LAB Open 2026

Thank you for your interest in the LAB Open 2026 organized by London Amateur Brewers.

You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.

Entry Registration is Open

228 entries have been added to the system as of 15:58, GMT, Sunday 1 February, 2026. There is a limit of 250 entries for this competition.

113 paid entries are in the system as of 15:58, GMT, Sunday 1 February, 2026. There is a limit of 200 paid entries for this competition.

To add your entries into the system, please proceed through the registration process or log in if you already have an account.

Judge and Steward Registration is Open

If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.

If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.

Rules

LAB Open 2026: Competition & Festival
Join us for the LAB Open 2026, a BJCP-sanctioned homebrew competition and festival! Have your beer evaluated by qualified judges, receive professional feedback, and compete for prizes across 12+ categories and Best of Show.

The Competition

• All entries will be assessed against the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines
• Every entry will receive a handwritten score sheet
• Open to homebrewers worldwide, commercial or "brew-on-premise" entries are not permitted
• Judging is anonymous; staff and judges may enter, but will not be able to judge categories they have entered

The Festival
Sunday, May 17th | 2:00-5:00 PM

Experience a unique festival where you can sample most entries, organised by style. It’s a rare opportunity to compare your work against others, explore new styles, and discuss brewing with the community. Winning examples will be flagged for easy discovery.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3

Entry Volume

• Submit 3 bottles or cans (330ml–500ml) per entry
  • Minimum 330ml (to ensure enough for judging and the festival); maximum 500ml or 28cm height (due to limited cold storage)
• Use identical containers and cap colours for all three vessels of a single entry to assist with sorting

Judging & Festival Sampling

• One bottle will be judged, and a fresh bottle will be used for Best of Show (BoS) if your entry advances
  • We may use another fresh bottle for the mini-BoS, e.g. in case of a heatwave
• The remaining beer will be shared at the festival for peer sampling and feedback; it will not be shipped back
• You are welcome to bring extra bottles (labelled as you wish) to share
• Those present at the festival will be able to collect unopened entries at the point of clean-up and preparation for the awards ceremony (but not before!) 

Competition Official

You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.

• Serge Savin — Competition Organiser