Competition Corner – February, 2012
Entries for America’s Finest City competition are due at the Culver City shop no later than Thursday, February 16th. Two bottles are needed for each entry and the fee is $6.00. Complete details and on-line registration can be found at http://www.quaff.org/AFC2011/afc0.html. We’ll be taking the entries down to San Diego in the next few days. This is the first big competition for the 2012 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year award.
Also coming up is the next Club-only contest “Stout it Out Loud!” BJCP Category #13, and includes dry stout, sweet stout, oatmeal stout, foreign export stout, and imperial stout. We will judge these at the club meeting on Thursday, February 16th. If you have any one of these (or more than one) bring three 12 oz. bottles to the meeting and make sure you let Carl know they are here. If possible, please also fill out an entry form, which you can download from http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/0326/entry_recipe.pdf. The club picks up the entry fee, so it is free to you. If your entry is selected, we’ll ship off the two remaining bottles to the national judging site. If you lose, you can take back the two extra bottles. Or if you prefer, you can pop them open to console your losses.
Next up is the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition. On-line registration will be live on February 28th, with the physical entry window starting March 19th. Complete details can be found at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/national-homebrew-competition. Like last year, you can select any one of the regional judging centers to enter your beer, providing the sites haven’t filled up. ALL of them filled up last year so don’t delay once the entry window is open. If you enter in the San Diego judging site, we will set up a drop-off at the Culver City shop. If you select any of the other sites, you are on your own to ship off your entries. You only need to send one bottle per entry for the first round. If your beer advances to the finals, you will need to send in three more. Entry fee is $10 for AHA members and $15 for non-members.
Some of you have been asking about BJCP classes. We don’t have any scheduled at the moment. But if you are interested in learning the judging ropes, check into this on-line option which you can find here: http://www.craftbeeru.com/ This is a 12-week series of live, interactive webinars. Sessions begin in late February and another set in March.
Looking ahead a bit further, the thick part of the competition season is upon us. Get those brew kettles going now for Mayfaire and the California State Fair. Longer lead-time beers can be brewed for the LA County fair. And, don’t forget Pacific Brewer’s Cup in September and the California Homebrew competition in October.
2012 Brewer of the Year Competition Schedule
DUE NOW! America’s Finest City
February 16th: COC – Stouts, BJCP Cat #13
March 19th AHA Nationals
April Mayfaire
April 19th COC Scottish and Irish Ale, BJCP Cat #9
May California State Fair
July Los Angeles County Fair
July COC – Porter BJCP, Cat #12
August COC – Light Hybrid BJCP, Cat #6
September Pacific Brewers Cup
October California State Homebrew Competition
October COC– Old Ale BJCP, Cat #19
