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Scottish National Homebrew Competition Update

– Competition to go ahead with remote judging

– Amended entry requirements for socially distanced competition

Thank you all for the very enthusiastic response to the inaugural Scottish National Homebrew Competition – we sold out in a few hours which was great to see.


When we launched the competition back in the heady days of Summer we were optimistic that we would be able to hold a live judging and results event in early 2021. However as time has gone on it’s become increasingly clear that this optimism was slightly misplaced! 


We’re determined that the competition will still go ahead, however to ensure that we do not fall foul of changing restrictions, judging will now be held remotely using Edinburgh based judges, with entries safely distributed  to each judge locally from the shipping location. 


To account for the reduced number of judges and the additional time required for remote judging, we now expect the judging to take place over a series of weekends (although individual tables will each be judged in a single session). We will no longer have an in person awards event and results will be announced online towards the end of February.


The deadline for editing your entries will be 31st December 2020. If for any reason you are no longer able to enter please get in touch and we will arrange a refund – there are plenty of people who would be keen to take your place!


The two key changes for entry are as follows – 


– To enable remote judging to take place we now require four bottles per entry. Two for the initial judging round and two for the best in show if your beer wins its table.

– We will not be running drop off sites in Edinburgh – all entries will need to be posted to the shipping location by midday on the 21st January 2021.


The shipping window will open on the 8th January 2021. For those who haven’t shipped to a competition before Royal Mail / Parcelforce will accept bottles of beer – paying in advance online and dropping off at your local post office is often the cheapest option. Please take note of the packaging instructions on the competition website.


For those from further afield who have volunteered to judge and were planning to travel to Edinburgh, we are very grateful but unfortunately we will not be able to use you this year. Conversely if you would like to judge and are based in or around Edinburgh please get in touch or register via the competition website.


Finally, the People’s Choice mini competition will be postponed until later in 2021 when hopefully we will be able to safely hold meet-ups again. A few more months of aging for your Imperial Stouts can only be a good thing!

If you have questions please contact the organisers via the competition website or competitions@scottishcraftbrewer.org.