Black Friday Homebrew Competition Info
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Entry Registration
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Rules
The Black Friday Homebrewing Competition is a BJCP sanctioned competition where your darkest beers are assessed by qualified judges against current BJCP 2015 style guidelines. Score sheets and written feedback will be provided for each entry. Certificates and prizes are awarded for Best of Show places.
The competition is open to all beers which are black in colour - those intended to be in the 2015 BJCP Guidelines - Schwarzbier, Porters, Stouts, Black IPAs etc and any other black beer you have made in some categories we've made up.
After judging, remaining portions of the entries will be available for sampling on the evening of Black Friday, (26th November) at Hammerton Taproom. Hammerton will also have their own extensive range of dark beers available for purchase on the night. Entrants may bring further examples of their entries to share on the night.
It promises to be a great night where you can sample homebrew and commercial beers, learn from some experts and take home some malt and/or hops. What's not to like? It's better than online shopping, we guarantee.
Style Guidelines & Eligibility
Entries will be assessed against the BJCP Style Guidelines 2015 available via this link (PDF).
Eligibility: This competition is open to everyone, worldwide. Competition organizers, staff, judges and stewards may enter the competition. Measures are in place to ensure fair, anonymous, judging. Judges and stewards will not be assigned to categories that they have entered. Entries must have been made at home. Those made in commercial establishments, including brew-on-premise establishments, are not eligible.
Where
Hammerton Brewery
When
Friday 26th November 2021
- Open to entrants/friends from 6PM for purchase of commercial examples.
- Best of Show judging session - 7-8PM. Entrants homebrew samples available as soon as judging is complete.
- Talk / Awards Ceremony - from 8PM
- General moaning about shopping and drinking more beer - 10PM+
Important Deadlines
- Register online and pay for all entries - no later than 12th November 2021
- Delivery of entries to Hammerton Brewery in person or by delivery service. Entries to arrive no earlier than Saturday 20th November 2021 (and preferably from Monday 22nd November 2021) and no later than Thursday 25th November 2021 5PM. If dropping off Mon 22 -Thurs 25th November, please do so during brewery opening hours (~10am-5pm) as the taproom is not open on midweek evenings.
Entry Cost & Essentials
Entry fee is £7.50 (plus any PayPal handling fees) per entry.
PayPal handling fees are beyond our control. Paying for multiple entries in the same transaction may be cheaper than many individual transactions.
Competitors are encouraged to come along to the event, sample the entries and share your beers with your friends and fellow competitors.
How to Enter
- Register yourself on this site via the Home page, Enter your beer(s) into the correct category and pay the fee via PayPal using the My Info and Entries Info page of this site. For help selecting a category see the BJCP Style Guidelines 2015. The Judges and organisers will not reclassify entries so please choose styles carefully. E-mail the Competition Organiser if you need guidance. Last date for registration/entries/payment is 12th November 2021.
- Label each of your beers as per the Bottle Acceptance Rules in the Entry Info page of this site.
- Package your entries and then drop off or ship your entry to the drop off location of your choice.
- Drop at, or ship to, the designated site(s) to arrive NO EARLIER than Saturday 20th November 2021 (and preferably from Monday 22nd November) and NO LATER than Thursday 25th November 2021 5PM.
- Come along in person on Friday 26th November 2021 from 6pm to sample beers with your competitors and friends.
Style and Award Categories
Styles will be grouped together to form judging flights of similar styles or strengths of beers and to form roughly equal numbers within each category where possible. Beers will be judged against the style guideline under which it was entered. The best beers of each style category within the flight will be judged to obtain the winners of the flight.
The 1st place entry in each grouping will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round.
We hope to announce prizes for 1st place in each grouping nearer the competition.
The competition is non-profit. Funds from the competition are used to run the competition itself, including food provision for volunteers at the event. A small amount may be used to support the training of judges (for example to purchase off-flavour kits). Everything else is fed back as prizes or used to pay for up-front costs for the next competition. All the organisers and judges volunteer their time freely to support the homebrewing community.
Contact
In the first instance contact the Competition Organiser, Antony Hawkerr, at events@londonamateurbrewers.co.uk
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BJCP 2015 Judging Styles
If a style's name is hyperlinked, it has specific entry requirements. Select or tap on the name to view the subcategory's requirements.
| 3D Czech Dark Lager | 8A Munich Dunkel | 8B Schwarzbier |
| 9C Baltic Porter | 13A Dark Mild | 13C English Porter |
| 15B Irish Stout | 15C Irish Extra Stout | 16A Sweet Stout |
| 16B Oatmeal Stout | 16C Tropical Stout | 16D Foreign Extra Stout |
| 20A American Porter | 20B American Stout | 20C Imperial Stout |
| 21B2 Black IPA | 27A8 Pre-Prohibition Porter | 35A Smoked Black Beer (Custom Style) |
| 36A Wood Aged Black Beer (Custom Style) | 37A Spiced, Herb or Vegetable Black Beer (Custom Style) | 38A Wild or Sour Black Beer (Custom Style) |
| 39A Fruit Black Beer (Custom Style) | 40A Other Black Beer (Custom Style) |
Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3
Judging Sessions and Dates
Competition judging dates are yet to be determined. Please check back later.
Best of Show
To be confirmed but we hope to have extra prizes for the top 3 Best Of Show beers
Other prizes may be become available depending on sponsorship and/or entry fees.
Awards
The awards ceremony will take place once judging is completed.
Places will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category/table along with a rosette.
First, Second and Third Best of Show will be announced and will receive a rosette and prizes (to be announced).
Results will be posted to the competition web site after the ceremony concludes.
Feedback sheets will be e-mailed to entrants after the competition. We aim to do this within a few weeks, often less.
Awards Ceremony
Hammerton Brewery
Unit 8 & 9, Roman Way Industrial Estate, 149 Roman Way, London N7 8XH
Friday 26 November, 2021 20:00, GMT
Judging Sessions and Dates
Competition judging dates are yet to be determined. Please check back later.
Account Registration Closed
Account registrations accepted 08/09/2021 00:00, BST through 20/11/2021 12:01, GMT.
Entry Registration Closed
Entry Drop-Off Closed
Please pay attention to the notes provided for each drop-off location. There could be earlier deadlines for some drop-off locations listed, particular hours when entries are accepted, certain individuals to leave your entries with, etc. All entrants are responsible for reading the information provided by the organizers for each drop-off location.