded “Honorable Mention” at the discretion of the judges.
Each table is judged during a “session”. There is usually a morning session and an afternoon session. After all of the beers are judged, the first place beers are all pulled and judged in the best of show round. Only experienced judges are selected (usually five) and all the beers are poured and evaluated side-by-side until the judges can agree on the first, second and third place winners.