CAMRA has unveiled more details about its new homebrew competition, which will culminate at the Great British Beer Festival in August.
The everall winner will get an opportunity to commercially brew their beer with Brewhouse & Kitchen. Runners-up will receive a year of free beer through Beer52, and free VIP tickets to next year’s festival.
A special ‘Thank Brew’ category, to brew a Jubilee celebration beer, will have its own prize — a brew day with Adnams.
Entrants will compete in classes for 12 different styles, from bitters to stouts. The dates for entrants to remember are as follows:
- 15th July: competition entries close
- 18th-21st July: deliver beer to Nailmaker Brewing Co
- 26th and 27th July: first round judging
- 2nd August: second round judging at GBBF to find category winners
- 2nd August: third round judging for best in show
The head brewer at Brewhouse & Kitchen in Worthing will work closely with the winner to adapt the recipe for a 500-litre brewkit. They will invite them to the site to make the winning beer, which will be sold and distributed across local CAMRA festivals.
Gail Bunn, marketing manager at Brewhouse & Kitchen, said: “We’re extremely proud to be involved in this exciting competition as developing homebrewers into ‘award-winning’ commercial brewers is at the heart of what we do.”
Ruaraidh Macpherson, head of partnerships at Beer52, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting the inaugural homebrew competition at this year’s Great British Beer Festival. With many talented homebrewers in our community, we are well aware of the dedication and innovation required to make a successful homebrew.
“We hope that our lucrative year of free beer prize will encourage as many homebrewers as possible to enter and showcase their skills and beers to the expert judging panel. Perhaps they’ll even feature in a future Beer52 case!”
Fergus Fitzgerald, head brewer at Adnams, said: “It was a huge privilege to work with The Good Beer Co to develop the Thank Brew recipe to mark the Platinum Jubilee last month. Thank Brew was always intended to be an easy style to replicate and adapt, and we were delighted to have so many breweries involved to raise much-needed funds for our partner charities.
“I can’t wait to see what version of Thank Brew the nation’s homebrewers come up with and look forward to raising a glass to celebrate at this year’s Great British Beer Festival!”
To find out more about the competition, the conditions of entry, and to enter, click here.
