Competition Planning

[Will_D]

Due to the failry poor response to our NCB competion and not huge entry into the GCB comp myself and John have been thinking (Doooh - Danger)

I would like to propose a shape to the competion year so that people have an idea of whats comming up and can prepare for the comps. Also there is some logic to this!

Jan: & Feb: No comps as it the Nationals in March

March: National NHC comp

April:

May:/Early June: End of May start of Juneis the time for the summeer beers as the grass just starts growing

July:/August: Holiday time so no comps just drink!

Septemeber: RDS festival so need some beers to bring to this

October:

November:/ Early December: Winter warmers

Naturally any local club/inter club comps can be whenever but try to keep Jan/Feb free!

Also I am not saying that the summer & winter beers will take place but the above is the logical time for them

What thinks we all?

[LordEoin]

I don't think there's any problem with the timing of competitions. Folks should hold them whenever they want.
Personally, I kept away from the GCB and NCB competitions because the names confused the shite out of me and no matter how many times i looked at the threads i could never remember which was which, So i just avoided both. And drank my Red Ale.
i probably would have entered one or both of them if the names were clearer.
That's life. If something's complicated or confusing
The monochrome competition probably wouldn't have done so well either if it was simply called the 'Rebel Comp'

[delzep]

Liffey Brewers competition was a success

[Will_D]

Personally, I kept away from the GCB and NCB competitions because the names confused the shite out of me and no matter how many times i looked at the threads i could never remember which was which, So i just avoided both. And drank my Red Ale.

I am not happy to read this sort of derisory comment from a senior, respected member about two competions organised in good faith and in the spirit of the NHC

[Garry]

To be honest Will, I kept getting confused myself between the two competitions. And I spend a lot more time on here than most. It would definitely be clearer to name future competitions after the style. It's nothing personal. I appreciate the amount of time that goes into the competitions.

[brenmurph]

Agree names might help. We refer to ciderheads comp as the red ale comp and wills comp at cat 6 com. In general maybe a  simple schedule could help as just tonite we were scouring the forum for dates on this and that. What if nhc had a first saturday approach for comps. One a month on a first sat. Maybe clubs can book their comp into a slot then.

[Hop Bomb]

Clubs are autonomous & should be able to run competitions when it suits their members once it doesnt clash or come within a month or more of another clubs competition. Having the Nationals as the first comp of the year is a great idea.

The monochrome comp had 18 entries. Very low I thought considering most people brew stout. I think the low numbers for the GCB & NCB comps are down to the time of year & maybe the beer styles. A lot of people are flat out during the summer doing summer things so not brewing as much & the styles of beer chosen might not be brewed by a lot of people in comparison to the usual pale ale, stout or ipa.

[Dodge]

When it comes to comps the only one that stands out to all at first is the NHC in March. Others during the year that are announced by clubs are fine if it's described or labelled easy ie red ale, IPA or by Cat.

Time frame needs to be greater to allow everyone outside that particular club to brew for the comp as required.

Now I know that the likes of Johnrm , Will D and CH have done the utmost to organize a comp and prizes, you lot are to be commended, but sometimes it easy for entrants to pass by either by not understanding the details or not having the time to brew. 

For clubs to take control, I'd like to see individual club reps to promote comps, take control of pickups/drop offs. At the moment I know that individuals are busy out side of their particular club and it's hard to organise but unless this changes it's hard to tie the NHC as a whole together

[Garry]

@Will & CH, wait until this competition is over. You've got a lot of time and work invested and it will pay off. I bet Johnrm was disappointed with the low entries in the monochrome comp at the time. But we had a great time on the day and you could see he was satisfied with the outcome.

I think the Liffey comp was successful for 2 main reasons; It's the second year running and last years winners are now pro-brewers. That gave the competition great exposure this year.

It will be easier to discuss canvassing ideas when the competition is over, and we won't feel like we are criticising your hard work 

[delzep]

Dodge won last year's Liffey Brewers competition

Hardly a pro brewer  :

[Garry]

  Opps!

I'm confusing the Liffey comp with the small beer comp!

[Rossa]

It takes a lot of work to put on a competition and we should commend anyone who takes the time and effort to do so.

Good idea on the planning Will.As we evolve the calendar will fall into place and show there is room for everyone. At the same time Tom is right and local clubs can run a comp whenever they want. I see it that if they want to get bigger numbers in they need to give people plenty of notice and clashing with another competition won't help.

Perhaps April could be our homebrew conference month but that shouldn't put anyone off having a competition.

Anyone who gets a competition up and running with a view to holding it again next year should see this as a success and we should all role in behind them whether entering or not.

[brenmurph]

I dont think any is criticising any individuals personally. Any event takes lots of input and hats off to all organisers. As a few commenters noted a few easy tweaks re names dates and simple access to concise details e.g a poster with all u need to know may help the campaign. Im planning a lager comp with an acompaning set of hombrew events highlighting lager brewing and maby even making a kegerator workshop, however a lager comp in jan wud hav allowed brewers to ferment in sheds or utility rooms without chiller needs. Some lager yeasts wil  ferment over say 6 to 16c so no excuses. Im looking fward to will and ciders comp hav entered 2 brews in each and currently lookin for digs to make an overnite of it. So thanka all organisers for ur work which helps improve brewing and judging

[LordEoin]

Personally, I kept away from the GCB and NCB competitions because the names confused the shite out of me and no matter how many times i looked at the threads i could never remember which was which, So i just avoided both. And drank my Red Ale.

I am not happy to read this sort of derisory comment from a senior, respected member about two competions organised in good faith and in the spirit of the NHC

I'm sorry Will. i could have just smiled and agreed, but what good would that do?
In this case I'm just giving my honest feedback on why I stayed away from these competitions.
I never meant it as a derisory comment and I thought you'd appreciate the feedback.
My mistake. I was wrong.

[Will_D]

I have no problems with clubs organising there own competions whenever they want.

My only point was the logic behind trying to keep the time before the nationals free - unless a club wants to test there entries.

And the logic behind the summer beers and the winter warmers.

Apologies if people got confused with our names. it was just the shorthand of refering to the 2 clubs and not the styles. Won't happen again.

So a reminder:

There is still time to enter the "RED ALE Competition" hosted by the Garden County

and the "Cat 6 Pseudo Lager" comp hosted by the NCB