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1st Ever
Dickens Christmas Fair
Black & Tan Homebrew Competition
(Of mostly beer with almost historically accurate categories and somewhat ironic sponsorships)
Official Rules
(For those that like official things)
This is a BJCP registered homebrew beer competition, open to all entrants in all countries. Yes, all of you. The basic rule is simple: "You must enter to win." OK, after all of that, here are the nuts and bolts of the competition.
Highlights:
Three bottles, about twelve ounces each, per entry
Limited BJCP categories of beer, and cider are open
Organizer Contact: brewfun@sbcglobal.net
Online registration is required (click here)
Entry Window: November 12, 2007 to November 23, 2007, 5pm
Where do they go:
Carol Goodman
C/O Rabbit's Foot Meadery
1246 Birchwood Dr.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Part I - How to Enter This Competition
What kinds of bottles are required?
Bottles must be 10 to 14 ounces in volume, brown or green glass, and be free of labels, except for competition label. Competition labels are to be attached by rubber band only. Obliterate any lettering or graphics on the cap with a permanent black marker. Bottles with Grolsch-type swing tops are not allowed. Corked bottles meeting the above restrictions are acceptable. However, we strongly recommend that you crimp a crown cap over the cork. Bottles not meeting these requirements will be disqualified.
How many bottles do I need?
Send three (3) bottles for each BEER or CIDER entry competing.
What are the entry fees?
For U.S. and international entries, $7 per entry. Make the check or money order payable to Carol Goodman. Please note "Beer Competition" in the memo area.
When are the entry deadlines? Entries must be received at Rabbit's Foot Meadery between Monday, November 12, 2007 and 5 p.m. on Friday November 23, 2007. Between November 27 and 30th, you will receive email confirmation that your entry and fee has been received in good condition or not. No email means nothing has been received.
If you do not receive an email, then your entry may have gone missing, drunk by a disgruntled shipping employee, or you missed the notice. For inquiries, contact the Organizers at brewfun@sbcglobal.net. The Organizer is not responsible for bad or missing email contact information and will be unable to follow-up in any other method. Replacement of lost or broken entries is solely up to the entrant. If all three bottles are destroyed prior to evaluation, and none are sent as replacement, the entry fee will be refunded.
How do I enter?
For each entry, register at Hordes of Fun . For instructions on filling out the entry form, see Part II. The online wizard will only make you enter basic information for the first beer, then ask you to supply a name and style for each additional entry. After each entry, the wizard will allow you to print your four (4) labels. One is attached to each entry, and the last is for your records.
Once you have printed the entry form, attach it to each bottle using a rubber band, face out. Do not fold or obscure the label.
Attach your check or money order with one of your entry forms. Unsigned or destroyed checks will disqualify the entries. Placing checks inside a sealed baggie will help to protect it from damage.
If the check name differs from the entrant(s), then please note the entrant name and number of entries on the check.
Do NOT attach the entry form or label with glue or tape. Your entry will be disqualified if you use glue or tape to secure the form to the bottle.
Pack your bottles carefully. (See Part III, Section C.) Ship your entries to the address given above. Entries sent to the wrong site may be DISQUALIFIED. The organizer cannot acknowledge receipt of entries before the dates listed above - get a tracking number from your shipping company to track your package. Packages with postage due or C.O.D. charges will be returned to sender.
DO NOT SHIP YOUR ENTRIES VIA THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.
Which Style do I enter?
The online entry wizard will give you an opportunity to review the style before confirming it for your entry. Enter your brew in the style where you feel it will perform best. Judges do not see your entry form. Judges or organizers will not classify or reclassify your entry. The Dickens Christmas Fair Black and Tan Homebrew Competition uses the 2004 Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guidelines. A downloadable version of the complete style descriptions is available at www.bjcp.org.
What are the styles that are open?
Primarily this is a competition about Ales and Fermented Cider. Traditional UK Ales are featured although American and some Continental styles are included. Ale yeast is highly encouraged, but not mandatory in all styles. Categories 21 & 22 are open to all styles as base beers. Ciders and Perry are included categories, but all need to be fermented. Fresh (unfermented) ciders will be disqualified.
How will the styles be organized?
Styles will be combined or collapsed according to the entries received. This is at the sole discretion of the Organizer. Care will be taken to fairly pair these combined categories according to general stylistic considerations, alcohol strength and other flavor considerations.
The Dickens Christmas Fair Black and Tan Competition is open to the
Following Categories:
From the BJCP Guidelines
Are there entry limitations?
Entrants may only submit one entry per style (letter part of category). For categories that have no specific styles (Categories 20 and 23), you may only submit one entry. An entrant may be an Additional Brewer for an entry in a style they have already entered as the main brewer (e.g. Bob Marley enters an English Pale Ale, Category 8C, and is also the Additional Brewer on an English Pale Ale submitted by Ebenezer Scrooge). Oliver Twist approves of this strategy, since it allows for 'more.'
Your homebrew cannot have been made on equipment used to brew beverages for any commercial purpose, whether for commercial research, production or any other purpose, including equipment at brew-on-premise establishments.
You must give the names of all brewers who helped in the brewing.
Judges may not judge a category they have entered.
What do I win?
The list of competition prizes is growing. We are actively seeking sponsors for prizes at all levels. All first, second and third place entries in each category will receive a ribbon. First place winners will receive a Jacket from the Lagunitas Brewing Company. Best of Show will receive a prize so secret, that even we don’t know what it is yet.
PART II - Instructions for Completing the Entry Form
Entering Your Homebrew Online:
The Dickens Christmas Fair Black and Tan Competition is requesting entrants register their entries online using hordes of fun. Registering your entries online will greatly reduce the amount of data entry for the volunteer staff.
Entry Form: Entry Information
If the category number and style letter are somehow omitted, write the category number and style letter you are entering on the entry label. Organizers, judges or registrars will not classify or reclassify your entry under any circumstances.
Ciders: you MUST check the appropriate information (strength, sweetness, carbonation) for your cider entry. Dry, semi-sweet, or sweet and sparkling, petillant, or still must be designated for all cider entries.
Important information for Vagaries
If you enter category 21B, 22B, 22C, 28B, 28C, or 28D; please provide the style and/or unique ingredients or processes in the style and ingredients sections of the registration wizard. This information is necessary for accurate judging of entries in these categories. Failure to include the required information will not result in disqualification, but may negatively affect your score. Brand names and regional ingredient names are acceptable, but should be understandable to the judges.
PART III - The Fine Print
A. Judging
Judging of all beer and mead entries will be done at The Cow Palace, on December 1, 2007. Judging will begin around 10:00am, or as early as possible thereafter. Entrants may attend, but are likely to be conscripted into important tasks like retrieving beers and score sheets for judges. At no time may entrants interact with judges about individual entries while evaluations are underway. Entrants may not harm or harass judges after evaluation if your beer did not win. Entrants may weep, silently. Hotlines are available for the truly despondent.
Judges and stewards are needed for this event. Qualified and interested individuals are encouraged to register at hordes of fun
Ciders will remain separate categories, so long as five (5) or more are received. At ten (10) or more Cider entries, these may be considered for their own Best of Show.
While first place entries may be identified after the judging, no guarantee is made that all awards, scores and score sheets will be available at that time. There is a boatload of paperwork after one of these babies. All efforts to make score sheets and scores available will be made, but is dependent on volunteer labor available. All decisions by competition organizer and judge director are final.
B. Awards
Ribbons will be awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers. First place is available only to entries scoring 30 or higher in each category. Entries scoring below 30 may be awarded a place at the discretion of the judges and concurrence of the judge coordinator.
First place winners in each category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) Round. The BOS winner will receive the above-mentioned super secret prize.
C. Packing your entries
Each entrant is solely responsible for the safe packing and lawful travel of their entries. DO NOT SHIP VIA US POSTAL SERVICE. Each entry should have the label attached with a rubber band. All bottle caps should be blank or blacked out to cover any identifying marks. Each bottle should be wrapped in shock-resistant packaging and placed in the box in such a way that the bottles will not bounce around or come in contact with each other. Do not tape anything directly to the bottle. We recommend that you also place each bottle inside a sealed plastic bag so that liquid does not compromise the whole box. Place the check inside its own plastic baggie so that it doesn’t get wet. The box should be secure, in good condition and not over packed.
No freight collect or balance due entries will be accepted. It is impossible for the organizers to return any shipping containers to the entrants.
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