Competition Corner – January 2017

Well, a new year is upon us as well as a fresh brewing competition season.  I hope you took advantage of the cool weather over the holiday season to get some batches fermenting.  I did!   We have a couple of competitions coming up right away, but you still have plenty of cool weather to brew for some of the later upcoming competitions.  Each year, Pacific Gravity honors the brewer (or team) with the most homebrew competition wins from the list shown below.

Coming up quickly are the America’s Finest City (AFC) Homebrew Competition, hosted by QUAFF, and the AHA Nationals Competition.  Registration for AFC is already open at https://quaff.org/AFC-2017/ .  Entries are due at Alesmith Brewery by Wednesday, January 25^th.  Like last year, we will be asking for a volunteer to drive them down to San Diego.  Drop me a line at Competitions AT PacificGravity.com if you can make the trip.  We’ll reimburse you gas money. For AHA, you must be an AHA member and need to sign up for your entry slots, between the dates of January 30 – February 5, 2017.  Your entry authorization and payment must be done by February 15^th.  Physical entries will need to be shipped off by the last week of February.  Again, we’ll need a driver.

Next up on the radar is the 3^rd annual Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge.  Entries will be due in Mid-March, with judging on March 25^th.   Look for more details from Brian on this competition for volunteering, stewarding and judging opportunities  at http://belgianbrewchallenge.com/.   Best of show this year will be brewed at Los Angeles Ale Works.   Speaking of volunteering, we will be running Pacific Brewers Cup this September and will need everyone’s support.  The balance of the official list of competitions for accumulating Brewer of the Year is listed below.  Check back frequently as exact dues dates become known.

For those of you who are hard-core about entering competitions, here are some more local events, though they are not not part of the competition points list:

• The Doug King Memorial competition hosted by the Maltose Falcons, offer a Pro-Am opportunity with MacLeod Brewing Co. for the best British Islands beer.  The Doug King competition focuses on lagers and all specialty and experimental beers, using the Maltose Falcons guidelines.  Registration is up and running now at http://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/  Entries are due January 13^th and can be dropped off at the Culver City, Eagle Rock or Woodland Hills brewshops.  They also need judges on Saturday, January 21, 2015 at 9:00 AM at MacLeod Ale Brewing Company, 14741 Calvert St, Van Nuys, CA.
• The Romancing the Beer Competition, held by the Thousand Oaked Homebrewers.  Registration is open now at http://www.romancingthebeer.com/ Entries are due January 27^th, and can be dropped off at the Culver City, Eagle Rock or Woodland Hills brewshops. They need judges Monday Feb 6^th and Saturday Feb 11^th.

Still not enough competitions?  There are a bazillion other contests to enter.  The AHA has their master list at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/aha-bjcp-sanctioned-competition/.

2017 Pacific Gravity Brewer of the Year Competition Schedule

Now:                     America’s Finest City registration open

January 25^th        Drop- off for AFC due in San Diego

February 5th:      AHA Nationals Pre-registration

Late February:    AHA Nationals entries due

March 17th:         Drop-off deadline for Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge

March 25^th:         Judging for Los Angeles Belgian Brew Challenge

April                     Mayfaire

May                      California State Fair

July                       Los Angeles County Fair

September          Pacific Brewers Cup

October               California State Homebrew Competition

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