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Rules

REGISTRATION CLOSED FEBRUARY 11 

>> Click here for registration instructions.

This competition, organized by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, is open to member breweries and brewpubs ONLY. Non-members will be contacted to join the Guild, or will be disqualified.

  • This competition is judged using the 2021 BJCP guidelines. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge and all judges will have sensory training. Local judges employed by a brewery will be assigned to categories outside of any categories in which they submitted an entry.
  • The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on the number of entries. All possible efforts will be made to combine similar styles. All entries in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.
  • Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category, but may only enter each subcategory once.
  • The Best of Show selection will be determined by a highly experienced panel of judges for each of the gold medal winning entries of each competition category.
  • All entries must be received at the drop-off location by the deadline—no late entries will be accepted. Entries may not be shipped to location. The competition organizers are not responsible for miscategorized entries, entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged or unlabled. No refunds will be given for disqualified entries or entries not received. Packaging will not be returned.

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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 35A Hard seltzer (Custom Style)
36A N.A. beer (Custom Style) LSX3 Italian Grape Ale LSX4 Catharina Sour
LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner  

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Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3

Each entry may consist of capped/corked bottles, 12/16oz cans, or crowlers. Vessels can be branded; judges do not see the submitted vessels. We will require the following number of vessels per container type. Additional submissions will not be accepted.

  • 12/16oz cans or bottles: Submit 3 per entry
  • Crowlers/Bottles(750ml): Submit 2 per entry
  • NO GROWLERS

All requisite paperwork (labels) must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Directions can be found at the top of this page and will be sent to all entrants. Labels must be attached to entries with clear packing tape

Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.

Entries not registered or labeled, entries shipped to location, and entries dropped off outside official windows will be disqualified and removed from the competition.

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Judging Sessions and Dates

MNGBC Friday Judging
Friday, March 8, 2024 5:00 PM, CST through Friday, March 8, 2024 9:00 PM, CST
Blind judging

MNGBC Saturday Judging
Saturday, March 9, 2024 10:00 AM, CST through Friday, March 8, 2024 9:00 PM, CST
Blind judging

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Awards

The awards ceremony will take place on Friday, March 22 at the Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown. Brewers Cup Awards Ceremony tickets must be purchased in advance to attend. Please visit our website to learn more and purchase.

Places will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each award category where appropriate. If judges believe that no beer in the category meets the quality and style-accuracy criteria, they may elect not to award a place. The 1st place entry in each award category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round with a single, overall best entry selected. Additional prizes may be awarded at the awards ceremony at the discretion of the competition organizers.

Awards will be announced on MNCBG social media during the Awards Ceremony and published on the MNCBG website following the Awards Ceremony. Score sheets will be emailed to each registered brewery the week following the Awards Ceremony.

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Awards Ceremony

Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown
35 S 7th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Friday, March 22, 2024 6:30 PM, CDT

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