Author: Bruce Buerger

Judging is now complete. We’re in the process now of getting the score sheets PDF’ed and migrating the score data into the system. We should everything out by Sunday evening. We’ll post updates and send out emails when everything is posted.

• We will be using a short form score sheet this year. It is designed to provide the same type of feedback as the standard BJCP scoresheet but it does it in a more condensed format. It will also be captured on an electronic device so no messy handwriting issues. One of the motivating factors behind this change is an attempt to reduce the chance of virus transmission as a result of paper exchange. Please familiarize yourself with this change before submitting entries.

• The competition is scheduled to take place on February 19th & 20th, 2021 however we will not be guaranteeing that all entries will be judged that weekend. At this point we just don’t know how many judges we will be able to recruit, nor do we know if any of our dependent vendors or facilities will be subject to a shut down. We will make every effort to conduct the judging as safely and efficiently as possible. No results will be made public until all judging has been completed, but we will be providing updates on the site as to the progress we’re making.
• We are currently operating under the assumption that the competition will be open to all categories of beer, mead, and cider, however entries will be capped initially at 400. We will consider increasing the cap to 450 depending on additional judge commitments.
• This year we will be using a new scoresheet that communicates the same information found on the standard BJCP scoresheet, but is easier for judges to complete and requires less interaction with stewards and office staff. We will post a draft of the sheet format prior to registration opening.
• We will be requesting 3 bottles per an entry in 2021. Should only 2 bottles be supplied or survive shipping then that entry will not be judged at best of show should the entry make it to that level.
• The shipping window will probably be 2 weeks this year vs. our usual 4 weeks so have your entries ready to go and don’t procrastinate getting them shipped.
• The drop off and ship to locations for the competition have been confirmed. Please be sure to verify the deadline date and time for the drop off location you plan to use. There is a specific time and date listed for each site and most deadlines are at least a week before the February 6th registration and shipping deadline. Unfortunately this year we are unable to arrange transportation from our regular MN locations.
• We have confirmed that we will still be a part of the American Mead Makers Association’s National Mead Maker of the Year award circuit as well as the Master Championship of Amataure Brewing circuit. Plans are still forming for those two circuits, but we know that we will be a part of them. At this time we are not sure where the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year Circuit is at with their plans.
• Given the lower entry cap as well as the workplace challenges that Covid-19 presents we will not be pursuing the Brewmaster’s, Meadmaker’s, or Cider Maker’s Choice awards in 2021.

That’s it for now. We’ll post additional updates as things develop.

Prosit, Sláinte, Salute, Na Zdravi, Cheers! – Bruce Buerger
Coordinator – Midwinter Homebrew Competition

The results and score sheets for the 2020 competition have now been posted and are available at the competition web site – https://midwinterhbc.com/competition/

The score sheets are accessible at the same place where you access you scores earlier. Simply log in and click on the My Info and Entries link. To the right of your scores you should see a gavel or hammer icon. Click on that and the document will download or open. Note you will need some sort of Acrobat Reader installed to see the sheets. Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure we’re not going to keep them out there for download for forever so please get them before we turn the site over in 300 days or so for the next competition. 

This is our first year doing the scanning thing so if you see something that you have questions about please first check out our FAQ page and then reach out to us via our Contact page should you still have questions. If you don’t remember your password there is a Password Reset link that you can use to gain access. 

Medals and awards will be mailed out later in the week. We found out recently that USPS changed their procedures recently so chances are they’re go out towards the end of the week. 

Some interesting factoids about the 2020 competition:

• We received a total of 820 entries this year, 246 which were meads and 28 which were ciders.
• Entries came from AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, NV, OH, OK, SK, PA, SD, TN, TX, WA, WI, and WY.
• All judging was performed by 5 Grand Master, 21 National, 26 Certified, and 6 Recognized Judges from all over Wisconsin, the Midwest, and Arizona. 
• To maintain quality judges judged maintained an average of 6.2 entries per a sitting.  At no time did a set of judges judge more than 8 entries per a session.
• All entries were judged by at least two BJCP judges with at least one of them having a rank of Certified or higher.
• All Mead entries were judged by one of 24 Certified Mead Judges or Professional Mead Makers.
• All Cider entries were judged by one of 24 Certified Mead Judges or 6 Cider Judges.
• All category mini Best of Show sessions were conducted with a pair of BJCP judges with at least one BJCP judge with a rank of National or higher. 
• The Beer, Mead, and Cider Best of Shows were all judged with panels comprised of National, Grand Master, Mead, or Cider BJCP judges.

On behalf of the Midwinter Home Brew Competition organizing committee I would like to thank you all for participating in this year’s competition. A huge thank you also to Milwaukee Brewing Company, Moonlight Meadery, White Winter Meadery and Cider House, Northern Brewer, Revere’s Wells Street Tavern, Beechwood Distributors, Discount Liquor, Craft Meister, all of the out of town judges that came in to help us out, and all of the local judges and volunteers. Hope to see you all back in 2021!

Prosit, Sláinte, Salute, Na Zdravi, Cheers! – Bruce Buerger
Coordinator – Midwinter Homebrew Competition

Registration is now open! Please take note of all drop off location deadlines:

Drop Off Location	Entrant Drop Off Deadline	Notes
The Cellar – Oshkosh, WI	Wednesday, January 22nd
The Thirsty Pagan Brewing Co. – Superior, WI	Wednesday, January 22nd
Summit Brewing Company – St. Paul, MN	Friday, January 24th & Saturday, January 25th	* During Mashout competition only.
Northern Brewer – St. Paul, MN	Friday, January 24th
Wine & Hop Shop – Madison, WI	Saturday, January 25th
Perfect Brewing Supply – Libertyville, IL	Friday, January 24th
Hop To It – Racine, WI	Friday, January 24th
Farmhouse Brewing Supply – Janesville, WI	Friday, January 24th
The Purple Foot – Milwaukee, WI	Friday, January 24th
Northern Brewer – Milwaukee, WI	Saturday, January 25th	** Also Ship to Location

Best of luck to all that enter!

We’re very happy to announce that Midwinter has been added as a circuit qualifier for the American Mead Makers Association’s National Mead Maker of the Year competition. – https://mead-makers.org/national-mead-maker-of-the-year/

Well it’s been underway for quite some time, we’re just starting the process of announcing things.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for further updates regarding our Brewers Choice Award, a new beer and food pairing event for volunteers and the public, and the addition national level circuit qualifier!

Thanks to all our entrants, judges, and stewards! The beverages have been judged and the winners have been declared. Check out the results on the competition page.

Scores for your entries are also available on the competition website as well.  Simply log in and click on the My Info and Entries link to see the numerical scores.  If you don’t remember your password there is a Password Reset link that you can use to gain access. 

Some interesting factoids about the 2018 competition:

• We received a total of 663 entries this year, 76 which were meads and 33 which were ciders.
• Entries came from AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NJ, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY, and Germany.
• All judging was performed by 1 Grand Master, 1 Master, 15 National, 48 Certified, and 6 Recognized Judges from all over Wisconsin, the Midwest, and Arizona. 
• To maintain quality judges judged maintained an average of 5.5 entries per a sitting.  At no time did a set of judges judge more than 7 entries per a session.
• All entries were judged by at least two BJCP judges with at least one of them having a rank of Certified or higher.
• All Mead entries were judged by one of 15 Certified Mead Judges.
• All Cider entries were judged by one of 15 Certified Mead Judges or Judges with Cider Sensory Training.
• All category mini Best of Show sessions were conducted with a pair of BJCP judges with at least one BJCP judge with a rank of National or higher. 
• The Beer, Mead, and Cider Best of Shows were all judged with panels comprised of National, Master, or Grand Master BJCP judges.

Score sheets and awards will be mailed out early this week.  On behalf of the Midwinter Home Brew Competition organizing committee, I would like to thank you all for participating in this year’s competition.  A huge thank you also to all of our ramp up partners and sponsors. Hope to see you all back in 2020!

Prosit, Sláinte, Salute, Na Zdravi, Cheers!

Bruce Buerger
Coordinator – Midwinter Homebrew Competition