If you are willing to judge or steward, please return to register on or after Saturday, July 18, 2026 8:00 AM, EDT.

The Dirigo Mead Cup is Maine's first BJCP-sanctioned mead-only competition, open to homebrewers nationwide.

Dirigo — Latin for 'I lead' — is Maine's state motto, and it reflects our ambition for this competition: to become a leader in the development of craft mead across the country through cordial competition, rigorous written evaluation and feedback, as well as to have a whole lot of fun!

Entries will be judged to BJCP 2015 Mead Guidelines with detailed scoresheets available for download from the website for six months. Judging will take place October 17, 2026 in Wiscasset, Maine.

What is a Home Mead Maker?
Definition of a Home Mead Maker:
A home mead maker makes their mead at home. They cannot make their mead in a commercial setting, including brew-on-premise sites, commercial collaborations, and "wort share" scenarios.

What is an Entrant?
An entrant is one or more people submitting an entry. Entrant(s) of a mead must have actively contributed to mixing, fermenting, and bottling of an entry. If multiple people contributed to the making of a mead only ONE entry may be submitted from that collaboration.

Example: Tom made a mead with co-entrant Bob and entered an Orange Blossom traditional semi sweet. Bob may not enter the same mead as the lead with Tom as a co-entrant. Coordinate your entries so you are not disqualified!

This competition is BJCP sanctioned and open to HOME meadmakers age 21 or older.

BJCP 2021 / 2025 Judging Styles

Indicates that the style's entry limit has been reached and no more entries of that style will be accepted.

Shipping Info

Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Friday, September 11, 2026 9:19 PM, EDT — Saturday, September 26, 2026 5:00 PM, EDT.

Ship entries to:

Christy Hemenway
1043 High St, West Gardiner, ME 04345

Packing and Shipping

All entries become the property of the Dirigo Mead Cup competition and will not be returned under any circumstances. Any questions or disputes will be settled by the competition organizers, and all decisions are final.

All shipped entries must be received at the shipping location - 1043 High St, West Gardiner, ME 04345 - by the shipping deadline - which is Saturday September 26, 2026. Please build in a reasonable allowance for shipping hiccups due to weather and other carrier issues.

Update 9/16/2026 - better late than never - I realized that there was no information on how to attach the labels to the bottles. Since the shipping window is already in process, if your entries are already enroute, whatever you've done is fine - but if you're just getting ready to ship them - please enclose the label in a ziplock bag, rubber-banded to the bottle, OR tape them directly to the bottles, covering them with tape in case of moisture exposure.

Package your entries well. We want them to arrive safely and we definitely want to judge them! And...Don't be the person that causes a shipper to reject all packages going to the shipping location due to soggy boxes dripping mead.

We happen to like Spirited Shipper for their sturdy, easy to store, and easy to put together shipping boxes. In fact - Spirited Shipper is a sponsor for this competition and they are offering a discount on all their products to Dirigo Mead Cup participants. Use code DMC26 at checkout.

Judging Sessions

Pre-Judge Session-Wiscasset Woods
Friday, October 16, 2026 7:00 PM, EDT

The Maine Tasting Center #1
Saturday, October 17, 2026 9:00 AM, EDT

The Maine Tasting Center #2
Saturday, October 17, 2026 11:00 AM, EDT

The Maine Tasting Center #3
Saturday, October 17, 2026 1:30 PM, EDT

The Maine Tasting Center #4
Saturday, October 17, 2026 3:00 PM, EDT

Best of Show

The Best of Show winner will receive a commemorative plaque displaying the Dirigo Medal, the year of the competition, Best of Show and the mead's name.

Good Luck!

Awards

1. Places will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category/table, metal medallions with the Dirigo Mead Cup logo and display ribbons will be awarded to all placements.

9/10/2026 update: Because we are currently involved in doing the design work for the medals, they may not be available on the day of judging, but they will be soon after, and we'll get them to you ASAP!

2. The 1st place entry in each category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round with a single, overall Best of Show mead selected.

3. Additional prizes may be awarded to those winners present at the awards ceremony at the discretion of the competition organizers.

Awards Ceremony
Winners will be announced at the award ceremony after judging is complete on Saturday. Entrants and competition staff are encouraged to join in-person. A live stream is expected (barring technical problems). Generous prizes and raffles are typically offered to in-person attendees courtesy of our sponsors.

Competition results and scoresheets will be available Sunday October 17, 2026 at 4:20pm. Score sheets will be available only through the competition site (they will not be mailed) for six months before planning for the next competition begins. Score sheets are not retained beyond that period.

Awards Ceremony

The Maine Tasting Center
506 Old Bath Rd, Wiscasset, ME 04578
Saturday, October 17, 2026 7:00 PM, EDT