Al and MBHA members, If you're just starting to think about brewing a winter warmer for the Christmas party, shouldn't you be thinking about Christmas 2003? Typically, we bring food, beer, and lots of cheer. For a food to be inserted into the judging category, beer needs to be on the ingredient list (or you need to pay a judge). Obviously, for a beer to be judged........it.....er.....also needs to contain beer. We have label contests, door prizes, beer prizes, but to answer your question honestly and exactly, it is a anything goes competition. The main thing to consider are the donations and prizes. We typically allocate specific areas for specific individuals and have a backup in case the first individual doesn't make it or if we would like to try for some double coverage. We need help judging, MC, awarding, counting and cross tabulating votes, buying votes, and the normal stuff that goes on at a Christmas party. The facility is very nicely setup for food heating although I wouldn't really want to "cook up a storm." You also can influence individuals with various postings on this list server and really talk up your creating be it liquid or food group. This has worked very nicely in the past for me and I have noticed a few others picking up the beat. So there you have it for the Christmas party. My beverage is a barley wine inspired by Dave Berg. It is a fairly hoppy beverage (ok, off the chart) and is weighing in at about 10%. Also thinking about the stout marinaded pork ribs with sasame seeds/hosin sauce glaze. They usually disappear quite quickly. Get ready, be creative, and find stuff!!! Rick Oftel Does anyone know if the beerstyle for the club Christmas party competition is anything-goes, or some specific style (ie, Winter Warmer)? The calendar says "Brewfood Competition" - do you have to bring a beer-food pairing to compete? Time to start thinking about brewing for the Christmas Party already! Geez, time does fly! - Al