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Thank you for your interest in the Bluegrass Cup Homebrew Competition 2026 organized by Brewers of Central Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.

Thanks and Good Luck To All Who Entered the Bluegrass Cup Homebrew Competition 2026!

There are 300 registered entries and 140 registered participants, judges, and stewards.

As of 10:34 PM, EST, there are 147 received and processed entries (this number will update as entries are picked up from drop-off locations and organized for judging).

Rules

This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.

All mailed entries must be received at the mailing location by the entry deadline - please allow for shipping time.

All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the entry deadline.

All entries must be handcrafted products, containing ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).

The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.

The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries.

Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. 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.

Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once.There is a maximum limit of 8 entries per brewer.

The competition committee reserves the right to combine categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All brews in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.

The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners. Depending on the number of entries, there may be separate BOS awards for beers, ciders, and/or meads.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

Judging Sessions

Both AM/PM Sessions
Saturday, February 21, 2026 9:00 AM, EST

Competition Officials

You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.

  • Don Harpring — Cellar Master
  • Ben Hoh — Head Judge
  • Austin Leake — Organizer

Sponsors

Brewers of Central Kentucky is proud to have the following sponsors for the Bluegrass Cup Homebrew Competition 2026.

Amoretti
Oxnard, CA
Amoretti
The ultimate pastry, savory, and craft beverage ingredients.
BeerSmith
 
BeerSmith
Homebrewing software
Brewha Brewing Equipment
 
Brewha Brewing Equipment
Brewing Equipment
Ethereal Brewing
Lexington, KY
Ethereal Brewing
Fermentis
 
Fermentis
Foxx Equipment Company
Kansas City, MO
Foxx Equipment Company
Imperial Yeast
 
Imperial Yeast
Lesaffre
 
Lesaffre
Liquor Barn
Lexington, KY
Liquor Barn
West Sixth Brewing
Lexington, KY
West Sixth Brewing
Williams Brewing
California
Williams Brewing
Homebrew supplies
American Homebrewers Association
 
American Homebrewers Association
Briess Malting
Wisconsin
Briess Malting
Five Star Chemicals
Arvada, CO
Five Star Chemicals
Label Peelers
Ravenna, OH
Label Peelers