Re: Why do / don't you enter Beer Contests?

Why do I enter? I think the reasons are similar to most of the other answers. I usually brew to style though I also play around with stuff that doesn't fit the current definitions except under historical. I enter for feedback though that can be hit or miss. There are more than a few judges out there that aren't nearly as good as they think they are. If you can enter the same beer at approximately the same age into several contests it helps to balance out the judging. There are judging differences due to geography, shouldn't happen but it does. My concerns about the quality of the judgings is one of my motivations for spending a significant amount of my spare time being involved with the BJCP exam process. I like to think we have come a long way in improving the quality of the program and the judges produced in the last 3 or 4 years. I think the last couple of years of BJCP exam prep class we have held locally have produced some real good judges. There is still more to do and we need to get a number of judges to improve their scoresheets and their knowledge of styles, I am tired of scoresheets that have virtually no useful content. I prefer to enter contests that I can be around for the judging. Beer competitions are fun. Where else to you get to drink beer and talk about beer with other people that take beer just as serious as you do? A competition is just a larger community of brewers than a single club. I enter to support the event. I have entered beers that I knew wouldn't place just to help the competition get the number of entries up. Always a surprise when one of those gets a medal even with a flaw or two. Why don't I enter? Because I don't have a beer ready to enter. I don't have as much time to brew as I would prefer. I tend not to brew much beer during the summer months which makes late summer and early fall competitions a challenge. Because I don't have the beer in a bottle. Like most I have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with my counterpressure filler. Because I missed the deadline. -- Steve Piatz piatz(a)cray.com Cray Inc. 651-605-9049 1340 Mendota Heights Road Mendota Heights, MN 55120