NHC / NHBC 2020

[mwilcox]

Thanks. But they sent out the 2015 guidelines to follow. This is 2018’s.

New England IPA continued to get way more popular after the 2015 update, and we put out that guideline to make clear where people were supposed to put it after getting the question hundreds of times.
Enter it in 21B with the Specialty Information "New England IPA" or call it New England Session IPA or New England Double IPA if it is especially low or high in alcohol. You won't do well in Clone Beer.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I entered once. Comments lead me to believe they either got the wrong beers or the judges were nothing short of awful. Did not detect diacetyl in a beer that I and the three judges in my club picked up on instantly. Also called centennial blonde too hoppy and not the easy drinking, approachable beer expected for the style....this after my macro drinking friends said it was fantastic (and it's a proven recipe).

I won't enter again as I have zero confidence in the results. I've done some local comps where I got great feedback (and very high scores), so I'll just stick to that. Obviously not the prestige of the national comp, but based on my experience, there's a pretty big element of luck in that one. I don't have the patience to keep entering hoping for them not to screw things up.

 

[Braufessor]

I didn't get my first choice judging center so i guess i'll be shipping to Kansas, haha. Oh well, still looking forward to seeing how my beers do.

I have sent mine to Kansas a couple times - they do a nice job and are among the best with quick turn around on results, score sheets, etc. It is a good place to send. They are always my first or second preference depending on what the other locations are.

 

[bob1852]

I entered once. Comments lead me to believe they either got the wrong beers or the judges were nothing short of awful. Did not detect diacetyl in a beer that I and the three judges in my club picked up on instantly. Also called centennial blonde too hoppy and not the easy drinking, approachable beer expected for the style....this after my macro drinking friends said it was fantastic (and it's a proven recipe).

I won't enter again as I have zero confidence in the results. I've done some local comps where I got great feedback (and very high scores), so I'll just stick to that. Obviously not the prestige of the national comp, but based on my experience, there's a pretty big element of luck in that one. I don't have the patience to keep entering hoping for them not to screw things up.

I love how when judges give you high scores, the competition is great and the judges are awesome....

And when you get low scores the judges suck and the competition is poorly run.

 

[ba-brewer]

I have had a few beers at non NHC that I wondered if bottles got switched, a couple even placed.

When I first started entering contests I would bottle an extra beer to sample when I got results, but got lazy and stopped. Then I got a couple bad reviews so started up again. A few weeks in a bottle can really change some beers.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I love how when judges give you high scores, the competition is great and the judges are awesome....

And when you get low scores the judges suck and the competition is poorly run.

It wasn't the scores....it was completely missing diacetyl in an IPA. It was saying a very benign blonde ale (and proven recipe) was not the easy drinking approachable beer for the style. Either the beers they scored were not mine or they were completely clueless.

I was a steward that year, at the facility where my beers were judged. I saw multiple cases of mixed up beers and I saw judges who were asked to do too much and were burned out. At least at that facility, that year, scoring well was a crapshoot. I did get to sample some amazing beers though.....

You can think it's sour grapes all you want, but my IPA that was a diacetyl bomb scored a 34 which was easily 10-15 points above what it should have been. The blonde got a 27 based on characteristics that made zero sense.

 

[505-Brewer]

https://dev.bjcp.org/beer-styles/21b-specialty-ipa-new-england-ipa/

I think you'll just have to select 21B and type in that it's a new england ipa. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the BJCP site that's what you would do.

Thats how I am doing it.

 

[bob1852]

A few weeks in a bottle can really change some beers.

Not to mention transport conditions, comp storage conditions, flight position within the comp, etc...

 

[treacheroustexan]

Anyone here ship or drop off their entries yet? Today is sampling weekend for my entries and will ship them by the 27th.

 

[Braufessor]

I am sampling this weekend too..... of course, I am always sampling
Dortmunder is making the cut for sure

My plan is to bottle later this week/next weekend.
Pack them up a week from tomorrow and ship a week from this Monday, on March 2nd.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I gotta keg my 2nd entry tonight and get it carbed and I'll be driving my entries up this weekend to Milwaukee.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Judging officially starts today. Good luck all!

 

[jjw5015]

Judging officially starts today. Good luck all!

yeaaaa, none of this is actually going to happen.

 

[friarsmith]

AHA/BA decided last night to postpone the NHC first round site judging scheduled for this weekend. I'm on the site coordinating team in Indy. There's no word yet on the fate of the overall competition and if this weekend's sites will be rescheduled, but I imagine something will be posted this weekend. These regional sites bring in 80-100 judges and 30+ stewards. It's no small affair.

 

[booth74]

I really hope they stick to a "postpone" move and not an immediate cancel. I realize the severity of this outbreak, but if there is someway to judge these beers in a safe way, I hope they at least explore it.

 

[friarsmith]

They're having a meeting this morning to discuss options and then will communicate w/ entrants.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Oh dang, I didn’t hear any of that. I guess I should have assumed though. Thanks for the info guys!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Damn, that sucks!! I get why they did it, but still sucks. Was really looking forward to this. Depending on the length of the post pone period, I wonder if they'll make everyone resubmit their entries.

 

[kingmatt]

Philadelphia judging was supposed to take place the first weekend in April but I can't imagine that is going to happen at this point. I was really happy with my 2 entries this year too!

 

[kingmatt]

Damn, that sucks!! I get why they did it, but still sucks. Was really looking forward to this. Depending on the length of the post pone period, I wonder if they'll make everyone resubmit their entries.

I would think they will just scrap the entire competition and refund everyone their entry fees. I'm sure a lot of people don't have any more of the beer they submitted at this point.

 

[TandemTails]

I would think they will just scrap the entire competition and refund everyone their entry fees. I'm sure a lot of people don't have any more of the beer they submitted at this point.

That's my thought too. Unless something drastically changes in regards to Covid-19, I don't even see the conference happening. I'm holding out buying my ticket until I at least hear something from them.

 

[K_tile]

Craft Brewers Conference has been canceled.

 

[Rob2010SS]

We already knew based on the posts above, but it's been confirmed...

 

[Dog House Brew]

Even though the HBC is 3 months out, I'll be shocked if it isn't cancelled. There is too much uncertainty, and would think attendance would be down. Down to the point of it makes little sense. We will see, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[TallDan]

Even though the HBC is 3 months out, I'll be shocked if it isn't cancelled. There is too much uncertainty, and would think attendance would be down. Down to the point of it makes little sense. We will see, but I'm not holding my breath.

I suspect that you're correct. All sorts of conferences are being cancelled right now for the coming months. Registration just opened recently, and i'm sure the numbers are very low.

 

[TandemTails]

I suspect that you're correct. All sorts of conferences are being cancelled right now for the coming months. Registration just opened recently, and i'm sure the numbers are very low.

Plus there won't be the competition final judging / results portion to draw people in either.