Competition Details

Competition Overview

For those unfamiliar with a homebrew competition, the basic idea is to collect entries from a wide range of brewers. Once all entries have been collected, they are sorted into 15-20 style-based groups that we call "flights." On the day of the competition, 2-3 judges will be assigned one flight at a time and sample each of that flight's entries. Each judge then completes a score sheet for each entry. Once all flights have been scored, the winner from each flight progresses to the second round where the most experienced judges decide an overall competition winner.

It's important to note that most competition entrants won't actually be present on the day of the competition. Instead, competition day is mostly significant for the competition organizers, judges, and stewards.

Drop Off Instructions

Once you have completed the bottle entry form (once for each entry) and brewer registration form (one time only), you will still need to submit two bottles of each entry to a participating drop-off location. If you are not able to visit a participating location in person, you can also ship your entry to the competition registrar (Mike Beattie) at the address below.

To mark your entries, please print out the confirmation message from the bottle entry form. The message is formatted so that you can cut two labels and attach one to each bottle with rubber bands. To be considered for competition, all entries must be packaged in two 12-oz bottles with no external markings (besides, of course, the attached printout). Entries packaged in larger or smaller bottle sizes will be disqualified.

Entry Fee

The cost for each entry is $7. These fees are used to run the competition, feed volunteers, and distribute everyone's results. Any excess funds are deposited into the club's general fund to support regular club activities. You can pay by check or by clicking on the PayPal link below. The same link will be available once you fill out the bottle entry form.

When dropping off bottles, please attach a check for your overall entry fee ($7 x number of entries). If you submit your payment with paypal, just attach a printout of your receipt. Checks should be made payable to our club treasurer, John Rozborzki. If you're using PayPal, be sure to adjust your order quantity based on the number of entries you will be submitting.

Drop Off Locations

You can drop off entries at any of the following homebrew supply shops.

Basic Restrictions

In general, you can enter any beer, mead, or cider that you have personally brewed and bottled. Beyond that general policy there are a few more specific details to keep in mind.

1. One entry per batch. Each batch can be entered only once each year. In other words, you can't enter bottles from the same batch into two different sub-categories.
2. One entry per sub-category. Even if you brewed two different beers of the same sub-style, you can only enter one of them into that style. For example: if you brewed two different Southern English Brown Ales (11B), you could only enter one in the 11B subcategory. The only exception to this rule is the specialty sub-categories (16E and 23).
3. Brewed by you. This is a homebrew competition; not a commercial beer competition. You may only enter beers that you played a hand in brewing using a home-brew sized system. Commercial beers are strictly prohibited.

If you're uncertain of whether your beer is eligible, you can the competition committee for clarification.

Judges and Stewards

The competition is made possible by support from both judges and stewards. Judges are the ones sampling and scoring each entry. Stewards are the ones that make sure judges can focus on judging. Most typically, stewards bring beer from the storage area to their judging table, calculate aggregate scoring information, and fill out any required paperwork. To sign up for either role, complete the judge registration from online. Judges will also be asked to sign a judge waiver on the day of the competition.

The event lasts from 9:00am until about 3:00pm. As a thank you for helping out, all judges and stewards are treated to a buffet-style lunch from the Sharp Edge kitchen.

Where to Stay

If you are coming to Pittsburgh from out of town, you may be able to find a local homebrewer who is willing to put you up for the night. For details and help connecting with a local brewer, contact the competition committee.

Location

Our competition is hosted by The Rock Bottom Pittsburgh in the Waterfront shoppping area. Rock Bottom has been a friend of the club for a couple years now -- sponsoring one of the prizes for our competition and hosting our competition banquet last year. They're also one of the few establishemnts in the area to offer an AHA pub discount.

The East End Sessionable Award

For the third year in a row, TRASH is excited to announce the East End Sessionable Award, sponsored by East End Brewing Company. This year, the prize will awarded to the top rated beer under 4.5% ABV(*). In addition to a plaque recognizing the winning beer, the winning recipe will be scaled up and brewed on a commercial system at East End Brewing Co. Once the beer is ready to serve, it will be available at the Brewery and/or the Growler Shop during Growler Hours, as one of the brewery's rotating session ales. It may also find its way on tap at select tap spots around town.

Additionally, the winning brewer will get a 5 gallon corny keg's worth of the commercially brewed version of their winning beer to take home with them. (Corny Keg not included.)

While every effort will be made to brew the winning beer as true to the originally submitted recipe and process, and in a timely manner, East End Brewing reserves the right to make minor material substitutions, process changes, and scheduling decisions as we deem necessary.

*Certain exotic and not-so-exotic ingredients may require additional label approval steps with the Federal Government before the beer can go into production. Entries that contain these ingredients will still be considered for the prize, but ultimately may be rejected if Federal Approvals are not easily attained. If you're concerned about whether your recipe would be approved, contact the competition organizers and ask.

The Rock Bottom Best of Show Award

In addition to a plaque recognizing the best beer in the competition and a chance to enter your beer in the national homebrew competition (NHC), the top-rated beer will be scaled up to a commercial level and brewed by Rock Bottom Pittsburgh (*). Once it's ready to serve, you'll be able to find it on Rock Bottom's rotating draft list until they run out.

As with the East End Award, every effort will be made to brew the winning beer as true to the originally submitted recipe and process, and in a timely manner, but Rock Bottom Pittsburgh reserves the right to make minor material substitutions, process changes, and scheduling decisions as they deem necessary.

*The same ingredient disclaimer from the East End Award applies. Certain exotic and not-so-exotic ingredients may require additional label approval steps with the Federal Government before the beer can go into production. Entries that contain these ingredients will still be considered for the prize, but ultimately may be rejected if Federal Approvals are not easily attained. If you're concerned about whether your recipe would be approved, contact the competition organizers and ask.

The Turtle Creek Award

This is a TRASH tradition to honor our roots as the Turtle Creek Homebrew Club. This year, points will be awarded in each flight as follows: 3 points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, and 1 point for 3rd place. The Turtle Creek Award will be presented to the homebrewer with the highest number of accumulated points.

Available Prizes

TRASH is working with a number of homebrew suppliers, brewers, and local businesses to coordinate prizes for the top winners in each category. In addition to these prizes, medals are provided for first, second, and third place in each flight. To see a full list of available prizes, check out the available prizes page on this site. We'll be adding more and more prizes as the competition approaches. If you don't see anything exciting at first, check back a few weeks later.

Feedback and Results

Everyone that participates in the post-competion banquet will receive their score sheets at the banquet (the day after the competition). If you are not attending the banquet, you can pick up your results packet at the homebrew shop where you originally dropped off your entries. If you mailed your entires, results will be mailed back to you. No matter how you entered, you can expect an email message with score pickup instructions after the banquet.

Results will also be posted to this site soon after the banquet.