Midwest Homebrewer of the Year...DO IT!

Hey there Brewers, Well as this year is coming to an end and 2009 is right around the corner we all do a little re-evaluation of ourselves whether we like it or not. Everyone starts talking about new years resolutions and pin-pointing things about themselves that they would like to change. I have already started on my new years resolution and that is to get back in shape and I would like like to get down to 200lbs. I started at 245 and now I am already down to 226 as of today. My other resolution is to brew a wider variety of beers, not just the beers I would ideally have if I were stranded on an island. I think this is going to be harder than getting down to 200 lb because I love my Belgian Golden Strong ales. The reason I want to do a wide variety of beers is so I can improve my ranking in the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year competition. This past year I entered almost every competition and I definitely learned a lot about how one needs to go about doing this. The first two competitions I entered every beer I had on hand in the basement thinking that the more beer I enter the better chance there is I will get more ribbons. This would be true if all of the beers you send are ribbon/medal worthy. I sent a lot of beers that I sort of knew wouldn't do well and it really hurt my overall score. This year I am going to send only beers I think are really good and I'm going to try and cover a more categories than last year. I think it would be great to get a feel for beer styles that I have little experience with right now. With resources like the Jamil Show there is no reason not to broaden your brewing horizons. For those of you who haven't entered competitions yet, don't bother with doing something like this where you have to pick and choose which of your beers are worthy. You should make a goal to enter as many competitions as you can. Send in all of your beers, by all means. You will get some great feedback on your brew and it will help you figure out what adjustments you can make to become a better brewer. Or just make an effort to get honest info about your beers from friends or enemies...they give better feedback.

I highly recommend trying something new this year. Set a goal that will benefit YOU as a person and your longevity and then set a goal that will benefit your mind and possibly taste buds. I know these kind of contradict each other. I have really cut back on drinking during the week and now I am mostly just having a few on the weekend with a random beer sprinkled in during the week when the timing is right. Just doing that along with a small diet adjustment I have already lost close to 20lbs.

Here are the rules for the MWHBOTY competiton:

MIDWEST HOME BREWER OF THE YEAR RULES
Eligibility
Brewers must enter beer, mead, or cider in at least:

* 4 participating contests
* 10 unique BJCP categories

Brewers must reside in one of these states:

* Iowa
* Indaina
* Illinois
* Kansas
* Michegan
* Minnesota
* Missouri
* Nebraska
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* South Dakota
* Wisconsin

Scoring
1. A brewer's Net Score is determined by the formula:

Net Score = (Raw Score) x (Winning Percentage)

2. Only the highest placing beer per 2004 BJCP Style category will be used for Raw Score points. Raw Score points are awarded as follows:

* 1st Place = 8 points
* 2nd Place = 4 points
* 3rd Place = 2 points

NOTE: Points are not cumulative for each BJCP category.

For example, if a brewer earns two silver medals in a category that does not equal 8 points for that category. Instead, it earns the brewer 4 points.

Similarly, if a brewer wins multiple gold medals in a category, the max points allowed is 8.

In other words, only a single highest placing beer per BJCP category will be used to determine total points, however, multiple wins in a category will increase a brewer's winning percentage.

3. All entries from a brewer or team will be used to calculate winning percentage except special categories unique to a contest.

Scoring Example for Brewer Mookie McAhat
Total Wins by Mookie

* 5 1st place wins = 40 points
* 4 2nd place wins = 16 points
* 8 3rd place wins = 16 points

Mookie's Raw Score

* 40 + 16 + 16 = 72 points

Total Entries by Mookie

* Total entries for all competitions = 39

Mookie's Net Score

* Net Score = 72 X (17/39) = 31.38