Homebrew Alley XX
Entries
Judging
Entry Registration
Judge Registration
Steward Registration
Entry Drop-Off
Entry Shipping
Rules
Entry Registration is Open
This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.
Judging will be done in person via the BCOE&M platform. When registering, judges should select 1-3 in person judging sessions based on their availability.
The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style 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 with Certified, National and Master level judges based on a second judging of the top winners.
No unevaluated entries (eg, 2nd bottles) or empty bottles will be returned to entrants.
Entry Acceptance Rules
Each entrant may enter at most 5 entries. Entrants are not limited to one entry in each category, but may only enter each subcategory once.
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.).
Each entry will consist of 2 capped/corked bottles or cans that are void of all identifying information, including labels and custom embossing. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely. 12oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, green and clear glass will be accepted. Please try to keep to 12oz packaging as larger bottles are difficult to store.
All requisite paperwork must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Entry labels should be attached to bottles by rubber band. No tape, no glue please!
Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients or details that must be specified. For specialty styles where required, the full name of the BJCP base style must be stated. Failure to note such details may impact the judges' scoring of your entry. Potential allergens must be disclosed, even if expected for the base style.
Inclusion of extraneous details that could bias judges' assessment of entries, e,g., tasting notes, is inappropriate and may lead to disqualification.
The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrive damaged. We will do our best to communicate damaged bottles if possible.
Please also review our Drop-Off Loctions, Shipping Info, and Packing and Shipping sections here.
IF YOU HAVE PREVISOULY REACHED OUT VIA THE LINK BELOW AND HAVE NOT RECIEVED A RESPONSE PLEASE EMAIL NYCHOMEBREWGUILD@GMAIL.COM.
Entry Info
Entry Limits
- Entry Limit:
- 500
Entry Limits Per Participant
- Entry Limit Per Participant:
- 5
- Per Style Entry Limit:
- 1
Pay Entry Fees
After creating your account and adding your entries to the system, you must pay your entry fee(s). Accepted payment methods are:
- Credit/debit card and e-check, via PayPal
BJCP 2015 / 2021 Styles Accepted
Indicates that the style's entry limit has been reached and no more entries of that style will be accepted.
| 1A American Light Lager | 1B American Lager | 1C Cream Ale |
| 1D American Wheat Beer | 2A International Pale Lager | 2B International Amber Lager |
| 2C International Dark Lager | 3A Czech Pale Lager | 3B Czech Premium Pale Lager |
| 3C Czech Amber Lager | 3D Czech Dark Lager | 4A Munich Helles |
| 4B Festbier | 4C Helles Bock | 5A German Leichtbier |
| 5B Kölsch | 5C German Helles Exportbier | 5D German Pils |
| 6A Märzen | 6B Rauchbier | 6C Dunkels Bock |
| 7A Vienna Lager | 7B Altbier | 8A Munich Dunkel |
| 8B Schwarzbier | 9A Doppelbock | 9B Eisbock |
| 9C Baltic Porter | 10A Weissbier | 10B Dunkels Weissbier |
| 10C Weizenbock | 11A Ordinary Bitter | 11B Best Bitter |
| 11C Strong Bitter | 12A British Golden Ale | 12B Australian Sparkling Ale |
| 12C English IPA | 13A Dark Mild | 13B British Brown Ale |
| 13C English Porter | 14A Scottish Light | 14B Scottish Heavy |
| 14C Scottish Export | 15A Irish Red Ale | 15B Irish Stout |
| 15C Irish Extra Stout | 16A Sweet Stout | 16B Oatmeal Stout |
| 16C Tropical Stout | 16D Foreign Extra Stout | 17A British Strong Ale |
| 17A1 Burton Ale | 17B Old Ale | 17C Wee Heavy |
| 17D English Barley Wine | 18A Blonde Ale | 18B American Pale Ale |
| 19A American Amber Ale | 19B California Common | 19C American Brown Ale |
| 20A American Porter | 20B American Stout | 20C Imperial Stout |
| 21A American IPA | 21B 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 IPA | 22A Double IPA | 22B American Strong Ale |
| 22C American Barleywine | 22D Wheatwine | 23A Berliner Weisse |
| 23B Flanders Red Ale | 23C Oud Bruin | 23D Lambic |
| 23E Gueuze | 23F Fruit Lambic | 23G Gose |
| 24A Witbier | 24B Belgian Pale Ale | 24C Bière de Garde |
| 25A Belgian Blond Ale | 25B Saison | 25C Belgian Golden Strong Ale |
| 26A Belgian Single | 26B Belgian Dubbel | 26C Belgian Tripel |
| 26D Belgian Dark Strong Ale | 27A Historical Beer | 27A1 Kellerbier |
| 27A2 Kentucky Common | 27A3 Lichtenhainer | 27A4 London Brown Ale |
| 27A5 Piwo Grodziskie | 27A6 Pre-Prohibition Lager | 27A7 Pre-Prohibition Porter |
| 27A8 Roggenbier | 27A9 Sahti | 28A Brett Beer |
| 28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer | 28C Wild Specialty Beer | 29A Fruit Beer |
| 29B Fruit and Spice Beer | 29C Specialty Fruit Beer | 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 |
| LSX4 Catharina Sour | LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner | C1A New World Cider |
| C1B English Cider | C1C French Cider | C1D New World Perry |
| C1E Traditional Perry | C2A New England Cider | C2B Cider with Other Fruit |
| C2C Applewine | C2D Ice Cider | C2E Cider with Herbs/Spices |
| C2F Specialty Cider/Perry | M1A Dry Mead | M1B Semi-Sweet Mead |
| M1C Sweet Mead | M2A Cyser | M2B Pyment |
| M2C Berry Mead | M2D Stone Fruit Mead | M2E Melomel |
| M3A Fruit and Spice Mead | M3B Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Mead | M4A Braggot |
| M4B Historical Mead | M4C Experimental Mead |
Drop-Off Locations
Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations Friday, March 20, 2026 12:00 AM, EDT — Wednesday, April 1, 2026 11:59 PM, EDT.
Please pay attention to the notes provided for each drop-off location. There could be earlier deadlines for some drop-off locations listed, particular hours when entries are accepted, certain individuals to leave your entries with, etc. All entrants are responsible for reading the information provided by the organizers for each drop-off location.
444 Saw Mill River Rd, Elmsford, NY 10523
914-741-2337
1000 Dean St Suite 234, Brooklyn, NY 11238
347-338-0091
185 Van Dyke St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
929-294-9379
492 Monmouth St, Jersey City, NJ 07302
201-659-2304
Shipping Info
Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Friday, March 20, 2026 12:00 AM, EDT — Wednesday, April 1, 2026 11:59 PM, EDT.
Ship entries to:
Strong Rope Brewery
ATTN: Homebrew Alley, 185 Van Dyke St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Packing and Shipping
Carefully pack your entries in a sturdy box. Line the inside of your carton with a plastic trash bag. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material. Please do not over pack!
Write clearly: Fragile. This Side Up. on the package. Please only use bubble wrap as your packing material.
Enclose each of your bottle labels in a small zip-top bag before attaching to their respective bottles. This way it makes it possible for the organizer to identify specifically which entry has broken if there is damage during shipment.
Every reasonable effort will be made to contact entrants whose bottles have broken to make arrangements for sending replacement bottles.
Entries must arrive within the designated window. Drop-off entries must be received by close-of-business for respective drop-off locations on the day of the drop-off deadline. It is the responsiblity of the entrants to be cognizant of drop-off locations' business hours. Early or late entries may not be accepted. The recipient is not responsible for confirming receipt of shipped entries; if confirmation is desired, please request tracking service from the carrier.
Judging Sessions
Friday Evening
Friday, April 10, 2026 6:00 PM, EDT
Saturday Morning
Saturday, April 11, 2026 10:00 AM, EDT
Best of Show
The Best of Show winner will receive a Homebrew Alley Championship Belt, among other prizes!
Awards
Judges will evaluate and score each entry, and award 1st/2nd/3rd place and any honorable mentions at their discretion. Judges need not award all 3 entries in a flight, in the event that fewer than 3 entries are deemed to be of sufficient quality.
The 1st place entry in each category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round with a single, overall Best of Show beer selected.
Score sheets will be delivered electronically to entrants.
Award ribbons will be delivered to entrants in person at the ceremony, via mail, club hand-off, or other creative means. Smaller prizes will be shipped within reason; larger prizes may require local pickup or other creative means.
Results will be posted to the competition web site after the ceremony concludes.
Awards Ceremony
Strong Rope Brewery Red Hook
185 Van Dyke St, Brooklyn NY
Saturday, April 11, 2026 6:00 PM, EDT
Volunteers
Judges and Stewards
If you are willing to judge or steward, please return to register on or after Sunday, February 22, 2026 12:00 AM, EST.
Staff
If you would like to volunteer to be a competition staff member, please register or update your account to indicate that you wish to be a part of the competition staff.
Other Volunteer Info
If you are interested in judging or stewarding, please register through the website during the designated time. If you have questions that are not answered on the website, please contact us.
Sponsors
Contact
Use the form below to contact a competition official. All fields with a star are required.