Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: My first experience competing in the National Homebrew competition.

« on: May 13, 2013, 02:54:14 PM »

Hi CapnJB,

Each year that I have been the NHC Director (2006-present) has had its own set of issues due to the changes we've made to improve the competition.  This year has been particularly difficult because we have switched from online registration and MS Access databases to a completely online paradigm.

Thank you for summarizing your experience so far.  I will keep your summary in my Next Year folder so that we can try to improve the experience for you next year.  With the exponential increase in participation and interest this year, one thing is certain, this competition will be completely different in 2014 than it is this year.

Good luck in the Final Round!

Cheers,
Janis

2

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition Bottle Shipment Worries

« on: March 28, 2013, 11:57:01 AM »

If it makes you feel any better, mine also says "On Vehicle for Delivery Today," so if mine was really delivered Tuesday, maybe yours was already delivered too.
 

I just got the delivery notification, so it sure looks like it was actually delivered this afternoon and truely had a hold put on it. I'm assuming the deadline being missed would be waived in this circumstance.

Hi,

Any packages with delayed delivery due to forces beyond the entrants control will be accepted if they are received within a reasonable time frame.

Cheers,
Janis

3

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition Bottle Shipment Worries

« on: March 26, 2013, 09:43:57 AM »

So I shipped my bottles to New York yesterday (Monday).  (From my area, it's one day delivery, so there's a day of wiggle room before the Wednesday deadline.)  I shipped to the revised New York address that was recently provided to New York region entrants via email.

So I checked the status with UPS and got this...

Brooklyn, NY, United States  03/26/2013  4:33 A.M.  The receiver requested a hold for a future delivery date. UPS will attempt delivery on date requested. / Delivery rescheduled.

Anyone else get something like this?  Should I worry?

Ken Hettinger checked on this, and your package was just delivered.

Cheers,
Janis

4

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: March 24, 2013, 02:30:04 PM »

Hi,

For the 1st Round, the bottle labels are your entry form.  Please disregard the instructions about including proof of payment, unless you used a Free Entry Certificate; those MUST be included in the box with the entries.

Cheers,
Janis

I had given some thought to doing some creative editing on the actual label to get in an updated description for a cat 23 beer after the closing date for editing. Figured it would be cheating so didn't do it, but if the labels are your entry form I'm sure there's someone out there who's going that route.

On the other hand, there is a bar code on the label. Will they be scanning to get information or manually copying it from what's written on the label?

Hi James,

If you need to edit your entry in the database, please send me an e-mail with the name of the city where your entry will be judged and the exact edits you need to make.  janis@brewersassociation.org

Cheers,
Janis

5

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: March 21, 2013, 05:33:17 PM »

My entries are on their way.   Only bottle labels were required, right?  The rules and info on the region 11 site said to include your entry form and payment in box along with your entries along with bottle labels attached to your bottles (I know, rubber bands only...no tape ).  I didn't see an entry form and the entries were prepaid as required by the AHA, so I assumed this was just the standard template for this competition software.

Good luck to all that are entering!

Are the results posted yet? 

There used to be a form you sent which showed proof of payment, and before that, you probably could pay with check.  Probably just old instructions.

Hi,

For the 1st Round, the bottle labels are your entry form.  Please disregard the instructions about including proof of payment, unless you used a Free Entry Certificate; those MUST be included in the box with the entries.

Cheers,
Janis

6

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: March 21, 2013, 05:30:02 PM »

Hmmmm....

So i can't edit my entry description now for 16E? I didn't write anything initially because I was trying to rush to enter and figured I could add that info later. Oh well. The feedback will have to be my prize. 

Hi,
Send me an e-mail with your competition city and the exact edits you wish to make.
Cheers,
Janis

7

Homebrew Competitions / Printing Bottle Labels for NHC 2013

« on: March 18, 2013, 12:53:17 PM »

Hi everyone,

To print your labels, go to the Entry Shipping page on the AHA web site (http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/national-homebrew-competition/competition-information/entry-shipping-drop-off), and click on the name of the city where your entries will be judged.  This opens up a window with the Online Registration for that competition.  Click Log In at the top of the page.  Enter your e-mail address and your password and click Submit.  Now, click on My Info and Entries at the top of the page.  In your page, scroll to the bottom of the page to the entry table.  The link to print labels is on the right side in the table for each entry in the table.

Good luck in the competition!

Cheers,
Janis

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Printing NHC labels

« on: March 18, 2013, 12:47:28 PM »

Has anybody figured out how to print NHc labels? I tried logging in from the registration link but it won't recognize my email address though I know it's right. Has anybody else had problems or am I just a moron?

Hi,

You can go to the Entry Shipping page on the AHA web site (http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/national-homebrew-competition/competition-information/entry-shipping-drop-off), and click on the name of the city where your entries will be judged.  This opens up a window with the Online Registration for that competition.  Click Log In at the top of the page.  Enter your e-mail address and your password and click Submit.  Now, click on My Info and Entries at the top of the page.  In your page, scroll to the bottom of the page to the entry table.  The link to print labels is on the right side in the table for each entry in the table.

Good luck in the competition!

Cheers,
Janis

9

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: March 13, 2013, 03:03:49 PM »

general thought:  50 characters is not a lot of space to accurately describe what I've done with some of my creations.  This limit is making me reconsider which I enter.

Hi,

I realize the 50 character limit can pose some problems for the more adventuresome/creative homebrewers entering the competition.  My intent was to keep the "my Aunt Bessie loves this beer and thinks I should go pro..." comments out of the description that gets printed on the pull sheets for the judges and also on Avery 5160 labels in the Final Round.

Another thing every homebrewer whose entry requires special ingredients should think about is whether the ingredient is discernable in the finished product.  If you add 20 spices to a beer, not all 20 will be distinguishable in the final beer.  If all 20 are listed and the judges can only identify 3, the beer may not be scored as high; however, it's a sure thing that not all 20 spices will fit on an Avery 5160 address label.

I'm sure we'll find some interesting abbreviations in the special ingredients this year, and we may even find that 50 characters is too restrictive, but we had to start somewhere.  Thanks for the feedback!

Cheers,
Janis

10

Homebrew Competitions / Re: AHA Club Only Competition- Un-Session Ales Results 1/19/2013

« on: March 13, 2013, 02:41:27 PM »

Surely someone cares.

 

11

Homebrew Competitions / AHA Club-Only Competition - Barleywine Ales

« on: March 13, 2013, 02:24:58 PM »

Hi everyone,

Of the 52 entries judged from 25 different states, the following winners were chosen.

First Place - Nick Krause of Marengo, IL representing the Forest City Brewers with a 19B English Barleywine, "The Cat is Out of the Bag"

Second Place - Chris Pearson of Medford, OR representing the Rogue Valley Home Brewers with a 19C American Barleywine, "Am. Barley Wine"

Third Place - Sage Wolfe of Athens, OH representing the Scioto Olentangy and Darby Zymurgists (SODZ) club with a 19c American Barleywine, "American MO Barleywine"

Congratulations to the winning brewers and their homebrew clubs!

Cheers,
Janis

12

Homebrew Competitions / Re: Another NHC Competition question...

« on: March 11, 2013, 08:51:29 AM »

On "My Entry and Entries" it has me listed as shipping entries. Is this something that's locked in? Do I have the option to drop off my entries?

Juggling kegs to get the proper carbonation levels is turning into a challenge and taking longer than I had planned. Hoping that dropping off will be an option (and a good excuse to go into the city.)

Hi,

If you log in to your registration information, the Shipping/Drop-Off is a drop-down, so you can change it to Drop-Off.

Good luck in the competition!

Cheers,
Janis

13

Events / Re: NHC Direct links email

« on: March 08, 2013, 02:19:51 PM »

How and when will I know if my entries, which were over the limit for the region I entered, will be reassigned to another region?

Hi Jeffy,

The brewers of the excess entries that were moved from the San Diego, Zanesville, OH, and New York competitions were notified of the moves last week.  If you did not receive an e-mail stating that your entries had been moved, then you should be fine.  You can log in to the system to check your entries. 

Good luck in the competition!

Cheers,
Janis

14

Events / Re: NHC Direct links email

« on: February 26, 2013, 12:19:47 PM »

With all this talk about updating Internet Explorer to at least IE8, I assume Firefox will not have any issues?

If you have updated Firefox when it prompted you to do so, then you should be O.K.  I'm on Firefox 18.

15

Events / Re: NHC Direct links email

« on: February 26, 2013, 12:17:11 PM »

Thanks Janis,

My email must be being slow. I will keep my eye out for it.

hmmm,

still no go for me.

My membership expires at the end of February, keep meaning to renew. Could this be the problem? your not filtering out NEARLY expired folks are you?

No, I think it's personal!   

figures,

I guess I should have gone and visited her last time I was in Boulder.

Janis,

If I bring you flowers a beer (what was I thinking?) next time I'm in town will you forgive me?

(Good save)  How can I refuse?