Homebrew competitions question.

[Panderson1]

Im in Florida. Over the past year, it seems the only events i can find you need to ship/drop off your beer 4+ weeks prior to the actual event. Is this normal?

Maybe this is all covid related? I remember hearing how you could drop off the day of the event.

Am i wrong thinking that styles like IPA it wouldn't be worth it waiting 4 or 5 weeks to be judged? The bottles just sitting around for weeks. Especially if I'm bottling from a KEG?

Trying to get a better understanding. Thanks.

 

[Sammy86]

Im in Florida. Over the past year, it seems the only events i can find you need to ship/drop off your beer 4+ weeks prior to the actual event. Is this normal?

Pretty normal in my experience...Pre-3 kids I would 3-4 comps a year...each one was different but 2-4 weeks for shipping beer to far off lands (I'm in CT) was pretty standard.

I never heard of a comp allowing drop off day of...

 

[kingmatt]

Most competitions have transitioned to remote judging, at least partially, due to COVID. As such, they need additional time to get the entries sorted and out to the judges. Judges also need additional time to coordinate a time to get together online with their judging partner and then get the scoresheets back to the competition organizer. There are a lot more moving parts this way than the traditional competition where all judging is done in one location on the same day.

Even "traditional" competitions require at least a week prep time, usually 2.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Yes, the time frame is pretty normal, even Pre-pandemic. The beers received should be stored in a cold room, at least that is what my area clubs do. I have heard of the occasional drop off the day of competition, but those were very small competitions and usually for their members only. From an organizing standpoint too many last minute entries could be adverse to running a smooth competition.

 

[ba-brewer]

Everyone's beer will be treated the same so it is still a fair comparison. Do your best to limit oxygen exposure when you bottle and you should be fine with an IPA.

I try to package my beers as close to the drop off deadline as I can though to hedge my bets.

I also try to time my brews for competitions so they are going to be at their prime on the judging date.

 

[Bobby_M]

Im in Florida. Over the past year, it seems the only events i can find you need to ship/drop off your beer 4+ weeks prior to the actual event. Is this normal?

Maybe this is all covid related? I remember hearing how you could drop off the day of the event.

Am i wrong thinking that styles like IPA it wouldn't be worth it waiting 4 or 5 weeks to be judged? The bottles just sitting around for weeks. Especially if I'm bottling from a KEG?

Trying to get a better understanding. Thanks.

I don't think I have ever seen a comp that allows dropoffs the day of the competition. For one thing, a full bottle sort needs to be done to check in the entries as "received", anonymize them by replacing the entry label with a random entry number, compile a list of the entries per beer style, create the judging "tables" and assign judges to those tables all while keeping a judge from judging their own entries. That process takes a couple weeks to pull off.

I always say that a brewing competition is 60% brewing and 40% packaging.

 

[BrewMan13]

I always say that a brewing competition is 60% brewing and 40% packaging.

Totally agree with this statement. I've been burned by poor packaging techniques in the past. Quite honestly, still perfecting the process for non-bottle conditioned beers.