City of Lakes Homebrew Competition
Entries
Judging
Entry Registration
Judge Registration
Steward Registration
Entry Drop-Off
Entry Shipping
Rules
Judge and Steward Registration is Open
If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
The 2026 City Of Lakes Homebrew Competition is here!
Check out our sponsors, we are grateful for their support!
A special thanks to Minnesota Homebrew for being our shipping and drop off location.
Brew. Drink. Compete.
Account registration is open NOW! Entry registration is open October 9th to November 6th.
- Entry limit is capped at 250 paid entries.
Eligibility
- Anyone of legal drinking age may enter and volunteer.
- Beers must be entered under the name of all brewers who helped.
- Must be homebrew. Entries brewed in commercial facilities are ineligible.
- All entries will be picked up from drop-off and shipping locations promptly after entry deadline. Entries received after the deadline may not be included in the judging and will not be refunded.
Entry Fee
- $12 per entry via PayPal.
Entry Requirements
- Two (2) 12-16oz bottles or cans will be accepted.
- Print your labels prior to the end of the entry deadline.
- Attach one label to each bottle or can using a RUBBER BAND ONLY.
- Do not put the labels in a plastic bag.
- All attempts to make the entry anonymous must be taken. Bottles or cans must be free of labels or other identifying marks.
- Bottles or cans will not be returned to contest entrants.
- All entries become the property of the Nordeast Brewers Alliance
- All entries MUST be registered ONLINE – no paper entries allowed. (Please contact nba.operations@gmail.com if you have problems with the registration database.)
General Notes
- Category 27 - Historical Beer is not included, consider the Deja Bru Competition for your historical sytles!
- The competition committee reserves the right to combine or split categories based on number of entries.
- All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles.
- All beers in combined categories will be judged according to the style provided at entry registration.
- All entries will be evaluated by more than one judge.
- Entries will be chilled.
- Entries will be disqualified for rules infractions. These entries will be judged if possible, but will not be eligible for awards and prizes.
- All decisions of the judges and competition committee are final.
- No entries will be returned for any reason.
Entry Acceptance Rules
Entry Requirements
- Two (2) 12-16oz bottles or cans will be accepted.
- Print your labels prior to the end of the entry deadline.
- Bottles must have the official entry labels (printed as part of the online entry process) attached to them with a RUBBER BAND ONLY. Please do not use tape or glue or put the labels in plastic bags.
- All attempts to make the entry anonymous must be taken. Bottles or cans must be free of labels or other identifying marks.
- Bottles or cans will not be returned to contest entrants.
- All entries become the property of the Nordeast Brewers Alliance
- All entries MUST be registered ONLINE – no paper entries allowed. (Please contact nba.operations@gmail.com if you have problems with registration.)
Entry Info
Entry Limits
- Entry Limit – Paid:
- 250
Entry Limits Per Participant
- Entry Limit Per Participant:
- 6
- 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 | 28A Brett Beer | 28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer |
| 28C Wild Specialty Beer | 28D Straight Sour Beer | 29A Fruit Beer |
| 29B Fruit and Spice Beer | 29C Specialty Fruit Beer | 29D Grape Ale |
| 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 | LSX1 Dorada Pampeana | LSX2 IPA Argenta |
| LSX3 Italian Grape Ale | LSX4 Catharina Sour | LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner |
Entry Delivery
Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations Friday, October 9, 2026 12:00 PM, CDT — Friday, November 6, 2026 5:00 PM, CST.
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.
22043 Industrial Blvd, Ste 2, Rogers, MN 55374
763-209-3973
*Confirm store hours for drop-off: https://www.mnhomebrew.com/contact
Shipping Info
Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Friday, October 9, 2026 12:00 PM, CDT — Friday, November 6, 2026 5:00 PM, CST.
Ship entries to:
Minnesota Homebrew, ATTN: NBA Competition
22043 Industrial Blvd, Ste 2, Rogers, MN 55374
Packing and Shipping
***Carefully package your entries!***- Use a sturdy box.
- Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material.
- Write clearly: Fragile. This Side Up. on the package.
- Write clearly: ATTN: City Of Lakes Competition on the package.
- Please do not over pack!
Judging Sessions
TBD: Pre-Judging Sessions
Thursday, November 12, 2026 5:00 PM, CST through Thursday, November 12, 2026 9:00 PM, CST
Based on entries and categories, we may have opportunity for judging some evenings the days leading up. If you are available, please register here and we will be in touch.
Saturday In-Person AM - Session 1
Saturday, November 14, 2026 9:00 AM, CST
Saturday In-Person AM - Session 2
Saturday, November 14, 2026 11:00 AM, CST
Saturday In-Person PM - Session 3
Saturday, November 14, 2026 2:00 PM, CST
Saturday In-Person PM - Session 4
Saturday, November 14, 2026 4:00 PM, CST
Volunteers
Judges and Stewards
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
If you have not registered and are willing to be a judge or steward, please register.
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.
Staff can indicate their availability for the following non-judging sessions:
- Bottle Sort – Saturday, November 7, 2026 10:00 AM, CST
Other Volunteer Info
Judges and Stewards
- Judges and Stewards are most definitely needed and are incredibly appreciated.
- Judging will take place in person at East Side Neightborhood Services in Northeast Minneapolis.
- Juding will be done electronically on the competition website, judges are required to bring a laptop or tablet to perform the digital evaluation.
- BJCP points will be applied based on flights judged.
Have a question? Email us at nba.operations@gmail.com.
Sponsors
Contact
Use the links below to contact individuals involved with coordinating this competition:
- – Competition Organizer
- – Competition Organizer