Ah... The excitement of having a professional judge critique your homebrew. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat... Well, this isn't quite the Wide World of Sports, but having your homebrew professionally judged in a competition can bring countless rewards to your hobby, even if you don't win. But hey, you never know... Here's your chance. Two homebrew clubs (each based in the Carolinas) are hosting homebrew competitions next month: The first is the Second Annual Palmetto State Brewers Open, to be held on Saturday, April 8th in Columbia, SC. The competition is being hosted by the Palmetto State Brewers (PSB) club.

PSB is now accepting entries for their competition. Just ship two bottles of your finest homebrew to the address listed below, with entry forms, and PSB will assign two experienced beer judges to blind taste and analyze your beer, according to style. PSB will then mail you the judge’s comments.

This is a great way to get feedback on your homebrew! If your brew ranks high enough, PSB will award you a ribbon for your efforts, and possibly ship you a prize. If it doesn't, you still get the feedback forms, which will include judge’s comments on what they thought and what you could do to improve your brew.

The entry fee is $6.00 for the first entry, and $4 after that. Mail your entries with your check made payable to: Jim Griggers (write in PSB Comp in the memo section. Mail your entries to: Harold Dowda, 1416 Waterwood Drive, Columbia, SC 29212-1129. It is recommended you use a commercial ground delivery service. The entry deadline is Saturday, April 1, 2000. For more information on this competition, contact Joel Masters at (803) 739-1419.

The second competition is the Annual U.S. Open, to be held on Saturday, April 15th, at the Johnson Beer Co. in Charlotte, NC. This event is being hosted by the Carolina Brewmasters homebrew club of Charlotte, NC. Entry forms for the U.S. Open can be downloaded from http://brew.oeonline.com/cbm/usopen/. The entry fee is $5.00 for the first entry, $4 for each additional entry (make checks payable to “Carolina Brewmasters”). Ship your entries to: U.S. Open, c/o Parker Davis, 2310 N. Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28806. It is recommended you ship via commercial ground delivery service. The entry deadline is Saturday, April 8, 2000.

Guidelines

Please pay attention to the entry guidelines regarding the bottles you submit and the bottle labels you use for each competition. If you need help determining which style category your homebrew falls under, both competitions have guidelines listed with their online entry forms.

We highly encourage you to participate in both events. These are great ways to get quality feedback on your homebrew!

Similar homebrew competitions are held year-round in the United States. For a complete calendar of homebrew competitions, check out http://www.beertown.org and look for the nearest competition in your area.

HBA Sponsorship Are you a member of a homebrew club? Are you helping to organize a similar competition? Homebrew Adventures would be happy to help sponsor prizes and gift certificates for your competition. Just email us at phil@homebrewadventures.com.

HBA Award Winning Recipes: Click on the name to order now!

Monkey on the Mainline Porter: Employs use of honey and molasses to give a potent alcohol content for its style (SG 1.070) Both provide a different twist to an old style.

Hop Head's Northwest Porter: Black, rich, full bodied ale. Both Cascade and Willamette used for bittering gives unique change from its English cousin. Higher hop rate than normal for style (47 IBU) gives hop lovers a porter he or she will thoroughly enjoy.

Trippel XXX Belgian Ale: Prime example of light colored but potent member of Trappist Ale family. Pure Belgian Candi Sugar aids in giving authentic Belgian character. Medium to full bodied with light malt/hops aroma and warming (but not alcoholic) undertones.