Tips or Info on entering competitions

[EagleDude]

I am creating/giving a presentation to the local club on entering competions. Although successful, I've just entered a handful of competitions over the last two years, so I thought you all would have some good pointers for me to incorporate into the presentation. Any input is appreciated and thanks in advance!

Some of the basic topics I figured I would cover are:
Why enter competitions.
How do you find out about various competitons.
Bottle entry labels/recipe/caps ... info required/optional.
Shipping tips
Entry judging

Then the most important ... competition brewing tips.

[dmtaylor]

1) Enter the beer into the category it tastes like, which is NOT necessarily the style you originally intended to brew. Pull out the BJCP guidelines and ensure it fits a style. You will be judged primarily on how well the beer fits the style into which it has been entered, NOT based on how good it tastes regardless of style.

2a) Take the judges' feedback with grains of salt. Unfortunately, the judges are sometimes just flat wrong. It is for this reality that I always say

2b) Enter every beer into at least 3 if not 4 different competitions. It is the only way to ensure an accurate objective assessment of your beer. Look for common themes. Idiot judges will then stick out like a sore thumb, e.g., if every judge scores your beer in the 30s but then there is one judge who scored it an 18, consider carefully whether that score was anomolous, and if so, throw it directly in the trash and do not waste one single minute to frustration.

3) If all else fails, send your beer to me and I will give you the best dang scoresheet you have ever seen. You may or may not appreciate the honesty as a good judge does not pull any punches, but its at the very least another example of what a scoresheet can look like. Better yet, if you know any certified judges through your club or whatever, ask them to score it honestly. Save money on shipping costs!

[brewinhard]

You might want to include a brief discussion on planning beers to brew for competition entry purposes. Hitting key points as to knowing when each of your beers will be at its peak for being judged is crucial to get good scores. ie - an IPA should be entered very fresh vs. a stout with roasted grains can age longer due to its antioxidative properties. of the grains.

[siwelwerd]

Bottle entry labels/recipe/caps ... info required/optional.

Never put tape or glue on your bottle. A single rubber band will suffice. If the cap has any markings on it, black them out.

Be sure and tell them how to describe their beer for the specialty categories. Every time I judge one of them, there are 2 or 3 beers in the flight that would have scored higher had the entrant put a better description on there (usually the problem is they supply too many details). If you can't taste it, don't write it down.

Pay attention to flight order when reading your score sheets--it makes a difference, despite our best efforts as judges.

[EagleDude]

All great info! Keep it coming!!! The president of the club resigned and now as VP it is my duty to keep the club going. I'll be tapping the BN crew for input periodically to help with ideas, so thanks to everyone for your support!

[BDawg]

If you are entering 23A (Specialty Beers), BE SPECIFIC about what the base beer is. For example, "Smoked Porter" is NOT specific enough. There are 3 Porter styles in the BJCP Guidelines, and all 3 are very distinctly different. Smoked Brown Porter is different from Smoked Robust Porter is vastly different from Smoked Baltic Porter.
The same thing applies for all Specialty/smoked/spiced beers. And if you can't discern that you used rye or wheat or something else in the beer, don't list it as one of the special ingredients unless you want to get docked for lacking that characteristic.

NEVER use packing peanuts to ship your beers. They are EVIL and have been known to completely piss off the folks that have to unpack them. If you EVER get the urge to use them, STOP!!!! instead, pull down your pants and insert them up your ass one at a time and do not stop until you run out.

[Bokonon]

If you are entering 23A (Specialty Beers), BE SPECIFIC about what the base beer is. For example, "Smoked Porter" is NOT specific enough. There are 3 Porter styles in the BJCP Guidelines, and all 3 are very distinctly different. Smoked Brown Porter is different from Smoked Robust Porter is vastly different from Smoked Baltic Porter.
The same thing applies for all Specialty/smoked/spiced beers. And if you can't discern that you used rye or wheat or something else in the beer, don't list it as one of the special ingredients unless you want to get docked for lacking that characteristic.

This is so true. It seems like most people over do it with the info. I saw one beer at the GEBL IPA challenge that the specialty info basically had all of the recipe process in it.

It doesn't necessarily mean what is in the beer but what can you taste/smell. If it's a vanilla bourbon porter but you can't taste the vanilla don't put it down. The judges will be searching for that and you will lose points if they can't find it.

NEVER use packing peanuts to ship your beers. They are EVIL and have been known to completely piss off the folks that have to unpack them. If you EVER get the urge to use them, STOP!!!! instead, pull down your pants and insert them up your ass one at a time and do not stop until you run out.

Pack well but not so well that the unpacker is ready to kill you. Peanuts will definitely do that, but so will a 16x16x16" box stuffed with bubble wrap, newspaper, and dirty diapers all to protect 3 bottles. The biggest thing is keep the bottles from banging into each other.

[CRBrewHound]

Another good tip is to slightly overcarbonate your beer. Judges usually do visual and nose evaluations first, writing down their evaluations. You still want it to have nice carbonation (to style of course) when they get to the tasting portion. This is more important too if you are filling from a keg versus bottle carbonating, as you lose a little carbonation in the transfer and filling of bottle headspace.