The St. Louis Brews
2002 Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition
2002 Competition is Announced: Enter Your Beers and Meads, Register to
Judge or Steward
The St. Louis Brews are pleased to announce the 2002 Happy Holiday
Homebrew Competition. Beers and meads will be judged. The competition is
sanctioned by the BJCP and is a Qualifying Event for the Fifth Annual
Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB5). AHA/BJCP Style Guidelines
will be used. Awards will be issued to first, second, and third place
beers.
The competition and awards banquet will be held Saturday, December 7 at
the Parish Hall of Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church, 8860
Tudor Ave. in Overland, MO beginning at 9:00 am. Rules and entry
information is provided below. We would appreciate your registering via
the web page if you are able: it makes the job easier on our end. Visit
http://www.stlbrews.org or contact Jack at the address below if you want
paper copies of registration materials.
A. ELIGIBILITY AND CATEGORIES
1. Anyone may enter a beer or a mead.
2. Entries must be referred to by Category NUMBER and Subcategory LETTER.
See Style Guidelines for category designations and descriptions.
3. Commercially brewed beers and meads are ineligible.
B. HOW TO ENTER, WHAT TO ENTER
1. We also have an on-line form for registering beers. Find it at
http://www.stlbrews.org. We would appreciate that you register via the web
page if you are able: it makes the job easier on our end.
2. Entry Fees: $5.00 for each entry. All checks should be made payable to
the St. Louis Brews. Attach entry fee to registration form(s) and place
inside package. Any entries not accompanied by an entry fee will not be
judged.
3. Entry requirements: Provide THREE BOTTLES for each entry. Bottles must
be 10- to 12-ounce green or brown glass and clean and free of any labels
(inked, paper, or otherwise). Bottles with formed-in-glass brand names or
labels (such as Bass) are prohibited. Entrants are encouraged to use
brown, longneck returnable bottles for extra protection from light and
breakage. NOTE: Grolsch-type swing tops are not acceptable. Soft drink or
other printed crown caps are acceptable if they are blacked-out with a
black marking pen to assure anonymity in judging. Use a rubber band to
attach to each bottle a paper with your name, beer designation if multiple
entries in category, category and subcategory, and registration number (a
registration number will be assigned to each entry if entered on-line).
The use of tape or glue to attach forms is not acceptable.
4. Beers from a single batch may be entered in multiple Categories.
Multiple entries in a Category are acceptable but MUST be from different
batches.
5. Recipe need not be submitted with entry. However, if your beer or mead
has a special ingredient (herb, spice, fruit, etc.), is a classic style of
a herb, spice, or fruit beer, or was brewed using an experimental method,
you must describe the style, special ingredient, experimental technique,
etc. on the entry forms. Meads must also be identified as still,
sparkling, dry, or sweet.
C. WHERE TO ENTER, WHEN TO ENTER
1. Entries are being accepted now. Entries accompanied by fees and
registration information MUST be received by Saturday, November 30, 2002
before the close of the business day at the following locations. This date
(and these locations) are ONLY for folks dropping off their beers in
person.
The St. Louis Brews
c/o St Louis Wine & Beermaking
251 Lamp Lantern Village
Clayton Road Woods Mill Road
Chesterfield, MO 63017
(314) 230-8277
The St. Louis Brews
c/o Worm's Way Garden
Homebrew Supplies
1225 North Warson Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63132
(314) 994-3900
2. Out-of-town entries: Shipment by air freight is recommended. PACK YOUR
ENTRIES WELL. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging
material. Boxes should weigh less than 40 pounds. Entries will be
refrigerated upon receipt, thus helping to preserve their quality prior to
judging. Entries sent by mail MUST be received by Saturday, November 30,
2002. NO EXCEPTIONS! Entries may be shipped to:
The St. Louis Brews
c/o Stephen Hale
St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room
2100 Locust
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-241-2337
D. JUDGING / STEWARDING
1. Those interested in judging or stewarding, please register on-line
using our registration form. We will contact you after November 23. We ask
that you register on-line whenever possible.
2. Judging will be done in open session on Saturday, December 7. Judging
and the awards banquet will be held at the Parish Hall of Our Lady of the
Presentation Catholic Church, 8860 Tudor Ave. in Overland, MO and will
begin at 9:00 am. Decisions of the judges are final. Organizers reserve
the right to combine categories if a sufficient number of entries are not
received. Organizers also reserve the right to break up categories if too
many entries of a particular subcategory are received. Any lager fruit,
herb, and specialty beers will be judged in Ale classes.
3. We will host all participating judges and stewards at the Saturday
banquet following the competition. The banquet will begin around 6:00 pm.
We expect a visit by Santa. Bring your family.
4. A limited number of beds are available to out-of-town judges/stewards,
please contact us early to set up a place to stay.
E. AWARDS AND PRIZES
Awards will be given for first, second, and third-place winners in each
Category judged. Prizes will be given as available. Winners will be
announced at the St. Louis Brews Holiday Banquet, Saturday, December 7.
Winners and scores will be posted on our web site within a week of the
competition. All winners will be notified. Score sheets and judges'
comments will be returned to all entrants.
There will be first, second, and third place medals awarded in all
categories.
This is an MCAB5 qualifying competition. Winners in designated categories
will be eligible to enter MCAB5 in that style.
In addition, every entry will be entered in an 'entrants-only' raffle for
special prizes.
For further information, please contact the head judge, Jack Baty at
jackb(a)homebrew.com.
We apologize for the late notice and hope that this doesn't prevent you
from entering your beers in the Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition 2002,
an AHA-sanctioned competition and the final qualifying competition for
MCAB V.
Now, enter those beers and meads and enjoy the competition!