Competition Bottling Question

[Chello]

So i'm thinking of entering a few beers, merely to get the feedback of expert beer judges.

All of the competitions say that all entries must be in an unmarked bottle.

Does that mean i can't use any bottle that has distinguishing marks in the glass. Such as Sam Adams bottles as they have the raised signature in the glass?

i think all the bottles i have left are ones i'v recycled.

 

[flyangler18]

Does that mean i can't use any bottle that has distinguishing marks in the glass. Such as Sam Adams bottles as they have the raised signature in the glass?

Yep, that's exactly what it means. That being said, I entered a competition previously doing just that and didn't get dinged according to my scoresheet. YMMV.

 

[Bokonon]

Many competitions will allow this and usually will say so in the rules. If in doubt email/call the organizer.

I always use labels without any raised lettering/logos on them. It shouldn't matter but you never know when a judge will be biased against bottles like that. The bottle inspection shouldn't affect your score at all, but I know judges who are biased against low/high fill levels

 

[Chello]

I'm just worried about getting my entries disqualified. I guess buying a case of bottles is no big deal. I can just set those aside to use specifically for competition entries.

 

[thedude123]

Why not just buy a case of beer and save the bottles? I just washed the labels off and sent them in.

 

[Chello]

Thats what i do when i normally bottle beer, but a lot of the stuff you buy has distinguishable markings on the bottle.

I need to decide how many entries i'll send in first. I think i have a hand full of "blank" bottles that can be used.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've wondered about this as well. I guess I can see how a bottle with raised letting on it could certainly be considered to have distinguishing marks. When I send to comps I always just send in plain jane bottles. I have a ton of them so it's not something worth taking a chance of being dq'd over.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

There are a lot of good beers out there in plain glass. But as has been stated above it will depend on the comp. I just entered a comp here in OR that specifically calls out using embossed bottles and says it's OK. Seems like most breweries out here are using the raised glass...I usually get a case of Sierra Nevada at Costco when I'm looking to get some plain glass for comps.

 

[Reverend JC]

Myself, unless it is a completely obvious makred bottle, I will let them slide. SA, Odell's, and the like are so common that anyone could reuse them and enter a beer with them in it.

If you are concerned just go pick up some plain bottles they are cheap, but 9/10 times you will be fine.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Buy case of your favorite, drink case, wash label, enter contest. Keep doing this and you will have a few cases for competition. Since I don't keg, I drink a lot of Stone IPA, thus painted bottle is less work!

 

[carnevoodoo]

I think the rules work both ways. Sure, maybe someone will ding you for having a Sam Adams bottle. Likely not. But if a judge knows that his friend's beer is in a Sam Adams bottle, it can also be bad for the others in the comp. I would say play it safe and use non-raised bottles. Sierra Nevada are my favorite too.

 

[BierMuncher]

I always strive for completely anonymous bottles. I fear that any commercial stamping might sway a judges prejudice ever so slightly. You never know a judges disposition...especially after 7-8 rounds of sampling. Maybe your judge is a bonafide beer snob. Dropping a nice Northern Brown in front of him in a Bud American Ale bottle might...just might...cause some unfavorable influence.

I'd like to think not. But you never know. I do know this, if my beer is dead even with someone else, I'm going to take every advantage I can get.