Who is entering competitions this year?

I entered 3 beers in my first ever comp last month. No placing occurred. However, my low score was a 33. Was guessing I would be mid-20s. I'll be entering more in the future.
Cheers!

 

Making my one and probably only push on the Louisiana Bayou Circuit for Homebrewer of the Year. I'm in 2nd place right now after a BOS, 2 golds, and a silver after two comps. 5-6 comps left for the year. This is probably my last year for comps for a while. Next year I make beers that I want to drink. If I have a super example of something I'll probably send it to NHC, AHA, and Long Shot.

 

I have a local brewery (bellwoods) hosting a home brew competition with the winner getting a brew day at the brewery with their winning beer.
That intrigued me so I'm going to enter.

They're going to judge based on what they like....I like that...
Based on the quality of their beers I have no concern the best beer will win, good beer will be appreciated and style won't play a factor.

I'm not too keen on the BJCP guidelines.

 

My next brew day will be a refinement of a beer I entered into a competition last year, my first and only entry thus far. I'm adding a little less than a half pound of Simpsons chocolate per judge feedback. I placed first in sub-category and second in all stouts with a 41.5. I hope to be closer to consideration for passing to being in running for best in show with re-entry.

 

I entered the BUZZ Boneyard Brew Off earlier this year and got one medal. It's time for me to enter some more. My least favorite part of entering competitions is packing the boxes and arranging shipment. If we had more local comps where I could walk the beer in, that would be a huge nicety.

 

Probably not. I pretty much stopped entering when I got my kegging set up. The only beer I'm putting in bottles these days are sours. I have one sour in the fermenter, and two brett brews to make yet - nothing would be ready for comps, and since I am pretty new to these beers, I doubt I'll feel that they are competitive. I have been thinking about getting a beer gun so I might bottle from the keg, but it is not a high priority.

 

I will enter the state fair again this year with 3 or so brews. I took home a blue ribbon last year for my stout in my first competition. I imagine I won't be as lucky this year.

 

I no longer have a competitive itch...but that could change : )

 

Hopefully this year i'll finally get around to it!

 

How do you all find out about competitions? Would like to be able to ship away some of my beers and get some honest feedback.

 

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/aha-events/calendar/?event_id=16

 

I don't doubt that the feedback from comps is honest and well intentioned, however I would say that calling the feedback unbiased might be a bit of wishful thinking.
Too many judges (including many BJCP "certified" ones) seem to lack the necessary objectivity required to offer meaningful appraisals, and let personal taste preference bias sneak into the equation.

Some years ago I entered a Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy) into a BJCP sanctioned competition (national) that resulted in some pretty funny feedback comments on the score sheets I got back. The entry actually did pretty well overall, but one judge dinged me saying the beer was "too hoppy for the style" (it was an 8% ABV brew, hopped to only 8 IBUs)...while another judge in the same comp dinged me saying that "...a Scotch Ale should be more aggressively hopped."
It was pretty funny.

Homebrew comps can be fun and rewarding (as long as they are not taken too seriously).

 

@LuskusDelph , while judges do add a subjective component to the comp as a whole, the bjcp standards do seem to work to even the playing field. I stewarded a comp and was at the fruit beer table. One judge says "i hate fruit beers, especially raspberry beers". After telling him the first beer was a raspberry wit, he says "ugh, I hate wit biers too ". The other judge made the comment that she enjoyed raspberry and witbiers. Both judges gave the beer the exact same score based on the merits it deserved as compared to BJCP standards. The raspberry stood out and complimented a well brewed base witbier.

EDIT: I am also entering everything I can. I love the competition.

 

doesn't taste like scotch...

 

My state (Florida) has a very active home-brew club competition circuit, so it's not just brewer against brewer, but club against club. That's added incentive for me to enter anything I think might have a chance. I usually enter 2-4 beers in each of the six comps, and maybe a couple of out-of-state as well.
http://www.floridahomebrew.org

 

Although I have a few original recipes, I feel they'd need to be fine-tuned a little before I enter them in any comp. Honestly, my best beers so far have been clones of other beers. I'd feel weird entering one of those and calling it my own.

 

Don't be scared. I entered my double sunshine clone, and my modified double sunshine (included chinook simcoe and centennial instead of strictly citra) in the CO state fair last year. My modified version beat the straight clone by 10 full points and took second. Never know what youre capable of if you don't try.

 

Thinking about doing a few this year after a long break. I'd love to enter my current Berliner but worried it's not clear enough to score well in appearance.