Mecca Grade is inviting homebrewers to create and submit their finest, most flavorful, and unique beverage made ONLY with native and local ingredients to your area for this year’s Brewing Man. In keeping with the Brewing Man philosophy, the goal of this competition is to celebrate everyone’s terroir and become a gathering place to share it. Entries will be judged the morning of our annual Harvest Party and customer appreciation event on our farm in Madras, Oregon on Saturday, September 28th, 2019. Award winners will be announced that afternoon. Participants are encouraged to attend the festivities.
Open to all homebrewers, $12 per entry, unlimited entries per brewer (one ticket must be purchased for each entry). All proceeds will benefit Heifer International.
Heifer International is a global non-profit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. They work with communities to increase income, improve child nutrition, care for the Earth, and ultimately end world hunger and poverty through agricultural education. CLICK HERE.
“Locale” is a loose term covering anything from your own backyard up to your “region” (ex: Pacific Northwest).
Please follow these guidelines accordingly:
- Use only the finest natural spring or well water. Please try to limit your water chemistry additions.
- All grain must either be homegrown/malted or native to your locale.
- All hops must be homegrown or native to your locale.
- Yeast must be sourced from your local producer or naturally cultivated and propagated from your locale.
- Any additional natural ingredients must be sourced from your locale (fruits/vegetables, herbs, flowers, etc.).
Entries will be judged by a panel of certified and experienced beer judges but NOT to any specific beer style. Award winners will win some truly unique prizes…we promise to spare no expense.
Entries should be submitted into the following categories:
- Best Wild Beer (using spontaneous fermentation or sour/wild cultures)
- Best Session Beer (5% ABV or less – the perfect beer for your next summer camping trip)
- Best Fresh-Hopped Beer (the harvest window will be just right for some pretty awesome freshness)
- Best Big Beer (8.5% ABV and above – barrel-aged beers would be fantastic, but remember, these are being judged in late September, so you’ll have to get on it)
- Best Mead or Cider (using locally-sourced fruits, vegetables, and honey)
Participants are required to provide a minimum of 64 ounces per entry for judging. This can include 3x 22oz bottles, 2x 32oz growlers, etc. Each entry must also be accompanied by an Entry Essay. Be thoughtful and provide a minimum of one paragraph explaining what inspired you to make this beer, your approach and technique. Please include your recipe and highlight any unique or special ingredients used. Your essay will be read by the judges during tasting and evaluation if necessary.
Please download an entry packet HERE to ship with your beer entry.
Please ship all entries to:
Mecca Grade Estate Malt
9619 NW Columbia Drive
Madras, Oregon 97741
Make sure they arrive no later than Wednesday, September 25th. Please contact us to make arrangements if you would like to deliver your entries in-person prior to judging the morning of the 28th.
All participants are encouraged to join us for our annual Harvest Party and customer appreciation event. Feel free to bring any remaining beer (or anything else you’d like to share). We will share all the remaining beverages from the competition, along with their Entry Essays, throughout the day’s festivities with professional brewers and homebrewers in attendance.
If you have any questions about the Brewing Man Origin Beer Competition, the Harvest Party, lodging, travel, or anything else, please contact the Mecca Grade Estate Malt Relationship Manager, Katie Ralls, at: [email protected] or visit, www.brewingman.org
See other upcoming events here.