[Bruce B]

Hello fellow Home Brewers!

Registration is now open for the tenth annual Midwinter Home Brew Competition will be taking place on February 7th and 8th, 2020 in Milwaukee, WI. This competition is held in conjunction with the 24th annual Midwinter Brewfest at the Milwaukee Ale House and is a circuit qualifying event for:

• The Master Championship of Amateur Brewers (MCAB) - https://www.masterhomebrewer.org/
• Midwest Home Brewer of the Year - http://midwesthomebrewer.com/
• New in 2020 -> American Mead Makers Association National Mead Maker of the Year - https://mead-makers.org/national-mead-maker-of-the-year/

The competition will be limited to 850 entries and we will be judging to the BJCP 2015 guidelines. All entries to be judged by at least 2 BJCP Beer, Mead, or Cider Judges, Professional Brewers, Professional Mead Makers, or Professional Cider Makers.

Participant, judging, and steward registration for the competition will be coordinated through the web site at https://www.midwinterhbc.com.  Entries will be accepted December 28th through January 25th at 10 different locations in WI, IL, & MN. 
 
Shipped entries should be sent to Northern Brewer in West Allis, WI. Please refer to the web site for drop off location cut off dates and addresses. Also please remember that this competition takes place during the winter months. We strongly advise that participants take into consideration weather conditions to avoid issues associated with entries freezing and delays associated with blizzards or vortexes.

1st, 2nd, & 3rd place awards will be issued for each category.  Each award will consist of a medal and a gift certificate to Northern Brewer.  Beer Best of Show, Beer Best of Show Runner-Up, Mead Best of Show, and Cider Best of Show will receive engraved barrel head awards.
     
This year we are again very happy to have two professional ramp ups and a pro am qualifier affiliated with the competition.  One of the Kellerbier entries (BJCP category 7C) will be chosen to be ramped up by the Milwaukee Brewing Company for serving at the Milwaukee Ale House.  Also one Mead entry (BJCP categories M1, M2, M3, M4B, and M4C) will be chosen by Moonlight Meadery to qualify for their 2018 Pro Am Competition. Finally the White Winter Winery will choose one cider entry (BJCP categories C1 & C2) to be made at their winery.
 
The competition results, scores, and scoresheets will be posted to the competition website by 8pm central time on February 8th. Awards to be mailed out the week of February 10th.
 
Additional details can be found on the newly revised competition website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.  Information regarding judging and stewarding opportunities can be found on the Volunteers page. Please pass this information on to your fellow home brewing friends and direct any inquiries to the Contact page on the registration site.

Thanks and best of luck to all that enter! - Bruce Buerger / Competition Coordinator