Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines Festival 2011 Homebrew Competition Entry Deadline

Homebrew Competition

Homebrew Judging Homebrewers have become very vocal about our January competition, and are spreading the word like wildfire! Not only do we time it well as a preliminary run for those of you competing in Nationals, but we have an exceptional judging panel that is eclectic, constructive and extremely well-educated in the brewing industry. One of our favorite Homebrew Clubs calls our Festival and Competition “the highlight” of their season, and the competitive edge and number of entries make for a challenge of the highest degree!

As the Grand Prize winner of this incredible challenge, the 2011 Big Beers Homebrew Competition entrant will have a Commercial Batch of his or her recipe brewed and kegged and poured at The Falling Rock Taphouse in Denver and at the generous, sponsoring brewery, Dry Dock Brewing, located in Aurora, Colorado. Further, in the instance that the ProAm competition is continued as a part of the Great American Beer Festival weekend events, Dry Dock Brewing will partner with the Grand Prize winner and submit the winning recipe as their collaborative entry.

The AHA/BJCP Beer Styles that we include in our competition are reflective of the Festival theme and are listed below. The brewing competition is sponsored and sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association, and the AHA guidelines will be strictly followed. For more information on specific styles and requirements, please refer to the link below for the AHA Sanctioned Competition Style Guidelines. Please note: Barleywines are included although not stated as the heading of a category in the newest BJCP Guidelines.

Category 5 - Bock Category 9E - Strong Scotch Ale •Category 12C - Baltic Porter •Category 13F - Russian Imperial Stout •Category 14C - Imperial IPA •Category 15C - Weizenbock •Category 16 - Belgian & French Ale •Category 17 - Sour Ale •Category 18 - Belgian Strong Ale •Category 19 - Strong Ale •Category 23 - Specialty Beer (Minimum Gravity of 1.050) •Category 26B - Braggot

Two bottles of each entry are required with the appropriate informational labels attached. 12 oz. brown bottles are preferred, but some other sizes/colors will be admitted. For example, Belgians are often bottled in 750ml bottles for several good reasons, and although we prefer that entries submit two bottles to best evaluate in the case of a Best of Show qualifier, we will accept one 750ml bottle for general competition purposes. Please ask for further information.

The entry fee for this competition is $5 per entry, and the deadline for entries to reach us is Wednesday, December 15, 2010. Make all checks out to 'Big Beers Festival'.

Please plan to ship early, as the holidays are a significant shipping challenge at this time of year! If you have shipping issues, please call and ask.

All entries should be shipped to: Big Beers Festival C/o Dry Dock Brewing Co. 15120 E. Hampden Ave. Aurora, CO 80014 (303) 400-5606

Please pack them well and sign the delivery release/waiver so the box will be dropped next door if we are not there at the right moment. We do not want your box to be held by UPS or FedEx if at all possible; we want to get it into the cooler!

There are two homebrew shops (3 locations) in Denver that have coordinated a drop point for entries for us for the past couple of years, and we greatly appreciate the convenience to our entrants. They are The Brew Hut and Beer (and Wine) at Home. In addition, you can drop your entries at Left Hand Brewing in Longmont. See the weblinks below to get details about locations and such. We will pick up all entries after the deadline of December 15, 2010.

If you absolutely cannot get your entries to us by December 15, 2010, please call or email to discuss alternate arrangements.

Entry Forms: http://www.bigbeersfestival.com/2011Forms.pdf 

Registration packets can also be mailed to you if requested. Please leave your request, with your mailing address or fax # at one of our contact numbers. Please include your phone number in case your address is not clear or your mail is returned for some reason. Information on entry drop points, homebrewing products, recipes, tips and more can be found at: www.brewhut.com www.beerathome.com www.lefthandbrewing.com

Contact Us: For more information, please contact Bill or Laura Lodge at High Point Brewing.

Email: BigBeersFestival@hotmail.com

Please include Big Beers as the subject in your voice message.