2024 Maryland Microbrewery Festival Homebrew Competition Info
Account Registration
Registration is closed.
Entry Registration
Entry registration is closed.
Rules
The 2024 Maryland Microbrewery Festival Homebrew Competition is a BJCP-sanctioned competition open to all amateur homebrewers. This year, we are celebrating the British beer categories scattered throughout the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Entries are limited to those beer styles.
A. Entry limitations and exceptions:
- Registration will be done at http://mdmicrobrewfest.brewcompetition.com, through which all entries will be created.
- The Entry Fee is $10 per entry. We prefer PayPal, but payment may also be made via cash or check payable to the Midnight Homebrewers' League.
- The competition is open to British beer styles only.
- It is the entrants' responsibility to be familiar with the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines for the categories you are entering.
- The competition will be limited to 100 entries. This limit is susceptible to increase if there is strong interest. In this way, we are able to judge the entire competition in the morning of the festival, so that Judges and Stewards are able to enjoy the festival in the afternoon.
- Entries will be judged by qualified BJCP beer judges against the 2021 BJCP Beer Style Guidelines: https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/beer/
- All entries must be brewed exclusively by homebrewers on homebrew equipment. Beers brewed on commercial equipment, or at a Brew-On-Premises facility, are not permitted.
- [SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION]: The Grand Prize winning beer will be brewed for commercial sales by Brewery Fire in Taneytown, Maryland.
B. Bottle Requirements:
- Entry labels must be attached to each bottle with Rubber Bands Only. Bottles with tape, glue, or any other adhesive method will NOT be judged and entry fees will not be refunded. Thanks for your cooperation with this.
- We require three (3) bottles of each entry. Acceptable bottles are:
- Standard 11.2 - 12 oz. crown-capped bottles; or
- 375 ml. corked and caged Belgian bottles (which will fit into a standard case box).
- We will also accept 12-16 oz. cans that do not have any printed markings on them.
- No bombers or full sized Belgian bottles, please.
- Remove all labeling. Raised lettering (such as Sam Adams bottles) is acceptable. Caps must be plain, or all printing blacked out.
- If paying with cash or check, please put your payment inside a plastic zip-lock bag and wrap it around one of your entry bottles with the rubber band.
C. Other/General (sorry this is long; previous questions and issues cause us to include these)
- Organizers and Judges will NOT re-categorize entries. Entrants are responsible for selecting the proper category for your entries. If you have any questions about where to enter a beer, you may contact us for assistance.
- 2024 Prize Categories are based upon the number of entries received in given categories, and the available number of Judges and Prizes.
- Category Prizes and/or Ribbons are awarded for 1st, 2nd, and (subject to prize availability) 3rd Place winners in each Prize Category.
- Distribution of Score Sheets and Prizes: Prize winners will generally be notified by email within 48 hours after the competition. Score Sheets will be scanned and uploaded to this site. Many of the Competition Staff go camping the week immediately after the Festival, so please allow two weeks after the festival to view your score sheets. We prefer to distribute Prizes by dropping them off at various homebrew supply shop locations for pick-up by winners who shop at those locations. We do this where it makes sense, to save the costs of shipping prize packages all over the place. Other prizes are mailed out where necessary.
- All entrants, by creating and submitting one or more entries, agree and consent to the following:
- All prize winners' names will be made public;
- Prize winners' names and email addresses may be provided to the Sponsor(s) of any prizes won by the entrant, if a particular Sponsor wishes to know who won the prizes donated by that Sponsor;
- Prize winners will provide their prize winning entry's recipe at the request of the Competition Organizer;
- **[SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION] The Best Of Show winner will be brewed commercially by Brewery Fire of Taneytown, Maryland. The name of the Best of Show winning beer is subject to Brewery Fire's approval for commercial brewing purposes;
- Competition organizers bear no responsibility for broken, mis-placed, or missing entries, or for software errors. Every effort will be made to contact entrants in time to replace missing or broken bottles. If we break or lose an entry due to our error, and a replacement bottle is not available from you in time, the entrant's fee will be refunded. Otherwise...
- With the exception of paragraph 6. above, entry fees are non-refundable.
- No financial benefit is derived from the commercial brewing of the Best Of Show winning beer. The schedule for brewing and tapping of the Best of Show winning beer is subject to the needs and schedule of the brewery.
- One more time...PLEASE do not use any tape or glue to attach bottle labels to bottles. Use Rubber Bands Only. We're not kidding this year, bottles with anything other than rubber bands to attach labels will NOT be judged, and entry fees will not be refunded.
BJCP 2021 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.
| 11A Ordinary Bitter | 11B Best Bitter | 11C Strong Bitter |
| 12A British Golden Ale | 12B Australian Sparkling Ale | 12C English IPA |
| 13A Dark Mild | 13B British Brown Ale | 13C English Porter |
| 14A Scottish Light | 14B Scottish Heavy | 14C Scottish Export |
| 15A Irish Red Ale | 15B Irish Stout | 15C Irish Extra Stout |
| 16A Sweet Stout | 16B Oatmeal Stout | 16C Tropical Stout |
| 16D Foreign Extra Stout | 17A British Strong Ale | 17A1 Burton Ale |
| 17B Old Ale | 17C Wee Heavy | 17D English Barley Wine |
| 27A4 London Brown Ale |
Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3
Judging Sessions
Early Round (if needed)
Friday, September 27, 2024 10:00 AM, EDT
Union Mills Homestead Session 1
Saturday, September 28, 2024 9:00 AM, EDT
Union Mills Session 2
Saturday, September 28, 2024 1:00 PM, EDT
Best of Show
The Best Of Show winning beer will be scaled up and brewed commercially by Brewery Fire in Taneytown, Maryland. The name of the winning homebrew is subject to the approval of the brewery.
No financial benefit is derived from winning the Best of Show prize.
Awards
Prize Categories will be established by the Competition organizers, depending on the number, and categories, of entries received. Prize Categories may consist of combined beer categories.
Ribbons and/or prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and (subject to the number of available prizes) 3rd Place in each Prize Category.
Qualification for a prize, regardless of placement in any Prize Category, may require a minimum score at the discretion of the Competition Organizer and/or Head Judge.
Entrants do NOT need to be present at the Festival to win.
Awards Ceremony
Union Mills Homestead
3311 Littlestown Pike, Westminster, MD 21158
Saturday, September 28, 2024 5:00 PM, EDT
Judging Sessions
Early Round (if needed)
09/27/2024 10:00 AM, EDT.
Union Mills Homestead Session 1
09/28/2024 9:00 AM, EDT.
Union Mills Session 2
09/28/2024 1:00 PM, EDT.
Account Registration Closed
Account registrations accepted 02/15/2024 12:00 AM, EST through 09/27/2024 10:00 AM, EDT.
Registrations for judges or stewards accepted 06/01/2024 12:00 AM, EDT through 09/21/2024 1:00 PM, EDT.
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.