The first major homebrewing event is the 2002 Bluebonnet Brew-Off, which will be held on March 22^nd & 23^rd at the Wilson World Hotel in Irving, TX. This is the first leg of the Gulf Coast Competition, Click here for more info.

Bluebonnet dates:

February 15:  Start Accepting Entries - Foreman's, Colleyville

February 23: Early Entry Deadline

February 23, 24:  Bluebonnet early entry processing - Foreman's, Colleyville

March 1: Late Entry Deadline

March 2, 3:  Bluebonnet Late entry processing - Foreman's, Colleyville

March 9,10:  1st Round Judging, Coors, Ft. Worth

March 16,17:  1st Round Judging, Coors, Ft. Worth

March 22, 23:  16th Annual Bluebonnet, Wilson World Hotel, Irving
 

The next leg of the GCC is the Crescent City Competition and Crawfish Boil to be held on April 21^st. The competition is sponsored by the Crescent City Homebrewers in New Orleans, LA.

The Sunshine Challenge is the 3^rd leg of the GCC. This year it will be held on the 18^th thru the 20^th of May. This competition is sponsored by the Central Florida Home Brewers in Orlando, FL.

The last and final leg is the 19^th Annual Dixie Cup, sponsored by The Foam Rangers in Houston, TX. It is to be held on October 18^th-19^th, 2002.

The Knights very own competition, the 6^th Annual Celtic Brew-Off, is coming up soon. This competition is open to all  homebrewers. Judging will be held in May and awards to be handed out at the North Texas Scottish Festival to be held on May 31^st thru June 2^nd. Click here for more info on the Scottish Festival and watch for more info on the Celtic Brew-Off.

Celtic Brew Off (these dates may change when the Scot-Fest dates are formally released)

May 11th:  Entry Processing, J. Gilligans, Arlington

May 18th:  Celtic Brew Off 1st Round Judging

May 31st, June 1, 2:  Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games
 

AHA 2000 National Homebrew Competition
The American Homebrewers’ Association Competition is the largest homebrew competition in the country. First round entries are due between April 4^thand April 13^th. Entry fees are $8 for AHA members and $12 for non-members per entry. Entry forms can be found in the Jan/Feb Zymurgy . or the AHA website at www.beertown.org for complete contest rules. Entries advancing from the first round will participate in the final round of judging to take place at the AHA National Homebrewers Conference at the Four Points Sheraton LAX in Los Angeles on June 21^st thru June 23^rd. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals will be awarded in each category. Homebrewer, Meadmaker, and Cidermaker of the Year awards will be issued along with the Homebrew Club of the Year and the Ninkasi awards.
We hope to see a good showing from the Knights this year. If you are brewing for the Bluebonnet or the Celtic, save four bottle for the AHA Nationals.
 

MCAB V Qualifying Events Announced

The Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB) is pleased to announce the 2002 Qualifying Events for MCAB V:

1. Boston Homebrew Competition, hosted by the Boston Wort Processors  www.wort.org
2. Kansas City Bier Meisters Competition, hosted by the Kansas City Bier Meisters www.kcbiermeisters.org
3. Reggale and Dredhop, hosted by Hop Barley and the Alers (Boulder, Colorado) http://hopbarley.org/dredhop/
4. World Cup of Beer hosted by the Bay Area Mashers (California)  www.bayareamashers.org
5. Bluebonnet Brew Off - hosted by the Knights of the Brown Bottle Dallas/Fort Worth, TX  http://welcome.to/bluebonnet
6. Drunk Monk Challenge, hosted by the Urban Knaves of Grain (Chicago area) http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/
7. Sunshine Challenge, hosted by the Central Florida Home Brewers (Orlando, Florida) www.cfhb.org
8. Spirit of Free Beer, hosted by BURP (Virginia/Maryland area)  http://burp.org/index.html
9. BUZZ-Off, hosted by BUZZ (Philadelphia area)  http://hbd.org/buzz/
10. Edmonton Homebrew Competition, hosted by the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild (Canada)  http://www.ehg.ca/
11. Dixie Cup, hosted by the Foam Rangers (Houston, Texas)  www.foamrangers.com
12. Novembeerfest, hosted by the Brews Brothers (Seattle, WA)   http://www.brewsbrothers.org/nbf/nbf_top.htm
13. Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition, hosted by the St. Louis Brews  (St. Louis area)   www.stlbrews.org

As before, the MCAB Qualifying Styles will be BJCP Styles 1-20:

1.    American Lager
2.    European Pale Lager
3.    Light Ale
4.    Bitter & English Pale Ale
5.    Scottish Ales
6.    American Pale Ales
7.    IPA
8.    Koelsch & Altbier
9.    German Amber Lager
10.   Brown Ale
11.   English and Scottish Strong Ale
12.   Barleywine and Imperial Stout
13.   European Dark lager
14.   Bock
15.   Porter
16.   Stout
17.   Wheat Beer
18.   Strong Belgian Ale
19.   Belgian and French Ale
20.   Lambic and Belgian Sour Ale
 

General:
The MCAB is open to all brewers who are certified as having won first place in a MCAB Qualifying Style at a MCAB Qualifying Event. Entrants may enter the MCAB only in the Qualifying Styles for which they have been certified as a Qualifying Event winner, and may enter only one beer per Qualifying Style regardless of how many times they qualify.

Qualifying Event Certification:
On a form provided by the MCAB, each Qualifying Event shall provide the MCAB with a list of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the first place winners in each Qualifying Style. In certifying winners, the Qualifying Events shall not consider whether the person has already qualified for the MCAB. The selection and certification of winners of Qualifying Events shall be final and decided entirely by the organizers of the Qualifying Events. Under no circumstances shall the MCAB entertain any appeal or complaint regarding the certification of winners. Should a certified winner decline to participate in the MCAB or be ruled ineligible to participate in the MCAB, the Qualifying Event shall not be permitted to designate a substitute.
 

New style guidelines