Submitting for my first competition this weekend...

[MuddyCreek]

I finally have taken the plunge and will be submitting two beers for a Montana-wide homebrew competition coming up. I'll be sending in my Muddy Creek Chocolate Stout and my Skinny Cow IPA.

I'm not too confident on the Skinny Cow. Ended up with some tired bittering hops and it just doesn't quite have the punch underneath that you generally look for in an American IPA, but I won't mind any tasting notes I get back. As for the stout, it turned out very well and I hope that it scores well.

Wish me luck.

Per the agreement, should I somehow magically end up with an award or honorable mention, I'll share the recipe.

 

[AmandaK]

At the very least, you should get some unbiased feedback that could make your beers even better.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[MuddyCreek]

I did not place, but I wasn't really expecting to. First competition and my best entry was a bit out of category. (Oatmeal Stout but the ABV was 7.9, I may have done better entering it as an imperial.)

At any rate, I enjoyed the experience and I'm looking forward to the tasting notes.

 

[phuff7129]

I did not place, but I wasn't really expecting to. First competition and my best entry was a bit out of category. (Oatmeal Stout but the ABV was 7.9, I may have done better entering it as an imperial.)

At any rate, I enjoyed the experience and I'm looking forward to the tasting notes.

In competitions, there are numerous groups of judges judging a particular category of beer. If the judges deem a beer worthy they will send it on to the mini best of show round. All of the mini best of show beers in a category are then judged to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Judges at their discretion can also award an honorable mention.

I can tell you that the beers that make it to the mini best of show round are generally very good beers even though they may not place in the category they are still winners in my book. When you get your score sheets it should tell you if it made it to the mini best of show.

Also remember that judging is very subjective. Also because there are not enough BJCP certified judges a lot of competitions rely on novice judges who will judge with a BJCP certified judge so you may get some pretty weird feedback from the novice judges.

I entered a beer in a competition once and it took honorable mention. The funny thing was, it was judged by two judges and the BJCP judge loved it and scored it a 42. The novice judge hated it and scored it a 27. Most competitions require that the two judges be within 5 points of each other so the BJCP judge dropped his score to 38 and he must have convinced the novice to raise his score to 33 so they would be 5 points apart. Anyway, I was pretty excited that a BJCP judge thought my beer was worthy of a 42!

Competitions are fun and it is really nice when you can get an unbiased opinion of your beer. It is also especially nice when a certified judge likes your beer. It confirms that you are doing something right.

Good luck in future competitions.