NHC contest registration

If you plan on entering a beer in the National Homebrew Conference Contest the registration is now open. There were over 1000 entries in the first 15 minutes so you don't want to wait.

Good luck!

 

Just registered in Philly - already over 300 entries!

 

Yep, done, although I hesitated this year because of the hike in entry prices!!! The one thing they should have done IMO is, instead of raising the number of judging centers and entry prices (therefore increasing revenue cosiderably), they should limit the number of entries by participant. I believe it is common for second round winners to have dozens of entries, giving them a lot more chance to do well compared to your regular small scale homebrewer (like me) who typically enter just a couple.

 

Just registered one for Chicago. What the hell, may as well.

 

I don't believe that increasing the number of entries per person inherently gives you better odds of placing. If anything, it gives you better odds against an off first round judge or two. It's hard enough to advance no matter how many you send. If it also judges well in the second round, you didn't beat the odds due to flooding. You beat them by brewing a better beer.

I agree that the price per entry is insane.

 

About 3,400 entries already. I bet the Portland judging location completely fills up by the end of the day.

The Internet has caused these types of things to get a bit too crazy. I can never get tickets for anything anymore. Everything sells out in 5 seconds.

 

What is the price per entry?

I am sure this information can be easily found, but I am sure others reading this thread will have the same question.

 

$15 for non AHA
$10 for AHA

 

Revvy will continue to disagree with me, but homebrewing these days = hipster.

 

I think a lot of people tend to forget the fact that first and foremost, this is a competition. The bottom line for NHC is that people enter to win. If you are shooting to win, you need to do everything you can to do so. It's all about entering the highest number of high quality beers to improve your odds. I you were to limit the number of entries, you would arguably be unfairly handicapping the best brewers in the country who have the skill to consistently brew quality beers time and time again. It takes an extreme amount of dedication, time, and energy to consistently win in competition. I think this often gets overlooked when people start complaining about those with a lot of entries. They tend to overlook the vast amount of skill and work that was put forth. That being said, when the beers are at the judging table, your beer is on the same ground as the guy who put in 40 entries. If your beer is better, it'll (likely) win.

I'm personally somewhat split on the entry fee price point. On one hand it limits the number of entries by ensuring people think twice before entering a beer and only putting forth their best efforts. On the other hand, it is somewhat unfair since many of the people who enter could throw several hundred dollars away on entry fees without a second thought.

All in all, I don't think there is a perfect system that will make everyone happy. That being said, I think the AHA does a pretty damn good job.

 

Fixed for truth.

And, don't they cap the # of entries at 1 per subcategory per brewer? so it's not like you can enter 25 American IPAs to "improve" your odds.

 

Money (tied in with good brewing, of course) also helps. More money not only = more times to brew, but also more entries into more competitions.

 

I think you said it all, wonderbread23, allow me to quote you again: It's all about entering the highest number of high quality beers to improve your odds.

Yes, the number of entries counts, a lot! I was reading the winner recipes from last year and their entry number, and was impressed by how many they sent. Commonly over 30, some over 50, come on, so they look more like microbrewers hidden under a homebrew badge.

Now, I would never argue that it does not matter how many you enter if your brews are not good. You never gonna make it to the second round, but I believe that occurs very infrequently in the real world. Brewers that brew that many, they know what they are doing.

Mastering your homebrew takes a lot of practice and people that brew more get a lot more opportunities for success, for failure too of course, but who does not learn from your own mistakes?

I really believe if they limited the number of entries per brewer, say 5 for instance is a decent number, I guarantee you it would change the whole game... but would they fill the 750 entries in all 10 sites? Maybe yes, maybe not.

 

Improve your odds of what? With the exception of the overall "winner", the rest of the "winners" are by subcategory, which each brewer can only enter one beer in.

This is reminding me of last year's thread where one guy got upset because a certain San Diego homebrew club had a great showing in the first round and he wasn't part of a club and didn't have a good showing; so it was unfair.

 

I am not entering - I'm too much of a newbie, and since homebrewing is technically illegal in my state, I'm probably disqualified, anyway.

That being said, $10-$15 for a national competition seems very reasonable to me.

Maybe I just don't understand.

 

of winning.

Think of it this way... if you enter a great beer for every single category, chances are you gonna make at least a couple or one to the second round. There are a LOT of subcategories, almost 100 I believe!

Guess what, if you enter just one of those great beers in just one subcategory, well, your odds are not very good buddy... I always hated math, but that part I got... RDWHAHB

 

I agree, some regional competitions charge more than that, but it is 30% more expensive than last year... in the current economy I think 30% is absurd, but that perhaps is just me...

 

One thing that could be cool is if there was an individual award analogous to the Gambrinus award for clubs. Something like having the highest ratio of medal placers to entries for individuals who entered say 5 or more beers. I think that would be a pretty telling award.

 

The number of PBR clones entered this year is staggering

 

Woohoo, registered for my first NHC, and there is a judging location here in Atlanta!

 

After last years Saratoga fiasco, I won't be entering any beers this year. Their prices are wayy too high for what you get and just the thought of giving the AHA more of my money makes me sick. I'd rather spend the $$$ supporting my local beer clubs and competitions.

I'd still like to know what it cost gordon strong and the other "big names" for all their entries. Are we to believe they had to send their beers out via snail mail too?

 

Portland hit 750 entries in just over 8 hours. I would think the rest of the judging centers will fill up by tomorrow. If you want to enter, better do it quick.

 

I don't blame you!

 

The Philly location won't "Saratoga" it by a long shot. They've handled previous 1st rounds smoothly.

 

Better make up your minds, if you want to enter, fairly quickly.

Portland and San Francisco are now closed to any additional entries.

San Diego will hit their max within the hour. Denver and Philly are close behind.

It looks like Minneapolis and Atlanta will be the last to fill up.

 

Wayne, isn't mazer cup this weekend?

 

Being judged right now, I believe. I judged meads, cysers and ciders last weekend at Dredhop. I would be at Mazer cup but I needed a bit of a break to actually brew something this weekend.

 

Cool. I entered a couole and am looking forward to getting feedback both from there and NHC.

 

You should get some great feedback if you entered the meads in Denver.

I judged open meads last year with Gary Glass. Janis Gross was at the next table. We do have lots of very good, very experienced judges here.

Good luck with your entries.

 

Thx Wayne. I got great feedback last year on a pyment I entered in Denver. Entering my stuff in San Diego this year, since my club is helping with shipping.

 

During the time AZ_IPA and I were BSing, San Diego hit their limit. West Coast judging centers are filled.

While some here may have problems with the National Homebrew Competition, it seems like quite a few homebrewers don't. Good luck to all who choose to enter.

 

If I recall, it cost Gordon over $300 to ship his beers overnight as he stated in one of his interviews. You want me to make you a foil hat or something?

 

Looks like only St. Paul, Chicago, Atlanta & Pittsburgh are still open

 

Just a heads up. San Francisco dropped to 745 entries, so there's now 5 open spots there.

If you don't pay in 24 hours your entries are cleared and it opens up spots for new entries.

Keep refreshing the page over the next couple of days and you may be able to get into some of the filled regions.

 

Everything is sold out. Im shocked at the speed this thing closed out. I am in LA and I have to ship my beer to Pennsylvania! Thats what i get for not taking care of this earlier...

 

I imagine that this is a done deal now since the last registrations were on the 3rd any that did not pay would have opened up yesterday. I'm pissed I missed this.

 

Isn't that the Ninkasi Award??

At any rate, I got 4 of my beers registered and paid for in Chicago! Whoo! :rockin:

 

Ninkasi is based on the total number of points (for beers placed in second round) a brewer accumulates. This is why you see people enter a bunch of beers. What I propose would be to take this total number of points and divide it by the number of beers that individual enters. Say someone enters 5 beers and 2 of them place. That means on average 40% of this person's beers placed. Then say you're going against someone who entered 30 beers and 7 or them places, a 23% average. The second brewers would have come out ahead in the Ninkasi standings, but the first brewer would win the fictitious award I was mentioning.

 

There would have to be additional weight for you system. Because someone could then just submitted one of their beers that has been deemed closed to a 50 by everyone who trys it, and gets first place...they would be 100%

 

Some of that is mitigated by the first and second round judging - getting a beer to the second round is quite difficult in itself. You need to factor in the judges, how that beer has held up - many factors. But also, he did factor that in by stating out of a minimum number of entries: