WAHA Winter Beer Off

The Washington Homebrewers Association has recently been offered the exciting opportunity to have a homebrew be served privately to WABL members at the Winter Beer Festival and is looking for the first homebrew to showcase at a festival in the history of Washington!  In response, we are organizing the WAHA Winter Beer-Off.

Competition Framework

Any homebrewer may enter a homebrewed “winter beer.”  There is a wide range of beers that could be entered but they will be judged by a panel for the “spirit” of a winter beer as well as technical merits (lack of brewing and fermentation flaws).  They must have approximately 10 gallons of the beer brewed and ready (more than likely preferrably in kegs) as of the time of the competition and December 4^th (please note that the beers ENTRIES ARE DUE NOVEMBER 17th and will be selected on November 21^st so they should be drinkable before then).  For more information, click here.

BJCP Exam - November 14th

The second BJCP exam for the Puget Sound area in 2009 is coming up on November 14th.  Here are details for the exam:

Date: November 14th, 2009
Location: VFW Post 2995
4330 148th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052
Time: Please arrive between 8:30 and 8:45.

If you are interested in taking the test, please RSVP with Steve Antoch.  Don't forget to bring your payment for the exam ($50 for new judges, $30 for a retake).  For more information on taking the exam, visit the BJCP website at http://www.bjcp.org.

BJCP Practice Exam - Oct 31st

For everybody that is interested, we are going to hold a full on 3 hour practice exam complete with the same type and number of questions that you are likely to see on the real thing.  There will also be 4 beers to judge during the exam, just like you would see on the real thing.  The idea is to give you a sense for what the real exam is like and get a feel for managing your time and hopefully do your very best on the real thing two weeks later.  You'll be able to take the practice exam home with you and review your work and see where you might want to focus your remaining reviewing time.  It is grueling, but it will help prepare you.  For more information, click here.

First Round of National Homebrewers Competition in Seattle

In 2010, Seattle will be hosting the first round of the National Homebrewers Competition for the Northwest Region.  There is nothing like home field advantage (no damaging shipping and an understanding of local judge palates) so we are encouraging as many Washington brewers to prepare some great entries in preparation.  The competition will be held in early April at a location in the Puget Sound and we will be looking for as many judges as possible to make plans to judge that weekend.  We are also looking into helping hook up out of state judges with local homebrewers willing to host them for a night.  Regardless, we want people to get involved!  Tim Hayner and Mark Emiley will be working to run the show and you can contact them with any ideas or help that you are willing to contribute.  Help us make our hosting of the Northwest qualifiers of the National Homebrewers Conference a success!

National Homebrewers Conference Package Preparation

The Washington Homebrewers Association is working to assemble a bid package for bringing the National Homebrewers Conference to Washington.  Tom Schmidlin has been working hard to bring together all of the information necessary to prepare our bid.  Now that we have our laws changed, the doors are open for our bid.  Tom and Mark recently toured convention centers and hotels trying to figure out the best arrangements for the conference.  When the time comes, we will need plenty of people to help run this historic event.  If you want to be a part of our preparations for the NHC, please contact Tom Schmidlin and let him know how you'd like to help!

Final 2009 WHOTY Qualifying Competition - Novembeerfest!

The final Washington Homebrewer of the Year and Bert Grant qualifying competition is coming up with Novembeerfest!  This is your last chance to earn points for the WHOTY and a slot in the Bert Grant competition.  Novembeerfest is one of Washington's longest running homebrew competitions and the perfect chance to get advice on your brews before the competition season early next year.  In addition you've got the chance to have your beer brewed at a local brewery!  All of the information that you need to enter can be found here.

2010 National Homebrewers Conference Registration Open

The 32nd annual National Homebrewers Conference will be held June 17-19, 2010 in Minneapolis at the Sheraton Minneapolis South.  The National Homebrewers Conference is a fun, educational gathering designed to enhance homebrewers´ brewing skills and knowledge and increase homebrewing camaraderie. Special seminars and events cater to beer enthusiasts and amateur brewers of every level.  As Washington prepares to host the conference in an upcoming year, we encourage all brewers to attend this exciting event every year.  You can find all of the information you need about the conference at: http://ahaconference.com/.  For those of you who are ready to register, we encourage you to register under your club name as well as the Washington Homebrewers Association to help show your support for the alliance we have found in our state.