The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) announced this week that the open enrollment for competition applications to the annual National Homebrew Competition will open on January 22, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.
For the competition this year, the AHA added a thirteenth first-round judging center, located in the New England area. The AHA also separated smoke-flavored beers and wood-aged beers into separate categories. The entry fee was boosted to $16, an increase of two dollars.
“The increased entry fee will allow us to continue to provide essential financial and administrative support to all thirteen first-round judging centers, the final-round judging, and overall competition operations,” the AHA said in an announcement.
The AHA says that the last time an entry fee was raised was more than a decade ago, and since then eleven new first-round judging stations have been added, as well as additional categories, staff, and infrastructure to handle all of the entries.
“We believe this growth has been a positive for the competition and the hobby of homebrewing, and we will continue to make improvements on your behalf,” the group says.
Full information may be found at HomebrewersAssociation.org. The competition is open to AHA members only.
During the application process, applications may be changed until the enrollment period ends. The deadline for application entries is 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time on January 29. All applicants will be alerted by February 15 if they’ve been allowed into the competition, and at that point payment is due. First-round shipping must be mailed in early March, and judging in that round will take place between March 22 and April 14.
Final judging and winners will be announced at Homebrew Con, which will be held this year in Providence, Rhode Island, June 27–29.