BREW CON WORLD SERIES II

Last week we launched the Early Bird tickets for Brew Con London 2018, direct from Warpigs in Copenhagen where our ‘World Series I Champion Brewer’ James Wilson was brewing a Purple IPA with Warpigs Head Brewer Lan-xin Foo. Over half the Early Bird tickets went in the first twenty-four hours and we have less than a hundred left so make sure you grab one quick here --> TICKETS!

Its safe to say we couldn’t possibly hold Brew Con again without the accompanying home brew competition – the ‘Brew Con World Series II’. Last years was a storming success, with over 250 entries across all BJCP categories. This year we are returning with a new evolved competition, with space for more entries and even bigger, better prizes!

Whilst announcing that the Brew Con World Series will return we aren’t opening up entries for another month. Our competition wouldn’t exist without the help and guidance of the London Amateur Brewers, especially the true home brew legend that is Lee Immins. We will open the comp after the London & South East Craft Brewing Competition, held 18th-20th May at Four Pure Brewery, get involved and sign up to judge or steward here.

Carl of Great Leap Brewing, Lan-xin & Duffy of Warpigs, World Series Champion Brewer James Wilson of LAB and me at Warpigs, Copenhagen (my spiritual home).

The opening date for the Comp will therefore be Monday 21st May. Beers will need to be delivered, either by hand or post, by Friday 2nd November. You have therefore six months to plan your brew days appropriately! Judging will run in a similar manner to last year, spread over five evening from Monday 5th November to Friday 9th November. The cap on paid entries will be 500. Unpaid entries by this point will be deleted. Judge & Steward sign up will also be available on Monday 21st May. The number of judges in London alone has risen exponentially so these spots will be allocated on a first come first served basis. As we will be running multiple sessions across the week there is the potential to earn up to 3.0 BJCP Judge points (if you judge BOS also). We will be holding one final session before BOS judging on Friday 23rd November, the day before Brew Con London. This session will be to give the numerous judges travelling into London especially for Brew Con London the chance to earn some points.

The format will remain the same as last year. All styles are welcome. We shall split the styles into 18 categories (see below) with each category grouping a number of BJCP styles & sub categories. The maximum number of entries per person will remain four beers, and the ‘World Series Champion Brewer’ will be whomever scores the most points across all four entries. Last years Champion Brewer, Jame, scored an impressive 32 points with each of his four beers placing in second place in their respective categories.

One change – as we are announcing the Categories beforehand this year we are putting a ban on entering multiple beers in one category. The complete list of BJCP style per category will be published before the competition opens.

The ‘Brew Con Best of Show Beer’ award will be awarded to the finest beer amongst all the category winners. Last year’s winner was Simon Gladding of Hertford Brew Club with an exceptional Scottish Export (14C – go look it up). Simon will be accompanying us to Portland, Oregon this year courtesy of Muntons Malt for the American Homebrewers Association Home Brew Con. Safe to say WE CANNOT WAIT! We have beers with Jamil Zainasheff lined up and will be repping the entire UK home brew scene at Club Night USA!

Prizes this year will also be awarded for Best Club (Beer Boars are coming for you LAB!), best young brewer (under 25), best World Series New Comer (ie did not enter last year), Best beer artwork, Best Tag Team Brew (more on that later) and a few others.

So prizes… I did say that I would reveal at least one of the prizes, didn’t I? So without further ado…. drum roll please….. This years ‘World Series II Champion Brewer’ will be rewarded with a Brew day at the number Two Rated Brewery IN THE WORLD according to Rate Beer. That’s right Manchester Leviathans – Cloudwater Brewery!

Cloudwater have invited our Champ to assist on a brew day. I’m gonna guess it will probably involve hops. A shit ton of hops. By that point we may even have moved onto QUADIPA. Owner Paul Jones has said he will be happy to host our winner, and we will of course be making a weekend of it with a visit to the Cloudwater Barrel Room alongside some other great Mancunian beer institutions.

Happy home brewing and may the best man or woman win!

Entries for Brew Con World Series II will cost £6 each, or £20 for four. Only paid entries will be considered confirmed. Any unpaid entries may & will be deleted once we hit 500 entries (a warning will be given of course).