[udubdawg]

On a somewhat related topic, does anybody else feel that it should not be against the rules to have the style number written on the caps?  I leave it on in spite of the rules for two reasons: 1) it verifies that the cellar people don't mix up the entries I send in and 2) in every competition in this state, a label immediately goes onto the cap.

I have stickers with style number on all my caps at home.  sometimes I remove them, sometimes I leave them on.  They are easily removable.  At KCBM AmandaK and co just put their sticker right over the top of mine - no harm done.

so, I agree with you.  it is one more way to make sure beers are in the correct category too.

[Bruce B]

Personally I'm fine with whatever one needs to do to get the bottles there intact. Stopping short of using trash or dirty laundry though. Hosting first round of the NHC last year we had a lot of bottles show up broken. Got to a point where the UPS and FedEx delivery folks were getting a little grumpy with the Northern Brewer store that everything was being delivered to. Does the unpackaging get a little harder yeah, but if it keeps our partner in the good graces with the delivery folks I'm okay with that.

I like the idea of shipping entries with the category number on the caps. Easy for the stewards to black out or put a label over. As an organizer though I would probably go with what is on the label though if there was a discrepancy between the cap and label.

[dogglebe]

I received my scores today and the sheets say I took second place in one category.  Does this mean I'm moving forward in the competition?


Phil

[morticaixavier]

I received my scores today and the sheets say I took second place in one category.  Does this mean I'm moving forward in the competition?


Phil

sounds like it. congrats! what site?

[klickitat jim]

I'll be rubber banding my bubble wrap from now on. Sorry Seattle!

Whadya do? Duct tape the bubble wrap on?

Crap, sorry Amanda. Didn't see you quoted.

No, I built stainless steel containers, welded around each bottle and filled with space shuttle heat tile goo.

Actually I used a dab of scotch tape. Or Scots tape, or Scottish tape depending

You know, it took me an hour to pack them. Why it never crossed my mind how long it would take to unpack 700 of them...

[Jimmy K]

On a somewhat related topic, does anybody else feel that it should not be against the rules to have the style number written on the caps?  I leave it on in spite of the rules for two reasons: 1) it verifies that the cellar people don't mix up the entries I send in and 2) in every competition in this state, a label immediately goes onto the cap.

I've come full circle on this. I don't think it's much harm, especially since online competition software tells you what your entry numbers are. If someone wanted to cheat, they could just tell their judge friend what their entry number is. Although, I think nearly everyone is honest. Perhaps the bigger risk is a judge noticing that a bottle is so-and-so because of the cap or something, not on purpose, but just because they know.
 
Anyway, a few days ago I was thinking that as an organizer I wouldn't want most entries to do this - mostly because I want the sorting staff to use the bottle labels. If bottles were had cat numbers on the caps, I think some would start to get lazy and not read the labels, just go by the caps. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I certainly wouldn't care if someone wrote the style in small characters. I'd just think twice before encouraging everyone to do it.
 
On the other hand, it would make it easier to divide bottles for different groups of staff to process.

[klickitat jim]

On a somewhat related topic, does anybody else feel that it should not be against the rules to have the style number written on the caps?  I leave it on in spite of the rules for two reasons: 1) it verifies that the cellar people don't mix up the entries I send in and 2) in every competition in this state, a label immediately goes onto the cap.

Our caps had an org assigned entry number but the style and letter would be helpful too cuz we didn't always have a pull sheet. Case in point, I was tasting the sweetest milk stout I'd ever had but was told it was a dry stout. Had to wrangle a steward and have them double check.

[Bruce B]

I received my scores today and the sheets say I took second place in one category.  Does this mean I'm moving forward in the competition?


Phil

Per the competition website - "First, second and third place entries that score 30 or above from each of the First Round judging centers receive ribbons from the AHA and qualify for entry into the National Homebrew Competition Final Round. Final Round qualifying entrants will be contacted with information on submitting entries."

[Bruce B]

On a somewhat related topic, does anybody else feel that it should not be against the rules to have the style number written on the caps?  I leave it on in spite of the rules for two reasons: 1) it verifies that the cellar people don't mix up the entries I send in and 2) in every competition in this state, a label immediately goes onto the cap.

Assuming the use of BCOE&M, for our competitions we print 3/4 circle labels numbered 1 through whatever.  We use these sheets - http://www.planetlabel.com/labels/product/inkjet-laser/white-uncoated-3-4-diameter-circle1

Each number is printed 5 times but we only use 4 of the 5.  Assuming two bottles, one round labels goes on each bottle cap and the other two labels go on the bottle necks.  We use these because 1) whatever is on the cap is covered up, 2) the longer address label types cause issues with getting the cap off in the event it's a gusher, and 3) if the label is on the neck it's above any kind of water line in the cooler when chilling. 

We also print one copy of the bar code labels with the same number range as the round labels.  When we put the bar code label on the bottle label that came with the bottle so we can use a scanner to mark the entry as received.  Obviously the number on the round label is the same as the one on the bar code label. 

Using the labels this way also rids the bottle of the entry number that the entrant sees.  The judge only sees the random number that we assigned.

[dogglebe]

sounds like it. congrats! what site?

Philadelphia.

Looks like I have just enough bottles to move forward and two 750's to share in Grand Rapids.


Phil

[santoch]

The bottles are typically unpacked, scanned, and stickered right away, so there's really no way for a judge to see what's on the cap under the sticker.

However, I've witnessed a number of times where packing material or whatever pulls the labels away from the bottles as you pull them out of the box. 

It's really hard to tell which bottle is the NE Brown and which bottle is the Irish Red by holding them up to the light.  Having the category number on the cap would really have helped in that case.  Luckily, the brewer was local so he was able to provide replacements before the comp.