Running a Homebrew Competition

Originally posted by dkachur
This is a way the hell in the future kinda thing, but I may soon be in a position to set up and run a local homebrew competition, or at least be one of the driving forces behind one (and a judge, of course). Has anyone had this kind of experience before? How did it go? What was unexpected? What surprised you? What didn’t? What did you wish you had done that you didn’t? What did you do that you wish you hadn’t? How did you attract participants? How did you find qualified judges? Anything else I should know? Thanks!

Originally posted by maniac

Originally posted by dkachur
This is a way the hell in the future kinda thing, but I may soon be in a position to set up and run a local homebrew competition, or at least be one of the driving forces behind one (and a judge, of course). Has anyone had this kind of experience before? How did it go? What was unexpected? What surprised you? What didn’t? What did you wish you had done that you didn’t? What did you do that you wish you hadn’t? How did you attract participants? How did you find qualified judges? Anything else I should know? Thanks!

If its a BJCP sanctioned competition (and it should be!) they’ll send you a list of potential BJCP judges to contact. This will also get you posted on their list of competitions, so you’ll attract more out-of-region folks that way.

You’ll want to make sure entries are in atleast a week before the competition in order to have time to organize and label everything. If entries are coming in on the day of competition, make sure that they’re atleast registered in advance to save yourself some of the hassle. You’ll split the tables into groups of the same or similar styles, so advanced knowledge of what’s coming will let you finalize these splits. Occasionally you’ll end up with some loose entries that don’t fit with anything else getting lumped together, but no one is too fond of judging that.

You’ll have to exclude anyone from judging at a table with their own entry, which commonly results in the people most qualified to judge a style (the people who’ve brewed it) being excluded from judging that style. Again, advanced knowledge here helps make determining who judges what much easier. Flights shouldn’t have more than 8 beers each, since after 8 palate fatigue has probably set in to bias the results. It’s also best to run a flight from lighter to stronger, but if you have a qualified head judge, they should already know this.

For location, make sure it’s well lit and smoke-free, as appearance and aroma are scored, it’s important to be able to see the beer, and smell the beer without any distractions. Quiet and away from the public is also good, as beer judging is not a spectator sport.

Make sure you get lots of plastic cups, but also make sure that they themselves do not present off-odors. We’ve had strong smelling plastic cups before and had to switch them out quite unexpectedly at the competition, so bust open a bag of cups before the event just to make sure. Each table should be provided bread, water, cups, pencils, a bottle opener, several copies of the guidelines, and a enough score and cover sheets to make it through the flight.

Feed your judges well, expecially with milder foods if doing multiple judging rounds, as spicy food will destroy ones palate before the second round starts.

For a good demonstration of how to run a competition feel free to register to judge (or steward) our local competition in Richmond, VA athttp://dominioncup.jrhb.org It’ll be right before the World Beer Festival in Richmond on August 29th.

(I know you’ve already registered to judge, Dan)

Anyone else is also welcome to send in entries, we’d be more than happy to judge more fine brews.