Competition

[NicoleBrewer]

Does anyone or has anyone competed with their home brew before? Anyone suggest one? I don't want to enter one where they take your recipe as their own and sell it like Sam Adams does.


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[sweetcell]

where do you live? best to enter a competition near you, so you don't have to pay for shipping and can (ideally) interact with the judges.

I don't want to enter one where they take your recipe as their own and sell it like Sam Adams does.

i wouldn't worry too much about that. the SA Long Shot competition is pretty unique in that requirement. most pro breweries won't be interested in your recipes. i find it funny how protective homebrewers are of their recipes...

 

[chezhed]

Check American Homebrewers Association. They list "sanctioned" events by state.
Of course, there are other competitions that aren't sanctioned but you will probably need a local club or really good craft beer bar to find them....

 

[NicoleBrewer]

I live in CT an its not that I'm protective of my recipes but I don't like the idea of someone taking my ideas and selling them as their own. Not that I think I'd actually win, but if I did why should someone else make the money and get the credit for my brew?


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[NicoleBrewer]

All the ones on the AMA website aren't in my area and those that are in bordering states I've already missed the deadline. Good idea on clubs and local pubs though. Maybe my local homebrew supply store will know of some


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[progmac]

the only brew that is yours is the one you make. sharing recipes is not a big deal. right now i'm fermenting a clone of Avery IPA that I pulled right off of the Avery website.

my wife is big into sewing and fabric. they are always making a big deal about who owns the right to this print or that pattern. somebody makes a cute sweatshirt for their kid and then there they are trying to sell the design. it is the complete opposite of the homebrewing community in that respect.

 

[sweetcell]

I live in CT an its not that I'm protective of my recipes but I don't like the idea of someone taking my ideas and selling them as their own. Not that I think I'd actually win, but if I did why should someone else make the money and get the credit for my brew?

please don't take this the wrong way, but... you're really worrying about the wrong thing.

i take it from your line of questioning that you're a relatively new brewer. do you think you're good enough to take the competition scene by storm, so that every brewery is going to be chasing down your recipes? do you think professional breweries, who have YEARS of experience through their brewers, are going to risk tens of thousands of dollars in ingredients, labor and equipment opportunity cost on a homebrewer's recipe? they aren't.

recipes aren't a big deal. it's the process - how you execute that recipe - that makes the beer. many breweries share the recipes and they don't worry about you copying their beer, because it's not the ingredients that count: it's the process.

BTW, in the Sam Adams competition they don't "sell them as their own". winners of the competition have their names and pictures on the bottles. it is very clear that the beer recipe came from a home brewer. have a look at http://blog.samueladams.com/category/longshot-homebrew-contest/. thousands of people enter that contest... the chances of you, a novice competitor, beating out everyone else is pretty low.

 

[Yooper]

All the ones on the AMA website aren't in my area and those that are in bordering states I've already missed the deadline. Good idea on clubs and local pubs though. Maybe my local homebrew supply store will know of some


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Competitions go on all the time. Scroll down for ones that haven't already passed the entry deadline.

http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php

It's very common to enter by sending in your entry (via UPS or FedEx) if you're not local. I've judged some competitions in Wisconsin, and often the winner is in California or otherwise far away. It's a great way to get feedback on your beer, because you get back fully filled out scoresheets.

 

[NicoleBrewer]

Thanks yooper, that's really helpful. I've never gone the competition route before so I thought you'd have to be local. Is it legal to ship homebrew?


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[natasatan]

I live in CT an its not that I'm protective of my recipes but I don't like the idea of someone taking my ideas and selling them as their own. Not that I think I'd actually win, but if I did why should someone else make the money and get the credit for my brew?


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I live in CT also and there is one coming up in July sponsored by Maltose Express(LHBS) and Eli's Restaurant. Here's the link.
http://www.maltoseexpress.net/contests/

Good Luck!

 

[Osedax]

Thanks yooper, that's really helpful. I've never gone the competition route before so I thought you'd have to be local. Is it legal to ship homebrew?


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This is a grey area. Do not tell UPS/Fedex/etc that you are shipping alcohol. They will decline to ship it. Call it a "yeast sample" for "lab" analysis. It also depends on state law.

 

[natasatan]

I've shipped bottles of both beer and wine via UPS and had no problems. Even told the guy at UPS it was wine and he said it was no problem. Just pack it good so nothing breaks.

 

[Osedax]

It definitely shouldn't be a problem but, I have been denied by UPS. I also live in a control state so that may have been the problem.

 

[NicoleBrewer]

Thanks everyone!


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[BrewWNC]

Enter competitions when you think you are ready.

I've been brewing 3 years and just entered one and got a 32 (which is good but it didnt win). I got great feedback and know I can get it to score higher with minor adjustments.

Like they've said, don't tell USPS/FedEx/ups what you are shipping. Arrive with the package ready to go and packaged so nothing breaks (and if it does the package doesn't leak). Do not write a legible return address.

I shipped mine and had no issues.

 

[Osedax]

All good advice. I enter them so that I get a subjective view of how I can improve a recipe. To me that is more than worth the $5-$10 cost. Also, they are usually a lot of fun. Good luck with it!

 

[kombat]

I live in CT an its not that I'm protective of my recipes but I don't like the idea of someone taking my ideas and selling them as their own. Not that I think I'd actually win, but if I did why should someone else make the money and get the credit for my brew?

Because they paid you for it?

Lots of industries buy creative works from people, including the rights, then never give the actual creator credit. That's part of the deal. If the artists don't like it, then they're in the wrong business. This is true of music, books, films, pretty much anything creative. Ever hear of a "ghost writer?"

I don't have any ethical issues with people buying the rights to creative works. I do, however, have a problem with people STEALING creative works. That is, if you entered the competition and they copied your recipe and sold it as their own without compensating you. That would be shady.

 

[sweetcell]

Do not write a legible return address.

i don't think this is good advice. an illegible return address is a red flag that you don't want to be associated with the box. the employee accepting the box could become suspicious. you want to make everything look as normal as possible. your approach should be that you are shipping something perfectly legal and that you have nothing to hide - so you don't raise suspicions.

I do, however, have a problem with people STEALING creative works. That is, if you entered the competition and they copied your recipe and sold it as their own without compensating you. That would be shady.

indeed that would be. the Long Shot competition give a good prize to the winners whose recipes are used: $5,000. so they aren't "stealing recipes". entrants agree to have their recipes brewed, and are compensated for it. the picture of the homebrewer and their story appears on each bottle, so they aren't presenting the recipe "as their own".

 

[BrewWNC]

Let me clarify. I meant illegible or inaccurate.

Writing a illegible/inaccurate return address just makes it so you can't be held monetarily responsible for damages (instead the carriers insurance pays).

If you feel like a illegible address is a red flag, make up a fake address. The goal is to not have a package with illegal goods linked directly back to you.


Feel free to write a legible return address to your house. Then when one the employees throws your box and the bottle/s breaks and it leaks (despite the crazy package job you did) you can expect a letter asking for any damages to other packages, their equipment, etc. these shipping companies are very clear about their no alcohol policy. You are already breaking the law shipping them.

 

[Yooper]

. You are already breaking the law shipping them.

not so!

Yes, it is illegal to mail beer through the US Postal service- so don't do it!

DHL, FedEx, and UPS allow it depending on your region.

Do not break the law by shipping beer through USPS. That would be dumb.

 

[FarmerTed]

Thanks yooper, that's really helpful. I've never gone the competition route before so I thought you'd have to be local. Is it legal to ship homebrew?

It is if you tell them you're shipping home-made jam.

 

[dlovin]

There is a sticky in the DIY section on shipping beer to competitions


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[progmac]

you also might consider insulating the box and putting in a little ice pack. you'd be amazed how quickly a beer will go stale in the summer heat.

 

[Matt3989]

To get away from the shipping side of things (shipping isn't very difficult, there's even companies that make boxes/packing material specifically for shipping beer if you feel like you need some help).

My suggestion for entering a competition is make choosing which competition you enter the last thing you do. Brew a beer you think is really exceptional first, it's difficult to plan a brew around a competition that's 6 months away, there are lots of little factors that could go wrong along the way and throw your timing off. So if you have a beer that you're really proud of, just go to AHA's website and look through the competition calender for something in the near future that still has spots left.

 

[dlester]

I'd like to also 2nd the comment that shipping through the US Postal Service (UPS) is illegal. Most people in home brewing know this fact. There are plenty of other avenues to ship beer to a competition.



Cheers,

 

[dlester]

Here are some ideas and problems with competitions I threw together. The one thing I didn't put on there is pasteurization. I now pasteurize my beers prior to shipping to avoid possible spoilage due to rogue bacteria. I also wait till the last minute because I doubt your beer will sit in a fridge until competition day. I want the beer to be as fresh as possible:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/competition-ready-beers-unseen-problems-entrants-413492/

PS. After writing this, I decided to update my thread and added pasteurization.

Cheers,

 

[progmac]

do you find that pasteurizing changes the flavor?

 

[dlester]

do you find that pasteurizing changes the flavor?

No it doesn't. I figured that if you boil your wort to make beer, pasteurizing can't hurt. I was worried that I would lose CO2, but that was fine too. If the big breweries can pasteurize their beers, so can we.


Cheers,

 

[hunter_le five]

please don't take this the wrong way, but... you're really worrying about the wrong thing.

+1

Unless your name is "Coca-Cola", nobody gives a $#!t about your recipe. As with any business (beer or otherwise), it isn't the secret formula that makes you successful, it's the process.

Given enough trial and error, any brewer worth his/her salt could replicate your recipe anyway.

 

[sweetcell]

I figured that if you boil your wort to make beer, pasteurizing can't hurt.

If the big breweries can pasteurize their beers, so can we.

have to disagree with both of those statements.

Boiling wort of OK because it's wort, not beer. It doesn't contain alcohol, esters, phenols, yeast (both alive and dead), or any of the many other thing that distinguish beer from wort. Equating the two is wrong, IMO.

Comparing home brewing to a professional brewery is not a good idea. In this case, the big boys flash pasteurize. They super-heat the beer very quickly as it goes down a tube, within a few seconds, and a few seconds later they very quickly cool it back down. Compare that to our stove-top process that takes many minutes. We're destroying stuff that the big guys aren't.

And even with high tech approach, pasteurizing harms the beer. It is done by breweries that value storage time over taste. How many craft breweries heat-treat their beers? Very few (New a Belgium's sours come to mind, but they do it to prevent contamination of equipment). Sure, the BMCs pasteurize...

 

[progmac]

have to disagree with both of those statements.

Boiling wort of OK because it's wort, not beer. It doesn't contain alcohol, esters, phenols, yeast (both alive and dead), or any of the many other thing that distinguish beer from wort. Equating the two is wrong, IMO.

Comparing home brewing to a professional brewery is not a good idea. In this case, the big boys flash pasteurize. They super-heat the beer very quickly as it goes down a tube, within a few seconds, and a few seconds later they very quickly cool it back down. Compare that to our stove-top process that takes many minutes. We're destroying stuff that the big guys aren't.

And even with high tech approach, pasteurizing harms the beer. It is done by breweries that value storage time over taste. How many craft breweries heat-treat their beers? Very few (New a Belgium's sours come to mind, but they do it to prevent contamination of equipment). Sure, the BMCs pasteurize...

it's a good point, but it is an easy thing to try without speculating on what it might do. i think it is interesting to read people's experiences with it.