Midwinter Homebrew Competition
Thank you for your interest in the Midwinter Homebrew Competition organized by , Milwaukee, WI.
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.
Thanks and Good Luck To All Who Entered the Midwinter Homebrew Competition!
There are 517 registered entries and 210 registered participants, judges, and stewards.
As of 10:53 AM, CST, there are 0 received and processed entries (this number will update as entries are picked up from drop-off locations and organized for judging).
Rules
The Midwinter Home Brew Competition is an AHA & BJCP sanctioned competition open to any amateur home brewer age 21 or older.
The focus of the competition is to provide good feedback to all entrants and reward talented beer, mead, and cider making. All entries to be judged by at least 2 BJCP Judges. All mead entries to be judged by at least 2 BJCP Mead Endorsed Judges and all cider entries to be judged by at least 2 BJCP Cider Endorsed Judges.
The competition will be limited to 500 entries.
Entrants will be limited to 6 entries.
All 2021 BJCP categories of Beer, Mead, Cider will be accepted http://www.bjcp.org.
All entries must be entered under the name of the brewer.
All mailed entries must received at the mailing location by the entry deadline - please allow for shipping time.
All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations per the deadline noted for each location. Please double check and verify your drop off location's deadline.
Under no circumstances will walk-in entries be allowed.
All entries must be handcrafted products, containing ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).
The Beer Barons of Milwaukee or any of the competition drop off locations are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.
The competition committee reserves the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries. All possible efforts will be made to combine or group similar styles. Combined or grouped entries will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.
Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category. Each flight will have at least two BJCP judges or one BJCP judge and an industry professional.
Brewers are limited to one entry in each category and one entry per each subcategory. For example, participants may enter a Belgian Blonde Ale (24A) and Saison (25B), but may not enter two Saisons, even if they are different brews. This goes for Mead, Cider, and Speciality categories as well.
Disclosure of special and base ingredients, along with sweetness, alcohol strength, and carbonation levels will be required per BJCP 2021 guidelines.
Recipes are not required. Should an entrant provide their recipe they will retain the rights to it.
Categories with a small number of entries may be combined at the discretion of the competition organizers. The Competition Coordinator or other qualified person will review elements of beer categories and styles with each panel prior to judging.
The Best of Show judging will be determined by a panel of senior level BJCP judges based on a second judging of the top winners.
The competiton requires that three bottles or cans be submitted per an entry. One bottle or can will be used for table category judging, the second for the category medal round (mini-bos), and the third bottle will be used for Best of Show judging should it take first place in its table category. Should only two bottles or cans be received they will be used for table category judging and category medal round judging should it make it to that round. Should only one bottle or can be received it will be used for table category judging.
Each entry will consist three (3) 10 to 12 ounce capped bottles or cans measuring no higher than 9.5 inches and no wider than 2.5 inches (no exceptions) that are void of all identifying information, including labels. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely. One bottle or can will be used for table category judging, the second for the category medal round (mini-bos), and the third bottle will be used for Best of Show judging should it take first place in its table category.
Anything other than 10 to 12 ounce capped bottles or cans measuring no higher than 9.5 inches and no wider than 2.5 inches will not qualify for the competition. Should a bottle or can be submitted outside of this size range it may be judged (pending payment) for feedback but it will not be eligible for placing or awards. If entry fees have been submitted they will not be returned. We're sorry but bottles outside of this range present logistical challenges and put other properly submitted entries at risk when we trasport them between drop off and judging locations.
Entries will not be returned to entrants for any reason.
12 oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, green and clear glass and cans will be accepted as long as they adhear to the height and width requirements.
Swing top and corked bottles will be accepted as long as they adhear to the height and width requirements.
Completed labels must be submitted with all entries, and can be printed directly from the entry website. Labels should be attached with a rubber band only; glue and/or tape are unacceptable. The compeititon does not accept responsibility should an entry be damaged due to the removal of a label that is not attached with a rubber band.
Inadequent packaging materials or practices may result in entries being subject to disqualification.
Please fill out the entry information completely. Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified per the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges'' scoring of your entry.
Entries must be free of labels or other easily identified marks. Re-used Commercial bottles with embossed logos are allowed but discouraged.
Failure to submit entries properly will NOT exclude them from being judged or evaluated, however it may no longer be eligible for competition prizes.
Bottles will not be returned to entrants for any reason.
All entries become the property of the Midwinter Home Brew Competition.
Rules and regulations subject to change.
Judging Sessions
Private Residence 1 - Sussex, WI
Saturday, January 25, 2025 10:00 AM, CST
Private Residence 2 - Sussex, WI
Saturday, January 25, 2025 12:00 PM, CST
Private Residence 3 - Sussex, WI
Saturday, January 25, 2025 1:30 PM, CST
TBD (1)
Monday, January 27, 2025 6:00 PM, CST
TBD (2)
Tuesday, January 28, 2025 6:00 PM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (1)
Friday, January 31, 2025 1:00 PM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (2)
Friday, January 31, 2025 2:15 PM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (3)
Friday, January 31, 2025 3:30 PM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (4)
Saturday, February 1, 2025 9:00 AM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (5)
Saturday, February 1, 2025 10:15 AM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (6)
Saturday, February 1, 2025 12:30 PM, CST
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (BOS)
Saturday, February 1, 2025 2:00 PM, CST
Competition Officials
You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.
- Bruce Buerger — Competition Coordinator
- Brian Joas — Judging Coordinator
Sponsors
Beer Barons of Milwaukee is proud to have the following sponsors for the Midwinter Homebrew Competition.
Judging Sessions
Private Residence 1 - Sussex, WI
01/25/2025 10:00 AM, CST.
Private Residence 2 - Sussex, WI
01/25/2025 12:00 PM, CST.
Private Residence 3 - Sussex, WI
01/25/2025 1:30 PM, CST.
TBD (1)
01/27/2025 6:00 PM, CST.
TBD (2)
01/28/2025 6:00 PM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (1)
01/31/2025 1:00 PM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (2)
01/31/2025 2:15 PM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (3)
01/31/2025 3:30 PM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (4)
02/01/2025 9:00 AM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (5)
02/01/2025 10:15 AM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (6)
02/01/2025 12:30 PM, CST.
Revere’s Wells Street Tavern (BOS)
02/01/2025 2:00 PM, CST.
Account Registration Open
Registrations for judges or stewards accepted 11/26/2024 12:00 AM, CST through 01/22/2025 11:59 PM, CST.
Entry Registration Closed
Entry Drop-Off Open
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.