2015 National HomeBrew Championship

[Rossa]

Are there any plans to do another course/exam? I'd be interested in doing it if it were Dublin-based.

I intend on running another one in Dublin next year.

Will you be running that out of your homebrew shop?

[molc]

The fact that we still don't have enough bjcp judges means scoring can be erratic

I'm quite surprised to hear this. I thought we were now inundated with qualified BJCP judges?! Are there any plans to do another course/exam? I'd be interested in doing it if it were Dublin-based.

I think we used about 60 judges last year at least, between the two days. I think we had less than 20 club members doing the exam but  another course would be great. The course is not just about judging and in fact brings a lot of brewing theory into it too which is great for your brewing.  Maybe get a thread going about another course as I'm sure many of the guys and gals who did it last time would love to help out and I'm sure Padraic might help out again.

Yeah I'd be interested in doing this as well. Would be a great way to improve my brewing as well as being able to help out.

[Will_D]

There was talk on their forum abou the Belfast lads organising a course and exam

[Bubbles]

Thanks for the responses lads.

Will start a new thread to gauge interest.

[Bubbles]

There was talk on their forum abou the Belfast lads organising a course and exam

Just read through that thread and it looks like the lads are doing their course over several weeks. The regular commute wouldn't work for me unfortunately. I'd need something that could be done over a weekend. Though I'm not sure how practical this would be. The old palate would be fairly shot at the end of the day!

[Rossa]

There was talk on their forum abou the Belfast lads organising a course and exam

Just read through that thread and it looks like the lads are doing their course over several weeks. The regular commute wouldn't work for me unfortunately. I'd need something that could be done over a weekend. Though I'm not sure how practical this would be. The old palate would be fairly shot at the end of the day!

You certainly need the time. You could easily do it on your own though. It's great to taste all the styles but you can read the notes and test yourself with a scoresheet. Having a knowledgeable qualified judge/beer nerd with they helps with bouncing ideas around.

If there was a course being run again I would expect a  qualified judge or two to be involved. Although it was fun there were times when we needed guidance last year and you don't want the loudest person in the room telling everyone what they think when they are wrong.

[Hop Bomb]

The Galway club will be doing the siebel off flavour tasting & a final run through judging for any of ye that are interested. It'll be ran on a Saturday. All day affair. Siebel tasting in the morning & then judging in the afternoon. Not sure of a date yet but all are welcome.

[Ciaran]

Any idea what the style split is going to be between the Galway and Dublin judging dates?

[Rossa]

Any idea what the style split is going to be between the Galway and Dublin judging dates?

No split decision yet. Dates are Feb 21 in Galway and March 7 in Dublin.

[Paddy]

Where are the guidelines for this competition, rules, submissions, etc...?

Cheers!

[irish_goat]

Where are the guidelines for this competition, rules, submissions, etc...?

Cheers!

All here. http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/competition/rules 

[winstonia]

Do Beoir members get a discount? 

[Rossa]

Do Beoir members get a discount? 

They certainly do....if they have dual membership

[shanek]

Where are the guidelines for this competition, rules, submissions, etc...?

Cheers!

All here. http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/competition/rules 

Folks am I right in saying that beers, for example, a bipa and a mixed / blended sour (that doesn't fall into standard styles) would both be entered in cat. 23a? Thats raises another question, are you limited to entering only one of these or other creations that don't fit into standard categories?

[Rossa]

Where are the guidelines for this competition, rules, submissions, etc...?

Cheers!

All here. http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/competition/rules 

Folks am I right in saying that beers, for example, a bipa and a mixed / blended sour (that doesn't fall into standard styles) would both be entered in cat. 23a? Thats raises another question, are you limited to entering only one of these or other creations that don't fit into standard categories?

Very good point. Something we had not foreseen.

Chatting with club members over the last year regarding the entry limit everyone seemed in agreement over the one per sub category entry limit but perhaps this is too restrictive and needs to be revisited. With 300+ members and over 1000 registered users we want as many as possible to enter so having some restriction would be a valid way of giving everyone a chance to enter.

With that in mind and the fact that new BJCP guidelines and categories will be in place in 2016 a restriction of 3 per sub category would seem more appropriate this time around. This will not apply for categories with no sub categories. For example category 23, 21, 20 and our wine and specialty IPA categories will have no limit as there are too many possibilities of sub category to consider.

Does that sound clear enough? Keep the questions coming!

At the moment we are looking at venues in Dublin and Galway and will publish those when we have them confirmed.

The Competition system is up and running now with a limit of 600 entries so get busy!
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/competition/