Free State Brewery Seeking Beers for Pro-AM Competition

For the past several years, The Brewers Association (BA) and the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) have brought their members together for a special Pro- Am competition at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Breweries hold competitions that solicit beers from Homebrewers to select a winning recipe that will be brewed at the brewery and entered into the Pro-Am for judging and serving at the next year’s GABF.

Free State is seeking entries into this competition for the 2015 Pro-Am. Beers will be due at Free State’s Production Brewery at 1923 Moodie Rd. on 10/18/14, when we will be hosting an AHA Membership Rally to both encourage and reward membership in the AHA by providing this special, members-only event, geared towards the homebrewing community. Please note that admission to the AHA Rally requires either a current AHA membership or the purchase of a new membership.

More details on this special event, including on-line registration for the competition and competition entry forms, can be found at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/events/free-state-brewing-co-aha-rally/ .

For full details on the rules regarding the Pro-Am competition, please see: http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/brewers/competition-information/#11

The Brewery sponsored selection competition will be conducted as a blind “Best of Show” judging. Judge panel will be made up of Free State brewers and other qualified judges as needed to accommodate the number of entries received. There will be a $5.00 entry fee per beer entered in the competition. Each entering brewer will receive an abbreviated comment form with comments from the judges. This form may not be quite as comprehensive as a standard AHA competition sheet. Guidelines for the competition follow:

 Brewers are advised to consult the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines at http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_stylebook.pdf and classify their entry for judging according to those guidelines.  Register for the competition by October 1st by going to the rally website at http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/events/free-state-brewing-co-aha-rally/ and clicking on the “Enter the Competition” button  All judging will be strictly blind, with Judges having no knowledge of who brewed which beers.  All entries must include 4 bottles of the beer to be judged and a complete beer registration form (there is a link to the registration form when you enter the competition).  Any styles from categories 1-16, 18 and 19 in the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines are eligible with the following exceptions: o No beers requiring extended aging (>2 months) or aging in wood. Beers aged on wood will be accepted. o Beers must be fermented using readily available brewing yeast strains. No bacterial or wild yeast fermentations. o Final Alcohol Content must be below 12% ABV. o Original Gravity <18°P (1072) o IBUs < 100 o Free State Brewery may adjust Hops and Malts and yeast used in the original recipe based on availability at the time of brewing. o Winning brewer will have to opportunity to collaborate with the Free State brewers regarding any necessary changes. o Only beers brewed by homebrewers located in (KS, MO and NE) will be accepted.  A couple of key provisions of the GABF Pro-Am rules o The homebrewer brewing their recipe with the professional brewery CANNOT be, or have ever been, an employee of that brewery or on the brewing staff at any brewery. o The homebrewer entrant or entrants must be members of the AHA by the time the brewery registers the entry in the GABF Pro-Am competition (TBD), as well as when the Pro-Am entry is judged (October 2015).