2015 National HomeBrew Championship

[Bubbles]

2 x 500ml bottles  power entry, as last year - the 330ml did not work for us last year at all.

That's a shame. I already have some brewed and conditioning in 330ml bottles 

So do I, Eoin. It is a shame, but I don't think any exceptions should be made this year.

I think I'm right in saying that in 2013, the 330ml bottles were allowed, even though they were forbidden in the guidelines. In 2014, everyone had plenty of notice but there were still howls of objection when it was pointed out. So exceptions were made again. I don't think we can keep making exceptions indefinitely.

Is there a barrel competition this year?

[Dodge]

I raised the issue last year before the 2014 comp about including the 330ml bottles because the guidelines and comp rules about bottle size were only put up a couple of months before the comp and a lot of people had bottled the beer already ( especially anything high ABV)

I had mentioned to a few afterwards that the rules needed to be put up early so that anybody entering knew what size bottle to use, how many, and for all bottles to be label free.

[Tom]

I know it's sensible to bottle the high ABV beers in 330ml bottles for personal consumption, but in a competition, JUST to be sure the judges get a skinful enough, 500ml bottles would need to be submitted.

[shanek]

Hey folk do you reckon come Feb & Mar next year the 2014 draft BJCP guidelines will be in place? They certainly seem modernised with a greater divide for 'newer' styles. Anyone have any insight?

[shanek]

Pity, but sure it's all good!

[SlugTrap]

BJCP wheels turn very slowly, so I'd be surprised if there was any change before next summer.

According to themselves, new guidelines will be in use "at the start of 2015."
Would they be used if they were in effect?

Can we get a ruling on this now?

[mr hoppy]

So by the time they're actually implemented they'll be completely out of date.

[Rossa]

I'll have a good look at it next week and see where we can incorporate the new guidelines but the competition software that does a lot the work for us is limited at present to the older guidelines but we will see.

It's great to see an overhaul. It is long overdue but there will be some catchup for us all in this and I'm sure other questions to be answered.

[Will_D]

I am sure that if you ask the BJCP they will tell you that the style guidlines are nothing to do with a BJCP sanctioned competition!

They are just guidlines to help the judging process and group similiar beers together if needed.

It is the "rules of conduct" of the comp that are really immportant and makes the comp "Sanctioned".

So when the new style guides come out we can still use the old one! Remember that if the new guidlines DO come out in 2015 some beers will have been brewed to the existing guide. Also brewers need to read and understand the new guidlines. This is Ok for people who just enter on style but for CERTAIN people it will take them ages to wade through! (Tee Hee!!)

I would suggest waiting at least a year after issue before adopting the new guide for our national competition.

[Hop Bomb]

I think you'd be mad not to include at least some of the new categories. It would reduce the cat 23 entries & give those beers & fair shout in their own new category. IE: black IPA, session ipa, american sour beer etc.

[johnrm]

The style guide in use should form part the competition announcement.
I say go with the 2015 style guide

[Bubbles]

+1 for the new guidelines also. They're so much clearer and better organised than the 2008 version.

[shanek]

+1 for the new guidelines (if possible), so much more clarity & variety

[Will_D]

At the moment there are no "New Style Guidlines"! They have been issued in draft form for review!

It would be a  bit risky to brew to these guidlines as they may be changed in the future when the official issue is issued!

[Rossa]

I had another look at the presentation Gordon Strong did on the proposed guidelines at the NHC 2014. It is worth a look if you have an hour to spare. It is exciting for me as a brewer and as a judge. We can certainly take aspects of the proposed guidelines but as a whole it would be more prudent to run it as last year with 24 categories as opposed to the 40 that are proposed. Having said that section 23 is a mess and the new guidelines will allow us to have criteria to judge those beers against.  Whatever guidelines are used it will not affect any entry as such. A beer is a beer after all so just because the older guidelines don't have a descriptor for it it doesn't mean you should enter that double wheat sour stout you know is a winner. Whether we take some of those beers out of 23, and put them in an appropriate category, we can decide when we see what the numbers are like.

There is a recognition that judging to the guidelines has been almost too strict and that anything that veers outside the guidelines is wrong and gets marked down. This is also where we can improve and implement the new approach. A good beer should be rewarded and just because it strays over the lines slightly it doesn't mean it should be punished.

Everyone will be playing catch up on this. That includes the software we use. I wouldn't see a new version ready in time for us but maybe for 2016.
If you haven't looked at the categories you should. For example Category 15 has Irish Red and Irish Stout and export. There is also an English stout category and English porters are now in with dark milds and American porters and stouts have their own category so there is a lot going on and a lot of decisions to be made in the future of how categories will be grouped.

SO, although I would see us running the 2015 championship in the same format as this year we will be able to have the draft guidelines on hand so if someone enters a sahti  or grodziskie we will be able to pull up information about them and judge accordingly.