2024 Atlantic Home Brew Challenge

[BAbrewing]

Get ready to showcase your brewing mastery in the 5th Annual Atlantic Homebrew Challenge!

https://homebrewchallenge.gahan.ca/


We’re not just looking for good beer; we’re on the hunt for the crème de la crème of homebrews across the Maritimes. This year, we’re expanding our horizons and aiming to crown the best of the best in Atlantic Canada.

2024 Featured Styles:

Best Bitter - Bring out the balanced and hoppy goodness!
Spice, Herb, and Vegetable - Dare to brew with unique flavors and aromas!
Remember, your creation should include a twist - a portion of your brew must be partially mashed or steeped to perfection.

What’s on Tap for Winners?

Grand Prize: $500 cold hard cash!
Brew Fame: Your winning recipe will be canned and sold by Gahan as a limited edition delight.
Bragging Rights: Eternal glory on the @gahanbeer social media pages.
Important Dates to Remember:

Beer Submission Deadline: March 2nd, 2024
Winner Announcement: March 29th, 2024
Every participant gets a cool Home Brew Challenge t-shirt to add to their collection.

Ready to hop into the challenge? For detailed style descriptions and more, visit our official website: Home Brew Challenge by Gahan

Pour your heart out and let's brew this!

[AnarchistBrewing]

By spice, herb and vegetable, do you mean added to bitters or that we can enter either a bitter OR something like, say, a gruit?

[mumblecrunch]

By spice, herb and vegetable, do you mean added to bitters or that we can enter either a bitter OR something like, say, a gruit?

It's "or" not "and."

There are two styles you can choose from to enter under, Best Bitter and Spice, Herb, and Vegetable Beer. These styles are as per the BJCP; Best Bitter is 11B and Spice, Herb, Vegetable is 30A. You'll find the full style descriptions on the comp website here. EDIT: Per the FAQ each competitor can enter once in each style, but you'll be paying two entry fees.

Spice, Herb, and Vegetable says there needs to be an identifiable base beer there, one that's defined elsewhere in the style guidelines or a historical style or a provisional style. So a Chili IPA with hot peppers or the 2019 winner, Tingles Sichuan Stout would be clear-cut examples. Pumpkin/Pumpkin Spice beer is common enough that it's got its own sub-category at 30B Autumn Seasonal. The key is that you need to say what the base beer is, and then what you've added to it in terms of Spice, Herb, and/or Vegetable.

Gruit is an interesting question. On one hand, a no-hop gruit might not be recognizable as "beer" by a modern drinker. The BJCP Style Entry Suggestions Page does say that a gruit would belong in Historical Beer, but again, by the 30A guideline you're theoretically going to have to add something that's not traditionally in a gruit to differentiate it. Which seems odd to me knowing all the things that could be in a gruit.

On the other hand, to some degree, a Spruce Tip Ale using a British Strong Ale as a base beer would itself meet the general definition of a "gruit," just one that contains hops as well.

Confused? ME TOO. I'd recommend reading the style guidelines and if you're unsure of how your beer would be received, email the organizers to ask.

[Gregbrews]

Does anyone know what happened with this competition? I asked on their Facebook page and got no response from them, no winners announced

[Naboo]

Does anyone know what happened with this competition? I asked on their Facebook page and got no response from them, no winners announced

It was mentioned in the AC Beer Blog acbeerblog.ca last week. It only had the two winners though.

[chalmers]

Hiya! As Naboo mentioned, we chatted it up Thursday on the blog, as a couple of us were judging/organizing.

The rest of the entrants and winners are being contacted tomorrow and Friday. I noticed the Gahan Beer FB page wasn’t updated, but the IG page was. Not sure why the disconnect, but rest assured it really happened with BJCP judges (and one pro brewer who is mid-BJCP certification) drank your beer and filled out forms!