Are you entering the AHA National Homebrew Competition? Why? Why Not?

[Spartan1979]

I entered one beer. The same recipe for a Pils that won BOS in a competition (300 entries) about 3 years ago. I entered that same batch a few weeks later in NHC and it scored a 27! Competitions are such a crapshoot, so I rarely enter them anymore.

I've had 7 entries make it to the finals, but never place.

 

[505-Brewer]

Nope. Back when I did taxidermy , I entered the World Competition 3 times. Did fairly well (consecutive 3rd place in Professional, 2 categories each) and the last one the judge didn't understand what I was doing from an opinion standpoint and judged it poorly. It gave me a bad taste in my mouth for taking a fun hobby/small home business and ruining it with competition. Never again.

My only beer judge is myself and my wife. If it turns out how I planned and I like it , I'm happy . If she says "Honey, this is your best beer by far" (the Bavarian Hef I made recently) thats all I need to hear.

If she doesn’t agree with she knows you’ll stuff her and put her on the wall!

 

[505-Brewer]

If she doesn’t loke your beer she knows you’ll stuff her and put her on the wall!

 

[Soulshine2]

you dont know my wife !! lol.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I entered one beer. The same recipe for a Pils that won BOS in a competition (300 entries) about 3 years ago. I entered that same batch a few weeks later in NHC and it scored a 27! Competitions are such a crapshoot, so I rarely enter them anymore.

I've had 7 entries make it to the finals, but never place.

That's pretty wild! I've had a beer score 42 once and not even place 3rd or get an HM. This is my first year entering the NHC, so I'm really curious how it will be.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I entered one beer. The same recipe for a Pils that won BOS in a competition (300 entries) about 3 years ago. I entered that same batch a few weeks later in NHC and it scored a 27! Competitions are such a crapshoot, ... I've had 7 entries make it to the finals, but never place.

Yup, it’s the human factor.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Does a metal make the beer any better?

When a plumber shows up and has 50 patches of excellence sewed to his perfectly tucked in shirt do you think hes a better plumber then the guy that shows up smelling like fuel oil with grease on his hands....I don't think so

 

[catdaddy66]

Yup, it’s the human factor.

Which is kinda why I avoid the competitions generally. I like the informal feedback I get at the monthly tastings from my lhbs. The owner/brew club president asked me why I wasn't entering anything this year and my only answer is that I get discouraged easily when I have a very good product and it gets torn to shreds by judges. Again, I have never personally had this happen before but reading HBT I kind of expect it...

I am much happier drinking my beer.

 

[Braufessor]

Competitions are not perfect for sure, and there is obviously a human element to them. There is a chance you get a judge that does not perceive your beer the same way another might. Bottling, handling, storing, shipping...... none of it is a perfect science. Sometimes you can get an honestly poor judge. However, I don't think competitions are total crapshoots either.

I have brewed beer for 20 years. Even though I never entered any competitions for most of that time, I know for a fact that the beers I brewed the first 10 years would have had zero chance of making it through a regional NHC competition now - not one of them in 10 years would have stood a chance. I have had a dozen make it through over the last 5 years. I credit a lot of my improvement as a brewer to using competitions, and blind feedback to tweak my brewing - recipes, process, packaging, etc.

In my opinion, the key to benefitting from competitions is consistency..... brewing a random beer and sending it to a random competition here and there might win some medals or piss you off with bad feed back - But, that is not going to really help improve brewing. Enter the same beer often. Rebrew the same beer style many, many times. Tweak single variables to see what it does. Go through the BJCP training - even if you don't see yourself judging a lot. When you can consistently rebrew the same beer over and over...... when you can hit styles and brew them well - not just for judges, but for yourself and your friends - that is when you will really start seeing improvement as a brewer. Not for everyone, but I found it valuable as there are relatively few serious home brewers near me and it provided a way to get a lot of feedback on what I was doing.

Any brewer can brew a good beer that gets misjudged poorly. Any brewer can brew a mediocre beer that gets lucky in a small category or with a particular judge. But, consistently brewing high quality beer, to style, judged blindly, against many other beers and consistently being singled out as well brewed (by scores, comments, placing, etc)...... that is not total random luck. People have blind spots for their own beer. Most friends and family either love free beer or don't know enough about beer to critically evaluate it. Competitions are just one way that people can potentially improve their brewing skills and knowledge.

I have mine going to the Milwaukee regional this year.

 

[kingmatt]

I am entering 2 beers and will continue to do so every year until I medal in the 2nd round because that is a goal I set for myself.

I have pretty much checked off all my other goals including winning a few best of shows, brewing my beer commercially (twice) and even making it into the GABF Pro-Am competition, but I can't seem to get that damn NHC medal!!

 

[Braufessor]

I am entering 2 beers and will continue to do so every year until I medal in the 2nd round because that is a goal I set for myself.

I have pretty much checked off all my other goals including winning a few best of shows, brewing my beer commercially (twice) and even making it into the GABF Pro-Am competition, but I can't seem to get that damn NHC medal!!

Kind of where I am at too..... I really haven't entered competitions in the last 2 years for the most part..... other than NHC. That medal has remained elusive to me as well. It has been a goal, and I am not quite ready to give up on it yet.

 

[JimRausch]

I've entered 3 this year- into Boston.
No particular reason- I just like entering competitions!
The occasional medal is fine, and the 2 times I've helped brew one of my beers with a pro is definitely a great bonus!

 

[brewbama]

I don’t enter competitions. I simply brew to fill my pipeline. Not for any particular negative reason. I just don’t have an interest in competitions.

 

[Punjom]

Yes, I will be entering two beers. I have entered NHC once in the past. The beer that I submitted placed 3rd which was very exciting. Trying to improve on the same beer and will also also send a friend along. Both beers previously placed 1st in local comps. Shipping is a pain though......so is bottling.....this hobby is a labor of love.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Which is kinda why I avoid the competitions generally. I like the informal feedback I get at the monthly tastings from my lhbs. The owner/brew club president asked me why I wasn't entering anything this year and my only answer is that I get discouraged easily when I have a very good product and it gets torn to shreds by judges. Again, I have never personally had this happen before but reading HBT I kind of expect it...

I am much happier drinking my beer.

I have had brews where inexperienced judges were harsher than the seasoned judges, and I have been a steward where a beer that scored the highest did not even make third in the mini bos. So if you had a beer to well in one competition not do very well in another it is best to not take it personally. Sometimes I can chalk it up to inconsistencies in my own bottling process. That rests squarely on me and I have taken steps to improve, and the only reason I know this is from competing and getting feedback.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I get feedback on my homebrew from our local club. There are 3 trained BJCP judges that are there pretty much every month. That being said, I rarely brew pure styles, so the feedback I get from the trained judges is usually in one of two forms:

"This beer doesn't have any flaws, but it's not balanced" which is what I get pretty much every time I take a NEIPA. That might change now that it's an official style, but they look at NEIPAs and hop bombs that anyone can brew.
"This is really tasty, but it's kind of off the beaten path style-wise".

The judges are great for getting feedback on flaws.

Most of the rest of the club is very BJCP style centric and very old school in what they brew and like, so I don't get too worked up about what they say about my beers. There are only two of us who brew NEIPAs and I'm the only one who brews really big RIS's. I show up with a 12.5% RIS and they think it's well done, but wonder why anyone would brew something that boozy.

My best feedback comes from my beer share group. These guys are hard-core beer nerds who travel all over the country to sample beer or go to fests. Several have traveled to Europe for beer. They trade all the time and have very experienced palates. They aren't trained judges, but they've got a background of drinking many of the most highly rated beers in the world, so getting approval from them is a tough row to hoe. My beers get compared to some of the best in the world. They don't have the brewing knowledge, but they know good beer. When I get positive feedback from them, I know I've got a good beer.

 

[VTX1300]

No interest in competition. I brew for my family and friends. That is the only feedback that matters to me. Some beer judges opinion means nothing to me. I have had some local pro brewers taste my beer and love it. That's good enough for me.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

No interest in competition. I brew for my family and friends. That is the only feedback that matters to me. Some beer judges opinion means nothing to me. I have had some local pro brewers taste my beer and love it. That's good enough for me.

I took last year's RIS to a share hosted by a pro brewer I know. He like the beer a lot and the two owners that tried it wanted me to do a collab with them. That was probably just the beer talking though....

 

[wmubronco]

Like many other responses, the judging is often varied and could be subjective to their likes/dislikes. To each is own, if you brew beer and get the positive (and sometimes critical) feedback from friends/family, then that is about all I need to know your beer is worthwhile. Sure, I have won gold (Michigan Beer Cup for my CzechPils) before, several silver, some bronze, but those were mostly in-state competitions and results varied heavily when submitting same beer into multiple competitions.

Brew beer, and if they keep coming back for more, you know it's great!

 

[wepeeler]

No, and here's why. I entered two beers last year and here's what happened:

One was a blonde ale based on the Centennial Blonde recipe from this forum. It had a sum total of 1/2 oz of hops. I thought it was spot on for the style and my non-craft beer friends went nuts over it. I seriously expected an upper 30's to low 40's score. Instead I got a 27 saying it was too hoppy and was not the approachable easy drinking beer for the style. The score and notes were so far off the mark I'm still convinced they mixed up beers somehow.

The second was a New England IPA that turned into a diacetyl bomb. I took it to my homebrew club and the 3 certified judges in the club all took one sip and said the same thing: diacetyl (which I already knew). I debated sending it in but ultimately thought they might be upset that I entered a beer then didn't submit it. I expected a courtesy 13 or maybe a 20. I felt guilty subjecting them to that beer. They gave it a 34...a beer that I dumped, scored a 34 with not one mention of diacetyl. Again, what beer did they drink?

My conclusion is that either the judges are worthless or the process is effed up and they get entries mixed up. It was a complete waste of time for me, so never again.

That's really disheartening. This is my fear too.

There's a competition by me that's now including the neipa style. BUT, you have to submit the beer, and it's going to sit for 3 weeks before being judged. That's an insane amount of time for a neipa in a bottle. It's going to lose a ton of aroma. Not to mention, my neipas go through a complete transformation 3 weeks in the keg. Sometimes you wouldn't believe it's even the same beer. So there's that...

 

[RichBenn]

Not entering. Not a member for a long time now. I probably should, as I've been brewing since '81, and have a good record in contests. But it's just more money and at my age I don't need affirmation that I can brew well.

I totally understand why beginners would not want to. My brews were VERY hit or miss early on, some total crap. Like someone else mentioned, though, entering a local contest is much cheaper and you can get some very good feedback to assist you in making better beers. But AHA is not the place to start that.

 

[bembel]

This is my first year entering my beers. I have 3 going out: a belgian tripel, pineapple weissbier and an IPA. I've never entered a comp due to a little hesitancy and the fact that the beers seemed to be judged on a narrow view of a particular style. I've become more confident in my beer this past year serving weddings, parties, and professional organized beer festivals. My beer is always very well received by the general public but I dont know what to expect from the "pros"

The Pineapple Weissbier sounds delish! I hope you sent it to Boston!!!

 

[couchsending]

Sent in:
Kolsch
German Pils
Helles
IPA
IIPA

IPA might have a tiny bit of diacetyl but I’m still on the fence about it. Don’t get it in the flavor or texture but maybe a hint when first opened but then it disappears? Which technically shouldn’t happen so I don’t know.

Pretty stoked on the other 4 beers. Interested to see the scores.

 

[friarsmith]

Been brewing for 20 years and entering comps for the last 10 or so, but this is only my 3rd year entering NHC. Entering 5 lagers. Competitions scratch my competitive itch. I don't really care about the judging feedback, because 1) there are so many variables out of my control in a comp/judging scenario that can impact the beer (and how it scores) between the day it flows from my keg and gets judged and 2) I've learned to objectively evaluate my beers and can usually predict how they'll score and if they have a chance to medal. If a batch does not turn out somewhere between great and really great, it doesn't get entered into a comp, and I enjoy it for what it is... a refreshing learning experience. Plus I'm really fortunate to have a handful of knowledgeable and National/Certified/Master judge friends who can give me feedback and help me tweak recipes/process in person and are GREAT sounding boards when I'm struggling... All this is something blind judging cannot offer.

My American Lager placed 2nd two years ago in Minneapolis. Let me tell you... what a memorable night that was. At some point, I'll stop entering competitions, but for now, they give me a lot of satisfaction and spur me on to perfect my craft. I hope to be fortunate enough to walk down the aisle in Providence this year!

 

[danielthemaniel]

The Pineapple Weissbier sounds delish! I hope you sent it to Boston!!!

I live in Indianapolis so I entered it there. I do love the pineapple weissbier! I add a little coriander and orange peel as well. Gives it a nice pineapple, orange and banana flavor.

 

[50calshooter]

I stopped entering contests. I used them to help me learn how to brew within the confines of a description and style (i.e. Your category must have this color range, this hop bitterness, and this flavor profile). That way I learned to brew to the populace's expectations. After a while I got it down to experience then went my own way. I wouldn't trade what I learned by entering contests but I won't do it any more. Got me some awesome First and Second place awards- even got a trophy one time that said "Best Damn Beer" (my favorite trophy). Contest are great for a lot of home brewers and a fun thing to do with our hobby. Just no longer for me.