Submitted by jrozborski on Wed, 02/22/2012 - 10:46
Posted in
Announcing a new TRASH 22 award, TRASH participation In the AHA Club Only Competition series and information about the First round of Nationals.
The officers of TRASH have decided that we should participate as a club in the AHA Club Only Competition series. (COC)
From the AHA website:
"Think your homebrew club makes some pretty good beer? Have you ever wondered how it stacks up against other clubs’ beer?
The Club-Only Competition (COC) program offers AHA-registered homebrew clubs an opportunity to compete with other AHA-registered homebrew clubs. Each competition concentrates attention on a specific style of beer or mead, giving your club the opportunity to educate club members in these styles by focusing on them at club meetings or tasting events.
interested? read on . ..
Each club may only send one (1) entry per competition. Your club should determine the procedure for selecting your club’s entry. Selection procedures can vary widely–some clubs choose an entry during an informal tasting, while larger clubs often run a formal competition. The club then sends the chosen entry to the appropriate judging site (see Schedule).
If your club’s entry places in any of the 6 Club-Only Competitions that are held on an August to May cycle, your club earns points towards the AHA Homebrew Club of the Year award on a 12-8-4 basis for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Additional club points can be earned on a 6-4-2 basis for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively in the First and Final Rounds of the National Homebrew Competition.
Each Club-Only Competition covers one or more categories with one or more subcategories from the BJCP Style Guidelines. To ensure your club’s entry is appropriately evaluated, pay close attention to the categories and subcategories of the competition. "
The competitions begin in August and conclude in May of the following year. This year we will be submitting entries for the final two competitions of this season. This will prepare us for our first full season of COC competition which will begin in August.
The March submission coincides very nicely with our TRASH 22 dates. The deadline for the March submission is March 17th, 1 week after our competition. The category is BJCP style 13 Stouts. The judges at this year’s competition will conduct a mini-BOS for stouts submitted by TRASH. The winner of that mini-BOS will be entered into the COC representing TRASH. Stout Entries registered from other clubs are not eligible for this award.
For future entry selections, we intend to have mini-competitions at our monthly meetings. We will provide a full schedule for you in the newsletter, so you can plan, but the next competition is for Category 9, Scottish and Irish Ales. The deadline for entries is May.10. We will hold a mini-competition at our April meeting to select the BOS of all Scottish and Irish Ales. To enter our monthly meetings, please bring 4 bottles of each of your entries. 2 bottles will be used for the TRASH selection competition, and the remaining two bottles are required as the entry to the AHA if you win. Standard rules apply for bottles, no markings, 10-12 oz bottles with caps. Etc.
Our meetings will now include a competition process, where we will evaluate and rate, using BJCP guidelines and BJCP judges from our own group, and select the brew which will represent TRASH in this national competition. Every entry will receive written evaluations that afternoon. The winner will also have that meeting fee refunded (member must be present) as part of the reward for the hard work and effort and for the honor of representing TRASH. Non-winners are encouraged to share their remaining bottles along with the respective reviews with the members for further tasting, education and discussion.
We will be seeking volunteers to assist with the judging, act as stewards, etc for each meeting. Please contact an officer if you wish to be part of this effort. We will require extra judges – as some will have to recuse themselves from portions of the judging if they have submitted entries that month.
In addition to the monthly competitions and awards by the AHA, they also present two annual awards. The first is the "HomeBrew Club of the Year" and is based upon the aggregate score throughout the year of COC winners, combined with tallies from awards won at the annual AHA national competition. The second annual award called the "Gambrinus" is based solely upon the awards and scores earned at the AHA Nationals. An interesting twist to this award, is that total award points are divided by total number of entries, resulting in a final score. A minimum of 5 club members must enter beers. Sounds like they implemented this rule to avoid clubs from flooding the competition with hundreds of entries – it encourages only the best to enter.
We would encourage everyone to enter your beers in the National (first round is being held in Pittsburgh). Please note, there is a strict 750 entry limit to the first round. Enter early or you will be excluded. registration opens February 28th. Entry fees and shipping costs for the COC will be covered by TRASH. Entry fees for the Nationals are your responsibility. If you would like additional information about either program, please see these links.
For the Nationals – First round entry registration opens February 28th http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/national-homebrew-competition
