Do you have any insights you are willing to share?
eta: with NHC back to being a two round event, some of the "in it to win it" HomeBrewCon presentations from 2017-2019 may be useful for those entering next year.
I've only stewarded or judged a small number of competitions before so the things I learned could fill up a pretty long post. Here are a few things off the top of my head that might be of interest to others.
- The logistics of holding a larger competition let alone the number of sites the NHC has to find is difficult
- Organizing the beers, judges, stewards, the scoring system, feeding everyone, is from as far as I can tell not something that happens without considerable dedication
- I was surprised how well the online scoring system worked and as a steward my job was simplified down to go fetch beer, make sure the table has everything it needs, and help clean up, which was still work but not difficult
- Almost all the judges were interested in talking with me on their process and letting me sample the flawed beers and talking through their feedback for the entry (the other stewards were quick to share what was left of the 40+ point beers but the judges took a little time to help me learn)
- One flight I was stewarding had a beer that appeared like it had been miscategorized, so the judges asked for the second bottle to check and it was the same, but at least they did what they could to make sure they scored the right beer
- The people I worked with definitely were trying their best to give every beer a fair shot and provide feedback but getting through 562 beers in 2 days means that you have to keep to a bit of schedule
All that might sound obvious to many of you with more experience but it was nice to see firsthand and I got to meet some great people that this community has to offer. I could go on about broken bottles, some less than stellar entries, why I now would suggest you not put ginger in your autumn seasonal beer, and why packaging the beer in the bottle is likely an overlooked but important step that I know I need to work on, but that is what I can share quickly. I would recommend anyone who gets the chance to consider volunteering. It was a bit of work at times but I'm happy to have made a small part of the NHC happen.