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Rules

This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older. The Grand Prize of Western Idaho Beer of the Year is limited to the greater Treasure Valley Idaho area. This area is roughly within a 50 mile radius of The Western Idaho Expo Center. Please see map Homebrew Competition Greater Treasure Valley Area

This competition is open to all categories using the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, 2015 Mead and Cider Style Guidelines found at BJCP Style Guidelines

All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the entry deadline.

All entries must be handcrafted products, containing ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).

The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, or entries that arrived damaged.

The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries.

Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category.

Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once.

The competition committee reserves the right to combine categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All brews in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.

Judging times & locations are subject to change.

The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners.

The "Beer of the Year" to be awarded by The Western Idaho Fair and Sockeye Brewing will be decided from the Best of Show table beers that qualify in the following categories of the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines:

1A. American Light Lager, 1B. American Lager, 1C. Cream Ale, 1D. American Wheat Beer, 2A. International Pale Lager, 2B. International Amber Lager, 18A. Blonde Ale, 18B. American Pale Ale, 19A. American Amber Ale, 21A. American IPA, 29. Fruit Beer (A. B. C.), 30A. Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, 30B. Autumn Seasonal Beer.

To qualify for "Beer of the Year" the brewer must be from the mentioned area described in the map from the above link and be from the listed categories.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.","competition_packing_shipping":"

Carefully pack your entries in a sturdy box. Line the inside of your carton with a plastic trash bag. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material. Please do not over pack!<\/p>

Write clearly: Fragile. This Side Up. on the package. Please only use bubble wrap as your packing material.

Enclose each of your bottle labels in a small zip-top bag before attaching to their respective bottles. This way it makes it possible for the organizer to identify specifically which entry has broken if there is damage during shipment.

Every reasonable effort will be made to contact entrants whose bottles have broken to make arrangements for sending replacement bottles.

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BJCP 2021 Judging Styles

If a style's name is hyperlinked, it has specific entry requirements. Select or tap on the name to view the subcategory's requirements.

1A American Light Lager1B American Lager1C Cream Ale
1D American Wheat Beer2A International Pale Lager2B International Amber Lager
2C International Dark Lager3A Czech Pale Lager3B Czech Premium Pale Lager
3C Czech Amber Lager3D Czech Dark Lager4A Munich Helles
4B Festbier4C Helles Bock5A German Leichtbier
5B Kölsch5C German Helles Exportbier5D German Pils
6A Märzen6B Rauchbier6C Dunkels Bock
7A Vienna Lager7B Altbier8A Munich Dunkel
8B Schwarzbier9A Doppelbock 9B Eisbock
9C Baltic Porter10A Weissbier10B Dunkels Weissbier
10C Weizenbock 11A Ordinary Bitter11B Best Bitter
11C Strong Bitter12A British Golden Ale12B Australian Sparkling Ale
12C English IPA13A Dark Mild13B British Brown Ale
13C English Porter14A Scottish Light14B Scottish Heavy
14C Scottish Export15A Irish Red Ale15B Irish Stout
15C Irish Extra Stout16A Sweet Stout16B Oatmeal Stout
16C Tropical Stout16D Foreign Extra Stout17A British Strong Ale
17A1 Burton Ale17B Old Ale17C Wee Heavy
17D English Barley Wine18A Blonde Ale18B American Pale Ale
19A American Amber Ale19B California Common19C American Brown Ale
20A American Porter20B American Stout20C Imperial Stout
21A American IPA21B Specialty IPA 21B1 Belgian IPA
21B2 Black IPA 21B3 Brown IPA 21B4 Red IPA
21B5 Rye IPA 21B6 White IPA 21B7 Brut IPA
21C Hazy IPA22A Double IPA22B American Strong Ale
22C American Barleywine22D Wheatwine23A Berliner Weisse
23B Flanders Red Ale23C Oud Bruin23D Lambic
23E Gueuze23F Fruit Lambic 23G Gose
24A Witbier24B Belgian Pale Ale24C Bière de Garde
25A Belgian Blond Ale25B Saison 25C Belgian Golden Strong Ale
26A Belgian Single26B Belgian Dubbel26C Belgian Tripel
26D Belgian Dark Strong Ale27A Historical Beer 27A1 Kellerbier
27A2 Kentucky Common27A3 Lichtenhainer27A4 London Brown Ale
27A5 Piwo Grodziskie27A6 Pre-Prohibition Lager27A7 Pre-Prohibition Porter
27A8 Roggenbier27A9 Sahti28A Brett Beer
28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer 28C Wild Specialty Beer 28D Straight Sour Beer
29A Fruit Beer 29B Fruit and Spice Beer 29C Specialty Fruit Beer
29D Grape Ale 30A Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer 30B Autumn Seasonal Beer
30C Winter Seasonal Beer 30D Specialty Spice Beer 31A Alternative Grain Beer
31B Alternative Sugar Beer 32A Classic Style Smoked Beer 32B Specialty Smoked Beer
33A Wood-Aged Beer 33B Specialty Wood-Aged Beer 34A Commercial Specialty Beer
34B Mixed-Style Beer 34C Experimental Beer C1A New World Cider
C1B English Cider C1C French Cider C1D New World Perry
C1E Traditional Perry C2A New England Cider C2B Cider with Other Fruit
C2C Applewine C2D Ice Cider C2E Cider with Herbs/Spices
C2F Specialty Cider/Perry LSX1 Dorada PampeanaLSX2 IPA Argenta
LSX3 Italian Grape Ale LSX4 Catharina Sour LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner
M1A Dry Mead M1B Semi-Sweet Mead M1C Sweet Mead
M2A Cyser M2B Pyment M2C Berry Mead
M2D Stone Fruit Mead M2E Melomel M3A Fruit and Spice Mead
M3B Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Mead M4A Braggot M4B Historical Mead
M4C Experimental Mead   

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Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 4

Judging Sessions and Dates

Friday_Evening
Friday, August 11, 2023 6:00 PM, MDT

Morning
Saturday, August 12, 2023 9:30 AM, MDT

Afternoon
Saturday, August 12, 2023 1:00 PM, MDT

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Best of Show

The First place beers in each major category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round. We will award First & second place in the BOS round for the best beers in the competition to award Grand Champion, and Reserve Grand Champion.

 

The "Beer of the Year" award to be awarded by The Western Idaho Fair and Sockeye Brewing will be decided from the Best of Show table beers by Fair and Sockeye staff in the following categories from the 2021 BJCP Guidelines:

1A. American Light Lager, 1B. American Lager, 1C. Cream Ale, 1D. American Wheat Beer, 2A. International Pale Lager, 2B. International Amber Lager, 18A. Blonde Ale, 18B. American Pale Ale, 19A. American Amber Ale, 21A. American IPA, 29. Fruit Beer (A. B. C.), 30A. Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, 30B. Autumn Seasonal Beer.

These categories may be collapsed by competition staff discretion.

The "Beer of the Year" brewer will work with Sockeye staff to formalize the recipe.

Western Idaho Fair Marketing, Sockeye Brewing Company, and the home brewer will develop a name for the beer. It will be marketed as “XXXXXX”, the Western Idaho Fair “Beer of the Year.” 
The recipe will be submitted to the “GABF Pro-Am Competition” by Sockeye Brewing Company.

Winning Brewer will need to be a member of the AHA.

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Awards

First, second, and third place medals will be awarded in each major category. Categories may be collapsed if there are too few entries in a category.  

Winners for the Western Idaho Fair competition will be available at the opening of the Western Idaho Fair August 19 at Noon.

Winner of Sockeye sponsored "Western Idaho Fair Beer of the Year" will be announced at a date and time to be decided soon!

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Awards on Display

Western Idaho Fairgrounds Beer Display.
5610 N Glenwood St. Boise, ID 83714
Saturday, August 20, 2022 12:00 PM, MDT

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