Beer competitions

[brewer413]

So I recently put one of my beers in a homebrew beer competition. I ended up driving 3 hours to drop it off at the drop off location because I couldn't figure out how to mail it to the place.

Has anyone mailed bottles of beer to a competition through FedEx or UPS??? I'd like to enter competitions but there aren't many around where I live. HELPP!

 

[dmtaylor]

Shipping is a pain, and expensive. Driving 3 hours might be easier! That's been my experience.

 

[jdauria]

So I recently put one of my beers in a homebrew beer competition. I ended up driving 3 hours to drop it off at the drop off location because I couldn't figure out how to mail it to the place.

Has anyone mailed bottles of beer to a competition through FedEx or UPS??? I'd like to enter competitions but there aren't many around where I live. HELPP!

UPS is the best for shipping and if only sending a few beers to a comp in same part of the country, you can ship for under $25. While it's not illegal to ship beer through them, they could refuse to take it, so most people when asked what's in the box will say "perishables" or "glassware". As to how to do it... http://inboundsbrewing.com/how-to-pack-and-ship-beers-for-competition/

 

[brewer413]

thank you for the input!!!

 

[pshankstar]

Line the box with a garbage bag, wrap the bottles with a lot of bubble wrap, pack the box really well so the bottles don't rattle or move much. Create an account with FedEx or UPS and create your own shipping label. You will need the dimensions of the box and the weight. Print the shipping label and attach it to the box. Drop it off to your closest location. Just my two cents and my process. No issues with FedEx so far and just did this yesterday, but for a trade not a competition.

 

[dammBrewer]

I enter several competitions each year. Some farther away than others, logistically there are some I won't enter, but I always use FedEx when sending. UPS for me has been questionable on "quality of delivery" on other items and I don't know that I can trust them with "yeast samples". Yes, it is a bit expensive, but if you can find some friends to go in with you it helps offset the cost a bit. A typical bottle should be filled, capped, cleaned off (don't enter sticky bottles), the bottle label should be in a small zipped bag attached with a single rubber band, put into another larger (gallon) size bag and zipped shut. From there, wrap the bottle in bubble wrap a few times, place in padded (more bubble wrap) box and protected as best you can. If the contents don't fit snug, stuff newspaper or bubble wrap or airbags in there to keep them from moving around. Tape it up, write FRAGILE all over the box and include words like "this end up" and "do not crush". Attach label, drop off and wait. That's general idea...some do it differently, there really is no right or wrong way, just make sure you protect the "yeast samples" as best you can. If in doubt, the link above is a good resource as well as youtube, other brewers and such...congrats on entering a comp, it's a daunting task for some . Happy brewing.

 

[Br3w4u]

I just pack and seal the box before I go. Never had anyone ask what was in it and most likely my response would be “none of your flipping business” but if you didn’t want to be a jerk I would go with the above mentioned yeast samples. They do say in their rules that you can ship alcohol but it has to be picked up by a person over the age of 21.

 

[jdauria]

One other tip on shipping...make sure you give it plenty of time in order to make sure it gets there by the deadline. Almost missed out on NHC this year thanks to UPS and "extreme weather". Shipped the Sunday before the Friday deadline to Chicago, was suppose to be delivered on Tuesday, but for three days the status when tracking kept saying "due to extreme weather, there is a delay in delivering your package"...the extreme weather...it was raining in the MidWest. My entries finally got delivered at 3 pm on Friday, a few short hours before the deadline!