As 2020 winds down, many organizations are starting to get ready for the 2021 homebrew competition season. Many clubs have learned from how competitions in 2020 modified their techniques for judging, with many going to remote judging. We saw a very successful Hoppy Halloween in October 2020 that gives us some hope of some great competitions in this age of COVID-19.
I’m going to cover both High Plains competitions and other competitions that members have been interested in as well. I will follow up with drop off dates for entries as we get nearer the shipping/drop off deadlines.
Here are the competitions coming up:
IBU Open – Iowa Brewers Union – https://www.ibuopen.com/index.php
- Important Dates:
- Registration – Now open!
- Entries – 01/24/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 02/19/2021 11:59 PM, CST
- Shipping – 02/06/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 02/19/2021 5:00 PM, CST
- Judging – 02/22/2021 through 02/27/2021
- Award Ceremony – Saturday, February 27 at 6:00pm
The cost per entry will be $8.00 and 2 bottles are required for each entry. You can make more than one entry per category, but only one entry per subcategory. All types of bottles and closures are accepted, including swing tops, cans and corks. You must put your bottle label in a small ziplock bag! This is a High Plains event, so the club will be covering shipping costs.
This competition will be using the “structured score sheets” that were developed for the National Homebrew Competition.
KCBM 2021 – Kansas City Biermeisters https://kcbiermeisters.com/kcbm-competition/
- Important Dates:
- Entries – 02/01/2021 – 04/24/2021
- Shipping – 04/10/2021 – 04/24/2021
- Judging – 05/01/2021 – 05/20/2021
- Results – 05/22/2021
More information to follow. This is a High Plains event, so the club will be covering shipping costs.
2021 Bluebonnet Brew Off https://bbbrewoff.com/bcoem/
- Important Dates
- Account Registration – 01/03/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 01/22/2021 5:00 PM, CST
- Entry Registration – 01/03/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 01/22/2021 5:00 PM, CST.
- Entry Drop-off – 01/03/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 01/22/2021 5:00 PM, CST
- Entry Shipping – 01/03/2021 12:00 AM, CST through 01/22/2021 5:00 PM, CST
- Judging and Results – after 01/22/2021
This competition is $10 per entry and 3 bottles are required. You may enter 12 oz/333 ml bottles. Swing tops, large and odd sized bottles and cans are not allowed. Corked bottles are okay, but you must also have a crimp cap.
Each category is limited to 48 entries. Entry payment is due within 24 hours, or your entry will be deleted.
This is not a High Plains event, so the club will not pay for shipping. However, I plan to personally deliver entries to one of the drop off locations in Dallas sometime during the week of January 18. I will provide more details as we get closer to the date.