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.

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 shipping deadline - please allow for shipping time.

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

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 based on a second judging of the top winners.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2

Each entry will consist of capped or corked bottles that are void of all identifying information, including labels and embossing. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely.

Two 12-oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, green will be accepted.  Swing-top bottles will likewise be accepted, as well as 12oz and 16oz cans.

Bottles will not be returned to contest entrants.

All requisite paperwork must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Entry paperwork should be attached to bottles by the method specified on the bottle label.

Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.

This year's special category is an homage to the US Semiquincentennial (or Bisesquicentennial or Sestercentennial) - "Fruited: Red, White and/or Blue". The category is open to all styles, but must be made using fruit that is red, white and/or blue.

Entry Fees

$10.00 (USD) per entry.

Entry Limits

Entry Limit:

402

Entry Limit – Paid:

402

Entry Limits Per Participant

Entry Limit Per Participant:

7

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 2021 / 2025 Styles Accepted

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

Entry Delivery

Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations Monday, August 17, 2026 5:00 PM, CDT — Friday, September 11, 2026 9:00 PM, CDT.

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.

Jake's Cigars & Spirits
101 N 14th St Ste 1, Lincoln, NE 68508
(402) 261-5944

Shipping Info

Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Monday, August 17, 2026 9:00 AM, CDT — Tuesday, September 8, 2026 5:00 PM, CDT.

Ship entries to:

Jake's Cigars & Spirits
101 N 14th St Ste 1, Lincoln, NE 68508

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.

Judging Sessions

Session 1 - Turbine Flats
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT

Session 2 - Turbine Flats
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT

Session 3 - Turbine Flats
Thursday, September 24, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT

Session 4 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Friday, September 25, 2026 6:30 PM, CDT

Session 5 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Saturday, September 26, 2026 8:30 AM, CDT

Session 6 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Saturday, September 26, 2026 12:30 PM, CDT

Awards

The awards ceremony will take place once judging is completed.

Places will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category/table.

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.

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

Awards will be available for pick up that night and electronic scoresheets will be made available after the ceremony concludes. Awards not picked up will be sent back with members of the winner's homebrew club or mailed back to participants. Results will be posted to the competition web site after the ceremony concludes.